Beginning of the last decade Venture Capitalists were throwing a gazillion dollars at biotech companies. Consequently "biotech" became the flavor of the day and every state/city had dreams of dancing virgins.
Then around the middle of the decade they (VC's) tired of biotech and shifted to green energy and (back) to tech b/c of social networking and then "cloud" computing.

Biotech will however always be a part of the VC and funding landscape. Outside of some good stuff from UA, Arizona has never had much of biotech presence.
That can change, of course, and teaming with Mayo "potentially" makes it more than just "one more" biotech wannabe.

But something else could be happening here (what it is ain't exactly clear).
When the Fitzsimons Army Medical site closed in Denver, the University of Colorado with a little help from the state and Denver's wealthiest resident, Phillip Anschutz, developed a brand new hospital and medical campus.
A couple of billion dollars (on its way to three) and a decade later.... It's freaking awesome: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6jQJxiLKZk

It also became home to Denver Children's Hospital and recently ground was broken on an $800 million VA hospital complex.
Roughly 40% of the Fitzsimons site was set aside for a biotechnology R&D Park. It's about as exciting as Sky Song.

The state of Arizona has 400 acres plus whatever Mayo currently has makes it very comparable to the Fitzsimons site - 577 acres or roughly a mile square. By the time they acquire the land from the state,
put in the necessary infrastructure, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if Mayo would want to move the entire medical campus to this site over time. It makes too much sense.

Point being that the current Mayo site might be better suited to become a huge medical campus along with some attendant R&D.

Meanwhile back closer to the urban core.... this is good to see.

It's the Weekend
 

Since I'll be having lunch with my kid, let's do one of his favs (which I also enjoy).
The urban flair a bonus.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akvu1...feature=relmfu" target="_blank">Video Link

Biotech company moves to Phoenix from Edmonton
 

Phoenix weighs extending free-parking hours downtown
 

old news

ACA starts up $3M innovation challenge, launches entrepreneur center
 

Exactly.

Sorry Guys...
 

Desert Ridge area to become bioscience, tech hub
by Michael Clancy - Jan. 8, 2012 07:34 PM
The Republic | azcentral.com
http://www.azcentral.com/business/ar...-tech-hub.html
The key to potential success here is the affiliation with the Mayo Clinic. They weren't interested in moving downtown and are expanding and interested in allocating future resources here and that is a good thing.

Plus... learn something every day:
While I do appreciate the desire for somehting like this to be downtown this is about Mayo and while not a direct benefit I would suggest it's an indirect benefit. Anything that can give Phoenix some good buzz
rather than Scottsdale will benefit Phoenix as a whole and ultimately downtown.

On skyscraper forum you would think people would be more urban minded rather than accept sprawl's status quo. This is bad for the city because it will, if successful, lead to more unsustainable practices by the city. Any small benefit from a sprawling medical "campus" will be outweighed by the cost of infrastructure and services in a remote area of the city. Not a good investment...

The synergy created from a dense downtown Bio-Med Campus is best for Phoenix and Stanton should place it on the forefront. All we need to look at is Houston's world renowned Texas Medical Center to see the benefit of a centrally located and densely built campus near MASS TRANSIT (read: RAIL)...a small area of Houston near downtown that has created such momentum and cooperation that over 90,000 medical jobs are located within the Texas Medical Center. That isn't possible in far-flung NE Phoenix.

Uhh, sorry dude.

I blog frequently at azcentral (though not as much as in the past). Over there is where all the downtown and transit haters are thick as flies. Hardly a week goes by that I don't tout the benefits
of downtown and/or transit. It's a lonely task, but I do it. On occasion combusean does as well.

For example I dropped a comment on this article earlier today. http://www.azcentral.com/community/s...-launched.html

Skyscraper forums don't change reality nor does my opinion. I wasn't even living here when the Mayo Clinic chose its location nor did I have anything to do with the city's zoning decisions nor the Mayor's intentions.

To those of us that live out here it hardly seems remote but that's not why I favor this. It's because downtown is not an option, its not on the radar. I have no power or influence over that.
You would presumably "cut off your nose.... " and prefer it locate in Scottsdale if not in downtown. Crazy.

Desert Ridge zoning is quite dense, as dense as most of downtown though perhaps not what you envision. This area is in competition with Scottsdale, not with downtown.
Outside of Scottsdale this is some of the most prime land for development there is other than maybe Chandler.

Like it or not, Phoenix would be blind and stupid to not pursue this opportunity.

Alliance Residential whose regional HQ is in Phoenix, just bought another prime development site in Denver. It's in Cherry Creek which is very comparable to their site at 26th and Camelback.
http://www.multifamilybiz.com/PR/948...ltifamily_Land
They will be breaking ground in May on their second apartment project in the Ballpark neighborhood around Coors Field. It will be seven stories with ground floor retail.
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=10036

You want to support downtown, don't harangue me, go knock on Alliance's door and tell them to build in downtown Phoenix. They're the one with capital and they're building.
Actually I'm hoping maybe they're considering downtown Phoenix.

You're correct. I don't think this was ever gonna go DT. Phoenicians should be happy that this will happen in Phoenix. It could easily have landed on the other side of a political boundary and all the revenue go towards another city (competitor).

When the first rumors of the Mayo Clinic deal came out, it should have been clear this would not be in downtown. Why would the Mayo Clinic sign up to partner on a biotech hub and potential medical school in downtown when the Mayo Clinic is already in North Phoenix? That would make absolutely zero sense from Mayo's standpoint. The benefit to Mayo, its students, and future biotech companies, is that the established hospital is nearby.

Arguing about putting these facilities in North Phoenix now is asinine. The argument about clustering downtown should have occurred before they built the damn hospital. Once the hospital is built, everything else associated would logically be placed nearby.

Just like you theoretically want all the biotech downtown to create a synergy in our biotech hub, Mayo would want to have things associated with it near its very large hospital to create a synergy.

Like everyone else said, with the hospital already way the hell up north and the writing on the proverbial wall, just be happy this stuff is going to kick into Phoenix's coffers instead of Scottsdale.

What a dumb argument

No, zoning in Desert Ridge is not near the density of downtown or central Phoenix; for one, there are crazy height restrictions and another is the required parking for suburban stretches of Phoenix. You might want to stick with your Denver posts because you don't seem to know too much about Phoenix.

Also, it isn't either build near Mayo or lose out. If Stanton dedicated more to the Downtown Bio-Med campus it would be more valuable to the City than anything in BFE; both in sustainability and in concentration/density of projects and collaborative infrastructure. Future Bio-Meds/Sciences aren't dependent on Mayo and the facilities already being developed downtown (UofA, NAU, ASU, TGen, etc) will be much more lucrative AND cost effective.

^ Stanton doesn't seem like the one leading this effort. http://www.azcentral.com/community/n...set-begin.html seems to indicate Mayo is the leader on this effort, and Stanton is supporting it as mayor. Good mayors are supposed to listen to the heavyweights in their city (ASU, Mayo) and supposed to stand by those heavyweight unless there is some overarching reason to not do so. The urban desires of downtown boosters in lieu of an *actual, major hospital* in the downtown biomedical area are not enough to preclude the growth of another area.

ASU and Mayo want to work their partnership out in Desert Ridge. They're not working downtown. ASU had the opportunity to work downtown in partnership with UofA and left that partnership. Forcing them back to downtown Phoenix isn't going to benefit anybody.

Besides, Phoenix is big enough to support two areas anyways. The free land in the downtown core and being near UofA/TGen/et al will entice those who wish to locate down here, the expanses of space and being near Mayo and ASU will entice those who wish to work up there.

This is a win/win, yes/and good deal for the city.

Regardless of who is leading the effort, it shouldn't be a priority for the City. It isn't a good deal for anyone but sprawl barons who aren't going to be liable for the cost of infrastructure that will be placed on the City. It isn't a sustainable development and that is something Phoenix needs to tackle regardless of what short-term benefits are possible.

Long-term consequences that will ultimately be more costly to the City than this development will be in short-term gains: loss of density, another real estate bust in faraway quadrants of the city, pollution, expanding the heat island, loss of open desert, more asphalt parking, more soulless architecture, higher infrastructure costs that we will all end up paying for, lack of transit...the list is unending.

If Mayo wants to build up there they should do so with their own money or go to the Scottsdale Shea Campus and allow Scottsdale to pick up the tab. In the future, with higher energy costs and limited state funding for roads and transportation (given the state of our Legislature) Scottsdale will need its faux rich to pay higher taxes to pay for its bloated self. But it is likely that Phoenix will shoot itself in the foot and we'll be in the same predicament as Scottsdale. Only Phoenix will end up passing on costs to poorer and minority residents even if they don't live in the sprawl; another food tax perhaps.

I'm surprised so many of you are calling the Desert Ridge area south of the 101 "BFE" and sprawl. Really...BFE?

http://www.arizona-leisure.com/gfx/m...un-map-760.gif

I guess we all have different ideas of what BFE is, but I would consider something like Cave Creek, Anthem, Buckeye or Queen Creek as BFE...certainly not anything within the boundaries of the 101 freeway.

Another thing...as much as all of us urban enthusiasts want Phoenix to be something that it's not, the reality is that people (and most companies) don't come to Phoenix for the urban experience. People come to Phoenix to get away from "urban" cities, that is one of the draws of Phoenix. That's not to say that we can't have an active downtown, but to wish that anything and everything that is built from now on be built south of the I-10 and north Jackson is unrealistic.

Phoenix isn't really drawing many companies to begin with. One reason is lack of a powerful downtown/CBD. Compared to other cities (even Seattle, which is smaller) that companies are actually moving to and creating high-paying jobs, Phoenix is rather pathetic for its size. Phoenix needs to compete for a new reality in which sprawl will eat up our resources and lead to massive inefficiencies. There is still time to change that but it won't last forever and if we continue to ignore sprawl's real costs the chance will be lost. Not everything needs to be built downtown, but downtown has been neglected far too long and development is badly needed. There is too much vacant land to allow continued destruction of the desert.

Perhaps a look at a satellite map or census density map will show how BFE Desert Ridge is:

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&cp...-8&sa=N&tab=wl

Beyond the north mountain preserves and near the 101, population density is extremely low and less than 80,000 people call this area of the NE Quadrant of Phoenix home. It is ridiculous to spend so much on infrastructure for an area with such a low population count. Especially since more low density sprawl will eat up the remaining desert; Phoenix can't buy land quick enough to turn it into preserve/park land...

Mayo is one of the most prestigious names in health care. If having a biomed campus in NE Phoenix is what we get then those are the breaks. It's better than it being in Scottsdale or not being here at all. What's done is done, I'm ecstatic that any collaboration with Mayo is happening in Phoenix. That being said;