Downtown Tucsonan - January 2008 - (Page 6)

D ow n tow n Low d ow n by Lee Allen & Downtown Tucsonan Staff Ambassadors Barber Shop is new at 216 E. Congress St. F l a n a g a n ’s C e l t i c C o r n e r i s n o w o p e n f o r business at 222 E. Congress St. The McLellan Building, at Congress St. and Scott Av e . , i s u p f o r s a l e a g a i n . FIRM PLANS IN A SOFT MARKET Smart money comes into play during hard times, the latest example of which is the purchase of the First Baptist Church education building at 6th Avenue and 5th Street. Steve Quinlan and Chris Kemmerley are the new owners of record. “It’s 30,000 square feet in a great central location near the university, close to Downtown, and within walking distance to the 6th Avenue underpass and the 4th Avenue trolley,” says Quinlan. “It’s still premature for all the details, but we plan to retrofit the structure and turn it into about 40 lofts by 2009. The complex will have a courtyard with a pool and off-street parking. Penthouses will run in the $800,000 range with one bedrooms selling for $200,000-$250,000. The property was on the market only briefly, so we acted quickly despite the short-term market challenge, which we expect will be healthy again by the time we’re finished,” said Quinlan, owner of Whisper Canyon Holdings. UP FOR SALE AND HERE’S WHY Long-time custom home developer John Wesley Miller, creator of the award-winning Armory Park del Sol neighborhood southeast of the commercial core of downtown, has put the McLellan Building up for sale after holding the property since December 2005. “I have no less faith in the project nor less enthusiasm over the site’s successful commercial aspects,” says Miller, adding, “Because of the market slowdown, we’re getting many opportunities now for residential development on land I couldn’t buy before and I have other things I have to do in the area where we do our best work residential.” Currently in limbo and awaiting progress by the City of Tucson in assembling some of the project land is a 300unit mixed-use housing and retail complex along I-10 called Barrio Viejo del Sol. “As soon as the City is ready, I’ll be on-site working and we’ve got a slew of players that want to join us including KB Homes, the WLB Group, Drachman Institute, Habitat for Humanity, Chicanos por la Causa, and others. You’ve not seen the last of me downtown.” “This award celebrates the ingenuity of the winners in meeting a growing need and increased demand for userfriendly homes,” said AARP’s Elinor Ginzler. Miller, one of only two builders so honored, “was recognized as a leader in the effort to meet the needs of the nation’s age-50-plus consumers and their families,” said NAHB President Brian Catalde. COMING UP ROSES Karen Falkenstrom and Rome Hamner, co-founders of the five-year-old taiko drum group, Odaiko Sonora, are looking forward to New Year’s Day. At 8am on January 1st, they’ll be on a fixed stage in Pasadena, California, banging drums with Up With People as the opening act for the kickoff of the Rose Bowl Parade. “We’ve come a long way in a short time and this is our three minutes of fame,” says Falkenstrom who calls taiko drumming “a universally appealing art form.” In addition to center stage for that event, Falkenstrom was also recently spotlighted as one of Tucson’s Women on the Move award winners. “I was completely bowled over,” she says. “I looked at the initial field of 96 women and didn’t think there was a chance I’d be one of the final twelve. This is the kind of honor you can be proud to write home about.” THE DOORS ARE OPEN John and Marion Flanagan, co-owners of Flanagan’s Celtic Corner, are open for business at 222 E. Congress St. “We sell Irish, Scottish, Welsh, and Celtic items ranging from music and clothing to china, glassware, jewelry, and clan coats of arms. We’re a gift shop full of items related to those ethnic heritages,” says John Flanagan. Store hours are 11am-3pm, Wednesday through Friday with more time to shop from 9am-6pm on weekends. ON A ROLL SUSHI IS ON A ROLL Ready to happen soon in the McLellan Building is new tenant, On A Roll Sushi, trying for a March grand opening, with April as a more realistic backup date. Local resident Dominic Moreno, a graduate of the Culinary Institute in Scottsdale, is owner/chef. Moreno says he wants to be part of the downtown renaissance to help create activity on Congress Street and as part of that effort plans to offer dining service in the evening hours when lights are dark at other downtown eateries. “The late-night hours Thursday through Saturday will feature a later version of Happy Hour that won’t start until 10pm,” he says. During daylight hours, the full kitchen will serve up appetizers, salads, entrees and lunchtime Bento boxes to help fill the 60 seats in the 2,800-square-foot facility. STOP BY AND SMELL THE COFFEE Tangaroa Imports, located in Old Town Artisans since 2006, has now moved to a 4th Avenue address, “next door to the Rainbow Planet Coffee House,” says owner Blair Brady. “Stop by, smell the coffee, buy a tiki.” “We’ve grown from a tiny boutique shop into a new home more than double our previous size. The new location (604 N. 4th Ave.) offers better exposure and shopper demographics for the type of product we sell.” The 500square-foot shop is loaded with Polynesian imports, exotic sculptures and tiki novelties including masks and mugs. FREEZE FRAME FROZEN Issues of downtown security continue to be reviewed --albeit slowly with the holiday season just ended and new City Council members Regina Romero and Rodney Glassman only recently sworn in. The council did address the issue in a late November meeting, but decided not to decide on the issue of security cameras for several months…after earlier passing on a $100,000 grant to finance the installation of 14 lenses throughout Downtown to allow continuous police monitoring. ACCRUING ADDITIONAL ACCOLADES Another national honor for the John Wesley Miller mantle AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) and NAHB (National Association of Home Builders) have named the Miller companies winner of a Livable Communities Award “for forward thinking that creates well-designed homes and communities which are safe, comfortable, and accessible for people of all ages and abilities.” Miller was selected as winner in the “Builder up to 2500 Square Feet” competition for his “user-friendly design and state-of-the-art energy efficient technology” at Armory Park del Sol. A STRIKING EXHIBITION The power of the written word to sustain life is the central theme of “Letters to Sala: A Young Woman’s Life in Nazi Labor Camps,” correspondence and photographs from the archives of the New York Public Library on exhibit at the Jewish Heritage Center through January 25. Called a “remarkable first-hand view of human drama” involving Jewish slave laborers, museum director Eileen Warshaw notes, “As the years pass and there are fewer TOWN WEST GO-AHEAD The City Council has given a unanimous “thumbs-up” approval to a rezoning and development agreement with Town West for a two-acre development project. A hotel, condos, retail and office space, a garage and perhaps an art gallery/art walk are planned in the area around North Stone Avenue, North Ninth Avenue and West Franklin Street. 6 downtown tucsonan.january.08

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Downtown Tucsonan - January 2008 Contents From the Editor Downtown Lowdown Vital Signs Downtown Restaurants & Cafes Downtown Live Arts Galleries Performance Film Events Museums Historic Downtown Billboard Classifieds

Downtown Tucsonan - January 2008

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