With the antenna included, Westward Ho is also the tallest building in the state by 5 feet. Not that most people consider the antenna part of the building.

Only in New York do they consider antennae as part of the building :cheers:

Westward Ho
 

Yes the sign was originally illuminated. It was open panned double exposed (which means outlining the outer part of the letter) white neon. It looked great.

I just looked at it, it's definitely painted currently, unsure if that means the lighting has been removed.

Remove the hideous antenna and get the sign illuminated again. These decisions should not be that difficult.

Seriously. Out of all the beautiful historic buildings, homes and landmarks in Phoenix that have been torn down over the years, I can't believe this horrible antenna is where some people want to draw the line and say: "This far and no further!"

Restoring the illuminated sign adds a lot more to the building aesthetically and historically than keeping the antenna does in preserving any historical significance.

Yeah the sign would be f'in amazing. Where is it? Talk about restoring the sign=it is somewhere in storage? It's certainly not on the side of the building any more.

My ultimate, which I've talked about before, would be the restoration of the lantern atop the security building. That's actually still there just sitting in the dark and could seemingly easily be turned on again. I had conversations with the people at the ASU PURL before they left and they tried getting in contact with the county (who owns the building) and obviously nothing ever came of it.

Westward Hotel Sign
 

The Original sign (actually individual open pan neon out lined lighted letters) removed and they put up those cheesy non illuminated red letters in it's place.
It was a good looking sign.

'A Dramatic Transformation' In Store For the Historic Welnick Bros. Marketplace
 

(duplicate, please delete)

'A Dramatic Transformation' In Store For the Historic Welnick Bros. Marketplace
 

Nice update on Welnick Marketplace. Would love the see the continuous redevelopment of West Van Buren as well. This part of downtown has been neglected in the past couple of years...

http://dtphx.org/2015/07/24/a-dramat...s-marketplace/

http://dtphx.org/wp-content/uploads/...arketplace.jpg

Heard Building Renovation
 

Oh geezus... a new glass facade? Sounds horrible. It's not bad from a historic perspective now, but even the current facade is an long-ago update from the original. Another terrible idea from a historic perspective.

What a terrible idea.

good stuff! Ive been wondering when the are between 1st ave and Grand would start to gentrify. It would be great to get the good stuff downtown connected to the good stuff on grand.

Office Vacancies in PHX fall slightly
 

http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/n...ill-above.html

Let's hope the trend continues. I wonder if the entire Banner move is factored in yet. I would've thought that would move the needle a another 1-2%.

It looks like the Banner move was factored in.

Unbelievable how much vacant space there is...

Is it really that unbelievable? The suburbs and N. Phx have been siphoning companies from downtown and midtown for 20+ years. Companies want low or mid rise buildings with ample space, ample parking and quick access to umcongested freeways. Dtnphx and midtown can't offer that.

I'm curious as to where these uncongested freeways are in the suburbs. I sure haven't found them.

Moreover, when your office is in the suburbs you are limiting your pool of employees. For example, if your office is in Mesa or Gilbert, you're definitely not attracting employees from Peoria or Glendale. Same goes for potential clients.

I work in a large professional services firm in Central Phoenix and for those very reasons my firm and our competitors will likely always be centrally located (whether that's midtown, downtown, Camelback corridor, Tempe, etc.).

Downtown Phoenix, Roosevelt Row replace Scottsdale as most expensive rental markets
 

17 North from Deer Valley, the 101 Agua Fria, the 202 Santan, the 10 in the West Valley, and the 303. Aside from occasional traffic accidents and minor slowing, these freeways generally flow much better than any Central Phoenix freeways. It's just the truth. One only has to flip through past pages of this forum to hear the endless griping about companies choosing N. Scottsdale, Deer Valley, or the Price Freeway corridor in Tempe or Chandler instead of downtown Phoenix.

I work in Tempe and have coworkers who live in Surprise. I think people's commuting patters are a lot more complex than you think.