Downtown Tempe Lofts & Condos

High-rises to replace flour mill as Tempe icon By Garin Groff, Tribune September 24, 2006 Since Tempe’s founding, its iconic downtown landmark has been an industrial building that milled grain into flour. Its downtown scene for at least a generation relied largely on college students, bar food and beer. And the neighborhoods around Mill Avenue mostly vanished. That’s all changing in a way that will transform Tempe’s place in Arizona and nationally. The new iconic image will be not a single building, but instead a cluster of 30-story luxury condos. The social scene is shifting to swanky eateries with celebrity chefs and boutique wines. And the neighborhoods are coming back — vertically. Nearly everything new downtown ranges from eight stories to 30 stories. The whole thing thrills civic leaders and merchants who insist Tempe is joining an elite group of urban cities known for their bustling downtowns. Yet it horrifies others who see a quaint college town being gobbled up by developers eager to erect hulking monuments that will forever change Tempe’s face. The opposing camps generally agree on one point: A promise summed up by Ken Losch, one of the men behind the 30-story Centerpoint Condominiums. “Two or three years from now,” Losch said, “people aren’t going to recognize Mill Avenue.” Change is now as much a part of downtown Tempe as the historic Hayden Flour Mill. But the building boom is the most rapid transformation in Tempe history. Within 10 years, or perhaps as many as 20 years, the current boom will exhaust itself as nearly every vacant parcel and most modest buildings are turned into high-density urban projects, according to city planners, developers and real estate experts. Tempe’s downtown is vital because the 42-square-mile city is penned in by other communities. The city of 161,000 has almost no vacant land remaining. That means the only direction it can grow is up. Looking to the future, the city envisions as many as 5,000 downtown condos, plus more offices, hotels, restaurants and shops. Unlike any other Valley city, the future downtown will be designed to allow residents to meet their everyday needs without a car. “It’s going to be a real city,” said Rod Keeling, executive director of the Downtown Tempe Community. “It’s not going to be a suburb of Phoenix. It’s going to be a real city.” Tempe’s rise may seem natural today. But the college town’s emergence as a major urban hub came after an embarrassing decline of its downtown, massive subsidies to lure developers and occasional bitterness as developers and city leaders periodically redefine Tempe’s vision. The development under way now or planned to begin within a year exceeds $1 billion. Nearly 2,000 condos are approved, mostly in high-rises soaring 18 stories or more. Also, two hotels are approved and some landowners are planning major expansions and renovations. That could be the tip of the iceberg, as development officials have occasionally been caught off guard at times over the number of projects and their massive scale. TURNAROUND Historically, Tempe’s downtown has served as a key crossroads in Arizona, from the day Charles Trumbull Hayden arrived on the south side of the Salt River in the 1870s. He started a ferry to transport people and goods across the then-flowing river. He built an adobe house that still stands and began the mill. The place known as Hayden’s Ferry was a top business post that eventually was dwarfed by Phoenix as the Valley’s center of gravity. The downtown still flourished as a traditional center of a college town through the 1960s, when urban sprawl began taking its toll on central business districts in Tempe and across the country. For a time, Tempe’s core was known largely for biker bars and drunken brawls. “It’s not that we were just a little college town,” said Keeling, an Arizona State University student in the early 1970s. “We were a dirtball little college town.” It had become almost too much for city fathers to bear by 1968. The growing city began considering a new City Hall on the outskirts of the city, in what would have been a symbolic abandonment of downtown. The City Council decided by one vote to stay downtown. That led to construction of an upside-down pyramid for City Hall — and national attention for its unconventional design. The pyramid’s 1970 completion triggered a trickle of private developments. Owners restored historic buildings on their own in some cases, but the effort was boosted by city subsidies of major projects that developers considered too risky. But Tempe has turned off the subsidy spigot in recent years, as private investment carried the momentum. It can now demand developers give money to other city projects as the price of doing business in Tempe. NEW BLOOD One or two developers have historically dominated Tempe redevelopment at any given time. Today, the list of influential developers includes native Canadians Ken Losch and David Dewar of Avenue Communities. They’re working to move their Camelback Corridor headquarters to the Hayden Flour Mill. From there, they’ll coordinate plans to build as many as 5,000 condos in the region surrounding downtown. Losch is the company’s chief pitchman — and for good reason. He speaks with an evangelistic zeal about making Tempe like other urban centers — Toronto’s Yaletown or New York City’s SoHo district. Losch can’t mention other megacities without boasting of plans to make a new hip urban core — SoBo. That’s short for sophisticated Bohemian, which means historic red brick buildings, glass condo towers, boutique wine and restaurants with European influences. Losch’s company checked out 200 developments across the nation before settling on Tempe. During a recent tour of the Centerpoint Condominium site, Losch stood on a newly poured foundation of what will become an Italian bakery and rattled off the reasons why he landed in Tempe. First, he said, there’s Phoenix, the nation’s fifth largest city. ASU, now the nation’s largest university. A massive airport minutes away. Employment opportunities. Access to freeways. Papago Park. The Metro light-rail line. Lots of historic buildings. “I challenge you to find the confluence of that any other place in the country,” Losch said. “Phoenix now has become a primary city and this place is screaming out for SoBos.” As for modern design, Centerpoint will eclipse any existing building downtown. But Losch insists he values historic buildings. That’s why he is buying Hayden Flour Mill from Tempe. He wants to restore the site as his corporate headquarters. He plans to move some milling equipment into a glass enclosure that will let visitors see how grain was processed. And he’s seeking a restaurant that will make flour on site to carry on the mill’s traditions. The old mill also will house a winery. Avenue Communities has ordered 60,000 pounds of Napa Valley grapes that should arrive in a few weeks and will be made into wine in Tempe. It might seem a high-end developer would want to crush the quirky elements of this college town. But Losch insists he wants unexpected moments. That could be a guy hitting him up for a buck or a street musician, he said. Even the Tempe establishment has cautiously embraced the Bohemian side of Mill Avenue. The downtown’s street musicians and sellers of hemp jewelry are technically illegal, but they’re allowed to operate as long as they aren’t too obnoxious. Keeling loves that. As a selfdescribed former 1970s hippie, he embraces some of the downtown’s wildness. The pro-business, proestablishment side of him also sees the benefit of life on the edge to set downtown apart from the lifeless corporate culture that dominates other shopping and entertainment venues. “The guy with his guitar and the dreadlocks — that’s Mill Avenue,” Keeling said. “That’s the ‘It.’ ”

Proposals for Town Lake project, Marriott keep Tempe planners busy Katie Nelson The Arizona Republic Nov. 30, 2006 12:00 AM Work on a multimillion-dollar hotel, condo and retail project proposed for Tempe Town Lake could start as soon as next year. The city reviewed the first set of plans for the project last week. If and when the building begins, it would be a big step for Tempe. The project would become a physical reality. A previous project slated for that site fell through in 2001. Plans for the Pier 202 project are taking shape, said Michael Barker, one of the lead developers. The amount of office space has doubled from the original plan, and new drawings call for slightly more residential housing. A hotelier is still being identified. The style hasn't changed. Tempe can still anticipate tony lofts, four-star hotel rooms, shops and restaurants on the shores of the lake. "It's good progress," Barker said. "It's an interactive process of looking at their (the city's) planning requirements. . . . All these things will have to be reviewed by the various parties, and we'll go and make adjustments," he said. When the 27 acres near Rural Road and Rio Salado Parkway went up for sale in April 2005, 10 groups of developers started bidding for rights. Tempe received offers from $9 million to $42 million. In January, the City Council voted to exclusively negotiate with Pier 202 LLC, a group of home builders, retail developers and consultants based in California. Soon after, Barker's team agreed to pay $42.5 million for the land. Tempe's planners are in the process of analyzing Pier 202's 15-page packet, which lays out where utilities, soil, grading and other engineering will be. Development Services manager Chris Anaradian oversees this process. He said he anticipates the project could start on grading, drainage and underground parking in 2007. In other development news, preliminary plans for a Marriott hotel were submitted to Tempe on Nov. 17. An 11-story Marriott Residence Inn could go in at Fifth Street and Forest Avenue, the site of the now-vacant Bandersnatch brew pub. The project calls for a parking garage to be built between the hotel and Tempe City Hall to provide parking places for both buildings. The hotel would have about 170 rooms, paired with some retail and office space on the ground level. If it goes through, the Marriott would be the second solid hotel announcement in a year for downtown Tempe amid many other plans for hotels. The first was a luxury hotel called Le Meridien that is going to be built on Town Lake in the Hayden Ferry Lakeside development. It is expected to open by Thanksgiving 2008.

Condos drive Tempe growth By Garin Groff, Tribune July 13, 2006 A surge in condo construction drove development in Tempe to a near record level last year as developers built upward to make up for a lack of vacant land. The value of new construction was the second-highest ever for the fiscal year that ended in June. It was the fourth straight increase following a huge downturn several years ago. But last year’s 150 percent jump — driven largely by high-rise and midrise buildings around Tempe Town Lake and downtown — was the largest of the boom years. “I don’t think two years ago we had any idea this level of activity would occur,” said Chris Salamone, the city’s community development manager. Tempe recorded $453 million worth of development in the last fiscal year, compared with $497 million in the 1997 fiscal year, the record. Tempe should have smashed that record last year, said Chris Anaradian said, the city’s development services director. The developer of Centerpoint Condominiums had planned to get a permit in late June for the second of four towers in its downtown project. The plan got caught up in another agency and will come in soon, Anaradian said. The first Centerpoint tower was valued at nearly $79 million. It is the largest single project and part of the biggest segment, multifamily housing. That category included investments totaling roughly $200 million, or 44 percent of the overall development in the city. Much of the boom is less exciting than the high-rises. Businesses are expanding and redeveloping, resulting in a large number of smaller projects. The actual value of the development is far higher than the city’s figures because officials used a nationwide industry standard that calculates value based on the type of development and average costs per square foot. The value doesn’t include land, financial fees or quality of development. And because the formula is several years old, it doesn’t include a surge in material and labor costs. The actual value of the projects is closer to $800 million, or perhaps even $1 billion, city officials said. Real estate experts and city officials said it’s impossible to predict how long the development craze will continue, but the outlook is optimistic. This year could be strong as well, because Tempe Marketplace permits will show up in this year’s reports. Also, few projects showed up last year along Apache Boulevard, where the Metro light-rail project is expected to trigger massive redevelopment. City officials have seen lots of real estate transactions in that area in preparation for a future development. Several large projects could come as early as this year, Salamone said. Greg Coxon, senior managing director for CB Richard Ellis, said Tempe will probably ride the wave for a few more years. The timing is perfect for more high-rise condo projects downtown and at Tempe Town Lake, barring some significant economic shift, he said. “There’s never been a more optimistic time — and I’ve been in the business for 20 years — than what we’re at right now,” Coxon said. Tempe’s boom has spread beyond its city limits. Downtown and lake developments are bringing lots of new workers and residents who will want different businesses in places like south Scottsdale, Coxon said. He expects a surge of redevelopment on Scottsdale Road from the Salt River to Arizona State University’s SkySong project. “There’s a real opportunity for the city of Scottsdale to take that corridor and totally redevelop it,” Coxon said.

Meet Tempe’s developers By Garin Groff, Tribune September 25, 2006 The Centerpoint Condominiums project in Tempe casts a long shadow over other major projects. The three towers are expected to reach 343 feet, the tallest the city will allow. Right now it’s the biggest project under construction in Tempe. But several other major developments are planned. Here’s a look at other major projects under way and some key developments already in place. UNIVERSITY SQUARE This project features more components than any single downtown project — a condo tower, an office tower and a major hotel. The 2.1 million-square-foot project will cover an entire block, where the 1960s-era Arches center has served students for generations. The hotel is the most significant feature to developer Jim Riggs, president of Valley-based Shea Commercial. “This is going to be the hot spot for everybody to meet and have gatherings and social events,” Riggs said. Riggs said it’s odd that a campus the size of Arizona State University doesn’t have a large hotel on site. CENTERPOINT One of Tempe’s key redevelopment sites is about to be redeveloped again. DMB Associates of Scottsdale is exploring plans to tear down some of the single-level buildings along Mill Avenue that housed landmark businesses like the Coffee Plantation. The new buildings would include a reconfigured space for restaurants and shops. Several stories of condos would rise above, according to preliminary plans submitted to the city. Centerpoint remains one of downtown’s most pivotal redevelopment efforts, as it was the first major project when it was approved in 1985. It landed a Chase operations center, the bank’s first large presence west of the Mississippi River. Other offices, stores, restaurants and a Harkins Theater rounded out the development. HAYDEN FERRY LAKESIDE Every feature of this office, hotel and condo project plays off its location on the south shore of Tempe Town Lake. Buildings are covered with a specially tinted deep blue glass, architecture resembles the contours of ships and names reference nautical terms. Four condo buildings are planned, with each unit designed to give the owner a view of the lake. Work has begun on the second of these buildings. Construction is under way on the second of three office towers, and developer Suncor recently announced it will feature international hotelier Le Meridien. MOSAIC First known as the Cosmo, this condo project is perhaps best known for landing a Whole Foods. That will be downtown’s first grocer in years. Mosaic will include other shops and restaurants, as well. The condos will replace the Gentle Strength co-op site, on the northwest corner of University Drive and Ash Avenue. THE ARMORY This 20-story condo project will take the name of a utilitarian armory building that’s stood there for decades. Developer Grady Gammage Jr. is behind the project, located on the southeast corner of College Avenue and Veterans Way.

Tempe previews its soaring skyline By Garin Groff, Tribune November 9, 2006 It takes a crane to build tall buildings, and a dozen of them have sprouted up in Tempe’s skyline. “And there are a dozen more on the way,” Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman said Wednesday. Those cranes will bring an unprecedented change to the East Valley’s skyline, a look the city showed off for the first time Wednesday as it released a computer-animated video of new buildings coming soon to downtown and Town Lake. The video offered the best idea yet of what Tempe will look like with a 30-story condo tower and several other buildings that range from 12 to more than 20 stories. The footage gives a bird’s-eye view, as if it were shot from a helicopter, and reveals the planned buildings from multiple angles. While the local and nationwide real estate market has slowed and even killed some projects, Hallman said the downtown’s features have made the area immune to larger market forces. “It doesn’t apply here,” he said. The look at Tempe’s future came during a second annual showcase of downtown and lakeside projects, which drew hundreds of developers, real estate brokers and others. More than 40 projects are approved or under way in the area. One of the featured projects was Onyx, a 26-story condo tower planned on the northeast corner of Rural Road and Town Lake. Developer West-Stone Communities hasn’t formally submitted plans yet, but still expects to start construction in spring. Onyx condos will range from $300,000 to more than $1 million, WestStone spokeswoman Marilyn Pfaff said. The event included projects as well-known as Centerpoint Condominiums, a cluster of 30-story towers under construction, and a three-story, 65-unit condo project called the Brownstones at Tempe. The Brownstones’ first resident, Erik Anderson, left a downtown Phoenix loft for Tempe and said he was surprised to learn how many big developments are under way around his new home. “It’s pretty exciting,” Anderson said. “It’s going to bring a lot of life to Tempe.”

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