Downtown Tucsonan - February 2008 - (Page 6)

D ow n tow n Low d ow n by Lee Allen & Downtown Tucsonan Staff the downtown destinations signage program is nearly complete. WELCOME, MR. LYONS Bienvenidos to planning consultant Glenn Lyons, recentlynamed interim president of the Downtown Tucson Partnership, who has signed on for the next year to shepherd downtown redevelopment efforts. Lyons says planning and direction for downtown revitalization has been done and it’s his job to figure out how to get those concepts converted into construction. Lyons, who ran the Downtown Alliance in Calgary from 1989 to 1995, sounds like a man ready for the task ahead. “It’s not quite as daunting as some might believe,” he says with the quiet confidence of a man who has seen downtown reformation take place elsewhere and who helped make it happen in Calgary. “There’s a lot of pent-up demand by Tucsonans who want a nice downtown and a reason to make use of it and we’ve got to find ways to deliver those goods.” His planned arrival is mid-February and his immediate focus will be on several RFPs (Requests for Proposals) involving places like the county-owned Walgreens Building, the cityowned MacArthur Building, and Presidio Terrace property. He’s already met with City Manager Mike Hein and County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry about those projects. “The real work starts as soon as I arrive,” he says. While the large-scope projects get the headlines, Lyons says part of his job will be to increase demand. “We can’t just rely on high-profile plans. We’ve got to look at smaller buildings on the edge of downtown that have street character, often come in at lower prices, and can be stepping stones to get downtown ready for the bigger ones.” “In some cases, there’s been a struggle getting private sector land to market and only recently has public sector land come available. Some of the previously-announced projects haven’t progressed as much as we’d like perhaps because they were very ambitious in scope at a time when building costs were on their way up.” While he tries to move the larger plans forward and encourages smaller development, Lyons says other things will happen that will change the market equation the streetcar, modernized underpasses, further infrastructure work, the arena, downtown hotels, and development on the other side of the interstate. “When these things happen and we get up a head of steam, things will really start to roll. And I look forward to that challenge. DOWNTOWN DESTINATIONS You can always find some joker willing to tell you where to go. Now, with completion of the Downtown Destinations signage program, those directions come with artwork. “Banners have been up for awhile now,” says Chris Leighton of ParkWise. “Now there are between 250-300 destination signs within a one-mile radius of Downtown showing the way to the different districts Main Gate, 4th Avenue, Congress Street, Presidio, Sentinel, and Convention that indicate attractions available as well as places to park. Not everyone knows how to get into Downtown or how to find specific locations once they get here and this should help make those trips easier.” A few housekeeping chores remain, like trimming some trees a bit so signs are completely visible, but the Pima Association of Governments-funded project is essentially finished. “I haven’t gotten the final bill yet, but costs will run about half a million dollars,” Leighton says. TAKING THE NEXT STEP There are street rumblings to the effect that the next phase of Bourn Partners’ The Post Lofts project may be happening soon. Two dozen units remain available at Congress and Scott in what Bourn calls, “THE place to live downtown, the first new condominium residence in more than 20 years.” While much of the spotlight falls on the lofts at 56 E. Congress, “We’re also working on retail occupancy in two adjacent buildings,” says Amanda Signori of the Retail Services Group. “The Post property itself has 7,800 square feet available for retail lease as a restaurant, coffee shop or other service-oriented endeavor. In the nearby 2story former Indian Village Trading Post building is another 6,200 square feet ideal for a restaurant, and we’re currently talking to some local restaurant owners to see if they’d like to expand into a downtown presence. And at 20 E. Congress, between the Post site and the Chase Bank building is another 15,000 square feet on three floors.” That’s close to 30,000 square feet of prime real estate with a number of potential players jockeying for a post position (pun optional) when the gun goes off. “There’s a goodly amount of interest on the part of local businesses, but few want to step up by themselves and come forward to be the Lone Ranger. If we can get critical mass, others would be encouraged to take a closer look too.” Signori remains optimistic that things will start to happen in the near future. “We’ve put in a lot of time, effort, sweat and tears on all aspects of this development and would like to bring it out of the ground ASAP.” PACE YOURSELF Members of Tucson’s Transit on the Move team were about to quote William Shakespeare and his line in Macbeth that reads “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, creeps in this petty pace from day to day” when lo and behold, word was received from the Federal Transit Administration that the draft environmental assessment for the modern streetcar project was finally being released for citizen comment Acting quickly, a public open house has been scheduled for February 4, 4-6pm, at the Joel Valdez Main Library lower conference room, 101 N. Stone Ave. A brief presentation will be made at 4:30pm and written public comments will be taken on the plan to implement the streetcar connecting major activity centers in the central core “The team continues to advance design for the streetcar as well as (items like) supportive land use, financial commitments, and travel demand forecasting,” reports Shellie Ginn, City of Tucson Department of Transportation Project Manager. “Comments on the draft Tucson Urban Corridor Environmental Assessment should be received by February 18 in order to be included in the Final Environmental Assessment.” The document is available on-line at www. TucsonTransitStudy.com More than 60 cities nationwide have ideas for emulating Portland’s heralded streetcar line, a project whose expansion has run into a snag, according to The Oregonian newspaper: “Officials eager to expand the streetcar to nearly complete a loop of the city core are learning that Federal Transit Administration managers favor buses for efficiency and may delay or withhold construction funding,” the paper reports. TAKING A BACK STEP Two city core businesses found padlocks on their doors in January. Downtown’s only real convenience store, Simply Convenient, 25 N. Stone Ave., owned by Joe Brescia, and Jordanian-born restaurateur Jeff Wer, owner of Casablanca at 281 N. Stone Ave., found the locks changed on their places of business The store site had a landlord lien notice posted indicating lease premises and inventory were no longer in the owner’s possession. In the Casablanca case, the 135-year-old building that Wer says he spent close to a million dollars refurbishing, was padlocked and his lease cancelled reportedly because of a failure to pay back taxes. Also impacted by the lockout is Sonny Urbine who recently moved his Latin-Up! sandwich shop into the now-shuttered building 6 downtown tucsonan.february.08 http://www.TucsonTransitStudy.com http://www.TucsonTransitStudy.com

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

Downtown Tucsonan - February 2008

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