No bids on Tempe's Centerpoint Towers (Phoenix, Glendale: foreclosure, condos, homes)

[ArizonaBear]

Originally Posted by shiphead

Its getting there. I'd give it a few more years and Mill will be empty.

Despite Tempe Marketplace siphoning off quite a bit of Mill Ave's business; I do 'see' the latter locale recovering or turning into something a bit different. Remember that ASU, Light Rail and Tempe Town Lake are all within blocks of one another

[Valley Native]

Originally Posted by joninaz

It's like a poker pot where a bunch of different people have put in too much money to walk away, but nobody has winning cards. I think it's time they all write it off as a loss.

New developers can get it going fairly quickly... the structure is done. The rest seems to be cosmetics. I'd buy a 2 bedroom place if it were around $200K and low fees. No need for a gym, gourmet restaurant/market, etc. - Mill is a block away. During the bubble, they wanted $700K for a one bedroom unit... NY/LA prices. Nuts!

It wasn't just Centerpoint that was overpriced. Lots of other condo projects (ranging from older to brand new, highrise to midrise, to one story) were inflated. I was actually thinking of selling my house during the boom in hopes of receiving enough of a profit so I could afford a highrise condo either in downtown Phoenix or Tempe ... but the prices were way too steep. In order for anybody to be interested, the asking prices need to be a little more affordable.

Originally Posted by vegaspilgrim

Holy cow! Those towers were under construction when I left two years ago and they're still not done? I agree the whole thing is a complete eye sore and out of scale with the rest of downtown Tempe. Did they end up closing the Mill Ave Harkins and all those restaurants there too? I'm also guessing the blocks north of the ASU campus are still probably full of vacant lots, except for the lone hot dog place.

Actually, the project is about 90% complete. The height was topped out right before everything hit rock bottom, and most of the infrastructure has been completed. The towers actually look rather impressive from a distance, but they become an eyesore when you have to look at them close up every day because of all the dilapidated construction mess that surrounds the site.

It's not quite out of scale with that part of Tempe because there are a few smaller highrise buildings north of downtown by the lake. Also, Tempe is a very urban city for being a suburb, and it still has the desire to grow and develop ... but since it's landlocked, the best way to grow is upward. The sad thing about the Mill Avenue district is how so much business went to Tempe Marketplace. I was there a couple of times, and it's a sprawling mess. I'd rather have the activity downtown where it belongs.

[homlish560]

I'm not all that impressed by a stack of Condo towers that go beyond Height limits just to see how tall they can rise!!!!!!!!

Buildings like these belong in Downtown Phx. or on Central ave., not in Tempe where the average ASU student can barely afford a run-down Studio apt.

I'm all in favor of building high-rises and less Suburban sprawl, just keep the tall Buildings where they belong. These things don't beautify the East valley Skyline, they make it look worse IMO.

[Magnum Mike]

Originally Posted by Valley Native

......

It's not quite out of scale with that part of Tempe because there are a few smaller highrise buildings north of downtown by the lake. Also, Tempe is a very urban city for being a suburb, and it still has the desire to grow and develop ... but since it's landlocked, the best way to grow is upward. The sad thing about the Mill Avenue district is how so much business went to Tempe Marketplace. I was there a couple of times, and it's a sprawling mess. I'd rather have the activity downtown where it belongs.

Originally Posted by homlish560

I'm not all that impressed by a stack of Condo towers that go beyond Height limits just to see how tall they can rise!!!!!!!!

Buildings like these belong in Downtown Phx. or on Central ave., not in Tempe where the average ASU student can barely afford a run-down Studio apt.

I'm all in favor of building high-rises and less Suburban sprawl, just keep the tall Buildings where they belong. These things don't beautify the East valley Skyline, they make it look worse IMO.

I'm not against high-rise condos, but I am wondering why they chose that particular location for Centerpoint? From my best recollection on the population demographics in that area of Tempe, most of the people who want live there are ASU students, and they're definitely not going to spend a lot of money to either rent or buy a condo at Centerpoint. I'm sure there are a lot of professionals who work somewhere within a ten-mile radius of the location, but at those prices, I don't think they're going to attract too many buyers.

Also, I'm sure a lot of you have heard some things about Mill Avenue, which can be the equivelant of The French Quarter in New Orleans, and at certain times of the year, you're going to have a few in the crazy crowds that want to get too drunk and cause problems, and I think potential buyers of condos at Centerpoint would not want to be close to that kind of atmosphere.

[asufan]

Originally Posted by Magnum Mike

I'm not against high-rise condos, but I am wondering why they chose that particular location for Centerpoint? From my best recollection on the population demographics in that area of Tempe, most of the people who want live there are ASU students, and they're definitely not going to spend a lot of money to either rent or buy a condo at Centerpoint. I'm sure there are a lot of professionals who work somewhere within a ten-mile radius of the location, but at those prices, I don't think they're going to attract too many buyers.

Also, I'm sure a lot of you have heard some things about Mill Avenue, which can be the equivelant of The French Quarter in New Orleans, and at certain times of the year, you're going to have a few in the crazy crowds that want to get too drunk and cause problems, and I think potential buyers of condos at Centerpoint would not want to be close to that kind of atmosphere.

Tempe has a more vibrant downtown than Phoenix. Tempe is also the most densely populated city in the state of Arizona, and has the best mass transit system, and is on the light rail route, so it's a natural for this type of development. This wasn't the only mid or high rise project on the board, just one of the few that got started before the real estate crash. And it wasn't unsuccessful for lack of interest, there were people anxious to get units when the funding collapsed. And it's not all college students, as it was also a lot of professionals and empty nesters, as well as some wealthy parents of college students looking for units.

I agree though, it is a little out of scale (the 30 story, for sure, the 22-story is a little better). I do think that more 3-story brownstones and 6-8 story condo's are more what Tempe should be, maybe mixed in with the occasional 14-16 story mid rise. 14 story Manzanita Hall looks good, for instance. It's definitely going to be a hotspot for development once the economy improves, because I know for a fact many of the developers still believe in the area, and are not going to give up, just taking a "wait and see" approach for now.

[Valley Native]

Originally Posted by homlish560

I'm not all that impressed by a stack of Condo towers that go beyond Height limits just to see how tall they can rise!!!!!!!!

Buildings like these belong in Downtown Phx. or on Central ave., not in Tempe where the average ASU student can barely afford a run-down Studio apt.

I'm all in favor of building high-rises and less Suburban sprawl, just keep the tall Buildings where they belong. These things don't beautify the East valley Skyline, they make it look worse IMO.

I admit that 25 & 30 story structures would be more suitable for downtown Phoenix, or the Central Corridor ... but the fact of the matter is that there was a demand for these highrise condos to be built in Tempe. If there wasn't a market for it, the condo towers would have never materialized. Also, I mentioned before that Tempe is landlocked, and has little room for any further sprawling developments. If the city wants to continue to grow & develop, the only way to go is up. Furthermore, as ASUfan stated: it wasn't college students who were interested in the units. I personally knew somebody who invested over $1 million in one of the Centerpoint condos.

Originally Posted by Magnum Mike

Also, I'm sure a lot of you have heard some things about Mill Avenue, which can be the equivelant of The French Quarter in New Orleans, and at certain times of the year, you're going to have a few in the crazy crowds that want to get too drunk and cause problems, and I think potential buyers of condos at Centerpoint would not want to be close to that kind of atmosphere.

Centerpoint has actually been an established "off Mill" type of a mini district of downtown Tempe for many years. It started with the Harkins theatres, the Chase operations center, as well as many eateries & shops. It always attracted a slightly different type of crowd than the rest of Mill Avenue: more business friendly, and not so many college kids. The Centerpoint condos would have been a good addition to what was already there.

The problem now is that much of Centerpoint has been abandoned. The Harkins theatre, as well as many of the eateries & shops have moved out. Part of that can be blamed on the Tempe Marketplace ... but many of these businesses left because of speculation that there was going to be a major hotel/retail project taking over Centerpoint. So far, it never materialized, and probably won't happen for a long time (if at all).

[questionandanswer]

What would people pay for apartments there? People are looking at the site, I just don't see where rents would have to be for let's say a two-bedroom, two bath??

[Java Jolt]

They should tear down the Centerpoint monstrosities and move them from Tempe to Scottsdale.

Tempe caters mostly to college students, no average student can afford to lay down a wad of money for a nouveau-riche condominium shell. Scottsdale would be more of an ideal location for this sort of thing.

[homlish560]

Originally Posted by Java Jolt

They should tear down the Centerpoint monstrosities and move them from Tempe to Scottsdale.

Tempe caters mostly to college students, no average student can afford to lay down a wad of money for a nouveau-riche condominium shell. Scottsdale would be more of an ideal location for this sort of thing.

They really belong in Central Phx, not some Suburban location!!!!!!!

Most Suburban residents I'm sure will agree with this. They don't want high-rises close to single-family homes, Schools, Parks, or Malls.

Then again, Scottsdale might be the exception. Might be cool to have Luxury Condos next to these Scottsdale Landmarks --------

[LocoAZnative]

The problem with Tempe is that its landlocked so if we want to grow we have no other option to build upward. So as far as suburbs go well will probably see more high rises near downtown Tempe. The problem with the centerpoint towers is they were luxury towers and that market isn't for Tempe around ASU.