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Additionally, things would be much better if strip malls were moved to the sidewalk and parking was in back, but even that seems like too much to ask. I guess, what I'm trying to say is that we shouldn't look down on a place just because it's in a strip mall, not in this city anyway. |
:previous: Good point. Also, don't forget shade trees(and I don't mean palms) planted at regular intervals along the whole length. That softens the urban boundary at the sidewalk and makes it inviting. Furthermore, Central is far too wide to really encourage walking or strolling. I think you would have to remove a lane and make the sidewalks far wider, then creating a line of good palo verdo or mesquite, then it might not look so auto-centric. Maybe then Jane Suburb might be tempted to take a walk down it instead of Joe Shopping Cart.
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Hopefully someone with deep pockets can come in and bring that beautiful building back from it's current situation. Fingers crossed.
ML Managers takes over Ten Wine Lofts, Hotel Monroe Phoenix Business Journal - by Jan Buchholz ML Managers LLC has taken possession of the Hotel Monroe in downtown Phoenix and Ten Wine Lofts in Scottsdale, both busted projects that the now defunct Grace Communities had partially developed. The announcement was made Friday by Mark Winkleman, chief operating officer of ML Managers, the firm created to administer commercial real estate loans made by Mortgages Ltd. That company was forced into Chapter 11 reorganization bankruptcy after its sole shareholder, Scott Coles, committed suicide in June 2008. Mortgages Ltd. had been one of the largest lenders in the state for construction and land acquisition loans since the mid-2000s. Winkleman said Ten Wine Lofts, a luxury condominium project near Scottsdale and Osborn roads in Old Town Scottsdale, is being aggressively marketed by Mark Forrester, a partner at Hendricks & Partners. “It’s about 95 percent finished. Pretty darn close,” Winkleman said. The Hotel Monroe historic redevelopment project was barely off the ground when the economy tanked in late 2008. Interiors of the property at the southeast corner of Central and Monroe avenues in downtown Phoenix had been stripped in preparation for new construction of a boutique hotel and have remained untouched but exposed to the elements for about two years. Winkleman said that property will be put on the market shortly. Another property acquired by Grace Communities via a Mortgages Ltd. loan also has been repossessed: A 9.7 acre vacant parcel near Highland Avenue and Scottsdale Road, north of Scottsdale Fashion Square. Winkleman said that property also will go on the market soon. In all, Grace Communities borrowed about $121 million from Mortgages Ltd. Grace Communities has not been a viable company for several months, according to information provided in May by Ryan Zeleznak, one of its principals. In addition to acquiring the properties through foreclosure sales, Winkleman said he negotiated settlements with Zeleznak, his father Don Zeleznak and Jonathon Vento, the three partners in Grace Communities. Specifics of those settlements are confidential, Winkleman said. ML Partners has been busy in recent weeks. The company also repossessed Los Arcos Crossing, a former Bashas’ anchored strip mall east of Scottsdale and McDowell roads. The borrower on that property was Phoenix-based PDG America, which had planned to build a mixed-use development that would complement the nearby SkySong ASU Innovation Center. The Los Arcos project never got off the ground, but Winkleman expects strong interest in the property given that the city of Scottsdale plans more significant redevelopment in the area. |
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The KML project on 3rd St and Roosevelt, lingering for a while, is officially dead. I noticed the for sale sign for 3 acres including the "gateway" block and the east half of the block to the south. Together they are Downtown Phoenix's largest undeveloped privately owned assemblage.
http://emvis.net/~sean/ssp/projects/...trendering.jpg |
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Those Chase Tower 'improvements' are such a gigantic waste. You cant plant a few new trees and hope people are going to want to walk around a castle wall and down into a ravine to hang out, or have a good urban experience. Just knock the wall out and put in some retail, even if its of the cart/truck food variety.
E: VVV Thats good news. Im glad public-private partnerships are being discussed, theyre whats really needed to make it a great park. |
Officials taking new look at old plans for Deck Park
by Connie Cone Sexton - Aug. 15, 2010 12:00 AM The Arizona Republic Work is under way to pump new life into a 32-acre park that floats above the Deck Park Tunnel near downtown Phoenix. City officials are dusting off the late 1980s original master plan and hope one day to find the money to see envisioned projects become real. Twenty years ago this month, Valley residents flocked to the opening of the tunnel, a marvel of transportation engineering that cut a hole through a half-mile of central Phoenix real estate. Then and now: Deck Park Tunnel/Hance Park It was the final puzzle piece to finish Interstate 10 and create an unbroken 2,400-mile-plus stretch between California and Florida. But the tunnel was also one of the biggest bonanzas for the city of Phoenix: a chance to create a park atop the portion of the Papago Freeway between Third Avenue and Third Street, just south of McDowell Road. Thousands of homes had already been cleared when initial plans called for the highway segment to be aboveground. Officials and area residents had grand plans for a sort of mini Central Park: Visitors to the Deck Park would be able to stroll through a grassy picnic area, pass through a grove of trees into a bustling urban plaza, snap a few pictures by the park's fountains and carousel, then head for a concert at the outdoor amphitheater. Since opening in 1992 as the renamed Margaret T. Hance Park, the site offers several amenities, including the Japanese Friendship Garden, the Irish Cultural Center and large expanses of grass, but it lacks the allure that city leaders hoped to see. Downturns in the economy and constraints on the Phoenix budget kept the city from adding features like the amphitheater and carrousel. Although a handful of festivals are held outside the Burton Barr Central Library, which sits on the northern midpoint of the park, more are needed, observers say. But with a resurgence of interest and activity in downtown Phoenix and new residents moving into surrounding historic homes, the time is right to take another look at the park, said Tom Byrne, a landscape architect for the city. The potential for the site is great, he said, adding: "It has good bones but not a lot of attractions or things in the park to stimulate activity." A task force reviewing the park and neighbors say they'd like to see better lighting, maybe a dog park, coordination among the cultural groups to expand activities, a bike-rental shop, food vendors and canopies of shade. Joan Kelchner, a member of the neighborhood Roosevelt Action Association, is excited that the city is starting what she calls "a very aggressive attempt to update the park." Kelchner, who moved into the Roosevelt Historic District adjacent to the park in 1984, hopes the new visioning of the park will spur the preservation of the city-owned Winship House, a historic building on the west side of the park. She believes it will take private-public partnerships to truly ignite the master plan for Hance Park. Kelchner suggests a public outdoor market for the site and for artists' lofts to be developed, much like what the original plan envisioned. "There has been progress at the park, but it's been spotty," she said. Steve Weiss, secretary of the Downtown Voices Coalition, wishes Hance Park were used more frequently. "The sad thing about some of the Phoenix parks is that they're either ignored or loved to death. Hance Park is falling into the former category." Jim Burke, Phoenix assistant parks director, is encouraged by the activity he does see. "There are a lot of folks who jog through or use it as passive recreation," he said. "But it's probably a little underutilized." Jonathan Davis, a former landscape architect for Howard Needles, Tammen & Bergendoff, who was the project coordinator for the deck, said the park and the tunnel came about when the city was coming of age. The tunnel and park project is an "incredible engineering marvel," said Davis, now president of SEMI North America. "It was a fantastic project that had a real hope to serve as a catalyst for growth." He said the park was a terrific solution for easing an old wound after the homes had been leveled to make room for the freeway. Instead of a divide that separated neighborhoods, the park, he said, "could be the bridge." |
Interesting photos from azcentral.com
Then and Now:Deck Park Tunnel/Hance Park http://www.azcentral.com/photo/News/...15832#phototop |
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Further even if there were already taller buildings in that area, why should be zoning for more? Phoenix is already vastly over zone height wise and we need to try to keep 350'+ towers in Downtown, they just don't fit in Uptown. Even when the market does recover I just don't see the demand for building what would be the 3rd tallest building in Phoenix that far North. |
I don't know if it was a once-in-a-while thing, a one-time thing, or if it has to do with the renovation of the Chase Tower Plaza so it will be an every-night thing, but I noticed the whole white part of the Chase Tower was lit up last night. I saw it from the airport, and it looked really good.
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Its been like that a couple months
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Every night? I guess I just haven't noticed.
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I assume every night. I noticed it for a while then it just became part of the landscape. Maybe if it was off id noitce it? I dunno.
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How old is this? '01-'05?
^^^ wait Dodge theatre is there so '04-'05. How old is Dodge Theatre??? |
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