Tucson Development Thread

[AZ71]

Originally Posted by Locofresh55

As far as SE Tucson and Vail, you have La Estancia (where I Live), Valencia Crossing (I-10 and Valencia), Rocking K (Old Spanish Trail into Vail), Sierra Morado area has A.F Sterling Homes and KB homes has a couple new communities in SE Tucson. Also hearing rumblings of a new community to be built across from the new Vail District High School on Valencia (Mica Mountain I think).

Yeah, no signs of slowing down. I'm sure it's like this throughout Tucson metro. Between this and the fixer uppers in places like Barrio Viejo, the market is rocking and rolling.

Its true...there are so many new developments being built and flips happening in the city core. But to me its distressing when some of these old homes (and I mean like an old 2bed/1bath under 1000 sq foot home) are going in the mid 200s. Virtually the same price as a new home in many developments. It really puts a roadblock up for people on the lower end of the budget. They cant get in the market at all anymore.

I am 100% growth...but I wish there was something to do about providing better house price ranges for all of us while still encouraging growth.

[Patrick S]

Originally Posted by Locofresh55

As far as SE Tucson and Vail, you have La Estancia (where I Live), Valencia Crossing (I-10 and Valencia), Rocking K (Old Spanish Trail into Vail), Sierra Morado area has A.F Sterling Homes and KB homes has a couple new communities in SE Tucson. Also hearing rumblings of a new community to be built across from the new Vail District High School on Valencia (Mica Mountain I think).

Yeah, no signs of slowing down. I'm sure it's like this throughout Tucson metro. Between this and the fixer uppers in places like Barrio Viejo, the market is rocking and rolling.

The SE side is certainly growing. Your neighborhood of La Estancia just had 544 new lots approved for development at the last Tucson City Council meeting. I live just south of Escalante and Camino Seco and KB is currently building the Bella Tierra subdivision next to my neighborhood. The Tucson City Council approved rezoning at the southwest corner of Wilmot & I-10 to rezone the area to allow a proposed subdivision with almost 290 new homes (Item #8 on the link - a map is located in attachment G)

Elsewhere, on November 4th, the Tucson City Council approved La Terra Reserve at 6th Ave just south of Valencia, which will add 40 houses, and there are plans for a new 139 lot KB subdivision, Vista Del Oro, at Overton and La Cholla, north of Magee Rd.

[Patrick S]

Originally Posted by AZ71

Its true...there are so many new developments being built and flips happening in the city core. But to me its distressing when some of these old homes (and I mean like an old 2bed/1bath under 1000 sq foot home) are going in the mid 200s. Virtually the same price as a new home in many developments. It really puts a roadblock up for people on the lower end of the budget. They cant get in the market at all anymore.

I am 100% growth...but I wish there was something to do about providing better house price ranges for all of us while still encouraging growth.

Agreed there needs to be a focus on affordable housing being built. This is a problem in many metro areas unfortunately.

[wildcatmd]

What we really need to do is emphasize urban infill. Apartments and condos, townhomes, and duplexes/triplexes. Some of the tiny houses in the middle of town are built on lots that could accommodate like 3 giant town homes. If we’re going to continue to sprawl, which is inevitable I think, we need to promote densification if both new suburb and the old urban suburbs

[Azstar]

Originally Posted by wildcatmd

What we really need to do is emphasize urban infill. Apartments and condos, townhomes, and duplexes/triplexes. Some of the tiny houses in the middle of town are built on lots that could accommodate like 3 giant town homes. If we’re going to continue to sprawl, which is inevitable I think, we need to promote densification if both new suburb and the old urban suburbs

There was a time, not that long ago, when 1/3 of the City of Tucson was vacant lots.

[AZ71]

Originally Posted by wildcatmd

What we really need to do is emphasize urban infill. Apartments and condos, townhomes, and duplexes/triplexes. Some of the tiny houses in the middle of town are built on lots that could accommodate like 3 giant town homes. If we’re going to continue to sprawl, which is inevitable I think, we need to promote densification if both new suburb and the old urban suburbs

I agree with this. But I dont think they should charge the same amount for infill projects as homes in a brand new developments. I think we need more homes that are "affordable" for all price ranges. Not just "affordable housing" which implies people in subsidized housing. There are virtually no homes at all in the Tucson vicinity under 200k anymore. We do need to somehow get the big developers to find these vacant city lots and build more economical homes on them.

[wildcatmd]

Originally Posted by AZ71

I agree with this. But I dont think they should charge the same amount for infill projects as homes in a brand new developments. I think we need more homes that are "affordable" for all price ranges. Not just "affordable housing" which implies people in subsidized housing. There are virtually no homes at all in the Tucson vicinity under 200k anymore. We do need to somehow get the big developers to find these vacant city lots and build more economical homes on them.

There is no solution to affordable housing that involves begging, asking, coercing or dictating to developers. Cities like NYC, LA, SF have all tried this approach and continually failed. The only way to get housing in all price ranges is to build enough housing to demand. If you can’t build enough to meet the demand of all the people who can and are willing to pay 300k dollars for a home them why, as a developer would you ever choose to build a house for someone that can only pay 200k?

That’s why upzoning and densification are good. You don’t need to tell the developers to do anything. The housing is cheaper to build so they can charge less. More houses sucks up excess demand from people with high incomes.

It’s also why those giant student apartment complexes are a good thing. If those places didn’t exist those students wouldn’t just go away, they would just be competing with locals for housing and driving rents up.

[andrewsaturn]

ICYMI, Jan 8 Memorial is expected to be completed soon in conjunction with a virtual 10 year remembrance happening on Jan 8, 2021. The event is scheduled as planned with a possible limited number of people at the new memorial.

https://tucson.com/news/local/constr...26fe6b0a1.html

[andrewsaturn]

The new arches are installed at Five Points in downtown:


courtesy of Reddit

Courtesy of Arizona Daily Star

There also was a statue of Cesar Chavez installed:

https://twitter.com/Tucson_DOT/statu...89528581566465

[Locofresh55]

Originally Posted by andrewsaturn

The new arches are installed at Five Points in downtown:


courtesy of Reddit

Courtesy of Arizona Daily Star

There also was a statue of Cesar Chavez installed:

https://twitter.com/Tucson_DOT/statu...89528581566465

I'm still holding out hope for the Baffert Project that will be on the NE corner. I see they are adding to the Ugly But Honest Building and the project just south of Five Points is in full swing.

Would be nice if they can spruce up South Sixth Avenue from Five Points to 22nd Street. Area has potential.

I've always thought they could do a light rail line from TEP Building and send it south to Valencia/Nogales Hwy area or even have it go to Midvale park area. Anyways, digging what the Five Points area is doing.

[AZ71]

Originally Posted by andrewsaturn

The new arches are installed at Five Points in downtown:


courtesy of Reddit

Courtesy of Arizona Daily Star

There also was a statue of Cesar Chavez installed:

https://twitter.com/Tucson_DOT/statu...89528581566465

Hmmm. These turned out a little more plain and boring-looking than I was expecting. Seems very cluttered with all the electrical wires and streetlights everywhere else.

[Locofresh55]

Originally Posted by AZ71

Hmmm. These turned out a little more plain and boring-looking than I was expecting. Seems very cluttered with all the electrical wires and streetlights everywhere else.

The signage should have been lit up as well. Can't really see it at night. Maybe we(Tucsonans) will get used to it. But the lightning would have helped IMHO.

[andrewsaturn]

Originally Posted by Locofresh55

The signage should have been lit up as well. Can't really see it at night. Maybe we(Tucsonans) will get used to it. But the lightning would have helped IMHO.

Not sure what the status of it is right now, but according to tibo, the neighborhood signage is supposed to be written using neon signs that obviously should light up at night. These are large arches 28-38 ft high on top of 6ft pedestals, so I imagine they are more impressive in person.

https://www.kold.com/2020/10/29/five...se-completion/

http://tiboaz.biz/2020/01/19/a-look-...ation-project/

[AZ71]

The prices and some pics for THE FLIN downtown have hit Apartments.com. I dont know...$1000 for a studio seems excessive. But this seems to be the new norm.

https://www.apartments.com/the-flin-tucson-az/5kjsbrp/

[omarainza]

Originally Posted by andrewsaturn

These are large arches 28-38 ft high on top of 6ft pedestals, so I imagine they are more impressive in person.

i drove thru here today and lemme tell ya, they are not. kinda ugly, actually. they really do look a hot mess with all the wires and the traffic signals. woulda looked better if they just hung the traffic lights below them imo.

also, this is such an ugly corner anyway. only building of importance is the cafe. everything else is a dump

[Ted Lyons]

Hub V rendering:



These finishes are much nicer than the other Hub projects, which leads me to believe they'll be dumbed down.

EDIT - Imgur is being glitchy so I can't resize. Sorry.

[kmiller5]

Originally Posted by Ted Lyons

Hub V rendering:


These finishes are much nicer than the other Hub projects, which leads me to believe they'll be dumbed down.

EDIT - Imgur is being glitchy so I can't resize. Sorry.

Where is Hub V going to be? Just east of the Islamic Center?

[Ted Lyons]

Originally Posted by kmiller5

Where is Hub V going to be? Just east of the Islamic Center?

Yeah.

And thanks to whoever helped with the image.

[AZ71]

Originally Posted by Ted Lyons

Hub V rendering:



These finishes are much nicer than the other Hub projects, which leads me to believe they'll be dumbed down.

EDIT - Imgur is being glitchy so I can't resize. Sorry.

Somehow these drawings always look prettier and nicer than the finished product. Hopefully they can stick closely to the design. I like it.

And just curious...is that how you add images on this thread? You uplaod an image to Imgur and then link to that? Ive been trying to figure out how to add pics to a post.

[Ted Lyons]

Originally Posted by AZ71

Somehow these drawings always look prettier and nicer than the finished product. Hopefully they can stick closely to the design. I like it.

And just curious...is that how you add images on this thread? You uplaod an image to Imgur and then link to that? Ive been trying to figure out how to add pics to a post.

Yeah, when it's cooperating, I use Imgur as a host and downsize images to 800 pixels on their longest side.