Downtown Tucsonan - December 2007 - (Page 6)

D ow n tow n Low d ow n by Lee Allen & Downtown Tucsonan Staff One North Fifth kicked off construction with a “g r o u n d d e n t ” e v e n t . “A p l a i n w h i t e D o w n t o w n l a n d m a r k i s d o n n i n g new duds.” Pa t r i c i a S c h w a b e p l a n s t o o p e n a n o t h e r To o l e y ’s a t t h e c o r n e r o f 5 t h Av e . & C o n g r e s s S t . Downtown’s development magician had a busy month of November, pulling a lot of project rabbits out of a hat… hotel bids were given a final OK, One North Fifth construction got underway, progress was made on the Fourth Avenue underpass, an existing agreement for luxury condos was cancelled and expansion and revitalization plans at the railroad depot were made public, Greyhound bus terminal construction was on-again/off-again, and a trio of projects began at downtown’s southern gateway, the Five Points intersection. Politicians and developers alike had prophesied that once dirt finally began to fly, a lot was going to happen concurrently and they got that one right. ten months.” Ward 6 Councilmember Nina Trasoff called it, “a major move to see the first construction crane appear. On virtually every level, this is a fabulous day. Now we go back to work on other things that will be happening very soon.” A second phase of the Depot Plaza project involves an additional six-story building along 5th Avenue with up to 85 mixed market-rate apartments and an additional 6,000 square feet of retail space. provide the community with a grand slam.” Fellow decisionmaker Kendall Bert, vice president of Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities, added: “We expect this multi-use development will be the watershed event that stimulates significant private sector investment in downtown.” And Jonathan Walker, CEO of the Convention & Visitors Bureau, noted: “This step provides the foundation for a dynamic downtown that will have an enormous economic impact on the entire community.” A DOOR CLOSES Citing a lack of forward motion progress over the past two years, the city has terminated a luxury condominium development agreement with builder Peggy Noonan. Rio Nuevo director Greg Shelko says the property on Paseo Redondo near the Tucson Museum of Art is now back on the market, open for new proposals. Noonan was given an exclusive agreement for a sevenstory, 101-unit, condo complex in October 2005 with development to be constructed on a city-owned parking lot behind the Tucson Water building. Issues of financing and marketing contributed to the contract demise on a project that had survived the vocal displeasure of some neighbors, who were concerned about the proposed building’s height. THIS GREYHOUND ISN’T SPEEDY At nearly $20 million, downtown’s new Greyhound bus terminal at Sixth and Toole is having difficulty overcoming inertia and getting underway. Architect Corky Poster’s firm is preparing plans for the new station and is about halfway through the design-development phase, but cost consternations have caused a green light-red light status that has slowed down the timetable. With the old Fourth Avenue station demolished to accommodate construction of the nearby underpass, temporary facilities were built and a 24-month site relocation plan was activated. It now appears an additional 12-18 months may be needed to see completion somewhere in early 2009. GROUND GETS ‘DENTED’ AT MLK Indicative of the fact that downtown development progress has been somewhat slower than many original optimistic predictions, Depot Plaza Investors showed a bit of tonguein-cheek humor last month when they demurred on holding a groundbreaking ceremony and instead held what they called a “ground denting” event at Congress and 5th Streets. The One North Fifth team completed purchase of the Martin Luther King Jr. public housing building there and closed on construction financing for the $1.8 million residential/retail mixed-used project. “It’s finally happening downtown,” read the ceremony invitation. “After much anticipation, hard work, and community interest, construction has begun.” Completion is expected by next summer on 96 apartment units and 9,000 square feet of ground floor retail space. Referring to it as a “landmark project,” Homer Williams, chairman of Williams & Dame Development, one of the project partners, noted: “We’re confident that One North Fifth will act as a catalyst for redevelopment of the East Congress neighborhood.” The “we” referenced above includes Williams & Dame, Peach Properties, Concord General Contracting, The Stellar Companies, Rob Paulus Architect Ltd., Alliance Bank, and City of Tucson. Actually, the “ground-denting” referred to the developers’ intent to unveil the project officially by dropping one of the concrete panels from an apartment balcony onto the ground, but this idea was nixed by people who worry about liability. Since the project is a renovation and not new construction, no ground was to be broken, per the typical “ground-breaking” that tends to hallmark such celebrations. Mayor Bob Walkup officiated at the ceremonies, noting: “For years, we’ve been talking about an energized downtown and here it is the start of major development on this side of town with work to be ongoing for the next AREA RENAISSANCE? Other transportation-related projects have dirt flying at Five Points, the contemplated southern gateway to Downtown where Stone and Sixth Avenues intersect 18th Street. Conversion of Stone and Sixth into two-way streets south from Broadway to 18th is underway at a cost of $1.8 million with completion slated for April 2008. Ground has been broken for a two-story retail/office building at Sixth and 18th (a $2 million 5-Points Gateway Plaza commercial development). And a group called the Five Points Business Coalition is promoting the area, “creating a sense of place”, with street-spanning arches. DEVELOPMENT DEVELOPMENTS “Rather than selecting any one proposal, the selection committee felt its recommendation of a hybrid of three of the four convention center hotel proposals merges the best elements of the good and unique,” said Jaret Barr, City of Tucson Project Manager. From issuance of a Request for Proposals to a signed Memorandum of Understanding and conceptual approval by the City Council on November 20, the process took less than six months and ended up with an unexpected bit of this and a bit of that to achieve 1,000 hotel rooms downtown. The Tucson Convention Headquarters Hotel Selection Committee recommended acquiring seven acres of undeveloped vacant land at Granada Avenue and I10 where Garfield Traub will construct a 700+-room Sheraton hotel. The City will also purchase the existing Hotel Arizona to be renovated (250 rooms) with additional facility expansion possible at a later date. “All four proposals were good, but none was a total home run,” said committee member Randi Dorman. “By taking the best elements from three of the plans, we are able to ACHIEVING GOALS Celebrating its first decade, the Metropolitan Pima Alliance (“Building Dialog for Community Planning”) announced its annual Common Ground awards for 2007 at a dinner held November 2 at the Marriott University Park Hotel, and two Downtown projects are among the honored. Downtown Links took top spot in the Public Works and Infrastructure category while the new Central Fire Station at Cushing and Granada Streets won in its category, Public 6 downtown tucsonan.december.07

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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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