Anyone know what is going up off the I-10 near the 60 (going east)? There are two tower cranes up so I assume it must be something of some significance.

http://www.nitnelav.com/DTApril202010/1.jpg

It was in the Tempe thread.

Why the hell cant Apollo Group put something up downtown?

Agreed. The old Thomas J Pappas school site for instance is owned by the City, the city should approach Apollo/UofP about maybe building something there. Or perhaps nearer to the BioMed area since UofP does offer a nursing program. Or maybe UoP could lease space in the Phelps Dodge building once FMcM moves to OCPE. It just seems to make sense that theyd have a presence downtown considering they market themselves to working adults.

I know they crave the freeway exposure for buildings that bare the University of Phoenix brand.

It irks me to no end as well why Apollo does not have a pressence downtown. They are approaching occupying nearly 30 single story and multi story buildings within roughly a five mile radius of Sky Harbor. Strange considering Apollo's co-CEO's and President of the company all have permanent offices in the AT&T corporate plaza in downtown Chicago. A consolidated office complex in downtown would give Phoenix the large home based company presence they are lacking. This would encompass over 20,000 employees. Anyone know how many floors of class A office space this would require?

I know they like the freeway exposure...but what about the exposure of having a new tallest with UofP sign on it that can be seen from both the I-10 and the I-17.

Hmm I dunno about a new tallest, Id be kinda embarrassed to have the tallest building in Arizona with a diploma mills name on it :P

Why would apollo want to put somwthibg downtown 7 miles from EVERYTHING else they have? Fuck, i wouldnt do that either.

Because they have campuses all over the Valley and their purpose in large part is educating working adults, the largest number of which are in the CBD? They have "Learning Centers" at:

Mesa: 1620 S Stapley
NW Phx: 2550 W Union Hills
East Phx/Sky Harbor area: 4635 E Elwood
West Phx: 9520 W Palm Lane
Chandler: 3075 W Ray

So obviously they have no issue with building campuses that aren't proximate to one another. In fact its quite the opposite, they're not a real/normal college like ASU or UA thats going to have one main campus that people live on, near or commute to. Their whole system is to be near where people already are.

I saw a few days ago comments about that Musical Instrument Museum. The TV was on a channel called Ovation TV earlier tonight and they were promoting a documentary on this museum, set to air a couple days before it opens:

http://www.ovationtv.com/programs/85...n-to-the-world

...if anyone's interested.

The government stifles development here, and red tape is still rampant. Look at this horseshit list of things the city of Phoenix requires a permit for:

http://phoenix.gov/DEVSERV/devcntr.html

It's NONE of the government's business if I want to upgrade my windows, for example. They should be happy that I want to install dual-paned windows. It's just a way to slow down the process and make it more expensive for people to make simple changes to their homes, and it functions as a revenue generator for the city.

Enclosing my carport to a garage? How in the FUCK does this affect anybody else? Why should the government be involved in this process?

Absurd...governmentium at it's worst.

All of this BS red tape should be eliminated immediately. That will do more to spur development and business than anything else.

--don

^because once you enclose it, it becomes a livable space...which impacts your neighbors.

Seriously don. Thought youd be smart enough to figure that out

I think you guys are missing Dons general point which is there's too much red tape in Phoenix development, which I can't imagine anyone would argue with after hearing about the Matts Big Breakfast headaches. The City needs to find a way to remove that red tape, as well as speed up the permitting process. I've said it before but Id love the City to break things into Zones and areas closer to downtown working outward would get permits pushed to the head of the line, etc.

What happened with Matt's?

More like The Roosevelt/Giant Coffee headaches. Matt's was a cakewalk compared to the other two projects.

Having worked in Phoenix as an architect and having dealt extensively with the Community Development Department, I can tell you that this is entirely FALSE. Phoenix as a local agency is light years easier than even some of its own suburbs (Gilbert, Scottsdale being the worst).

As far as Don's gripe, the community development departments are charged with maintaining public welfare, which doesn't just constitute public safety, but also regulates local, state and federal buildings codes and standards. On top of that, it also promotes community consumer confidence in verification that work being doing meets those standards and is being done by qualified professionals.

Do some of the standards go WAY to far? Are some of them questionable? Are there people who violate them all the time? Absolutely. But in a general sense, it's a necessary evil...and mostly exists because of lawyers and people with too much time on their hands.

I'd also like to point out that typically a community development department is one of the few revenue producing departments in a municipal government. It's not like they are simply sucking on the public teet.

wow...did I just come out in defense of a building department? It must be Friday and I must need a 2 beer lunch! :cheers:

You're comparing Phoenix to its suburbs but Im not really sure thats the measuring stick thats necessary. Even if Phoenixs Development services Dept is easier than some other cities you've worked in, that doesn't make it great. When comparing one government agency to another its difficult, because generally they're all pretty glacial.

I've heard enough horror stories from small business people in Downtown to know some sort of system needs to be created to streamline the process. Verde which is set to open within the month was originally slated for a Fall 09 opening according to the New Times but has been pushed back b/c of City BS. Matts was the same deal.

Remember, I'm not that smart. I went to a third-tier law school. But I'll count your response as one for red tape and more bureaucracy.

I will say this...it should not take months to get a project approved. On their own website, they list the different times it takes to get these applications approved. Many of them are like six weeks or more.

In addition, they want too much detail. I shouldn't need to submit architectural drawings created by an architect to enclose my garage, move my air conditioner, or much of the other crap the city demands for relatively minor reconstruction projects. Their requirements are onerous and excessive.

I have less of an issue with new construction, but I'm sure there is plenty of improvement in this area as well.

--don

I agree with construction permits whole-heartedly. Do you really want some retarded trailer park fuck who thinks he knows everything doing construction on a home and then you buying it? How would you know what happened during construciton. It protects my home value knowing that all of my neighbors are required to properly construct things.

If you get rid of permits and regulations, you end up with Mexico. Do you want to live in Mexico? I don't want to live in Mexico with a bunch of poor people.