The Camelback Esplanade will be getting a new amenity building filled with some pretty cool stuff as part of a $45 million renovation. Scheduled for 1Q 2023 groundbreaking, per PBJ. This investment comes as the Esplanade is now 90% leased. A great sign for office space on the Camelback corridor.

Cool...so they want chip workers to spend the time to go downtown on lightrail and then take a bus north to their plant...lol

The article is pretty vauge, but I don't think the intention is to have workers go Downtown. Instead, I think the suggestion is to have an express bus between MetroCenter and the chip plant. That could provide a connection to light rail for chip workers reverse commuting from Downtown. It would also provide an option for workers who live in a redeveloped MetroCenter district. I don't know if either scenario is viable, but I don't think anyone is expected to pass through Downtown who doesn't already live there.

None of this makes any sense. I still have a hard time seeing this project pencil out, especially in this debt market. I know I'm pretty cynical about being on the receiving end of the LR line... but I just don't see this area magically becoming interesting enough to capture the rents these developers expect.

I think the angle is that chip workers will live in the Metrocenter development that will have rapid transit to the TSMC factory and connect to the light rail network.

Mostly hot air for marketing purposes as we know 99% of TSMC's workforce will drive.

I'm assuming that the bus will connect the folks working at the HQ next to Metrocenter with the factory up north.

Weather Cams
 

Not sure how long these have been around, but I have not seen these before. AZ Family has a slew of weather cams and a few are good views of downtown, especially the Phoenix Children's cam.

They do not appear to be live, but I'm sure they update periodically. If you right-click and selct open image in new tab, you get a much larger image than the popup.

Enjoy :cheers:

https://www.azfamily.com/weather/cams/

Mayo Clinic's west expansion ribbon cutting is tomorrow :cheers:

Also, windy.com has a slew of webcams all over the place, including these weather cams, ADEQ cams, all the ADOT cams which can sometimes give you great views of buildings being built, and many others. https://www.windy.com/

509 W. Monroe Tower
 

Another mixed-use proposal at 509 W. Monroe (SE corner of 6th Ave and Monroe).

This one is interesting as this is proposed in western downtown. The Height is a little disapointing at 24 floors (about 250'ish feet). But the fact that this is proposed so close to 7th Ave is probably a good indicator of tower development apporaching the western edges of downtown where height limits are in the 650' range.

Not much in the way of information other than 24 floors and BKL Architecture is involved. You can view the Fact Finding docs on my Google Drive at: https://drive.google.com/drive/folde...usp=share_link

Same developer doing that T shaped stubby thing on Central and Fillmore.

The height is meh but I'll take anything this late in the cycle, especially in a crummy area of town.

Sorry if this has already been brought up but this building also looks to include a parking podium based on the site plan. Is there some city code that requires a certain amount of parking spaces for these projects? I'm glad that part of the city is getting something in that area but parking podiums are just such an eye sore.

There are prescribed ratios of dwelling units to parking spaces, but the city has gotten better about letting developers build less parking in areas near the light rail corridor. That's only half the battle, though. The other issue is that lenders may see reduced parking as a risky investment. I continue to believe that the best solution is unbundled parking. Instead of providing a parking space with every apartment at no charge, have a separate price for parking. That will allow for better calibration of supply and demand. And, to anticpate how this position is often misunderstood, that doesn't mean "no parking." It means the amount of parking that tenants want badly enough that they're willing to pay market rates for it.

I can't remember the last time I heard of an apartment going up that didnt have market rate parking and was included in the rent. Most if not all apartments that are in the downtown areas have paid parking, specifically if they are towers. In my last apartment in Tempe it was $125 a month for a spot. I can't tell you an apartment that any friends lived in that didnt have to pay for parking.

Thanks. I'm glad to hear that. Maybe we've made more progress than I thought.

What an absolutely fascinating location for a highrise, lol. I guess the Van Buren corridor to Grand could really get hot.

Ive been thinking that those blocks between Washington and Van Buren along 7 are ripe for development. Get the fox studio out of there and replaced, get rid of that shitty motel and crackhead McDonalds, the black warehouse, Phoenix PD is supposedly remodeling their HQ at some point. there are even some cool old buildings that would make great restaurants/shops if revitalized.

I would also really like if that whole 5 way with Grand coming in would get redeveloped with some cool mixed use that embrace the triangular lots

Phoenix PD is actually moving to the old WF tower so this may be another lot that opens up if the City decides to sell.

Agreed, the fabric is there for a really dynamic area complimented by some really great historic buildings that would create a nice transition between the downtown core and lower grand. The Adams street garage creates such a dead zone - hopefully these developments start to pull activity further west. Definitely can feel unsafe at times just because there is never anyone around.

It'd be nice to see 7th Ave activate all the way up to Roosevelt - Walter Studios just opened up there and has been having some nice late night shows on the weekend. Unfortunately there's NOTHING nearby that isn't a 15 min walk away...