Approved Phoenix bonds could accelerate development near downtown, Rio Salado
 

Good news about the Phoenix Bonds that recently went to voters. Also, I would love for this to really kickstart development near Rio Salado.

https://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/...spark-asu.html

I can't get over how blatantly corrupt this is, 50 years of the airport buying up poor homes because of "Noise" now the city will sell it off to developers at a premium.

My goodness. :haha::haha::haha:

Can anyone copy the text here: https://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/...ic-impact.html

Appears to be about more retail downtown.

Not much in specifics, it's mostly recapping an economic impact study. Some of the relevant stuff:

Not quite ... The FAA has rules about this which is why so much of the land west of the airport is still vacant.

God, I wish they would make a Riverwalk/ boardwalk type development like they've got in San Antonio. Constant river flowing, tons of shade, tons of walkways and development and retail. Would be a dream.

They could...but they won't. Too obviously perfect. Phoenix doesn't do perfect downtown sorry.

This wouldn't even be downtown. The San Antonio Riverwalk runs through the heart of that city. The Rio Salado, on the other hand, is two miles south of downtown Phoenix. It's kind of an apples-and-oranges comparison.

Yeah true but the point remains - why does Phoenix continue to lack any coherent vision for DT? Rhetorical question...

Because there is no history or love of the city, people love the region but not Phoenix itself.

If you want a "city" vision and patronage we are starting from scratch.

What kind of vision are you looking for? I think this is what the city has in mind, more or less. Seems pretty clear to me.

• Bioscience core, between 3rd and 7th street, North of Van Buren to Roosevelt
• Roosevelt arts/nightlife, Roosevelt between 7th street and 3rdAve
• Major events/sports, Jefferson 1st street to 7th (Chase Field, FootPrint, Convention Center)
• Transportation hub, Central/Van Buren
• DT West Arts District, Van Buren to Adams 1st ave to 4th ave. Orpheum, Comerica, Crescent, Van Buren
• ASU core, Van Buren to Filmore from Central to 3rd Street
• Warehouse district, Jackson street and South, from 4th to 1st street

I think development will start to come with the light rail. Nobody really thought about the Hance Park area and developers gravitated towards it because of the good land in that area. There's already going to be a stop for the Audobon Center so that should start drawing people in on lots adjoining the river itself.

I fully support the revelation of the river I think it’s a great idea but it’s not going to have the same results as in Tempe.

North Tempe was already the premier neighborhood so the river being filled just helped it along. The river down in phoenix is out of the way and has always been an industrial area. There aren’t even historic bones to build off and it isn’t even an old emote industrial area but an active and growing industrial area

So again I think it’s good as just a regional park kind of thing but we aren’t about to have a repeat of the Tempe waterfront. At least not anytime soon. Keep in mind even in Tempe it was almost a decade before serious lakefront development got started

This is a generous take. There's a chance it could be a complete flop. Heck we can't even hardly get the warehouse district to take off. And you think Broadway to University is where developers are going to invest?

The warehouse district is fine. It has tech companies and hotels with more on the way. It only hasn't taken off if you want it to be an entertainment district, but the market has decided that's not the direction it will take.

It's definitely not unrealistic to think any one of those lots near the river could turn over once the light rail is right there. Once the Alta brand finds something there the overall area will kick off--they have historically built something cheap (surface parked) as the pioneer in an area.

I'm not talking about entertainment. The warehouse district hasn't added a major employer in years. The whole goal was to attract a handful of major HQs or at least subsidiaries but they continue to choose other parts of the valley. Downtown has mostly been losing legal and accounting firms without a major addition.

Sure, perhaps Alta or others may build a few stick and stucco 4 story apartments along the south central line... that's pretty underwhelming stuff and a drop in the bucket from a development perspective. The river in the Phoenix section simply does not run through a section of town that is poised for investment.

I would rather the City invest funds on a proper downtown square. The surface lot west of the Suns arena should be ED'd and repurposed for a beautiful public square surrounded by iconic buildings that drive attention and people to downtown.

^ ... they spent something like $100 million on that public square already, and it's called Civic Space Park.

Possibilities
 

As someone who grew up here, I can see the frustration at not having a focal point, but I honestly like the more organic growth that has happened. When I was younger, downtown was a burnt-out shell--a State Fairgrounds, a few tall buildings that emptied out at 5 pm on Sunday, and a sad few reminders that we're really just a lot of houses connected by surface streets and the Black Canyon Freeway. Hell, the Zoo, Legend City, and Big Surf were the only things to look forward to.

Fast forward thirty-five years, and we have Hanse Park (which has hosted concerts like Aerosmith), Bank One....er Chase Field, a nicely revamped Suns arena, tons of housing that has popped up around light rail, a busy and growing downtown ASU. Civic Space Park, and the Arizona Center were "the future," and pale in comparison. Not sure what the riverbed will bring, but I'm guessing if they can get housing in the mix, the trails will be very popular for bikers and runners. Right now, the Indian Wash greenway is the only unbroken trail to train on. This is WAY more important than a riverwalk like San Antonio has (good for tourism shots, but not especially useful for the locals to live around). With the light rail station, I can imagine a lot of folks stopping by the Audubon center to take nature walks, go biking, or train for a marathon.

The river needs a lot of help to become the world-class amenity (I really hate saying that but there is potential here). The area directly surrounding Central where they've pumped water and actually have a riparian environment is amazing. But if you go past that it's utterly scorched and desolate. I hardly felt safe out there during the day time, at night... no thanks.

Draining the retention pond on the east side of the lake and fixing some of the cement plants could do a lot to make water actually flow, but the riverbed still needs a lot of help to make it more green and inviting. This is the kind of thing that Downtown could benefit from significantly by being close enough to it, much like Tempe has but in a different take (which I more prefer fwiw).

I did not realize that the new Phoenix PD hq would be a 180 million dollar renovation!

Some Renderings: https://www.azcentral.com/story/news...s/71349396007/