New tallest building FINALLY coming to Phoenix! (Miami: transplants, luxury)

[Greatday]

Originally Posted by vegaspilgrim

None of those places you mentioned are really downtown Phoenix. Some of them are in the up and coming neighborhood just north of downtown, which might even walkable from downtown. Some of those are restaurants in new urbanist projects along Central-- not downtown, but midtown Phoenix. Some of those are reconverted houses facing the street in Phoenix's original suburbs (Coronado Cafe- 7th st, Barrio Grill- 16th st, etc). They're all "Central Phoenix," but to call that downtown is misleading. Central Phoenix = downtown +midtown + historic suburbs. Downtown is downtown.

AliceCoopersTown, Marjeles, Heritage Square, Hard Rock, the small resturants and clubs DOWNTOWN - and growing

There are entertainment attractions DOWNTOWN that are REALLY drawing 10's of 1000's - Chase Field, USAir Arena, Convention Center etc -

Now, with the amass of new residential housing - more will come -

Patience - it's a virture

[HX_Guy]

I understand what you're saying Vegaspilgrim and I tend to agree overall...if there aren't highrises and such surrounding you, you're no really downtown. There are a lot of great eateries like Fate and Cibo in the downtown area, but they aren't walkable between everything else...even though they might only be 1/2 - 3/4 mile away from the core.

Having said that however, there are lots of eating and nightlife options in the core as well. I think the Copper Square area is a good definition of where downtown is and the area is compact enough to walk within it's boundries without being too spread out. Off the top of my head, I can think of Nick's 101 Bistro, Circa 1900, Kincaids, Sonoma Grill, and of course Pizzaria Bianco...all good places to eat. There are also a few bars, as were mentioned, and a few clubs like Sky, Burn, Club DWNTWN, Palazzo, and Amsterdam.

[Valley Native]

Originally Posted by miamiman

I hope this project is scaled back or not constructed at all. People don't move to Phoenix for its urbanity. People move to Phoenix for the weather and the mountain views. It would clearly be a waste of money.

And that's part of the reason why Phoenix has generally low wages for such a large metro area, and a lack of Fortune 500 type of corporate HQs based here. People who move here strictly because it's warm & sunny every day usually have no desire to improve their status, and that tends to affect the area negatively.

Besides, what makes anybody think the weather is so great with the summers that are becoming longer & hotter each year, and the ongoing drought caused by years of below normal rainfall? Sure, it's sunny most of the time, but we don't have many blue skies due to all the pollution. Mountain views??? I could possibly understand the attraction if there were actually prettier mountains. Except for the Superstitions, and possibly Camelback Mountain, what you see here are HILLS that are more or less brown, drab, and ugly.

Originally Posted by miamiman

Because those have been the well-known attractors to Phoenix for decades. If the skyline was the dominant attractor of new people to Phoenix then we'd be growing about as quickly as the city of Detroit.

That's the whole issue: HAS BEEN (meaning past tense). Phoenix, being one of the nation's largest metro areas, can no longer rely on sunny weather & mountain views as economic growth factors. The fact that we are so large & diverse now means we're no longer a haven for just snowbirds & retirees. Your mindset about Phoenix appears to be stuck 20 or 30 years in the past.

Originally Posted by miamiman

The fact is that I think the NIMBYism in Phoenix is warranted. Residents have the right to express what they want in their backyards. If skyscrapers were so desired by residents the voice in favor of development would silence the dissenting voice. In Phoenix we all know that's not the case.

Residents have a right to express their views ... but what they're opposing isn't in "their" backyards. Most of these projects that are being fought & opposed are PRIVATE developments. In other words, the investors, and/or developers already own the land which they want to build on. It's their right to do so. If the market is demanding more vertical development (which is the case now), then let it be. You can't fight the free market and private development.

Originally Posted by miamiman

Developers need to stop forcing this kind of development on people who are not interested. There are much smarter ways of creating and fostering an active downtown area. Glassy, shiny skyscrapers will not bring people downtown. Downtown Miami is littered with high rise development. It is still one of the most dead downtowns at night.

Do you even live here? I'm just wondering based on what your moniker suggests. Developers are simply responding to the demands of the market. Lately, the trend is to build in more of a centralized location because that's what more people are wanting. Cookie cutter suburbs & long commutes become monotonous and tedious after a while. I'm sure most everyone agrees with that.

[snowthedirtbub]

Yea i know this is a REALLY old thread but...

Is there any more info on this? Like when its gonna open, or what its gonna be called because Ive become interested. Or how much the apartments/condos are going for?

[Magnum Mike]

Originally Posted by snowthedirtbub

Yea i know this is a REALLY old thread but...

Is there any more info on this? Like when its gonna open, or what its gonna be called because Ive become interested. Or how much the apartments/condos are going for?

There's a lot of information on CityScape's website.

CityScape ~ Downtown Phoenix is rising. Learn why.

[HX_Guy]

Originally Posted by snowthedirtbub

Is there any more info on this? Like when its gonna open, or what its gonna be called because Ive become interested. Or how much the apartments/condos are going for?

It's been scaled back, and one phase seems to have been canceled for now.

The tower, that was to be a new tallest at 44 stories, now looks to only be about 36 floors. They made the hotel floors less by doing a bigger footprint...so wider vs taller, which means less floors...I guess it's cheaper to build that way?

The eastern most block, which was to have 500 residential unit tower, seems to be canceled. It's a bit hard to get any concrete information. I guess we'll have to see what gets built as it goes along.

They did get an FAA permit recently approved for a tower crane that shows a work schedule of 7/15/08 - 7/15/10...so we should see one popping up soon. I've been told there will be a total of 3 tower cranes at the site...we'll see.

Here are a couple photos of the site as of 6/22/08:

[snowthedirtbub]

Thanks for the info, i checked there website already, but it didn't say anything as to how much the apartments and condos are gonna go for. So does it still qualify as Arizona's tallest building at 36 stories? And now its just going to be one tower? And thanks a lot for the pics, there really neat.

[HX_Guy]

No, it will no longer be a new tallest. Last I've heard, there will still be two towers...one office tower at 27 stories/383 ft. and a condo/hotel tower at 36 stories/420ft, making it the 2nd tallest building in Arizona. The damn Chase tower will still be the tallest...at 487ft since 1972!

[EventHorizon]

That's gonna be pretty neat for such a flat city. Looks ultra chic. You guys have been vertically challenged for too long!

[synapse]

Originally Posted by EventHorizon

That's gonna be pretty neat for such a flat city. Looks ultra chic. You guys have been vertically challenged for too long!

True. I'd like to see something taller, but fine, artistic is fine. Whatever. As long as it brings in actual people. That will make more buildings later, and eventually something will be bigger than the Chase Tower. I just want the downtown to be lively. If CityScape and Civic Park and the light rail does it, fine by me.