So much going on downtown

March 4, 2007 by mayorphilgordon comments (6)

Friday night I was on Roosevelt Street for the grand opening of my campaign headquarters (222 E. Roosevelt, next to Mon Orchid, for those of you that want to stop by) and was overwhelmed by the amount of activity downtown. There was Art Detour, and sporting events, and theater. People were lined up waiting to be seated at Fate, Carly's, Roosevelt Tavern, and Cibo.

I've lived or worked downtown for over 25 years and there has never been so much going on. And there is much more to come. A week ago the Parks and Recreation Board approved a conceptual master plan for a redeveloped Patriots Park that will be built in conjunction with the $900 million Cityscape project. The project will include condos, a hotel, lots of retail, and restaurants.

Wednesday afternoon at 5 p.m. the City Council will consider a new Warehouse District ordinance that will provide property owners incentives to preserve historic warehouses -- for each warehouse that is preserved, a developer could take a vacant lot and build a mid-rise office or condo project. This program will allow the Jackson Street entertainment project to move forward, and I encourage you to attend the meeting and show your support.

While these larger projects are important, downtown's character is ultimately going to be defined by the smaller in-fill proects that fill in the gaps. The restaurants I mentioned above, all locally owned, are an important part of that fabric. There are also numerous smaller residential projects already under construction around the downtown core which will add diversity and provide a smaller scale to the range of housing options downtown. I'll describe some of those exciting projects in a future blog.

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Posted in: Community News Miscellaneous Politics

August 29, 2007 by Shawn Goetzinger (not verified)

As Development Manager of Greenroof Development Company in Phoenix, AZ, a local development company owned by Arizona native, Jennifer Kramer, I would like to thank Mayor Gordon for his support of the small urban infill projects that will help define the City by adding the fine grained texture required in any successful downtown. This is a visionary statement and shows true leadership by Mayor Gordon! Greenroof has several sustainable development projects in various stages of completion south of the I-10, and Greenroof has not received nor requested any assistance from the City for its sustainable residential projects prd845 or Viridian. Despite this we are still delivering sustainable, architecturally distinct residences and work/live spaces that sell in the $208-$250/sq ft (lowest new build prices near downtown). However, these small projects face obstacles that the larger developments can accommodate through economy of scale, generous incentives, etc. In order to help fulfill Mayor Gordon’s vision and bring these projects to downtown proper I suggest the following: 1. Make a place at the table for local developers that have proven they can deliver in submarket (This is a very short list!), by making their participation a requirement in the larger incentive rich projects in downtown. Local developers, designers, and architects should be intimately involved in projects like the Taylor Street Mall, Patriots Park, etc. 2. Offer additional support to local developers who are delivering smaller grained projects, such as faster review times (this is not being accomplished by the Urban Infill expedited review process currently in place), permit fee waivers, infrastructure relocation assistance, WRAP insurance assistance using City of Phoenix underwriting potential, low interest loan assistance, or direct financial assistance. 3. Quantify in monetary terms the value of these projects to the livability of our City in order to justify the incentives being offered. 4. Move qualified local developers to the top of the list on City of Phoenix RFP’s or allow opportunities on existing City of Phoenix land that can be sold at discounted prices. 5. Allow for the adaptive reuse of existing structures within transitioning areas, such as Roosevelt Row or the Triangle Area of Downtown by reducing land use regulations; the planned Arts, Culture and Business Overlay has the potential of accomplishing this. Mayor Gordon’s embrace of the small infill project shows that we have a mayor that realizes the importance of local talent crucial in defining Phoenix as a first class global city. If anyone wants to talk infill or would like to learn more about Greenroof I can be reached on my cell at (602) 909-7741 Best, Shawn

August 29, 2007 by Valentin (not verified)

CityScape is different then anything else tried before simply because of the residential component. Until now, there just simply havn't been enough people living in the core to support things like the Arizona Center. Yes the inward design of it doesn't help it either, but I don't think that's the biggest reason it hasn't done better. CityScape will have both residential and also face outward toward the surrounding streets.

August 29, 2007 by Steven (not verified)

My wife and I believe the many facets are now in place that will eventually make Phoenix an exciting place to live. We are putting our money where are mouth is by moving to the central corridor from north Scottsdale. We look forward to local restaurants. Keep the faith Mayor, it's a long road that is making progress.

August 29, 2007 by Walt (not verified)

I want to see downtown finally come together, but how many huge projects do we see failing to deliver the promised "synergy"? I'm skeptical about CityScape because it's being planted in the sterile soil of our current downtown. 90% of downtown Phoenix is composed of dead zones like government buildings and parking garages. Yes,small-scaled infill will help. But we're trying to reinvent,our downtown with - yet again - a major project. We need to be clear why the others failed. The absence of intimate, fine-grained streetscapes is lethal for an urban core. Maybe the Jackson Street district will finally put heartbeat downtown. Let's hope so because I don't see how CityScape, with its over-controlled environment, can do that.. Good luck trying to get all four towers built, too. The market can be hyped but it can't be fooled.

August 29, 2007 by Ken Withers (not verified)

Downtown is indeed an exciting new frontier for business development -- so much activity! We were in Cheuvront's on Friday night ourselves commenting on the crowds (there wasn't a table available all night). One person pointed out something unusual about the recent development, and that is the fact that so much of it is driven by local small business, not huge national chain stores or restaurants. Yes, there is a national business presence, but unlike commercial development in the suburbs, local small business seems to be the primary driver. I'm not sure exactly what policy decisions (if any) have led to that result, but I think it's quite positive.

August 29, 2007 by Lyle Plocher (not verified)

Hi Mayor: Thanks for your comments and your boundless enthusiasm for and commitment to bringing life to Downtown Phoenix. I was driving around downtown on Saturday late morning and observed several different groups of people moving around from place to place. In the Warehouse District, I saw people walking the streets, visiting establishments open for Art Detour. At Cooperstown, several people were heading inside for lunch. On Central, just south of Van Buren, I noticed several groups of young people, walking along the light rail tracks. I could tell that they really wanted to be downtown and that given enough reasons to be there, it would be a preferred destination. Keep leading the charge, it's beginning to pay off.