Thanks. Couldn't remember which one and 5 Guys didn't sound right. I don't think those coming soon Smashburger signs are around any more. They were either taken down or they fell down.

That intersection would be a successful spot for redevelopment even in a down economy. The fact that those buildings have been and remain vacant leads me to believe that the owners want them to remain vacant. I'd imagine that there is a tax benefit that they are realizing by the buildings remaining as they are.

Yeah, but unless you own a shop that sells "Get Well Soon" cards nearby, I think it's going to be difficult to capture that market. I could be wrong, maybe some sort of family-oriented establishment would build some positive synergies.

I noticed the old buildings on the southwest corner of 1st Ave and Fillmore are for lease after apparently being dark for so many decades.

I'm hoping it will spur some development in the immediate area. That Holiday Inn should get busy real quick, maybe another hotel could be built in the vicinity?

Im thinking my property values are going to go up. Yay. In the meantime i hope all the empty lots get apartments and hawtell rooms.

The old Tom Horne building has had a ton of work done on the interior. There was a lot of environmental remediation and structural work that needed to be done. TI's for Chipotle and 5 Guys should start in about 3 weeks. I was able to walk through it a few weeks back. It's a much bigger building than it appears. Heard they are tyring to put it in a little wine bar/bistro thing as well. I think one of the neighbors threw up some road blocks that delayed the project.

So we are getting Chipotle and 5 Guys? Seems odd there would be another 5 Guys with such proximity to Cityscape.

As for a neighbor putting up road blocks, go fucking figure.

I liked the Ace Hardware rumor better. Much more useful than a couple more chain restaurants.

I like Chipotle, so I'm good with that rumor. Who cares if it leaves blood in your underwear?

Chipotle, 5 Guys and some office space for an architect or contractor are locked in from what I've been told. They are working on some type of wine bar / bistro deal for the south side of the building where the dry cleaning place was.

Woo hoo! I hope the 5 Guys & Chipotle rumor is true, more restaurants in walking distance from my house!

I was really excited about the Ace rumor too :(

meh, I just assume drive 5 minutes further to Home Depot and save myself 20%

The trick is some of us are trying to get out from under the burden of car-ownership. Having a hardware store along the light rail makes that easier.

not trying to nitpick here, but we are considering 7th avenue and mcdowell along the light rail route? It's 1/2 mile from the train station, and you're going to try to live in Phoenix w/o a car? god bless you.

When the weather is nice, a 1/2 mile walk is easy. When the weather's shitty (which we're just now getting into, yuck) then walking is out of the question, but it's still an easy biking distance.

Town and Country is proposing some changes:

- Demolishing the old Black Angus on the north end of the property along Camelback Rd and building an 8-story 105' office building right to the east of it.
- Rebuilding a significant chunk of the north end of the mall
- A small retail/restaurant (fast food?) across from the Danny's Family on 20th st and Highland

http://emvis.net/~sean/ssp/projects/.../Z-54-90ph.pdf

About the ACE Hardware rumor, there was also a rumor a year or two ago that an ACE Hardware store was going to open in the Gold Spot. I think there's a lot of wishful thinking because there's a real need for a Downtown neighborhood hardware store. Regardless of prices, there are customers, including me, who want something more manageable, more service-focused, and more neighborhood-based than a huge big box hardware store. I use the True Value at 16th St. & Bethany or the Ace at 7th St. & Missouri, both of which are near me. I can understand why someone who lives in the Downtown core would want a similar store there.

There is already an Ace at 19th/Grand/McDowell. So while it would have been even more convenient to have one at 7th and McDowell (for me), it probably would have made little economic sense to the owners to open one a mile away from an existing, and long-standing, Ace store.

They must be doing that work on Tom Horne's building for a very short period of time during the middle of the day because I haven't seen anyone working on it in months. One day there was a guy jackhammering stucco from small portions of the facade. Other than that, nothing. Good to hear that something may be going on even if it is surreptitiously.

This sounds great! A continuation of the Biltmore/Camelback corridor linear development of mid-rises just makes sense.

Town and Country is a relic of the past, good to see it is considering changing with the times.

In some ways, it's a relic, but there's a lot worth remembering and learning about from T&C. The biggest is the intelligent use of shade at the shopping center. The interior has mature trees and awnings that make it a comfortable place to stroll around even in the summer. Back is the shopping center's heyday, customers could park once and then visit interesting shops, restaurants, and a movie theater without having to cross hot asphalt multiple times. Unfortunately, that characteristic has been largely forgotten due to the closure of the movie theater and the neglect of the courtyard and interior passageways. A visionary redevelopment of T&C might put mid-rises up against the street along Camelback while retaining a shaded plaza in the retail areas.