Phoenix | Astra Towers (2 towers) | 541 FT | 44 Floors & 425 FT | 30 Floors

[TllrSkyline-01]

Originally Posted by plinko

Just curious for those of you who dislike above grade parking podiums:

Where should the parking go? On yet another block that can be dedicated entirely to parking?

Underground where it costs 5-8X as much to construct?

Should there be no parking because Phoenix has achieved a walkable urban downtown where all needs can be easily met via foot and/or transit?

I'm honestly curious.

I think that given the necessity, parking podiums can be done in a way that isn't intrusive, is aesthetically decent, and hey, it gives a height boost that otherwise isn't warranted by the market.

I tend to agree with you. DT Phoenix has not reached pedestrian sustainability levels yet. I have a work colleague who lives downtown, and he still depends on his car to go shopping and work daily. And he says sometimes it just too hot to walk the 10 blocks to the Fry's on Washington and carry all the grocery bags back home.

However, I think we can do parking pedestals better, by still going down a couple of floors, then incorporate 1st floor retail and additional parking above it. This is not a bad choice and it gives new residents additional retail options.

[exit2lef]

Originally Posted by plinko

Just curious for those of you who dislike above grade parking podiums:

Where should the parking go? On yet another block that can be dedicated entirely to parking?

Underground where it costs 5-8X as much to construct?

Should there be no parking because Phoenix has achieved a walkable urban downtown where all needs can be easily met via foot and/or transit?

I'm honestly curious.

I think that given the necessity, parking podiums can be done in a way that isn't intrusive, is aesthetically decent, and hey, it gives a height boost that otherwise isn't warranted by the market.

You've given three alternatives. The first is even worse than podiums. The answer is a combination of the second and third options: less parking and what remains goes underground.

Making parking more expensive to build is a feature, not a bug. It assures that only the amount of parking absolutely necessary is built, rather than a surplus brought about by arbitrary government mandates. The "necessity" you refer to is largely a manufactured and self-perpetuating one. Keep on building parking podiums, and the effect is to induce more demand for parking.

Can everyone make every trip without a car? Of course not. No one is claiming that. Nevertheless, for a building two blocks from light rail and well served by buses, rideshare, and robotaxis, the need for every resident, guest, employee, and customer to have their own private vehicle is greatly reduced.

[halicem]

Originally Posted by plinko

Just curious for those of you who dislike above grade parking podiums:

Where should the parking go? On yet another block that can be dedicated entirely to parking?

Underground where it costs 5-8X as much to construct?

Should there be no parking because Phoenix has achieved a walkable urban downtown where all needs can be easily met via foot and/or transit?

I'm honestly curious.

I think that given the necessity, parking podiums can be done in a way that isn't intrusive, is aesthetically decent, and hey, it gives a height boost that otherwise isn't warranted by the market.

For this particular development, they will already have 4 levels of underground parking. They're reserving that for the hotel valet only. Then they're adding 6 levels of podium parking on the 2 towers, for residential and office use. For a total of about 1.1k slots.

The downtown Y, during construction, would be granted parking access to the city-owned parking garage immediately south of the development (this was a disclosure from previous meetings).

In the meeting last saturday, they reps mentioned this developer in particular wanted to make sure they have parking for any/all possible visitors and they agreed it's a lot of parking space and goes above and beyond considering there's supposedly no required parking for office and hotels (I say supposedly only because I'm not familiar with parking minimum requirements for this specific project).

My thoughts for this particular project are:

1. they do have underground parking, which is great (I believe it's 600 spaces iirc across the 4 levels). And that should be enough imo. For a hotel with only 300 rooms, the math ain't mathing. Why 600 spaces dedicated for hotel valet? (might be wrong with the numbers, I'm pulling from memory here)
2. the Y requirement: if the Y is able to have access to the city-owned garage, why not make it permanent? It's pre-existing structure and seems underutilized in and of itself. The developer could buy-out floors or do 10-year leases from the city
3. beyond the Y, that parking garage could also accommodate overflow parking if needed
4. it's a block away from a major transit hub (the central station), the Taylor paseo will be right in the center of this development which runs north of Central Station. I'd say it's got pretty good access to transit

[exit2lef]

Originally Posted by halicem

My thoughts for this particular project are:

1. they do have underground parking, which is great (I believe it's 600 spaces iirc across the 4 levels). And that should be enough imo. For a hotel with only 300 rooms, the math ain't mathing. Why 600 spaces dedicated for hotel valet? (might be wrong with the numbers, I'm pulling from memory here)
2. the Y requirement: if the Y is able to have access to the city-owned garage, why not make it permanent? It's pre-existing structure and seems underutilized in and of itself. The developer could buy-out floors or do 10-year leases from the city
3. beyond the Y, that parking garage could also accommodate overflow parking if needed
4. it's a block away from a major transit hub (the central station), the Taylor paseo will be right in the center of this development which runs north of Central Station. I'd say it's got pretty good access to transit

#2 and #3 are really good points. The city-owned garage on 2nd Avenue seems chronically underutilized. Until recently, it wasn't even open after 6 PM until someone realized that Crescent Ballroom customers might be willing to pay for parking there. Even with that development, the Y and the Crescent are unlikely to see peak occupancy at the same time.

[ASU Diablo]

Originally Posted by exit2lef

#2 and #3 are really good points. The city-owned garage on 2nd Avenue seems chronically underutilized. Until recently, it wasn't even open after 6 PM until someone realized that Crescent Ballroom customers might be willing to pay for parking there. Even with that development, the Y and the Crescent are unlikely to see peak occupancy at the same time.

The parking garage will also be meant for the new Police HQ building (old WF building). So it may look underutilized right now, but once they fully move-in, I expect it to be busier. That garage was also previously used by WF employees.

[halicem]

Originally Posted by ASU Diablo

The parking garage will also be meant for the new Police HQ building (old WF building). So it may look underutilized right now, but once they fully move-in, I expect it to be busier. That garage was also previously used by WF employees.

They'll have 2 parking garages? I hope they keep this one publicly accessible not like what they did to the WF garage.

[exit2lef]

Originally Posted by ASU Diablo

The parking garage will also be meant for the new Police HQ building (old WF building). So it may look underutilized right now, but once they fully move-in, I expect it to be busier. That garage was also previously used by WF employees.

Are we talking about the same garage? I'm referring to the one on Second Avenue just north of Van Buren. That's a full two blocks (maybe three depending on how you count) blocks away from the new police HQ / old Wells Fargo building.

[ASU Diablo]

Originally Posted by exit2lef

Are we talking about the same garage? I'm referring to the one on Second Avenue just north of Van Buren. That's a full two blocks (maybe three depending on how you count) blocks away from the new police HQ / old Wells Fargo building.

Yep, the parking garage in front of Crescent Ballroom (303 N 2nd Ave).

I'm pretty positive that parking garage was also owned by Wells Fargo and was part of the sale to the city in 2021. The parking garage was used as overflow for employees as the attached parking garage did not have enough capacity. It appears that new Phoenix PD HQ building officially opened as of March 2026 so workers might be slowly moving over? No clue.

Anyways, that's my recollection. I wasn't able to find an article that captured these additional details but I did review property tax records and looks like there was a sale in 2021 as no property taxes have been paid as of 2022.

Edit : Confirmed by reviewing deed information. Sale was recorded on 10/2021.