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What's going on in Phoenix?

6K views 24 replies 10 participants last post by  Caliguy2005 
#1 ·
I was just curious if anyone here lived in Phoenix or the surrounding area. I flew out there recently and was pretty impressed. It seems like there is quite a bit of construction and development. Does anyone know about the area or the projects going on there?
 
#3 ·
PHXbevo said:
i wish i knew too. the good "interior west" forum is over on Skyscraperpage.com, and the posters that know about Phoenix are fan-flippin-tastic, but unfortunately, i've been banned from even viewing the pages -- so if you go over there, tell them to contribute over here!
Why were you banned, PHXbevo ?


As for the other ?'s

I live in Phoenix, and, I can attest that things are in constant motion.

There's literally too much individual stuff to list all on here (with the thousands of new residents that move here each month), but, of the major developments that I can think of right now, I will note: the construction of the first leg of our new METRO system (light-rail), which begins with 20 miles of track, stretching from north-central Phoenix to the eastern mega-suburb of Mesa; the expansion of the Phoenix Civic Plaza (convention center) that will nearly triple it's current size; the new retractable-roofed Cardinal's (NFL) stadium being built in the western suburb of Glendale; a new 1,000-room Sheraton Convention hotel in downtown Phoenix to coincide with the Civic Plaza's finish; Arizona State University's new downtown Phoenix campus which will eventually house up to 15,000+ students; and, a whole slew of new mid to high-rise condo and apartment developments sprouting up throughout downtown and midtown Phoenix ...

Those are just but a few of the many, many, many.

If you have any ?'s (and, if I may be forgetting something), let me know.
 
#4 ·
There are a lot of projects in Phoenix, and most of them are lately extremely urban projects. Phoenix has great potential for a skyline, and most people don't see it. There are many clusters of skyscrapers in Pheonix, and all very near eachother. Once the area in between the skyscrapers gets some more projects, it will be an extremely long like of skyscrapers. :)

Some current skyscraper projects in Phoenix:
1) Metro Lofts - 132 m
2) 44 Monroe - 122 m
3) Phoenix Convention Center Hotel - 113 m
4) Collier Center II - 110 m
5) Collier Center III - 110 m
 
#5 ·
Whenever I visited Phoenix, I was personally in love with the nightlife. Most people think that the city has hardly any nightlife, but how soo wrong you are. When entering the downtown area from the neighborhoods, you'll notice so many night clubs, and bars everywhere.

Personally I think when people visit Phoenix, they have no idea what to visit, and expect the party to show up to the door, and it's not that easy. You need to get with the others in the clubs, and have a GREAT time. :yes:

Overall, if visiting Phoenix, you'll need to have a friend that lives near by to show you the way around the city, so you know where the parties are. :)
 
#6 ·
Harry Potter said:
Some current skyscraper projects in Phoenix:
1) Metro Lofts - 132 m
2) 44 Monroe - 122 m
3) Phoenix Convention Center Hotel - 113 m
4) Collier Center II - 110 m
5) Collier Center III - 110 m
+ 6. Summit at Copper Square (downtown; residential) - 22 levels
+ 7. W or Four Seasons (downtown; hotel + residential mix) - 25 levels+

Both very likely to be built, esp. Summit at Copper Square (near the ballpark), which is supposedly about to break ground by this summer.

But, any exact information on the new downtown Sheraton (convention center hotel) hasn't been released yet. There's been a lot of speculation, but no renderings or design information, other than it's enormous cost, of course. Even the '1,000-room number' is still a general figure at this point.

We here in Phoenix are all praying that this $300 million+ (public funds!) behemoth will be worth it's enormous cost. We want a prominent new addition to our skyline that we can be proud of.

In the end, even if just half of all the current proposals for downtown and midtown actually get built, in 5-10 years or so, Phoenix's skyline will finally be nearing 'worthy-ness' for a city of it's size ...

Catch-up is always hard to do.
 
#7 ·
I do see an excellent potential for Phoenix's skyline. :yes: People may not see it, but it's clear to me that once their years projects get finished, and close the space between the three nice skylines, it'll be a long strip of amazing skyscapers. :)

Another thing that I found extremely wrong, was the fact that people said that Phoenix had a lot of old people, which I BARELY saw! I don't know, I only saw them when I was passing though some rich neighborhoods. :dunno:
 
#8 ·
Thanks for the info. I'll have to do some more research and see what info I come up with on some of these projects. I was just amazed with the sprawl of the city. I have spent considerable time in Kansas City and Phoenix felt even more horizontal (if that's even possible). At any rate, thanks for the replies.
 
#10 · (Edited)
If you guys didn't already know, Phoenix just got a 50-story luxury condominium proposal.

50-story skyscraper to tower over downtown
Mike Padgett
The Business Journal

Downtown Phoenix's skyline, already in transition, appears headed for a change that could make history books.

A high-rise luxury condominium tower with as many as 50 stories and 900 residences -- plus an adjacent building for Arizona State University's journalism school -- are proposed on the block occupied by the Ramada Inn-Downtown.

The aging hotel between First, Second, Polk and Taylor streets is owned by City Centre LLC, which plans to donate the land and building to the city in a public-private partnership that would give the owner the right to develop the condo project. The proposal could become the first new development as part of Phoenix's plan to help Arizona State University expand its downtown campus.

The residential tower, which would be the tallest building in Arizona, would occupy the southern two-thirds of the site, and the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism is planned in a smaller, yet-to-be-designed building on the northern third of the block. The ground floors of both buildings would be reserved for retail uses, and a parking structure would include 200 spaces for students.

Although there is skepticism in the business community about the preliminary design, the proposal is genuine, said Nick Wood, City Centre's zoning attorney at Snell & Wilmer.

Downtown Development Office Director Patrick Grady supports the condo proposal because it would boost the area's residential inventory.

"I think there's a horse race going on downtown, particularly relative to the condominium market and different prospects trying to hit the market sooner rather than later," Grady said.

The architect is Studio4 Design, and the development manager is CMX, both of Phoenix. The contractor is Turner Construction of New York City, Wood said.

CMX Chief Executive Don Dillon said the condo project's design could be modified into two side-by-side buildings connected by a glass-enclosed vertical atrium.
Letter of intent signed

The hotel owners have signed a letter of intent for the private development to be coordinated with Phoenix and ASU, which are reviewing their intergovernmental agreement for the downtown campus. The IGA will be discussed April 29 by the Arizona Board of Regents and May 11 by the city council.

Wood said City Centre's donation of the hotel and land to the city will "save the city and the taxpayers a tremendous amount of money by creating a partnership in which the city didn't have to purchase the property."

City Centre LLC consists of Leslie Williams and Michael Rakow of Phoenix and Alex Berg and Jerry Glick of St. Louis.

Williams and Rakow said that soon after they bought the property in 2004, they were approached by Phoenix about a public-private partnership. The goal is redeveloping the property as part of ASU's plans for an expanded downtown campus.

Wood said the estimated $15 million value of the deal includes the hotel property, its business, and tax benefits generated for City Centre by donating the property.

Documents filed with the Maricopa County Recorder show a $6.5 million down payment on the site from City Centre, but no total sales price.

City Centre's partners' development experience has been limited to smaller commercial projects, but they have been meeting this week with others who have the needed experience and capital to tackle a 50-story condo building.

"We are negotiating with several highly recognized developers, some of whom have national and international reputations," Wood said.

A construction schedule hasn't been determined, Wood said, "but it could be possible for them to start construction next year."

He also hinted that the condo design could change, based on the outcome of a market study of potential buyers. The study, if launched, would be performed by Elliott D. Pollack & Co.

"If this ends up being a 50-story building, it would certainly be a different type of condo project than the ones going on right now (downtown)," Wood said.

The condo tower, the adjacent journalism school and other future development for the campus and the private sector could have as much as 300,000 square feet of space for retailers. For advice on what type of retail business would work best downtown, the city will turn to a retail advisory group it formed earlier this year.

Dillon said the journalism school building hasn't been designed, so its height and configuration are unknown. What is known is that the property will be among ASU's first new downtown locations.

West of the Ramada site is the 411 N. Central Ave. office building, where the offices will be renovated this summer for use in the fall by students in the College of Public Programs. East of the Ramada site is the Park Place office building at Taylor and Third streets, which is planned for the College of Nursing.

The renovations are part of the first phase of ASU's downtown expansion, to be completed by fall 2006.

Construction of new buildings for ASU and renovation of existing buildings for classrooms will be financed with the $233 million Phoenix plans to use to help ASU expand its presence downtown. The monies are part of the $750 million bond election planned in March 2006. The journalism school would be part of phase two, which is scheduled to start in 2008.
 
#13 ·
Open Road said:
Thanks for the info. I'll have to do some more research and see what info I come up with on some of these projects. I was just amazed with the sprawl of the city. I have spent considerable time in Kansas City and Phoenix felt even more horizontal (if that's even possible). At any rate, thanks for the replies.
From the recent times that I visited Phoenix, you'll be able to tell that the city is fixing it's sprawl problem the best that it can. I mean, it's probably realized the mistake, and is going to fix it in the next 20 years. At the rate of construction of Phoenix now, I'm sure it's going to be great. :)
 
#14 ·
Wow I thought Phoenix had or has a height limit. I always considered it a buddy of San Diego's cause we got a 500ft one of our own :). But thats good for Phoenix they deserve it, decades of endless sprawl will hopefully come to an end. Hope that big Trump one pulls through, that would look really nice their, any renderings?
 
#15 ·
SDfan said:
Wow I thought Phoenix had or has a height limit. I always considered it a buddy of San Diego's cause we got a 500ft one of our own :). But thats good for Phoenix they deserve it, decades of endless sprawl will hopefully come to an end. Hope that big Trump one pulls through, that would look really nice their, any renderings?
Phoenix still does technically, immediately Downtown. The FAA must individually sign off on any project exceeding 500' south of Roosevelt Street. Anything north, into Midtown, requires no FAA approval.

Hopefully this gains approval, being that it's not going to be extraordinarily taller than Phoenix's current tallest, built in the late 60's. And, something that Phoenix badly needs - a new prominent addition to our skyline.

Although, the initial renderings that have been published of this proposed building is, just, ugly, for lack of a better word. Luckily, this will more than likely change, as this development becomes closer to reality.
 
#18 ·
StevenW said:
Phoenix needs a few tall towers in the 500 to 700 ft. range. :)
Agreed. Probably more than anything else in the world. But again, that FAA rule doesn't exactly help things.

In a recent article in the Arizona Republic, they mentioned the possibility of it being taller than the initially proposed 50 stories. So, if the FAA signs off on that, the new building would definitely be placed in that elusive-for-Phoenix 500' + range.

Also, the fact that Trump was mentioned as a possible partner in this project, gives me even more reason to be optimistic.

Cautiously optimistic.
 
#23 ·
The Phoenix Valley has the potential of having a Skyscraper Boom since Arizona is so Pro-Growth,but i guess Arizonans want to follow the path of Califurnya....Sprawl,Sprawl,Sprawl.

The Housing Boom in The Phoenix Valley is amazing...they are building so many housing communities around the outskirts of the metro area and even in the town of Buckeye which is about 30 mins outside of Greater Phoenix..that small town currently has a population of 18,000,but will jump to 50,000 next year...Buckeye will have over 250,000 homes built there within 15 years...

If Arizonans used their Home Building Energy on Skyscrapers..The Phoenix Valley would look like Dubai.
 
#24 ·
Caliguy2005 said:
The Phoenix Valley has the potential of having a Skyscraper Boom since Arizona is so Pro-Growth,but i guess Arizonans want to follow the path of Califurnya....Sprawl,Sprawl,Sprawl.

The Housing Boom in The Phoenix Valley is amazing...they are building so many housing communities around the outskirts of the metro area and even in the town of Buckeye which is about 30 mins outside of Greater Phoenix..that small town currently has a population of 18,000,but will jump to 50,000 next year...Buckeye will have over 250,000 homes built there within 15 years...

If Arizonans used their Home Building Energy on Skyscrapers..The Phoenix Valley would look like Dubai.
It is crazy, I agree. Although, the low-slung, sprawl-y, suburban mindset is apparent in almost every major city in this country (especially in the Sun-Belt), not just Phoenix. Just because Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Denver, etc., etc., might have larger and more impressive skylines, it doesn't mean that they don't have just as much - if not more - sprawl on their fringes, too.

The urban culture in Phoenix has been changing gradually over the past 5-10 years, or so. There's been a definite and apparent move toward more urban living in the core, having more credible public transportation, etc., so, as Buckeye, and Queen Creek, continue to grow out (it's unfortunately somewhat inevitable in today's world), central Phoenix will continue to grow tighter and taller (so to speak). It takes time, but Phoenix is - slowly - changing for the better.

There's literally SO much on the drawing boards right now in regard to new projects in central Phoenix, it's almost too good to be true. But, of course, we'll just see how much of it actually pans out. I'm using the term cautiously optimistic ...

:)
 
#25 ·
Here in California we definately need The Home Building Energy that Arizonans have,because we sure do need more new homes built here to accomodate our population growth....

I guess in California they believe that if they don't build,they won't come,but surprise surpise,they are still coming and whether new homes are built or not,traffic will always be part of Urban Living.
urbanphx said:
It is crazy, I agree. Although, the low-slung, sprawl-y, suburban mindset is apparent in almost every major city in this country (especially in the Sun-Belt), not just Phoenix. Just because Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Denver, etc., etc., might have larger and more impressive skylines, it doesn't mean that they don't have just as much - if not more - sprawl on their fringes, too.

The urban culture in Phoenix has been changing gradually over the past 5-10 years, or so. There's been a definite and apparent move toward more urban living in the core, having more credible public transportation, etc., so, as Buckeye, and Queen Creek, continue to grow out (it's unfortunately somewhat inevitable in today's world), central Phoenix will continue to grow tighter and taller (so to speak). It takes time, but Phoenix is - slowly - changing for the better.

There's literally SO much on the drawing boards right now in regard to new projects in central Phoenix, it's almost too good to be true. But, of course, we'll just see how much of it actually pans out. I'm using the term cautiously optimistic ...

:)
 
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