. The Presidential is suppose to be 1111 E Washington ST right?

It blows my mind how they build these garages so quickly. Anyone know how that is? But a regular building like the Stewart or Link where the bottom part of the building is parking takes the normal amount of time to build.

I wager that standalone garage concrete is fast because it's all standard precast. Podium garages for high-rise involve extensive foundation and structural work.

Correct. They were bringing in slabs of precast walls for Novel that were fairly large and just hoist them into position. This method of garage construction would not hold up with 15 or 20 floors on top of it.

I figured this, but still pretty remarkable. Still having to construct these slabs else where and still having to bring it all together in what feels like almost over night.

They probably have had these slabs completed for a while. It did take quite some time for them to start construction. I haven't really looked into precast construction like this, but I'm wondering if these slabs are standard for most garages and the company building them has a stock of slabs ready to go?

That’s the same way the McKesson office buildings were constructed off the 101 and Chaparral. That whole office building went up in months.

Zoning sign up for the proposed mixed use development discussed a couple weeks ago on the NW corner of Thomas and Central. I believe the proposed tower was somewhere around 240' feet or so.

https://i.ibb.co/mRdkrSW/Resized-20190822-115146.jpg

https://www.azcentral.com/restricted...F2067706001%2F

True North on the move again, does anyone have access to the article?

How buying The Dressing Room fits into True North Studio's vision for Roosevelt Row

As of Monday, two of Roosevelt Row's most recognizable dining and drinking destinations have new owners.

Two-year-old coffee shop Be Coffee and The Dressing Room, a popular micro-restaurant, now belong to a growing list of downtown Phoenix businesses owned by True North Studio. The Phoenix-based development company has made major investments in downtown Phoenix in recent years including purchasing large swaths of property on Roosevelt Row.

Both the coffee shop and restaurant are located at monOrchid, a longstanding art gallery with office and event space that has been a pillar of the Roosevelt Row district in the Evans Churchill neighborhood for decades. The white building, a landmark of the area, is located on Roosevelt Street between Second and Third streets.

Partners Troy Watkins and Kyu Utsunomiya, who owned Be Coffee and The Dressing Room until this week, also have become familiar and prominent faces in the downtown community since opening Be Coffee in 2015. Not only do the pair and their company, Conceptually Social, operate restaurants in the downtown area, they also run a catering company based in the nearby Warehouse District.

Utsunomiya told The Republic on Tuesday afternoon that he decided to sell the two restaurants at monOrchid in order to focus on other parts of the business.

"This is our baby. We both got married while we were making this these things," Utsunomiya said of Be Coffee and The Dressing Room.

"All that said, our company was pivoting to focusing on catering. It had pivoted so far from there that it was hard to be in both places at once."

What this means for the restaurants
For fans of Be Coffee and The Dressing Room, Utsunomiya says to expect "business as usual."

He and Watkins will assist True North Studio during a 30-day transition period. The staff at both businesses also are able to keep their jobs despite the ownership change. True North Studio will now handle day-to-day operations at both businesses.

Utsunomiya says the idea to sell the two businesses came about in large part because of the relationship that Conceptually Social and True North Studio developed over the last couple years. Both True North Studio and Conceptually Social have office space inside the monOrchid.

When Utsunomiya began expressing interest in shifting focus to catering, conversations started about True North Studio taking over operations.

"It's when we first saw that there was a person and a team that could take this on and make it be what we want it to be," Utsunomiya says. "This is a legacy that we leave behind here."

What's next for Conceptually Social
Utsunomiya and Conceptually Social won't be going far, however. The company will continue to own and operate The Larry, a restaurant and coffee shop located in the Warehouse District south of downtown Phoenix.

That fast-growing area will be a new place of focus for Conceptually Social. As more businesses move into the Warehouse District, Utsunomiya hopes to build on Conceptually Social's prior success by meeting these companies' food and beverage needs.

"We want to see ourselves as a restaurant solutions company," Utsunomiya says. "And the great thing is we don't have to look farther than downtown."

In part that means continuing to grow as one of the only catering companies with a physical presence in or around downtown Phoenix.

But Utsunomiya also says the company aims to open new restaurants in the same model as The Larry.

The breakfast, lunch and happy hour restaurant is located in the same renovated warehouse as Galvanize, a coworking space for entrepreneurs and startup business. With hundreds of potential customers on-site each day, the restaurant benefits in part from a built-in customer base.

On-site event space also makes The Larry and Conceptually Social a natural choice for catering. And even when small companies inevitably outgrow the shared workspace at Galvanize, Conceptually Social is primed to become the catering company of choice for these growing tech startups.

"We found a niche," Utsunomiya says.

Is this a new model for True North Studio?
As for True North, the move to purchase the two food and beverage outlets is not entirely unexpected. But it is a shift away from the Phoenix-based development company's usual model.

In addition to purchasing monOrchid, True North Studio also has purchased or made financial investments in a number of properties and businesses in and around downtown Phoenix and Roosevelt Row.

The list includes hotel projects Cambria and the Godfrey Hotel, experiential projects such as Punch Bowl Social and the highly-anticipated Meow Wolf Hotel, as well as a number of restaurants and bars.

Notably, True North Studio recruited Grace Unger, owner of Tuck Shop, to join the company and operate a number of restaurants and bars on True North Studio-owned property. The development company also purchased Unger's Tuck Shop, a dining staple of the Coronado neighborhood northeast of downtown, though Unger continues to run day-to-day operations of that business.

Jonathon Vento, principal developer and True North Studio founder, says the acquisition of Be Coffee and The Dressing Room made sense for both the buyer and seller's long term goals.

"To me it's a classic win-win," Vento says. "I find them to be the best catering company in the state. They push boundaries in such a unique way."

To that end, Utsunomiya says Conceptually Social will continue to work closely with True North Studio by catering events at the developer's hotels and office complexes.

How this fits into the changes on RoRo
Vento, however, says True North Studio does not see acquiring and operating food and beverage businesses as a long-term or larger strategy. In this case, the developer says, the deal made sense since both companies had and will continue to work closely together.

"It was not a model for us," Vento says.

Utsunomiya says he's not worried about handing over the business to another company, even one with little experience in food and beverage operations.

"I'm not concerned about it," Utsunomiya says. "We felt comfortable with their commitment to what we started."

True North Studio also has invested in increasing its ability and expertise in food and beverage operations. The company has hired Carol Daniel, whose previous experience includes time at Levy Restaurants and Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants, to join the team.

Vento says the acquisition will only further the purpose monOrchid has always served as a third place for those living, working and dining in the Roosevelt Row neighborhood.

"MonOrchid is like a lab," he says. "It's really meant to create and foster change."

Interesting read, thanks for posting. This is one of the rare occurrences when opening in incognito mode did not help me.

True North is smart, they are buying the neighborhood and soon they will be able to dictate rent prices and sales figures. If you own all the comps then you own the market!

With a lot of very strong signals we're headed into a recession - how many of these projects actually get built? Seems like we're struggling to get a number of 'sure things' going as it is. (i.e. Palm Court, the rest of the Link, Collier's, etc)

That being said, its been a great cycle and had an big impact on downtown. Eager to see what the next cycle brings...

Most serious articles I read where they are going off experts and not the random bullshit you get from fox or cnn still place a recession 12-18 months out

That’s plenty of time to get many of these projects rolling before financing dries up.

Yes. GDP is still around 2% and all indications are that IF a yield curve inversion means a recession is certain (which there is much debate about) then it typically comes 18 months AFTER the inversion that happened last week for the first time.

Exactly. With Westin in Tempe getting fully financed construction, that's an indicator that a recession is still a ways off since banks are still willing to fund construction for this size of developments. The majority of experts (about 48%) are placing it at about the 3rd quarter of 2020. Also, this is not going to be Great Recession levels as some of the forumer's on here seem to think where we're heading towards. That was a once in a lifetime event. The next recession will dip unemployment numbers a few percent, last about 6 to 9 months and nothing more. Houses are not going to stop getting built, projects are not going to just stop during construciton and stock brokers are not going to jump from buildings. It will just be a slowdown...not a complete halt as what happened with the "big one".

I don't recall anyone saying another "great recession" is coming, but I think brushing off an impending recession (no matter how small) is kind of ill-advised. Why would a seasoned developer want to begin a project that will come to market as a recession is starting? Not a good use of money.

Not to veer too much off topic but I wonder how much of a recession actually happening is the result of a state of mind. I am not saying that it's not possible but it is highly suspicious with a very divisive election on the horizon that there is a push from the media onto the psyche of the public that a recession is eminent.....

Media narratives control reality to an extent, you're right. That said it's also true that 10+ years of economic growth has historically been about the upper limit.

Media hysteria will be the reason for the next recession 100% if it starts prematurely. You tell enough people something for long enough, they start to believe it and act accordingly. Like was previously said, we got another 12-18 months of runway, especially here in PHX. Anything short of that is from artificial means. Since the health of the economy is such a huge talking point for one candidate, seems to me the media has one big thing to try to crush before next election:sly:

Also, one thing to keep in mind when it pertains to development timelines and the process, the city of Phoenix is slammed in their permits department. Plan review is looking at 9-11 business WEEKS before applicants receive first comments then 4-6+ weeks after that. A lot of projects mentioned are in the pipeline to receive building permits. Patience is key:tup: