Phoenix CityScape Thread - Page 43

HX_Guy · #**841** Posted **Oct 10, 2007, 9:14 PM**

Permit# CES-T459070 Issue Date Expires 10/9/09
Project 06-5309 CITYSCAPE
Description/Scope of Work: ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE

PLEASE CALL DENISE MOORE, CITY OF PHOENIX AT 602.256.4319 FOR FENCE CHECK WHEN SALVAGE OPERATION IS COMPLETE.

NUMBER OF TREES SALVAGED: 67

NUMBER OF TREES TO REMAIN IN PLACE: 40

NUMBER OF CACTI SALVAGED: 0

NUMBER OF CACTI TO REMAIN IN PLACE: 0

NO SALVAGE NURSERY ON SITE BECAUSE ALL SALVAGED TREES WILL BE USED AT OTHER SITES

I don't remember any trees on the parking that east of Central (block 22), so are they talking about Patriot's Square?

PHX NATIVE 929 · #**842** Posted **Oct 10, 2007, 9:42 PM**

Just received an invite in the mail from RED. Oct 22nd, 5:30-7:30 at US Airways Center.

"Major Announcements Regarding CityScape"

"Featuring a Taste of CityScape hosted by featured tenants: AJ's & PF Chang's"

kevininlb · #**843** Posted **Oct 10, 2007, 9:55 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by PHX NATIVE 929

Just received an invite in the mail from RED. Oct 22nd, 5:30-7:30 at US Airways Center.

"Major Announcements Regarding CityScape"

"Featuring a Taste of CityScape hosted by featured tenants: AJ's & PF Chang's"

I'd love to go to this. How'd you get the invite? I was on some sort of mailing list but haven't received anything.

gymratmanaz · #**844** Posted **Oct 10, 2007, 11:15 PM**

me too...can anyone go?

PHX NATIVE 929 · #**845** Posted **Oct 10, 2007, 11:36 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by kevininlb

I'd love to go to this. How'd you get the invite? I was on some sort of mailing list but haven't received anything.

Not sure, actually. I've worked in commercial RE for some time. May have something to do with it.

HX_Guy · #**846** Posted **Oct 20, 2007, 4:49 PM**

The story that lies beneath Phoenix
Archaeologists uncover history's leftovers on CityScape site

Jahna Berry
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 20, 2007 12:00 AM

The prehistoric pit houses, a century-old cosmetic-cream jar and antique bricks tell the story of the first merchants in downtown Phoenix.

Archaeologists earlier this month found those artifacts deep beneath the downtown parking lot where on Monday crews will begin building a $900 million hub of shops, offices and restaurants.

When it's complete, developers say, CityScape will pump vitality into a three-block parcel near Central Avenue and Washington Street, bringing the area full circle. Long before it was dominated by a park and the parking lot, that intersection was the cradle of Phoenix commerce.

During a four-week dig, scientists found wall fragments dating to the late 1800s - what's left of the first businesses built by Anglo and Mexican settlers. John Y.T. Smith's mill, the Hotel Luhrs and attorney Edward Irvine's adobe and brick buildings were the town's commercial heart during that period.

"We are looking at the very beginnings of the city of Phoenix," city archaeologist Todd Bostwick said.

Underneath the 19th-century foundations, the team of archaeologists also found the buried remnants of about a dozen prehistoric pit houses. Hohokam farmers who lived in the Valley between A.D. 1 and 1450 probably occupied them, archaeologists say. No human remains were found.

Since a chunk of the land had been a parking lot for decades, Bostwick knew there was a good chance that artifacts were preserved underground.

Major development

CityScape will infuse downtown with shops, restaurants, an upscale grocery store, apartments, condos, offices and eventually two hotels, developers say.

The development area is bounded by First Avenue and Second, Washington and Jefferson streets. Eventually, Patriots Square, a 2.2-acre park constructed with red bricks, will be razed and replaced with a series of open spaces.

The names of two anchor tenants - a financial-services firm and one of thehotels, which will be part of the San Francisco-based Kimpton Hotels chain - are expected to be announced Monday. The first phase of the project will open in November 2009, developers say.

Jeff Moloznik, a development manager for Red Development LLC, said it was interesting to learn that some of the first businesses in the city were the same kind planned for the new project. Red Development and CDK Partners LLC are the project's developers.

CityScape developers plan to display some of the finds at Monday's groundbreaking ceremony.

They are also exploring ways to incorporate antique bricks, artifacts or old business names into the development, he said.

Over the years, floods, silt and wind buried pit houses and pioneer-era buildings under a few feet of dirt.

The building fragments date to a time when only a few hundred people, about half of them Mexican settlers and half of them Anglos, lived in what is now Phoenix.

Early settlers eked out a hardscrabble life. Relations with Native Americans, including the Gila River, Maricopa, Pima and Apache tribes, were sometimes friendly, sometimes tense.

The intersection of Central Avenue and Washington Street was the heart of Phoenix life in the late 1800s, historians say.

Mills, saloons, government buildings, shops and professional offices sprang up in that area.

Experts knew about the pioneer-era businesses, but State Historic Preservation Officer James Garrison said he was astounded by how much was preserved under the parking lot.

Some of century-old walls fragments ran for a dozen feet, and one adobe cellar was practically intact.

"The first two-story building in Phoenix was sitting on top of a pit house," Garrison said.

Even the Hohokam finds hinted at trade.

Archaeologists found a bracelet made from a seashell that is found only at a tourist destination in Mexico that is familiar to Arizonans.

"We aren't the first to vacation at Rocky Point," Bostwick said.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/p...20dig1020.html

HX_Guy · #**847** Posted **Oct 20, 2007, 4:56 PM**

Kimpton plans to open Phoenix boutique hotel

Jahna Berry
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 19, 2007 02:22 PM

Kimpton Hotels, a San Francisco boutique hotel chain plans to open a hotel in downtown Phoenix, a company spokeswoman confirmed on Friday.

The hotel, which will be part of CityScape, will have about 250 beds and will include condominiums, said spokeswoman Jamie Law.

On Monday, developers Red Development LLC and CDK Partners LLC will break ground on a $900 million, three-block development in the heart of Phoenix. The development will include apartments, shops, restaurants and offices.

CityScape developers plan to announce deal with Kimpton and a financial services firm during groundbreaking festivities on Monday.

Local media reports have indicated that Wachovia Corp. plan to announce Monday a Phoenix expansion - the same day as the CityScape groundbreaking.

HooverDam · #**848** Posted **Oct 20, 2007, 10:58 PM**

So I guess Wachovia is going to be in CityScape and not CPE then?

Either way, all of that news sounds great. I wonder if the public is allowed to come to the CityScape groundbreaking? Neither article seems to mention anything about that, but I hope to at least see it on tv.

oliveurban · #**849** Posted **Oct 21, 2007, 4:51 AM**

Has anyone seen this yet? From the new issue of Contact (now Kontakt) Mag--

http://www.contact-mag.com/kontakt/c.../21/index.html

combusean · #**850** Posted **Oct 21, 2007, 5:01 AM**

Well that cements wachovia!

Choice quote:

Quote:

“Despite the length of the process, I think we ended up with an even better design than we started with,” said Bacon. “The public contributed valuable input and it really showed how much the residents care about downtown.”

PHX_PD · #**851** Posted **Oct 21, 2007, 5:05 AM**

Awesome, we haven’t seen this rendering before. The thing is, I count only 38 floors on the mixed use tower. I hope they didn’t scale it down.

HooverDam · #**852** Posted **Oct 21, 2007, 5:21 AM**

That article states at full build out CityScape plans to have 1,200 condominiums, good lord! I sure hope that its possible to sell that many units, doing it in phases will help I suppose. With all of the condos being built in the better established areas of Scottsdale, Camelback Corridor and Tempe, along with some being built in midtown, I just can't imagine that downtown will be able to support that many units in addition to the other residential projects that are planned for downtown.

On the other hand, if downtown/the Central Core could land just 2% or so of the people who move to the Valley every year, that wouldn't be nearly enough.

Azndragon837 · #**853** Posted **Oct 21, 2007, 6:08 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by gymratmanaz

me too...can anyone go?

I might be curious to attend as well. So who is with me for this Monday evening? And where can we meet?

-Andrew

PHX_PD · #**854** Posted **Oct 21, 2007, 6:09 AM**

I already posted this in the temporary discussion thread thingy, but I think it deserves a repost here for documentation purposes if nothing else. Issued last Wednesday:

Permit# LPRR-0704615 Issue Date 10/17/07 Expires: 10/16/08
Permit Description CITYSCAPE
Project 06-5309 CITYSCAPE

DESCRIPTION OF WORK: DEMO RAMPS TO PARKING GARAGE (ALONG CENTRAL) DEMO C.I.P. WALL AND CONCRETE SLAB. CONSTRUCT 2 SUPPORTING COLUMNS FOR PED BRIDGE, CONSTRUCT DUCT BANK WITH PVC DUCTS FOR ELECTRICAL UTILITIES.

HX_Guy · #**855** Posted **Oct 21, 2007, 8:05 AM**

A few things from the Contact Magazine article.

- It seems they might have scrapped the plans for a bookstore? In the original site maps, it showed the bookstore on the western block, on the western edge, along 1st Ave. The article says the western edge of the block will have 75 residential units, atop retail, but doesn't mention a bookstore...which I would figure they would if it was still happening. I guess we'll see on Monday at the groundbreaking.

- There will be two hotels on site now, which is something new. Previously there was talk of only the TWELVE hotel. Now there will be the Kimpton hotel on the center block, and the TWELVE on the eastern block.

- The office tower, on the central block, plus the retail/park on western block will be built first. The residential/hotel tower on the center block will be built next along with one of the two towers on the eastern block. The article makes it sound as if the second tower will be built after the first, but if they are expected to open about 5 months apart, and the second tower is quite a bit taller, it sounds like they will be going up around the same times, similar to the Centerpoint towers in Tempe.

- Although blurred out, it seems pretty clear that the name on the office tower says "Wachovia", which is great news. Having someone like that on board pretty much makes this foolproof.

HX_Guy · #**856** Posted **Oct 21, 2007, 8:31 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by PHX_PD

Awesome, we haven’t seen this rendering before. The thing is, I count only 38 floors on the mixed use tower. I hope they didn’t scale it down.

You might be right, which would really be unfortunate. This is obviously a very new rendering (with the Wachovia logo on there), the office tower still shows 26 stories and the hotel portion of the other tower still has 10 levels like the older renderings, but now it seems there are only 22 levels of residential vs 28 before. Even the building itself seems shorter in the drawing compared to the old. At 38 floors, it would make it roughly only 440'.

kevininlb · #**857** Posted **Oct 21, 2007, 3:36 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by HooverDam

That article states at full build out CityScape plans to have 1,200 condominiums, good lord! I sure hope that its possible to sell that many units, doing it in phases will help I suppose. With all of the condos being built in the better established areas of Scottsdale, Camelback Corridor and Tempe, along with some being built in midtown, I just can't imagine that downtown will be able to support that many units in addition to the other residential projects that are planned for downtown.

On the other hand, if downtown/the Central Core could land just 2% or so of the people who move to the Valley every year, that wouldn't be nearly enough.

The Phoenix area will add 725,000 people by 2012 (source: Global Insight). If 2% end up downtown, that's 14,500 people over a five-year period.

Like no where else, though, that's a big if. There are few problems with this, the biggest being that half that 725,000 will be Latino (I'm not offending Latinos - partnered with one). But, on average, Latinos here make about only two-thirds the income of non-Latinos. A family of four-plus people making a combined $49,000 isn't enough to buy one of these places. And a DT condo isn't really practical.

But on the positive side, people do move here hoping to find downtown highrises. The mere fact that there will be units on the market and realtors taking people to CS will help, a lot.

PHX31 · #**858** Posted **Oct 21, 2007, 3:40 PM**

Uh oh, maybe the ruling by the FAA has caused them to change their plans.

I'm kind of surprised Wachovia wouldnt want to rent in the taller of the two towers. That one has an office portion too, right?

tempedude · #**859** Posted **Oct 21, 2007, 3:54 PM**

well we will know all details tomorrow when Cityscape is unveiled at the ground breaking ceremony. My guess is that the plans remain unchanged.

HX_Guy · #**860** Posted **Oct 21, 2007, 4:22 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by PHX31

Uh oh, maybe the ruling by the FAA has caused them to change their plans.

I'm kind of surprised Wachovia wouldnt want to rent in the taller of the two towers. That one has an office portion too, right?

No, the taller tower is all hotel/residential.