Downtown Tempe Lofts & Condos

Developer proposes 11-story hotel at Tempe site By Garin Groff, Tribune November 22, 2006 A developer plans to raze the former Bandersnatch Pub, replacing the once thriving Tempe college hangout with an 11-story hotel that caters to business travelers. The Marriott Residence Inn is the second specifi c hotel plan to emerge this year in downtown Tempe, where a building boom is rapidly transforming the college town into a more sophisticated urban hub. Though the project would destroy the microbrewery that closed three years ago, it would add one welcome amenity — parking. Preliminary plans call for a garage with about 300 spaces. The developer, Floridabased Finvarb Group, has developed four other Marriotts and secured financing, said Chris Salomone, Tempe’s community development manager. “They want to get into the market as quickly as they can,” he said. As many as 11 hotel operators have looked at downtown Tempe for possible locations — far more than the area can sup- port. But city officials say that kind of interest shows how the booming downtown needs more hotel rooms, especially for business travelers on extended stays. This would be downtown’s first hotel to serve that niche. Tempe needs more hotels because rooms can quickly sell out during events, said Michael Martin, executive vice president of the Tempe Convention and Visitors Bureau. This hotel could handle overflow from the Tempe Mission Palms, which is almost directly across Fifth Street. Too many visitors have had to stay outside downtown or in other cities because rooms have sold out, Martin said. “I think it’s a missed opportunity,” Martin said. “I wouldn’t say it’s slowed our growth.” He expects more hotels will land in Tempe, citing a study that found the city has 5,000 rooms now but could support another 1,500. The other downtown hotel approved this year is Le Meridien, a 14-story, fivestar hotel on the south side of Tempe Town Lake. Downtown’s largest hotel, Tempe Mission Palms, has long been considering expanding its 300-room property. Tempe also has approved a 300-foot tall project called University Square that includes condos, offices and a hotel, but the developer hasn’t announced specifics on that hotel. Tempe hasn’t approved the Marriott proposal yet but the city hasn’t found any major problems in the preliminary plans. The proposal includes some retail and restaurant space and about 12,000 square feet of meeting rooms. Another perk is the parking garage, which would sit between the hotel and the Tempe Municipal Center, otherwise known as the upside down pyramid. The hotel would tower over the three-story pyramid, but it would hardly be the tallest new structure. The city has approved several taller buildings, including a 30-story condo that’s more than 300 feet tall, though it’s limiting other buildings to 300 feet. A Finvarb representative said he didn’t want to discuss the project until more details are finalized.

Downtown Tempe to get a CVS pharmacy Katie Nelson The Arizona Republic Sept. 6, 2006 02:30 PM Downtown Tempe could get its first pharmacy in years, marking yet another step toward an urban-living focused transformation. Site plans have been submitted to the city for a new CVS Pharmacy. The documents put to rest rumors circulating for months about the future of the now vacant southwest corner of Mill Avenue and University Drive. The five-page proposal tells more than just plans for bricks and sticks, according to city leaders. It signifies a coming lifestyle change. "The location of a full services pharmacy in the downtown and adjacent to the surrounding neighborhood helps bring back to the community the services and goods that improve the quality of life that makes it easier to live in the area," said Mayor Hugh Hallman. "It also demonstrates we are doing the right thing, to convert the district from entertainment and retail to one that has a true sense of neighborhood in and of itself," he added. Other community-focused amenities coming to the area include a Whole Foods Market inside the proposed Cosmopolitan - now called "KML Mosaic" - project that's slated to go on University Drive at the Gentle Strength Cooperative site. Other mixed-use proposals are touted to have support services such as food markets for coming condo-dwellers as well. But the CVS is the first such project to come to the area and stand alone. The nearly one-acre piece of land had been the site of a Mobile gas station for up to five decades. City records show it was likely a filling station even before that as well. In recent months crews have been dismantling the remains of the gas station to prepare it for a new purpose. The preliminary plans submitted to the city could change as they are reviewed by city staff over the coming months according to Steve Venker, a city planning and zoning manager, but for now the building would be a maximum of 30 feet tall. The CVS building would be situated on the front of the lot, adjacent to the curbsides of the intersection in order to encourage a pedestrian-oriented feel. A parking lot would be in back, visible from the Mill Avenue side. The proposed plot stretches out beyond the gas station footprint, and into at least part of adjacent retail lots. That could mean the disappearance of several local businesses including Sahara Middle Eastern Restaurant and Long Wong's on Mill Avenue, which only reopened at the site earlier this year. One of the owners, Norma Hora, said Long Wong's hadn't actually been notified of the change, but they had suspicions because a surveyor was measuring land that included their lot. As of now, the CVS will look like many of its some 6,100 locations throughout the nation: pale yellow stucco walls, pillars around the sides, with a marquee-style front. There are currently seven CVS Pharmacies in Tempe; but the closest pharmacy to the downtown district is a mile away where there is a Walgreens at Mill Avenue and Broadway Road.

Evolving skyline on East Valley horizon By Garin Groff, Tribune July 21, 2006 A developer is moving to demolish the popular Arches shopping center near ASU to replace it with Tempe’s tallest building. And at the same time, the city is working with a developer on a project that would include Tempe’s first branch library at the edge of downtown. These two major projects would transform key parts of central Tempe that have gone unchanged for years. The $500 million University Square project will be the latest to transform the East Valley’s skyline with a 30-story tower for condos and a hotel. It also would get rid of the Arches, a place generations of Arizona State University students have patronized. The 370-foot building would rise above the Centerpoint Condominiums, a 343-foot, 30-story project. The tall buildings have created objections from Phoenix and airlines, who say the buildings may be unsafe for planes leaving Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. The Federal Aviation Administration is reviewing the height issue. The FAA can declare the buildings a hazard, though it doesn’t have the authority to stop construction. It can only discourage a project, and airlines would be left to change flight operations to deal with the buildings. One of the developers said he’d defer to whatever Tempe decides, as the city has authority to block or approve building heights. “We’re going to comply with whatever the city of Tempe comes up with, whatever they say is fair and safe,” said Jim Riggs, founder and president of Shea Commercial, one of the developers. Phoenix doesn’t have any specific issues with University Square, said Carl Newman, an assistant aviation director. But Phoenix officials want the building to be within what the FAA considers safe, Newman said. The condo project should get under way early next year and could be the last built downtown for some time because it will absorb demand for urban condos, Riggs said. “I don’t think there’s room for anybody else, from a residential standpoint,” Riggs said. The project had its first public hearing on Thursday where a handful of residents complained it would be too tall. Some objected to the glass and steel architecture and feared it would create a traffic nightmare. The city also is moving to sell land to a development consortium called the Farmer Arts District for a project on downtown’s western edge. The Farmer project would develop the narrow, mostly barren strip between Farmer Avenue and the railroad tracks. The city had long thought the area’s only use was as a parking lot for downtown, but officials want it developed as a transition between downtown and the neighborhood to the west. On Thursday, the council voted to negotiate a sale with the Farmer Arts District. The project would put a library along University Drive, have space for the bicycle shop and include offices, stores and about 200 condos. A signature of the project is a narrow park that would run from University Drive toward Tempe Town Lake. The project is still conceptual, said Charles Huellmantel, a zoning attorney who represents the development group.

Tempe condo projects soaring Katie Nelson and Jahna Berry The Arizona Republic Jun. 14, 2006 12:00 AM The 43 building projects under way in Tempe outnumber the city's 40 square miles. It's a building boom coming primarily in the shape of condominiums, but places to employ, entertain and feed all the expected new residents are coming, too. "There are a huge, huge number of people out there who want to live in downtown Tempe, who don't have any really nice options," said Tom Tokoph, a broker who operates out of arguably Tempe's first upscale loft, Orchidhouse. "There's so few units right now, combined with the fact that people aren't willing to leave because, where are they going to move to that's as cool as this? There's no doubt this area is hot." The Valley's overall condo market, however, is cooling. Valley-wide, developers may be overly optimistic about how many people want to live in new high-rise and loft condos. More than 8,000 condo units are planned or under construction. Market watchers say less than a quarter of all the planned projects will actually go up and sell out anytime soon. Like home prices, prices for new condos are starting to flatten or even dip in some areas of the Valley. Yet Tempe's condo market seems to be trying to buck the trend. The area expected to fare slightly better than other areas, including midtown Phoenix, because it has the student population and other amenities like retail and entertainment to draw buyers. "It's our lack of supply that creates the demand that other areas don't have," Tokoph said. "Someone could argue that five years from now, when all of these buildings are built, there may be a glut, but not right now." Reaching for sky Developers filed paperwork last week with the city for yet another high-rise condo complex for downtown Tempe. It marks the fourth project intended to reach higher than 18 stories. The series of high-rises sprouting within Tempe's core, plus the dozens of other towers being built around Tempe Town Lake and the downtown, point to a concentrated condo craze. Constellation Property Group is an Australian-based company that submitted building proposals for 322 E. Sixth St. Right now, the lot contains only a single-story tan warehouse-style building known as the Armory. Plans show Constellation intends to build 17- and 20-story condo towers at College Avenue and Veterans Way. The 364-unit complex would be at the foot of Tempe Butte and be nearly as high as nearby Sun Devil Stadium. The project likely would include commercial and retail space, plus four floors of underground parking with room for 750 vehicles, according to the proposals. Each building would get its own amenities such as swimming pools, saunas and cabanas. "We see there are design-led people who appreciate good architecture there," said Lana Wood, a spokeswoman for Constellation. "What we're bringing will be unlike anything else in the area." While the project may be unlike anything now in the city, there are no fewer than eight large-scale condo complexes in the works in Tempe's core. And there are dozens of others, one as large as 742 units, popping up around the outskirts of downtown and on the shores of Tempe Town Lake. Urban experience Many of the planned complexes in Tempe are going after the same crowd: those seeking urban surroundings. And most all the sites are within walking distance from light-rail stations, Mill Avenue and Tempe Town Lake. Some question whether the market can really sustain all this new growth. Those doubts have growing validity as new condo complexes such as the Vale on University Drive have units still empty. At the same time, building heights concern many others. "On the one hand, I have always felt that for our downtown businesses to be successful as they need to be, . . . residential is a key component," Councilwoman Pam Goronkin said. "On the other hand, height is a concern. It has been for a long time for a number of reasons, not the least of which are sightlines to the amenities which we have like 'A' Mountain (Tempe Butte), in addition to the fact we have to balance our height so it is not all focused in one place." The Constellation group, though, said its project will stand out. "We want something lush and green," Wood said. "That acts as a juxtaposition with the nearby rock formation." The project's backers include veterans in urban development. The College Avenue Advisors business partnership originally purchased the site. That group includes lawyer Grady Gammage Jr. College Avenue Advisors in turn paired with Constellation, which is affiliated with Australian architect Eugene Marchese. Both Constellation and Marchese are behind dozens of condensed living projects in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia, and in Las Vegas, San Diego and Austin, Texas. Marchese and Constellation also have expressed interest in redeveloping Tempe's historical Hayden Flour Mill. Stores to follow crowd Support services for all the planned residents are being built, too. Construction on the Tempe Marketplace shopping center at the intersection of Loops 202 and 101 is under way, and retailers are coming to south Tempe, spurred by the popularity of Ikea. Even hotels are coming at a rapid rate: several existing businesses, such as Tempe Mission Palms and the Fiesta Inn Resort, have plans to expand, and two hotels are proposed for Tempe Town Lake's shores. Suncor Development Co. plans to add a 14-story hotel-condo project with 183 guest rooms, 40 condos and a restaurant to the cluster of blue buildings the developer is already erecting next to the lake. While the developer has worked hard to keep the details under wraps, a few tidbits about Suncor's hotel project emerged when the Redevelopment Review Commission held a brief public hearing on the proposed project last week. The hotel would sit just south of Suncor's recently completed Edgewater condo tower, according to the plan. And it is expected to be 167 feet tall, with basement parking, ground-floor lobby and restaurant and hotel guest rooms on eight floors and condominiums on five floors. Suncor has been reluctant to say much about the project because many would-be developers make announcements that never come to fruition, said Randy Levin, vice president of design and urban infill development at Suncor. If the hotel project takes off, it would become part of a flurry of construction at the 17-acre Hayden Ferry Lakeside complex near Mill Avenue and Rio Salado Parkway. Construction crews are building a 12-story office tower, a parking garage for 2,460 cars and a 12-story condo tower called Bridgeview. Tempe's downtown housing looking up • Hayden Square Some of the first housing within downtown Tempe. Number of units: 119. Highest point: About 50 feet, 4 stories. Completion date: 1989. • Orchidhouse The first upscale condos in Tempe's core. Number of units: 83. Highest point: About 100 feet, 7 stories. Completion date: 2002. • Centerpoint Condominiums A four-tower condo complex in the heart of downtown. Number of units: More than 800. Highest point: 343 feet, 30 stories. Completion date projection: Depends on market. •  Hayden Ferry Lakeside Four residential towers will be a part of the mixed-use project on Tempe Town Lake. Number of units: 364. Highest point: 141 feet, 12 stories. Completion date projection: Depends on market. • University Square If approved, would be the largest of the announced condo complexes. Number of units: About 420. Highest point: 341 feet, 30 stories. Completion date projection: 2009. • Cosmopolitan Plans to replace Gentle Strength Co-op with a Whole Foods Market. Number units: 187. Highest point: 238 feet, 18 stories. Completion date projection: 2009. • The Armory The newest proposed condominium project. Number of units: 364. Highest point: 225 feet, 20 stories. Completion date projection: September 2009. For more information on downtown Tempe Lofts, Condos, Townhomes or other real estate Contact Tom Tokoph, Broker, Urban Realty & Development 602-549-9000. Or visit us on the web at http://www.LifeIsInTheHeartoftheCity.com