Phoenix Development News (3)

[Phxguy]

But now I'm interested! Been waiting for the vacant retail in Skyline Lofts to be filled since it was Alta Phoenix and with something more than just another tattoo parlor, yoga studio, or coffee shop which has became the staple for Roosevelt Row.

Can I ask if it'll be high-end grocery like a local Whole Foods or a pseudo-market down like at Cityscape?

Also on the topic of retail, the empty spot on the east side of Roosevelt Point has been filled by Ike's Sandwiches.

[biggus diggus]

3,000 feet doesn't bring a grocery store. Think along the lines of LGO or Luci's.

[Phxguy]

I wish LGO opened a shop downtown, I believe it was in the original plans for Cityscape. So, at 3,000 Sq ft a specialty shop is possible. Health food, vegan, maybe a culture-theme like Italian or Indian. Either way sounds groovy. We need more diversity in shops downtown, I mean, we just need plain shops to begin with.

[PHX31]

Years ago didn't someone on these boards say the people behind LGO were planning on opening in Union on Roosevelt? (Possibly before it was even planned to be Union.)

[gymratmanaz]

They actually had signage in Cityscape but then backed out due to venting of their ovens, They were going where Fuego Taco is

[pbenjamin]

Originally Posted by gymratmanaz

They actually had signage in Cityscape but then backed out due to venting of their ovens, They were going where Fuego Taco is

Was.

[biggus diggus]

That's what he said.

[exit2lef]

At the time (circa 2011), I thought LGO at CityScape made no sense. LGO was known for adaptive reuse rather than new construction. The venting issue was probably real but only one of many issues with the CityScape space. A lot of restaurants and shops in the initially announced lineup pulled out, and that specific space has seen a lot of turnover. First, there was Vitamin T, then Fuego, and who knows what next.

Around the same time as the CityScape issue, LGO split with Upward Partners, the group that owns Postino, Federal Pizza, Joyride Tacos, & the Windsor. Upward continues to focus on old buildings for the most part, but LGO recently demolished an existing building on Camelback near 44th St. to replace it with a brand new seafood restaurant. Maybe the 2016 version of LGO would see value in new construction Downtown.

[gymratmanaz]

Buck and Rider

[muertecaza]

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/...empe/86319734/

Whole Foods is set to become the first grocery store in 15 years to locate within walking or biking distance of Arizona State University and downtown Tempe.

A development called the Foundry would be a nine-story building that includes plans for a 41,000-square-foot Whole Foods. A three-level parking garage would be above the store with a clubhouse and 290 apartments on the upper five levels.

The Tempe City Council in a 7-0 vote June 23 authorized the mayor to proceed with a development agreement with Denver-based Forum Real Estate Group...

A Whole Foods official confirmed the development of design plans at that location with an opening date of spring 2018.

The overall project plans call for roll-up doors along University Drive for outdoor dining on both the ground floor and a mezzanine level...

Karyn Gitlis, a representative of the Maple Ash Neighborhood Association, said although she liked many aspects of the development she is concerned about traffic effects on surrounding neighborhoods. The developer offered $15,000 to five neighborhoods within a quarter-mile of the project, $5,000 of which would go for a public art installation and $10,000 for maintenance of traffic-calming devices, Gitlis said.

The Maple Ash Neighborhood Association approved the offer, Gitlis told council members, with the reservation that the offer is "too small and too dispersed with multiple neighborhoods."

[muertecaza]

Eventful City Council meeting last week.

• The Standard was denied. ASU opposed this one because it didn't fit their vision for student housing. To be honest, once it was clear it was student housing, I'm not that broken up
  
• The Maxwell was denied
  
• Hayden Harbor (by Audio Express) and Villas at Southbank got their entitlements extendedextended, so they apparently are still holdING out hope
  
  

Edit: this and previous accidently posted in Phoenix instead of Tempe. If mods could move I'd appreciate it.

[PHXFlyer11]

Originally Posted by muertecaza

Eventful City Council meeting last week.

• The Standard was denied. ASU opposed this one because it didn't fit their vision for student housing. To be honest, once it was clear it was student housing, I'm not that broken up
  
• The Maxwell was denied
  
• Hayden Harbor (by Audio Express) and Villas at Southbank got their entitlements extendedextended, so they apparently are still holdING out hope
  
  

Edit: this and previous accidently posted in Phoenix instead of Tempe. If mods could move I'd appreciate it.

This is absolutely horrible!! What on earth was wrong with The Maxwell and The Standard. Tempe has let the Maple-Ash clowns run the asylum. So basically they are denying anything with height now!!! What a bunch or garbage.

[ASUSunDevil]

Julian Wright's restaurants > Stoudemire's:

http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/b...s-brewery.html

[Jjs5056]

Upward Partners was indeed rumored to have been opening in the first incarnation of Union @Roosevelt (2008ish), before The Vig Fillmore. I do think MetroWest will look for, and find, really good, local businesses, and the square footage of the spaces along Roosevelt are perfect for boutiques and other small shops that are missing from Roosevelt/downtown in general.

This sounds like it will be a version of Oakville at Skyline. If you dropped "high-end," then I actually think that's exactly what downtown residents need vs. a mega-grocery store. A place with the essentials that is walkable and convenient enough to do multiple, small-purchase trips is more suited to downtown living. This should also be one of the hottest areas for retail with the mix of residents, students, guests, and employees nearby at RPoint, Proxxy, Linear, Skyline, ASU, Biomedical, Sheraton...

I say should because the shitty St. Croix and Arizona Center destroy 3rd Street and parts of Fillmore; ASU gave up on making Taylor into anything interesting; and, the Biomedical Campus snatched up the remaining land, ending the residential boom. Maybe an upscale grocer will spur development of a few remaining sites, and of course, the dream never dies that the new owner will develop or sell the northern part of AZ Center.

[Jjs5056]

The renderngs dtnphx posted look very close to what has been described for Block 23, btw: grocer + loft offices on Jefferson/1st Street and high-rise residential on 2nd Street. I completely disagree with whoever said this should have linked Colliers and CityScape. The fact that we refer to these projects by name shows how suburban they are. A sterilized pedestrian plaza running through the middle was lame and unnecessary; Block 23 will finally use existing city streets to do the connecting.

This, the underground loading dock, and the high-rise residential make me almost like RED. But, the design is still pretty bizarre overall. Retail is only planned along Washington and parts of 1st Street, and 3 stories of offices + 1 tower is disappointing. A hotel fronting USAC would have been great, as would have the restaurant and retail uses it would bring along Jefferson. But, the hotel market is probably dried up downtown, and the City's obsession with attracting jobs to the Warehouse and Midtown Districts and lack of effort to get major HQs downtown means that the office market is probably almost as cold.

I have to LOL about the city's comments that this + Barrister Place will connect the Warehouse District. The demolition of St James, The Monroe, and the Luhrs Building makes that impossible, and the continued conversion of prime arts-related space into 9-5 offices (i.e.., The Brickhouse) along Jackson makes it irrelevant.

[phoenixwillrise]

Originally Posted by Jjs5056

Upward Partners was indeed rumored to have been opening in the first incarnation of Union @Roosevelt (2008ish), before The Vig Fillmore. I do think MetroWest will look for, and find, really good, local businesses, and the square footage of the spaces along Roosevelt are perfect for boutiques and other small shops that are missing from Roosevelt/downtown in general.

This sounds like it will be a version of Oakville at Skyline. If you dropped "high-end," then I actually think that's exactly what downtown residents need vs. a mega-grocery store. A place with the essentials that is walkable and convenient enough to do multiple, small-purchase trips is more suited to downtown living. This should also be one of the hottest areas for retail with the mix of residents, students, guests, and employees nearby at RPoint, Proxxy, Linear, Skyline, ASU, Biomedical, Sheraton...

I say should because the shitty St. Croix and Arizona Center destroy 3rd Street and parts of Fillmore; ASU gave up on making Taylor into anything interesting; and, the Biomedical Campus snatched up the remaining land, ending the residential boom. Maybe an upscale grocer will spur development of a few remaining sites, and of course, the dream never dies that the new owner will develop or sell the northern part of AZ Center.

What are you talking about? AZ Center is very nicely landscaped center and with more people moving downtown I will be surprised if it doesn't do well and bring in a better mix of restaurants and shop. You seem to have very unrealistic ideas about what downtown Phoenix should be or will be. I think the city is on the right track with the medical campus and the ASU Campus. Were you around when that part of town had a rat invested Ramada Inn and basically nothing else? I look at the downtown of the 90's and what we have now and a lot of people have put some blood, sweat and tears into what we have now and quite frankly I think with what they have had to deal with they have done a hell of a job.

[biggus diggus]

I don't think it's out of line to wish az center would be changed to provide more visibility from the street, it's not really a place people like to go because it's really a pain.

[ceb426]

$5 million, multi-restaurant development called SkySong finally broke ground. More info here - Devmap.io

[biggus diggus]

uhhhhhhh

Should we tell him, guys?

[CrestedSaguaro]

A tower crane is going up at Banner University Medical Center! I knew they were planning a tower, but didn't think it was planned to go up so soon.

Has anyone seen a rendering on this yet?