Tempe Development Thread

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by muertecaza

Still dragging on. The squatter (Sussex) filed suit to keep the land. Tempe won that case in the Superior Court, and on appeal, and the case is now on appeal to the Supreme Court.

Tempe filed a separate action to eject Sussex from the property last year. That case is still pending in the trial court.

That guy must be nuts he is sitting on a virtual goldmine of property value.

[azsunsurfer]

Something much taller with little to no parking should go on that parcel, however, since Tempe is considering a "re-alignment" of Ash/ 5th/ Rio the property might be used to create a new round-a-bout that is rumored to be in the works.

[exit2lef]

Originally Posted by Obadno

That guy must be nuts he is sitting on a virtual goldmine of property value.

Except that he doesn't own the land. He and his ancestors have apparently been squatting there for a century. Still, l'll bet he could walk away with a decent settlement if he agreed to stop the appeals.

[PHXFlyer11]

Anyone notice that Papago Grand has a 9-story office on the DRC agenda? I know this isn't new, but good to see this moving forward. Pretty good height right under the runway approach.

[azsunsurfer]

Originally Posted by PHXFlyer11

Anyone notice that Papago Grand has a 9-story office on the DRC agenda? I know this isn't new, but good to see this moving forward. Pretty good height right under the runway approach.

I did too but I don't get it....There are about two other buildings entitled for that site that are low rise (4 stories) like the first one they built that is half leased. I am not sure why they wouldn't go forward with those first before going vertical on a taller building. My thoughts were that the taller product closer to the freeway was for a larger tenant(s). Maybe something is in the works then....

Also the Freedom Financial HQ is under construction at 101 and 202. It looks like it will be pretty close to the 202!

[azsunsurfer]

I was also by the Whole Foods site the other day. Whoever reported that they broke ground is wrong...There is nothing on site, not even a fence LOlol.

[ASU Diablo]

Originally Posted by azsunsurfer

I was also by the Whole Foods site the other day. Whoever reported that they broke ground is wrong...There is nothing on site, not even a fence LOlol.

LOL may happen soon from the looks of it. This should be taller but oh well. Also, this has a shitload of parking spaces too

http://azbex.com/the-local-mixed-use-coming-to-tempe/

Originally named The Foundry, a development agreement for the project, which called for 292 apartments, was adopted by the Tempe City council in June of last year.

The detailed description of the project filed with the city states, “Rising to two stories in volume from ground level, the 41KSF Whole Foods grocery store will front the roadway at the intersection with large, roll-up doors to create an open, outdoor dining area along the street and at mezzanine level. A canopied platform out front will serve as a stop on the route of the future Tempe streetcar service.

“Above the store will rise a three-level parking structure, which will be screened by an artistic metal mesh. The project will have 557 parking spaces, including 446 standard spaces, 73 compact spaces and 38 tandem spaces, as well as 312 bicycle spaces.

“The layout emphasizes alternative transportation modes, such as street car, biking and walking, by locating entrances to the parking structure on the west end of the University frontage and the north end along Ash.

“The top five levels will be luxury apartments surrounding a courtyard amenity for residents, including a resort-quality pool. Rising 118’ in height, the building will encompass 572KSF.”

[Phxguy]

http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/arts/...g-date-9425291

Coming soon to Tempe, your favorite cinema to get shitfaced in.

[Jjs5056]

Originally Posted by muertecaza

Can't complain, the renderings look nice. I do feel like 5000 residents might be kind of on the low side? I don't have a great frame of reference, but for 330 acres, it seems like not that many people. A lot of that space still has to go to atheletics facilities I suppose, and combining 5000 residents with 20,000 jobs would be nothing to sneeze at. But I just feel like the more dense housing they can build, the better the area will be.

Agreed on the residential density. Because this district will be totally disconnected from downtown, it needs its own generator of people to use the retail being proposed. I may be way off, but 5,000 seems like 4-5 lowrise apartments. Considering how many units will be leased to seasonal students, and the retail - which already shot itself in the foot by being placed inward - seems like a tough sell. The only areas I really cared to see built on are the RIO/Rural corner, and the lot fronting Rio Salado adjacent to SDS. Disappointed that there seem to be no plans for the lot referenced. A large lawn that aligned to one of the Marina Heights plazas flanked by Rio-fronting retail would have been nice.

RE: Apache and Oak, that would have been a big turn for Apache which has so far been dominated by student housing. The city screwed up when it let neighbors take down the 13 floor apt on Farmer, and they have screwed up again. It would make a great addition on Farmer, which needs a product other than senior housing. The north side is a mess, though, with the pending connection of Rio with 1st via 2 roundabouts, and the poorly planned access roads for the residential along 1st. I think it'd be a good fit for the Lawrence and Geyser lot which had been under planning, given the scale of Studios 5c.

The outdated former smoke shop that has been vacant for years on 5th/Maple is being renovated into a public market-type space. I would have preferred an infill project but replacing that parking lot with a patio makes the block infinitely more walkable. The vision for 5th is lacking when it comes to the importance of built design on the street and should have looked at creative ways to incentivize owners of the Centurylink building and other eyesores to renovate. It also made no mention of working with ASU on the Towers, which is pretty important IMO and converting back to apts with a makeover of the ground floor would make the surrounding retail viable. And, lastly, only minor work is expected on all of the city owned acreage. I think it would have been wise to plan for an integrated complex on the north so that the entire City Hall lot could be RFP'd.

[ciweiss]

4th & Maple - The old fountain is gone. It looks like they may be connecting 4th to Maple. The area is under construction. That might help the fluidity in the area. To much brick imho. Also, all the cars roll through the smoke shops parking lot as a pass through. This may help. They could make the smokeshop market bar concept really cool if they wanted to. Eg. Rip out some of that asphalt and add indoor/outdoor space.

[azsunsurfer]

Press Coffee, who recently opened on the ground floor of Muse on Central, has a sign up on Apache to open on the ground floor of NEXA. Both projects were developed by Lennar. Hmmm

[muertecaza]

Not quite as much so as Rural/Terrace, but Rural/Playa del Norte will be a fun intersection with construction on both sides of the street over the next year.

Jefferson is *finally* above ground:



And Aura Watermark has a nice dirt pile and pit:

[ciweiss]

Its gonna be great to see both sides of the lake surrounded by buildings over the next couple years. Any word on the medical campus next to TCA?

[azsunsurfer]

Originally Posted by ciweiss

Its gonna be great to see both sides of the lake surrounded by buildings over the next couple years. Any word on the medical campus next to TCA?

The marketing info has been blasted all over the broker community. They updated the signage with better renderings near TCA. No word yet on when they might break ground.

[muertecaza]

DRC packet for 9-story office in the Grand development.

https://www.tempe.gov/Home/ShowDocument?id=51573

Building + parking structure.

[muertecaza]

Fence *finally* up for The Local, with some light digging.



Also noticed in the past couple days:

• The Pier still has some slow work going. Notice it appears they have the tower crane base installed, which seemed a little like putting the cart before the horse but I don't really know shit about these things
• Freedom Rio 2100 is already going vertical

[azsunsurfer]

Originally Posted by azsunsurfer

I did too but I don't get it....There are about two other buildings entitled for that site that are low rise (4 stories) like the first one they built that is half leased. I am not sure why they wouldn't go forward with those first before going vertical on a taller building. My thoughts were that the taller product closer to the freeway was for a larger tenant(s). Maybe something is in the works then....

Also the Freedom Financial HQ is under construction at 101 and 202. It looks like it will be pretty close to the 202!

I already mentioned this above!

[Phxguy]

Walked down Mill Ave this morning and noticed up and down the street what appears to be construction or site work (or whatever comes first) for the streetcar. Lanes are blocked, crews are there with equipment. Crossing fingers they don't rip down the ficus trees.

Also, looks like they're adding 2 additional levels to the Ash Ave and 3rd St parking garage adjacent to Waste Managment/ADP buildings.

[ASU Diablo]

Originally Posted by Phxguy

Walked down Mill Ave this morning and noticed up and down the street what appears to be construction or site work (or whatever comes first) for the streetcar. Lanes are blocked, crews are there with equipment. Crossing fingers they don't rip down the ficus trees.

Also, looks like they're adding 2 additional levels to the Ash Ave and 3rd St parking garage adjacent to Waste Managment/ADP buildings.

Trees will be staying. Down the Mill Ave stretch, the street car will be running on batteries

[Phxguy]

Originally Posted by airomero83

Trees will be staying. Down the Mill Ave stretch, the street car will be running on batteries

Excellent