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  #21  
Old Posted Mar 31, 2006, 3:42 PM
phxatty phxatty is offline
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According to Phoenix Business Journal today, the crane should start to be erected very soon as the foundation piers have been installed at 60 feet below grade (seems very deep for me but I'm a lawyer not a builder).
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  #22  
Old Posted Mar 31, 2006, 5:15 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by phxatty
According to Phoenix Business Journal today, the crane should start to be erected very soon as the foundation piers have been installed at 60 feet below grade (seems very deep for me but I'm a lawyer not a builder).

Do you have a link to read this article?
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  #23  
Old Posted Mar 31, 2006, 8:03 PM
phxatty phxatty is offline
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No. Just the printed version out today. Should be on-line by Monday. Article says they are going verticle on April 6th.
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  #24  
Old Posted Mar 31, 2006, 8:06 PM
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April 6th is next week. Sounds good to me.
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  #25  
Old Posted Apr 3, 2006, 7:12 AM
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Post

High-rise digs deep foundation, prepares to go vertical
Mike Padgett
The Business Journal of Phoenix
March 31, 2006

If you've experienced the traffic bottleneck in downtown Phoenix, you should know the work under way at First Avenue and Monroe Street is just a warm-up for the main event.

Much of the work at that intersection has been below street level and behind a construction screen, so many motorists are unaware what workers have been doing at 44 Monroe, site of a future 34-story building with 202 condominiums, including six penthouses.

The foundation work consisted of drilling 49 caissons, or underground columns, with a giant crane said to be one of only three in the United States.

The crane and its front-end attachment were used to drill the deep holes, using steel casings ranging from four to eight feet in diameter. The holes range from 30 to more than 60 feet deep.

Most drilling rigs of this type can exert 500,000 pounds of downward pressure. This one is four times as powerful.

"It's called an oscillator, and it puts 2 million pounds of pressure down on that steel tube, which has big carbide teeth, and turns it," said project manager Rick Fria. "It will go right through rock."

As each steel casing is pushed into the ground, workers bolt another casing to it and keep forcing them down until they reach the depth they want.

Today, after nearly two months of work, the drilling is finished. Workers have dismantled the heavy-duty crane with its equipment to prepare for another project elsewhere.

The residential tower is the work of Grace Communities, made up architect Jonathon Vento and the father-son team of Don and Ryan Zeleznak.

The next step for the Phoenix high-rise is going straight up 34 stories, and April 6 is the date for the "going vertical" party for the luxury condo building. The guest list for the party, headed by Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, totals several hundred. Monroe Street will be closed for the party.

By May, workers should be at the first-floor level with vertical concrete columns, Fria says.

The building's six penthouses range in size from 2,700 to 4,400 square feet, with prices from $2 million to $3.5 million. The remaining 196 condos range from 743 to 2,121 square feet, with prices from $400,000 to more than $1.2 million.

Of the 202 condos, Grace Communities has signed contracts for 54 units and potential buyers who have expressed serious interest in another 47, Ryan Zeleznak said.

Fria is on hand during sales presentations, in case buyers have questions about the construction. He is owner and president of The Fria Co., which provides project and construction management services on large developments. He has high hopes for downtown Phoenix, based on his work on similar redevelopments in Seattle and Denver.

"I think Pottery Barn and Williams-Sonoma and those guys will be coming downtown once we generate some real vibrancy down there," he said.

Other downtown developers already have said they are receiving calls from retailers interested in downtown projects.

Retailers are critical for downtown to expand, said John Pasquinelli, who is buying a 1,800-square-foot condo on the 23rd floor of 44 Monroe. He currently owns a south-facing 10th floor condo at Orpheum Lofts, 114 W. Adams St., which he plans to lease after he moves into 44 Monroe.

"The city has got to follow up with the retail," Pasquinelli said. "If they don't, they're making a huge mistake. We need some grocery, some clothing and whatever people think they can set up to make money."

Pasquinelli, a native of Chicago who also has lived in Los Angeles, is familiar with long commutes. That's why he prefers downtown living to the suburbs.

For Phoenix, Fria said the addition of downtown residential buildings is a predictable reaction to the other major projects under way, including the Phoenix Convention Center, the Arizona State University campus, light rail and the opening of the Translational Genomics Research Institute, and because of the March 14 passage of the city's $879 million bond proposals.

"Phoenix is in a state of change right now, with the bond issue just passing," Fria says. "The snowball's just been pushed down the hill."
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  #26  
Old Posted Apr 4, 2006, 5:35 PM
Vicelord John Vicelord John is offline
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the crane is going up as we speak
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  #27  
Old Posted Apr 4, 2006, 6:55 PM
soleri soleri is offline
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Very good. Doubts: erased.
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  #28  
Old Posted Apr 4, 2006, 9:55 PM
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loftlovr loftlovr is offline
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Thursday from 6:00-8:00 Grace is having a gathering of some sort at the Sales Office right next to the site. I believe there will be refreshments and appetizers. I think it is for anyone- don't think it needs pre-registration or anything..
I'm sure they want to create some hype because of weak sales...
Let me know if anyone goes-
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  #29  
Old Posted Apr 4, 2006, 11:46 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by soleri
^I'll guess within a month. The caisson work is proceeding and it appears several weeks away from completion. I'll wager April 11 for the crane.
Pretty good guess, only off by a couple of days.
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  #30  
Old Posted Apr 4, 2006, 11:53 PM
Azndragon837 Azndragon837 is offline
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Since I do not have my digital camera anymore, can someone post a few pictures of the crane going up? Thanks.

Also, Centerpoint Condos has their crane up in Tempe. It's a nice sight to see.

-Andrew
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  #31  
Old Posted Apr 5, 2006, 12:22 AM
Vicelord John Vicelord John is offline
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Andrew, took a few pictures from 20 stories up and 2 blocks away. They don't show much of anything, but from where I took them you can see fine with the naked eye. Oh welll.
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  #32  
Old Posted Apr 5, 2006, 1:28 AM
Azndragon837 Azndragon837 is offline
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Hmmm, well, I am headed to the Downtown YMCA tonight for my usual workouts, I'll pass by 44 Monroe and check it out myself. Thanks though.

-Andrew
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  #33  
Old Posted Apr 5, 2006, 3:59 AM
Azndragon837 Azndragon837 is offline
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I went by the site tonight after my workout at the Y, and the crane is about 25 feet above the fence line at the northwest corner (hugging the street and parking garage). It looks nice, and I can't wait to see it rise.

-Andrew
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  #34  
Old Posted Apr 5, 2006, 3:16 PM
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PHX31 PHX31 is offline
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Does anyone know the official height of this bad boy? I really like the design/color change, now that I look at it again.
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  #35  
Old Posted Apr 7, 2006, 3:55 AM
soleri soleri is offline
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Did anyone go to the 44 Monroe celebration? I stopped by this afternoon, snapped this picture of the unassembled crane, noticed a City of Phoenix flag being hoisted by a mobile crane, and a combo setting up to play music by the sales office.

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  #36  
Old Posted Apr 17, 2006, 12:37 AM
vwwolfe vwwolfe is offline
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Does anyone know when this crane is going up? Don't see much happening here. Was downtown at the D-Backs game this afternoon and went by the site.

A lot going on at the Summit at Copper Square though. Elevator core is coming out of the ground there.

What is the Tarp covered building over by the site of the new convention hotel?

Also there are construction trailers set up on Central, just south of the Osco at McDowell, Anyone know what those are for?

Thanks to all.
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  #37  
Old Posted Apr 17, 2006, 1:21 AM
soleri soleri is offline
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^the excavation and boring equipment have been moved from the site, and the caissons have been cleaned out. I've looked at some concrete frames on 1st Avenue wondering if those are going to be part of the fixed crane. I don't know, but I'll guess that any crane construction would occur on a Sunday since it will involve some fairly substantial equipment. My guess: by next Sunday.

Those construction trailers south of the Osco are most likely for light rail.

No idea about the tarp-covered building.
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  #38  
Old Posted Apr 17, 2006, 1:50 AM
Vicelord John Vicelord John is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vwwolfe
What is the Tarp covered building over by the site of the new convention hotel?
That is Park Place at Arizona Center. It used to be an office building housing mainly Arizona Department of Water something or other and it is being converted to ASU classrooms and gettign a complete facelift. They also added two stories to the parking garage on that corner.
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  #39  
Old Posted Apr 19, 2006, 3:13 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PHX31
Does anyone know the official height of this bad boy? I really like the design/color change, now that I look at it again.
Well, does anyone? On Don's list it says it will be 411', but I read somewhere it will be Arizona's 3rd tallest building. Isn't the US Bank Tower only 407'?

Please tell me it is over 400'.
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  #40  
Old Posted Apr 25, 2006, 4:39 AM
soleri soleri is offline
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As of April, 24, the caisson work is over,the rebar is rising for columns. No fixed crane yet but I'm wondering whether those concrete forms might serve a temporary function for that. Don't know...


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