Metro Phoenix Development thread

[MJLO]

outstanding

does that mean there is going to be a timeline soon of what we should expect?

[HX_Guy]

26-story office tower planned

Downtown Phoenix building would help fill void for Class A space

Ginger D. Richardson and Yvette Armendariz

The Arizona Republic

Feb. 27, 2007 12:00 AM

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepu...ffice0227.html

A group of developers is moving forward with plans to bring downtown Phoenix what could be its first high-end commercial office tower in eight years.

The $160 million project, if it comes to fruition, would help address a critical need in the city core, where vacancy rates have dropped to about 5.5 percent in recent years. That's about half of the citywide average.

"Right now, downtown cannot offer Class A space to large office users," said Charles Miscio, a first vice president at CB Richard Ellis, adding that the low vacancies also were pushing up downtown rents. Class A space, like the kind in the proposed project, is generally defined as newer space in premier locations with upgraded amenities.

Plans call for the 700,000-square-foot structure, known as One Central Park East, to be open by mid-2009. It would be near the northwestern corner of Van Buren and First streets and contain 475,000 square feet of office space, plus parking for 600 cars and ground-floor retail.

Downtown's most recent high-rise office buildings, the Collier Center and the Phelps Dodge Tower, opened in 2001.

"This is a major addition to the downtown skyline," Mike Szkatulski, senior managing director of Mesirow Financial Real Estate Inc., said of the proposed development.

"It will be, without qualification, the best office space available in this market."

Mesirow Financial is one of three partners in the Central Park East joint venture.

The others are A & L Investments LLC, a Virginia-based real estate investment firm, and the National Electric Benefit Fund, which invests on behalf of the country's electrical workers.

This is the second incarnation of the Central Park East project.

An earlier plan that would have combined the office tower with high-rise condominiums and academic space for Arizona State University's downtown Phoenix campus was scrapped last year because of money constraints and the Valley's flagging real estate market.

The project's demise forced developers to redesign the building so they could move forward on the most-needed component, the office tower, while still leaving room on the site to develop ASU space and residential housing should either be needed in the future.

Plans call for the proposed tower to be 26 stories, or about 383 feet. By comparison, downtown's tallest building, Chase Tower, is 40 stories, about 486 feet.

Rents in the building likely will be $35 to $40 a square foot, and Szkatulski said that developers plan to start meeting with potential tenants as early as next week.

One Central Park East is one of two high-end commercial office buildings scheduled to open in Phoenix in 2009.

The other will be part of CityScape, a $900 million mixed-use project that also includes shopping, hotel rooms and condominiums. Plans call for CityScape to cover three city blocks just south of Washington Street and include Patriots Square Park.

Its office tower would contain roughly 550,000 square feet of space. A second, similar-size high-rise could provide office space, residences or a combination of the two.

Even if all the towers were built, they probably still wouldn't meet the demand for high-end office space downtown, officials say.

"It's a great start, but it doesn't fill the entire need over the next 10 years or so," Brian Kearney, president and CEO of the partnership, said of the proposed projects.

The Downtown Phoenix Partnership commissioned a study about 18 months ago that found demand for Class A space to be 2.5 million or 3 million square feet through 2015.

[MJLO]

that's great, I love it when I hear development news like this, I can't wait until more becomes available. What I'd love to hear is that they are at some point going to build a building downtown that breaks that 500ft mark.

[MJLO]

I know you can't tell much from this photo, but aside from those four massive cranes, behind that green privacy barrier, is a MASSIVE crater, that goes very deep. This would be the ginormous acreage that will make up the convention center, what's the low down on this? I've only heard very little about it. And they make it next to impossible to see what they are doing in there.

This is as close as I could get to the site. if you look closely you can sort of see the magnitude of this. I can't imagine this having anything other than a positive impact on Downtown when complete.

[HX_Guy]

Developmental Plan

There are two phases in the development process:

Phase 1:

Build New Meeting Facility on Terrace Site (West Building)

62,000+ s.f. Exhibition Hall

45,000+ s.f. Ballroom

48,000 s.f. Meeting Space

Height: 110' Above Ground

Parking: 200 Cars

Open!

Phase 2:

Replace North Building

310,000 s.f. total Exhibition Hall

100,000 s.f. Meeting Space

50,000 s.f. Ballroom

Height: 100' Above Ground

Parking: Up to 400 Cars

Open Fall 2008

Accepting groups in January 2009

[MJLO]

do you think that will bring a steady stream of traffic into the downtown area? Hopefully more hotels will come too. One thing Downtown lacks, is that market for hyper luxury that exists in the larger more healthy city cores.

[MJLO]

I heard something about ASU building a midrise 12 story dorm downtown Phoenix. Does anyone have info on this?

[colin]

Found this on Google:

Downtown ASU Dorm is in the works

No specifics on height though, but "high-rise" alludes to possibly higher than 12.

Also found this, which is interesting from the student perspective. They also dog on Downtown Phoenix a bit, which is warranted.

ASU's Downtown Campus Isn't Rocking But It's Rolling

[HX_Guy]

Off the top of my head, the new dorms will be between 15-17 stories each...or maybe it was one at 15 stories and the other at 17. I just recall those figures from an article I read a while back.

[MJLO]

yeah i'm not sure that there's anthing new on them lately. It'll be cool to see what transpires.

[HX_Guy]

yeah i'm not sure that there's anthing new on them lately. It'll be cool to see what transpires.

[MJLO]

well I can't imagine college dorms would be real pretty additions to a skyline anyway. ASU's Tempe dorms are hideous.

[HX_Guy]

32-story condo tower proposed for downtown Phoenix

Ginger D. Richardson

The Arizona Republic

Mar. 13, 2007 06:17 PM

A developer who has already made his mark in downtown Phoenix with one condominium tower is now proposing a second, 32-story residential project in the heart of the city.

The $100 million development, called Omega, would be located at Second Avenue and Adams Street, behind the Orpheum Lofts. Once built, it would be the third urban housing high-rise downtown.

It is the brainchild of Chicago native turned Phoenix resident David Wallach, who is taking an increasingly active role in the redevelopment of Phoenix's core.

Wallach, principal of W Developments LLC, was the first to take a chance on downtown's urban living appeal when he announced plans to build the 165-unit Summit at Copper Square condominium tower in 2004. Today, that project, located next to Chase Field, is 85 percent sold, and its first residents won't even move in until this summer.

And Wallach is also one of a consortium of local businessmen who recently announced plans to create a blocks-long entertainment district along Jackson Street, on downtown Phoenix's southern edge.

Maybe that explains why Wallach is bullish on the need for residential housing in the heart of the city, despite lingering concerns about the health Phoenix's real estate market.

"The premise that the housing market is soft in downtown is not the right place to start," Wallach said Tuesday. "The right product, in the right neighborhood, has a really good chance of succeeding."

Wallach said he hopes to break ground on Omega later this year, and said the tower could open in 2009. It features one-, two- and three-bedroom units, starting at about $400-plus a square foot. That would put the smallest, 750 square-foot residences in the $300,000 price range.

Penthouse dwellings are as large as 2400 square feet, meaning that they would likely be offered at close to $1 million.

Each of the 214 units will contain amenities like marble baths, granite countertops, and all-wood cabinetry. The tower itself will boast a 12th floor pool, a rooftop party and meeting rooms, workout facilities, six floors of parking and ground floor retail.

Wallach hopes to fill that space with an upscale restaurant.

But he believes one of the project's biggest selling points will be its location. The tower is located across the street from the Orpheum Theatre, and close to Phoenix City Hall. It is also within walking distance to many of downtown's biggest draws, including the Dodge Theatre, US Airways Center and Chase Field.

"It's all about location, location, location," Wallach said. "The sightlines from every part of the building are spectacular."

The plans for the Omega tower come only six months after money constraints and the Valley's flagging real estate market helped kill a mixed-use development known as Central Park East. That project, which would have combined an office tower with high-rise condominiums and academic space for the Arizona State University's downtown Phoenix campus, has since been retooled into a plan for high-end commercial office space.

Wallach quickly douses any suggestion that his development might meet a similar fate.

"Projects don't get built for a variety of reasons," he said. "But I have never announced a project that I didn't actually build."

Edited March 14, 2007 by HX_Guy

[HX_Guy]

...and for some more renderings...here is the new Central Park East office tower which is supposed to be 26 floors at around 383'.

[MJLO]

this stuff is coming out of nowhere!

HX how do you always get so far ahead on this stuff? what is the secret

[HX_Guy]

this stuff is coming out of nowhere!

HX how do you always get so far ahead on this stuff? what is the secret

[HX_Guy]

Downdown Construction Updates: April 13th, 2007

44 Monroe now at 22 physical floors built.

Summit at Copper Square.

Sheraton Hotel, at 17 physical floors, with 215. McKinley in the foreground.

215. E McKinley Condos.

Phoenix Convention Center.

Alta Phoenix site undergoing some sort of work.

Central Park East.

Light Rail Station at Van Buren and Central.

Walter Cronkite School of Journalism site undergoing preperation work.

Light Rail power lines on Washington at 52nd St.

[MJLO]

HX that's outstanding! Thanks so much for the update. One project i'm interested in, in particular, is Central Park East, where does that stand in terms of planning. Whats the likeliness of it going veriticle?

[MJLO]

Hell yeah!

Historic Bank building being turned into botique hotel.

I love it when this stuff comes thru.

The developer behind a 34-story downtown Phoenix condominium tower plans to spend about $100 million transforming a 1931 bank building into a 150-room boutique hotel.

[colin]

The picture in that article looks like that picture you took before Matt, with the bar that I wanted to go to.

Hopefully they'll open it back up.

[MJLO]

hopefully Colin, with that building and part of downtown being invested in, that whole strip along Monroe will come back to life, and those cruddy looking empty storefronts will be filled again.

[MJLO]

$450 million residential resort one step closer

It's proposed at an existing office park at the intersection of 44th St. and Camelback. I'm pretty sure that's in the Biltmore district. There are concerns over heights and such. It sounds as if the developers are going about things very responsibly, as with anything in the Biltmore they have to walk on eggshells to get it done. I have to think that the residents and businesses of that area can be so rigid about developements because anything that would go in that area would be largely successful no matter how much of a pain in the ass it is to get it done.

What do you guys know about that area? I've been there a few times. It's nice, it's a downtown area outside of downtown. Phoenix has like three downtowns with the Biltmore having the most trendy and upscale feel. But the residents heads explode if anything taller than 160 ft gets built. Why is this?

[colin]

44th @ Camelback is Arcadia. Arcadia is a nice neighborhood, but they're kind of caught in a losing situation, stuck between the Biltmore area and Old Town Scottsdale. Residents are just going to have to accept at some point that their neighborhood is going to change, especially with more height.

[MJLO]

I need construction updates, or new developement news

hey guys make a push with me. lets come up with an updated projects list for Phoenix and for Tucson

I needeth help.

[traal]

Retail building boom in E.V.

Brokers and analysts expect that retail construction is probably at its peak in the East Valley and will begin to taper off within a year. The next big retail spurts are expected in Pinal County and the West Valley.