Phoenix Development News (3)

[HooverDam]

^ Cities change a lot faster than that. Downtown Denver was nothing 25 years ago for instance. Portland Oregon wasn't the haven for young people it is today back in say 1985. Unless you're expecting us all to have relatively short lifetimes...I'm hoping you're wrong.

Mayor Stanton for 1 definitely is open minded to narrowing Central Phoenix streets and making places more walkable. In fact he's currently borrowing (and hopefully reading!) my copy of "Walkable Cities" by Jeff Speck*. Tom Simplot is open to the idea of street diets as well, and Nowakowski definitely is. Though Nowakoski is a bit misguided w/ his obsession w/ turning 1st St into a Pedestrian Mall, but at least he's open minded and trying to think outside the box.

If Kate Gallego wins the race to succeed Michael Johnson, that'll be another win for walkability/urbanity. If any of you live in District 8, I'd strongly recommend getting familiar w/ Kate, I've met her at some Central City Planning Commission meetings and she usually seems on point, and is able to be open minded an admit when she doesn't know stuff, she'll listen to those who do.

With proper planning, McDowell could make big strides within a decade. Its not like there's not money in the neighborhoods surrounding it, Encanto Palmcroft, Willo, FQ Story, North Roosevelt, Alvarado and even Fairview are affluent neighborhoods. Coronado and East Evergreen seem to be stabilizing and improving as well. McDowell doesn't need to be Rodeo Drive or anything, but there's no reason it should be full of prepaid Cell phone shops and Auto Title Loans or whatever.

*Note, when I went to drop the book off at his office, his young receptionist thought I was the author!

[soleri]

^ 25 years ago, downtown Denver was clearly the hub of the metropolitan area. Today, it competes with the Denver Tech Center, and the suburban farrago of Park Meadows for that honor. To walk down 17th Street, once dubbed the Wall Street of the Rockies, is to become aware how forlorn the seat of fortune can be. It's nearly comatose. The good things - the Central Platte Valley, a few condo towers, the Ritz-Carlton, etc - show the problem with hoping that you can change a city's heart with a few high-profile projects. It's much more complicated than that. Downtown Denver gave up its major department stores to Cherry Creek in the early 80s, and today, the downtown, while pleasant seems virtually irrelevant to the lives of most citizens. The lesson for Phoenix, a much more daunting project than Denver, is that you can't force feed the patient with grand endeavors. There has to be a relationship in place between the core and its adjoining areas. What you see in Phoenix are mostly scattered efforts at getting something started and hoping "synergy" (the buzzword of the 80s that changed nothing) takes over. Good luck.

Denver is a much better city than Phoenix, but then so is Dallas, San Diego, Portland, Seattle, Kansas City, et al. Those cities were real cities prior to World War II when cities were distinctly urban in flavor and content. They're better cities today not out of virtue or wisdom but the good fortune to have come of age before cars ruined most urban texture. Phoenix's curse is just this. While we can hope that Phoenix someday begins the arduous task of filling in its vast inventory of vacant parcels, that in itself won't change our fate. Change will come when car travel becomes so expensive that average people look for alternatives. Keep your fingers crossed. You can't fake real cities with bricked sidewalks and park benches. The density we crave is a function of necessity, not urban fantasy.

[Vicelord John]

Well said.

There's a difference between hope and annoying over-optimism. Most of this forum is guilty of the latter. If it isn't gonna happen, it isn't gonna happen.

[Jimks]

Originally Posted by Vicelord John

that seems rather pricey for that location, and of course they tell you there is a waiting list, do you expect them to say "no we haven't sold any yet, want one?"

I understand why they would wall the place off, it's not in a walking location, and it will help keep the element that you'd find on that sidewalk off the property.

thank you.

If I were a potential buyer, this would throw up a red flag for me. Anyhow, this was a gaudy and uncreative way of keeping out certain elements. A wrought iron fence with sharp spikes would have served the same purpose. At least there would be more curb appeal. Now to even view the property you have to drive down the alley. I'm not sure how this even got through the permitting process.

[nickw252]

The prison style fence looks terrible. A wrought iron fence would have served the same purpose, with the exception of keeping sound away. That can be fixed by installing good windows in the houses though.





At least there's a gate to McDowell Rd. There are too many apartment/condos that are so auto-focused that the only way in and out is through the driveway.



From the alley it looks decent:

[Jimks]

[QUOTE=nickw252;5971465]The prison style fence looks terrible. A wrought iron fence would have served the same purpose, with the exception of keeping sound away. That can be fixed by installing good windows in the houses though.





At least there's a gate to McDowell Rd. There are too many apartment/condos that are so auto-focused that the only way in and out is through the driveway.



From the alley it looks decent:

They painted the red brick???? . . .and replaced the steel casement windows.

[nickw252]

Yes they painted the brick. There was discoloration and areas that had previously been painted over. It looks much better this way. All the windows are new.

[Arquitect]

Originally Posted by nickw252

Is anyone familiar with the Lofts @ 10 project? It's a nice looking mid-century hotel building at Van Buren and 23rd St that's been gutted and apparently is being re-done by the same architects that did the Lofts at McKinley. It's in a pretty sketchy neighborhood and will probably be low-budget housing but that's much better than the building sitting empty and getting vandalized.



http://www.acanthusarchitecture.com/...sing-remodels/

Yes, they are gutting out the abandoned hotel, keeping the structure and making it into apartments. It is indeed going to be low-cost housing. And I completely agree with you that it is a positive for the neighborhood. It would be very unlikely to get anything but that in this area. But I think it is great that they kept the original structure.

[gymratmanaz]

This is great for the area. This could be a good catalyst for the neighborhood!!!

[pbenjamin]

From the January Inside Willo. http://www.willohistoricdistrict.com...an2013_WEB.pdf

What's Happening on Thomas at 5th Avenue?

Updates to the project on 535 W. Thomas Road
Marilyn Esteves Rendon (Cypress)

In March of this year, a project
renewal request with minor
interior changes was made
to the CIty of Phoenix for the
Metropolitan Lofts at 535 W.
Thomas Road. You may remember
that the building was
originally a nursing home and was next intended
to be an assisted living facility.

We are now told that 54 micro apartment
living units with 3000 square feet of retail on
the ground floor and amenities including a
swimming pool are the plan.

This is a five-story building that appears
to have driveways on either side of the building
onto Thomas Road and alley access. It
appears to have 60 to 70 parking spaces in
the rear and 6 in the front.

We are also told that they should be ready
to rent/lease in January. As of this writing,
there is not yet signage stating this.

Members of your Willo board are currently
researching zoning issues and are in
contact with the Mayor and City Council Offices
to ensure that the impact on our neighborhood
is minimal.

If this issue is of interest to you, please
contact bethany.samaddar@phoenix.gov

[PHX31]

/\ Interesting... I've worked in the immediate vicinity of this building for 8 years and it has been under construction the entire time (or stalled for a year or two during the recession). If every 54 unit 5-story renovation job took 8+ years to get off the ground, Phoenix will never see a new tallest building, lest it takes 70 years to build.



They just painted the building (with a guy on a cherry picker using a paint roller).

The entire light rail system was built faster than this building renovation.

For something kinda fun, here's a picture from 5 1/2 years ago during a July downpour (can't even see the midtown skyline):


They had recently installed the block wall around the property at this point... the storm flooded their land and they had to punch holes in the bottom of the wall to drain the water.



I've got tons of other stories about this little building that could(n't).

[nickw252]

That's great news, thanks for the update, Paul. I've been watching them work on it recently. The building has been repainted and i believe new windows were put in. It's not a bad location for apartments. There's restaurants along Thomas going east, it's close to the Metro, and you're close to St. Joe's.

[nickw252]

Here's an press release with a bit of a description of the project when it was sold in May of 2012:

PHOENIX – Cassidy Turley BRE Commercial is pleased to announce that they have completed the sale of The Metropolitan Lofts for $2,700,000 / $44,262 per unit. The 61-unit partially completed residential community is located at 535 W. Thomas Rd. in Phoenix. Lead Properties V, LLC out of Centennial, CO purchased the lender owned property from ML Manager LLC.

Fronting on Thomas Road, and directly across the street from St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center, the property includes seven loft floor plans that range in size from 414 to 1,025 square feet. The Metropolitan Lofts is blocks from the Metro Light Rail and minutes from the ASU Downtown campus and Downtown Phoenix’s arts, cultural and sporting amenities.

http://www.cassidyturley.com/News/Pr...or_2_7_Million

[phxSUNSfan]

Originally Posted by PHX31

/\ Interesting... I've worked in the immediate vicinity of this building for 8 years and it has been under construction the entire time (or stalled for a year or two during the recession). If every 54 unit 5-story renovation job took 8+ years to get off the ground, Phoenix will never see a new tallest building, lest it takes 70 years to build.

It is late and I am tired, so perhaps I missed the sarcasm ...but the building hasn't been under construction the entire time. It was under renovations (it was an old office building, I believe, being converter into condos) after the housing bubble burst and eventually caught up with the company that owned it. It was owned by Mortgages Limited; hence, the recent sale via ML Manager, LLC (created after the Mortgages Limited bankruptcy). Until recently this building was sitting idle for years.

[westbev93]

It was owned and being renovated by a local developer known for a host of failed projects around town (many may remember this developer as the one who wanted to build a mini Rockefeller Center ice rink as part of a high rise condo across the street from Brophy). All the developer's projects were financed by Mortgages Limited. All were lost. This particular project probably would have been completed before the Mortgages Limited meltdown, but there were a few disputes with different trades on the renovation project. It sat idle for so long in part due to the Mortgages Limited bankruptcy, but the thing had all kinds of problems before that, which is why it sat idle for 8 years.

This project was intended to be various things. At one point it was condos for doctors and others working at St. Joes (as if a doctor would want to live in a shitty condo at 5th Ave. and Thomas), then it was supposed to be a hotel to service families visiting the hospital. I believe at one point the developer was going to convert them into high end assisted living units. If you are familiar with the developer, then you know that any proposed use would be pie in the sky and never happen.

It's nice to see that someone is going to do something with it. Apartments probably make more sense than anything that had been promised. I know there was a major pigeon infestation there a few years ago so hopefully they have that resolved.

[PHX31]

Originally Posted by phxSUNSfan

It is late and I am tired, so perhaps I missed the sarcasm ...but the building hasn't been under construction the entire time. It was under renovations (it was an old office building, I believe, being converter into condos) after the housing bubble burst and eventually caught up with the company that owned it. It was owned by Mortgages Limited; hence, the recent sale via ML Manager, LLC (created after the Mortgages Limited bankruptcy). Until recently this building was sitting idle for years.

It was stripped to its shell and renovated from the ground up... that's construction, renovation, refurbishment, whatever you want to call it.

Until the bubble burst it was under construction for at least 3 years, sat idle for maybe another couple of years, and has since been under construction for at least another year. Not U/C for 8 straight years, but at least 5 years for renovation of a 5 story building? And how long did it take the Empire State Building to be constructed? I'm just sick of seeing this P.O.S. building unfinished and hope I live until it finally opens.

[combusean]

The guy who was behind that was also behind that Brophy/Metro Lofts fantasy on Central. It's totally unfair to gauge the entire real estate market in Phoenix on that one numbskull.

Tho, in all honesty, he wasn't that far from par for the course as evidenced by the sheer plethora of the boom's failed projects.

[pbenjamin]

Originally Posted by nickw252

That's great news, thanks for the update, Paul. I've been watching them work on it recently. The building has been repainted and i believe new windows were put in. It's not a bad location for apartments. There's restaurants along Thomas going east, it's close to the Metro, and you're close to St. Joe's.

Unfortunately many of those restaurants are breakfast/lunch only and not worth much to the neighborhood. (e.g. Fifth Ave Cafe, First Watch, Sacks) Maybe more residents would change that, but I doubt it.

[Vicelord John]

I would call it construction. They are building things. building = construction.

[Vicelord John]

Originally Posted by pbenjamin

Unfortunately many of those restaurants are breakfast/lunch only and not worth much to the neighborhood. (e.g. Fifth Ave Cafe, First Watch, Sacks) Maybe more residents would change that, but I doubt it.

Sochu House, Z Pizza, and Pino's are definitely worth noting, but that's about it. When I lived at 3rd street and Thomas, I pretty much only ate at Honey Bear's, China Chili, and Del Taco. There are places in that area, but there aren't a lot of great places.