IM not so worried the residents alone are worth those apartments and im sure the leasing office can be moved or shrunk to allow for retail if the demand makes sense for it.

Also I was driving around downtown this morning and just overall the amount of development from small remodels to major construction is awesome all over town, Im loving it! I probably passed half a dozen projects on the east side of central I didn't even know were happening.

The Hampton Inn already has dirt moving, the Renaissance facelift looks great, (hope Hilton follows that example) and the Stetson (circles) has some tractors parked. Have those been there for months? because if not maybe we can expect some movement on it soon.

I saw the same thing yesterday and wondered this!

Also, in retail news, the long-coveted Park has opened in the Collier Center. For those who don't knowc it's a beer garden/food truck kind of gathering hall. And apparently, Cornish Pasty has set an opening date in March.

Stetson? You mean Stewart? Or did the name change again?

Stewart, Stetson, Circles tomato tomotto just so long we can ignore the Nimbys and get this built.

I just walked over to the circles building, I see nothing that says imminent construction but there are a couple of utility trucks nearby.

I'm doing a tri-plex right now on 37th Street and Earll and gave our contractor the ok in mid January. I drove by almost every day to see when they were starting and nothing was happening, took three days off driving by and all of a sudden there's a hole and stakes in the ground, just to tell you how quickly things can begin happening on a job site.

Another developer buys land at growing freeway, light rail hub
 

Phoenix Business Journal

This is a prime development area in my opinion. I don't know why it has languished for so long. Good freeway and light rail access, and good amenities nearby including many office parks (with high-wage jobs), the airport (again, more jobs), the zoo, botanical garden, Camelback Mountain, and, the Camelback Corridor.

There's lots of vacant land around this area, and many dilapidated old apartment and condo complexes and a few trailer parks.

I recently left my job which was in one of the office parks on 44th just north of Van Buren. The only recent urban type development was the Trillium Apartments directly behind the Aloft Airport hotel on Van Buren. I suspect this area will look very different in a few years.

Don't forget Sprouts- a large publicly traded company that's headquartered here in Phoenix. That'd be a great company to have in a tower downtown. Unfortunately they recently moved their office to the City North Development.

It looks like in the last few weeks they got permits for sewerline improvements, so I assume that's what's going on.

yeah, lots of dirt moving in the alley and parking lot and a lot of surveyors around, looks like I may be eating crow on this one since I said the developer wasn't real.

I'm still right about Lafferty, though.

Always interesting developments happening downtown.


http://m.imgur.com/jVOPzT8
I really like how the Oscar turned out.

http://m.imgur.com/MfcI01o
Demolition request posted on the Circles building. I wonder whether it's to continue the demolition for part of the structure or if any further parts have been added to the demo.

http://m.imgur.com/EtmGAz9
Now what strikes my curiosity most is what they're doing to the old downtown deli space. The signage is down. Any ideas??

http://m.imgur.com/B051EkT
Finally, taken from behind the Knipe house fence, Roosevelt Row has come a long ways.

Hasn't that been down for quite some time? Short Leash hot dogs had taken over this space for some time and has since closed.

You mean Short Lease.

My last posts were not meant to be that critical for once. :shrug: Regardless of any talks of gentrification, Evans Churchill looks like a true urban neighborhood finally. When you see what occupied tenants add, it's hard to argue that single-use lowrises are out of place and the long swaths of non-public spaces are just missed opportunities to have essentially built a true retail block from scratch. But, overall, Phoenix is killing it -- just imagine if they DID have jobs.

nick - Yes, I always mention Sprouts, too; imagine PetSmart at the PBC, Best Western at Central Station, Sprouts at VB/5th Ave, and Coldstone (with flagship factory) at Van Buren/7th Ave, with midrise education buildings mixed in and the adaptive reuse projects... sigh. I have to believe a HQ will land downtown eventually with the population boom, though. So, we'll see.

RE: The Papago/Gateway area, I have always thought the 3 cities missed a great opportunity there, especially landlocked Tempe. There is nowhere else with the density of attractions available, and the Airport, Skytrain, and Canal means it was a no-brainer for eventual office and hotel projects. But, SRP and National Guard engulf Papago, and most projects are suburban. I think this area is perfect for some form of transit invesment.

As far as those photos go, I too love the Oscar. Perfect infill. And, I love seeing the exposed brick on the retail building at Monroe... I'd love to see better tenants join Cornish in the spaces to its west, and hopefully the entire facade is unveiled eventually. On a different note, the Valley Bar building and the one housing Dunkin Donuts are two of my least favorite buildings downtown, but they help complete one of the few end-to-end blocks... I wish the Heard was on the corner so redevelopment could be possible, but the others' footprints seem too small. Is the Valley Bar sized for something like a House of Blues or Alamo House?

---

So, the Garfield/Pierce project, while looking a bit like a pipedream, is pretty much perfection. Three mixed use towers surrounding Proxxy. Pierce, McKinley, and 4th would have a definite city vibe going if so. I won't do my full rant on the PBC, but damn it, it's so short-sighted.

https://www.facebook.com/DowntownVoices

That IS Garfield/Pierce, no?

This is the lovely garage planned for Central/Palm, BTW: https://www.phoenix.gov/pddsite/Documents/Z-44-16.pdf

I don't understand the link to the DVC Facebook page. Did you mean to link to a specific event or posting on that page?

The irony of using the phrases "walkable urban" and "transit oriented" to justify a parking garage is amazing -- even more so because the authors of this document probably didn't mean for it to be ironic. Also, I can't help but notice the silly stipulation that bike racks should be installed in the garage. That seems like putting lipstick on a pig. People who travel to either the Heard Museum or PAM via bicycle are generally going to want to lock up at a visible rack prominently placed in front of their destination (e.g. the rack near the red dinosaur outside PAM). Better to encourage more of those than to hide bike racks in an overflow parking garage.

I'm confused as well. I don't see anything there...

Click the link and review the photos section. Someone took a pic of the presentation

https://www.facebook.com/DowntownVoi...type=3&theater

This one right?

the three tower project.

Looks a bit too ambitious.:(

I don't think it looks anymore ambitious than something like Cityscape, Arizona Center or Century Link Plaza (sorry, I don't know the official name for that group of highrises).

I do think it's inevitable that Phoenix is going to start seeing more and more proposals like this. There are too many people moving Downtown and they are running out of super-sized lots to build 350 units on 4 or 5 floors. The alternative is to build taller as the larger parcels dwindle. :tup: