Downtown Tucsonan - December 2007 - (Page 4)

f r om t h e ed i tor A Logical Plan Emerges he anticipation built over a period of several days, as if the downtown community were waiting for the college of cardinals to select the next pope. there was no white smoke to look for, but finally the tucson convention Headquarters Hotel selection committee emerged after weeks of interviews and meetings, and made its decision known. there would be not one “winner” of the selection process, but three. T tel arizona, while local company centro nuevo Partners, headed by Roger Karber, will retain the land currently occupied by the Hotel arizona’s parking garage, and will build a multi-story commercial office and retail building, with structured parking. the downtown Merchants council had supported the plan for the Hilton tower to be located next to the Hotel arizona, primarily because of its location, closest among those proposed to existing downtown activity centers. Following the announcement of the three-part plan, the Merchants council responded with a request that infrastructure improvements be made to support the downtown business core, and that the “new” and “old” areas be linked through transportation, amenities and signage. the downtown neighborhoods and Residents council had also supported the Hilton plan, citing its ability to positively impact the existing downtown while not negatively impacting the neighborhoods to the south of the convention center. the neighborhoods council also referenced the importance of sustainable, LEEd-certified construction. the city’s project manager Jaret Barr, upon unveiling the selection committee’s recommendation to the city council on november 20, indicated that the sheraton would indeed be certified as LEEd-silver, and that the convention center, to be expanded at a cost of $60 million, would be perhaps the greenest convention center in america. Barr told the city council that staff would return in February with agreements ready to be approved, along with further design work. what is impressive about the plan is that it positions the city to develop the entire area cohesively, and to remove the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the disposition of the norville property sitting in the middle. Donovan Durband Executive Director, Downtown Tucson Partnership the committee had selected elements of three of the four submitted proposals, taking “the best of each”, combining real estate owned by three entities, and allowing for a true master-planning process to begin. while three proposers would continue to be part of the equation, not all proposals were accepted in total. the two privatelyowned parcels of land would be assembled by the city of tucson, including the Hotel arizona property owned by Humberto s. Lopez’s HsL Properties, and the long-soughtafter seven acres of land south of the deconcini Federal courthouse along Granada, owned by alan norville’s nor-Generations LLc. the proposals to develop the main headquarters hotel on those two parcels would not be accepted, but the real estate would be incorporated into a master plan to be overseen by chris ansley, owner of the J.w. Marriott starr Pass Resort and a partner in the nor-Generations proposal. Land already owned by the city, adjacent to the existing tucson convention center, would be utilized for a new 700-room, 30story sheraton Hotel, to be built by dallas’ Garfield traub, already on board to develop the 12,300-seat arena. with the acquisition of norville’s property, the area between the tcc and the freeway can be planned as one unit, without the awkward interruption of the wedge-shaped chunk of land in the middle still in norville’s hands. Meeting and event planners noted the importance of an adjacent hotel facility, or one very near to the convention meeting space. the sheraton will provide that, while the existing Hotel arizona, to be renovated as the first phase of this plan, will serve as an overflow hotel with at least 248 rooms. the team that had proposed a 28-story Hilton Hotel to be built next to the renovated Hotel arizona will still be involved with the new plan. Hensel Phelps development of Greeley, colorado will renovate the Ho- The Full Edition of the Downtown Tucsonan Now Appearing Online! Last month, the online edition of the Downtown Tucsonan was transformed into a cutting-edge web magazine, now appearing exactly as it does in print, advertisements and all. Visit www.downtowntucson.org/downtown_tucsonan to see it in action. 4 downtown tucsonan.december.07 http://www.tucsonsymphony.org http://www.tucsonsymphony.org http://www.downtowntucson.org/downtown_tucsonan http://www.downtowntucson.org/downtown_tucsonan

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Downtown Tucsonan Contents From the Editor Downtown Lowdown Vital Signs Holiday Shopping Downtown Live Arts Galleries Performance Events and Film Holiday Events Museums Historic Downtown Billboard Classifieds

Downtown Tucsonan - December 2007

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