Downtown Tucsonan - September 2008 - (Page 4)

D ow n tow n Low d ow n by Lee Allen & Downtown Tucsonan Staff B u i l d i n g s o n C o n g r e s s S t , 6 t h Av e , a n d E a s t B r o a d w a y B l v d h a v e b e e n s e l e c t e d f o r f i r s t r o u n d f u n d i n g i n t h e F a ç a d e I m p r o v e m e n t P r o g r a m . SINCE WE LAST MET “Hot town, summer in the city” goes the song and it was as busy as it was hot in July and August. Here’s a thumbnail recap of what transpired --Funding for all of Rio Nuevo’s planned major projects --$454 million in bonds to be sold over the next several years received unanimous City Council approval on August 6. Financial planners say there could be money left over after construction of an arena, a UA Science Center, the Historical Society Museum, and Mission San Agustin. Public financing is also available to rehab the Tucson Convention Center and build a Convention Center hotel. “Defining how to fund the infrastructure and projects we’ve approved in the past 15 months is a major step forward,” said Council Member Nina Trasoff. Responding to a perceived lack of speed in the process, Rio Nuevo Director Greg Shelko said: “It takes decades not years to revitalize a downtown.” The controversial Downtown Links route connecting Barraza-Aviation Parkway to I-10 was finally approved by the Downtown Links Citizen Advisory Committee by a margin of 11-3, and then by the Tucson City Council. The $85 million project (Route Plan 3d if you’re keeping score) would be built by the City, using Regional Transportation Authority funding with work to begin by 2011. In mid-August, the Sangin Warehouse at 300 N. 6th Avenue was knocked down in preparation for Links. Sangin is the first of several buildings to be demolished in the area, preparing for the 4-lane roadway; it went first for safety reasons, according to the City Transportation Department. For more information, www.DowntownLinks.info The Tucson City Council voted to go ahead with plans for an overpass at South Kino Parkway and 22nd Street. The $108 million project will only use $3 million in city funds with the remainder coming from Regional Transportation Authority coffers. Finances, or rather the lack of them, caused plans for a joint courts complex at Stone Avenue between Toole Avenue and Alameda Street to go awry. Pima County put construction of the joint city/county complex on hold because project costs swelled to $155 million and remaining bond funds didn’t come anywhere near covering that cost. Council Member Steve Leal said the 18-month hold on construction was an opportunity to re-examine the “outmoded idea” and consider the possibility of satellite courtrooms. Ten thousand square feet of skyscraper space on the eighth and ninth floors of the 10-story Chase Building at 2 East Congress Street has been turned into 38 executive office suites. Citing budget streamlining and many employees who work at home, the state’s Medicaid program, AHCCCS (Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System), moved out of 25,000 square feet in La Placita Village, 110 S. Church Ave., to quarters half that size at Speedway and Kolb --saving an estimated quarter of a million dollars a year in the process. Finalizing the deal should come in a few weeks, with the block around Rialto Theatre changing ownership. Doug Biggers sold his six-year interest in the property to partner Don Martin. Original development plans of restaurant, bar, retail shops and a courtyard remain on the table. Another Downtown structure listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Hittinger Block building, 116 E. Congress St., was sold for $1.09 million. The Morrison Ekre & Bart (MEB) Management Services firm will relocate from its offices near Speedway and 6th Avenue to the 2-story building on Congress, bringing almost 32 employees to Downtown. Downtown Tucson burst into flames of the positive kind in late July in a first-of-its-kind offering called IGNITE TUCSON. Based on successes in Boston and Seattle, and organized by David Aguirre of Dinnerware Artspace, a variety of presenters spoke on topics ranging from sustainable living to design robotics and fighting climate change. Look for more IGNITE TUCSON events at The Screening Room in the future. It took owner Rachel Campuzano a bit longer than originally planned, but Rae’s Place convenience market at 25 N. Stone Ave. has opened its doors catering to those who live and work in Downtown. It’s costing more than originally conceived for Downtown’s new Fire Headquarters at Cushing Street near Granada Avenue over $38 million versus the initial estimate of $26 million. More bonds will have to be sold to finish the construction by July 2010. PRIVATE SECTOR PROGRESS ON 6TH AVENUE After he says he grew tired of being bounced around by officialdom and continually told there was no money for such a project, “we decided to take things into our own hands and accelerate plans to change the character of 6th Avenue ourselves,” says Fletcher McCusker, ArtFare Board chair as well as CEO of Providence Service Corp. “I got involved in ArtFare as one of our community projects and was somehow deputized as an honorary downtown developer because 6th Avenue was so frequently ignored,” he says. No longer especially after last month’s block party attended by 2,000, and headlined by Rare Earth. “We’ve raised a million dollars in private funds so far to be used for improvements on historic properties from 31 to 55 North 6th, buildings dating back to 1917 like the original Sears store, the old Ronstadt Hardware building, Johnny Gibson’s barbershop, and the Arizona Hotel building where ArtFare now resides. Total square footage involved is about 50,000. “Downtown can change,” McCusker says, admitting the difficulty in being a trendsetter. “We’re spending incredible time and energy and talking millions of dollars for Westside projects in years to come whereas on the East end of downtown, you’ve got incredible history, boarded-up unused buildings that can jump start revitalization in that sector. We’re kind of out there by ourselves at the moment and what we’re doing is incredibly lonely. We’ve run into deadend after dead-end with city revitalization officials, but we’re moving faster and more successfully than government can. We’re encouraged about private sector response and we’re paving the way for other private development.” As a heads-up, look for the block’s new restaurant, Burger City (owned by ArtFare) to open for business in early September to be followed by art galleries and creation of a kind of arts district or an art walk. MADDEN MERGE INTO MACARTHUR? One of summertime’s biggest stories is still being written, that being the possible move of Madden Media into the three-story-tall MacArthur Building across from the train depot on East Toole Avenue. Madden bid the full appraised value ($1.7 million) for the historic former hotel built one hundred years ago and “as soon as we have a final contract from Mayor and Council, we’ll begin a massive re-do,” says Madden Partner and Publisher John Hudak. “Corky Poster is the architect charged with restoring original ceilings (10-, 12-, and 15feet high), new lighting, heating and cooling, sprinklers --basically gutting it and starting over. We originally thought it would cost about $1.1 million. Now we think it will exceed that because we’re buying a building we can grow our existing 80+ employees to 100-120 full-time workers all in one place. “(Partner and CEO)” Kevin Madden and I are died-in-thewool Tucsonans who could have done a real estate deal anywhere in town. We opted for the downtown location because we think stuff is happening here, particularly on the eastern edge the MLK renovation, 4th Avenue underpass, the modern streetcar and we wanted to be a part of it.” Hudak is “99.9 percent sure it’s a go,” and will know fully when Mayor and Council meet for final contract approval in early September. Time is of the essence. “In our business, there is only a short window of opportunity where we’re slow enough to make this move. We’d need to make our relocation into a completely rehabbed building no later than the end of June 2009.” [Editorial kudos to Hudak who will be honored later this month by the Arizona Theatre Company for his efforts in the 1980s to save the Temple of Music and Art] 4 downtown tucsonan.september.08 http://www.DowntownLinks.info

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Downtown Tucsonan - September 2008 Contents Downtown Lowdown Vital Signs 2008-09 Performing Arts Season Preview Galleries Downtown Live Museums Billboard Classifieds

Downtown Tucsonan - September 2008

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