"In Phoenix, signs of a downtown ready to thrive again" article (Glendale: lofts, condos)

[locolife]

Originally Posted by AZSunDevil83

I have yet to make it to the HGI rooftop bar but I hear the views are awesome and you can order straight from Nook restaurant and they'll bring it up. And of course, Hanny's basement is awesome and any new guests I bring to Hanny's, I make sure I make them go downstairs...alone. The Park is great, tap selection is plenty plus you can pour your own drafts, live music in the evenings, and rotating food truck menu. It was packed last time I went for the Suns v Lakers game.

For Viva, they were expecting 10K and announced attendance of 12K. It just keeps growing exponentially YoY. I cannot stress enough the type of positive impact "Lost Lake Festival" can have on the Valley from an identity and economic perspective. PBJ wrote a great article but to sum it up, this has the potential to put Phoenix on the map as a music festival destination similar to Austin and SXSW.

http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/n...ide-lands.html

That looks awesome, I added it to my to do list for this fall.I'll have to check out The Park and HGI's roof next time I'm downtown. It seems like there is new news about downtown almost every single day now.

[phoenixmike11]

A coffee shop now open 24/7 in downtown, a grocery store under construction in downtown and more jobs coming downtown-

Now open 24 hours, Grand Central Coffee Company makes its mark on downtown Phoenix

http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/n...p-opening.html

Officials break ground on downtown grocery store - 3TV | CBS 5

[AZSunDevil83]

And this just got announced at Arizona Center

http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/n...-downtown.html

[BIG CATS]

Originally Posted by sexxxcblac

Wow this is great news.

I sure wish that poster from CHICAGOLAND can see all the good things happening in downtown Phoenix. He still running around City-Data complaining about how dead downtown is.
Soooo many years ago !

I never denied downtown wasn't getting better. In fact I'm the one who is defending PHX on the boards against people who think otherwise. I do admit that for a city its size, our downtown is rather a dud. There's nothing wrong with saying that nor admitting it. There are cities with 200K people with far better downtowns than PHX. If you could just admit that to yourself, life would be better. PHX is a cool city! After all I liked it enough to move here. Its just... way behind. Its getting better, but then so is every other major city in the USA. We have a LONG way to go before we can compete properly. We're making good strides, I hope the momentum keeps up.

[phoenixmike11]

and this is opening in downtown very soon as well

http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/n...-ballroom.html

[JGMotorsport64]

Originally Posted by AZSunDevil83

And this just got announced at Arizona Center

http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/n...-downtown.html

While I'm glad this is happening, I'm a little disappointed they're getting rid of one of the only quiet spaces left Downtown to do it.

[observer53]

Originally Posted by JGMotorsport64

While I'm glad this is happening, I'm a little disappointed they're getting rid of one of the only quiet spaces left Downtown to do it.

My feelings exactly. I know that was designated for development pretty much all along, but the value of a little green open space to quality of life downtown needs to be recognized, too. Only one green spot will be left. (and I am not counting Margaret Hance Park).

[locolife]

Originally Posted by observer53

My feelings exactly. I know that was designated for development pretty much all along, but the value of a little green open space to quality of life downtown needs to be recognized, too. Only one green spot will be left. (and I am not counting Margaret Hance Park).

Huh? There's plenty of green space downtown, directly across the street from AZC there's another big open lawn next to the basilica. And on top of that you have heritage square, civic space park, a small park at city scape and hance park as well. I'm sure AZC will maintain the gardens and some of the lawn as well.

[JGMotorsport64]

Originally Posted by locolife

Huh? There's plenty of green space downtown, directly across the street from AZC there's another big open lawn next to the basilica. And on top of that you have heritage square, civic space park, a small park at city scape and hance park as well. I'm sure AZC will maintain the gardens and some of the lawn as well.

While I appreciate your optimism, each "space" you cited could be combined and fit into the area we're talking about.

You're talking about going from one largeish shaded green space to a few small dispersed lawns. Especially when you consider the amount of vacant lots and asphalt parking lots downtown, there were/are a lot of places for progress that would be better suited imo.

Nevertheless, it's not really worthy of debate, progress is good and I'm sure this is happening either way.m

It is directly on my walk to work, which is why I mentioned it.

[new2colo]

This 31 story building is another pie in the sky proposal. I'll believe it when I see it. We all know developers have a history of proposing grandiose high rise projects that never see the light of day. The 34-story Central Station project that people were excited about several years back is still a bus station, the Pin observation tower that was supposed to be constructed and opened by the Super Bowl was a dud and the micro unit high rise deal called the Derby fell through. Add that to a list of other Valleywide projects including the 40-story cbd101 office building that was proposed at Westgate in Glendale about ten years ago, the complex that was supposed to be built on the Monti's site in Tempe, the USA Basketball complex in Tempe that is still a boarded up Chili's, the Whole Foods/residential complex near Mill and University, and the transformation of the Hayden Flour Mill into a hotel and amphitheater and you will see that projects are rarely delivered as proposed anymore. This particular apartment building at AZ Center was proposed 30 years ago when the complex was constructed and no dirt has moved.

Phoenix has an extremely long history of empty developer promises when it comes to high rise development. The tallest building in the world was proposed along Central Avenue back in the 80s. It doesn't take much effort to see that never came to fruition either. I'll wait until the dirt moves and there are actually construction workers on site before accepting this project as reality.