Tempe Grows Up

Momz recently tipped me off to the latest doings in my hometown of Tempe, Arizona. The City Council has given its blessing to four condominium towers with a total of 788 residential units in the Downtown area. This mega-development is the latest addition to the mixed-use Centerpoint redevelopment project along Mill Avenue between 5th Street and University Drive.

Like many long-time residents of Tempe, Momz recognizes the scope and scale of this project is unprecedented and will forever change the face of the Downtown district. Tempe will be casting a more cosmopolitan and urbane image, a remarkable achievement when one considers the city's humble origins as a a ferry crossing across the Salt River and its recent past as an archetypical post-World War II suburb.

City leaders supported the Centerpoint Condominiums because the mega-development establishes a new template for continued growth. Tempe is "land-locked," meaning that its territory is bound by other municipalities on all sides and contains very little vacant land for new development. Expect the densification of Downtown to be followed by the rejuvenation of older commercial strip centers along the major roads. The City's recently adopted a General Plan encourages mixed-use developments at these sites, unlocking their potential to become both commercial and residential nodes. Bucking the trend of urban sprawl in the Salt River Valley, Tempe is growing up, not out.

While I understand that the addition of over a thousand new residents to an already congested area will have some negative impacts, I think it's useful to compare the Centerpoint Condominiums to the propsect of another 788 single-family homes in a master-planned golf course community out in the surrounding desert. It's obvious that the pace of sprawl in greater Phoenix is unsustainable and destroying too much natural habitat; it's time to invest in the core and "first ring" suburbs like Tempe.

The consturction of the condominium towers will contribute to Downtown Tempe's continued success, as meshes nicely with other recent improvements. The Valley Metro light rail transit line will soon link Downtown and nearby Arizona State University with Sky Harbor Airport and key employment centers in Phoenix, providing a viable commuting option. Redevelopment efforts over the last 25 years have made the district into a regional dining, shopping, and entertainment destination. Tempe Town Lake has proven to be a major recreational amenity as well as an economic engine, with ongoing real estate development along its "shores." There's even renewed hope that the vacant but historic Hayden Flour Mill will find a new use. Taken together, these projects represent a bright urban future for my hometown.

Read on:

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Tempe council approves height boost for condos

Katie Nelson

The Arizona Republic

Nov. 19, 2005 12:00 AM

TEMPE - The city's tallest buildings are slated to rise over the heart of Mill Avenue after city approval of a height change.

Centerpoint Condominiums will have three of four condo towers at 30 stories, which will tower 39 feet over than the highest man-made town structure, Sun Devil Stadium.

At a Thursday night City Council meeting, the developers agreed that in exchange for the height approval, they would return the $2.7 million in incentives Tempe had given them. It hasn't been determined exactly how, but the money could come in the form of parking spaces, traffic calming devices for the surrounding neighborhoods, space on top of one of the buildings for police and fire radio equipment, or refurbished sewage lines.

More than a dozen community members spoke both for and against the high rises at Maple Avenue and Sixth Street. Most supported the added floors.

Construction on the condos has begun.

The vote was 5-2 in favor of the height change. Four council members raised questions about why the height addition was necessary. Two of the four buildings are already approved to be 22 stories, with the other two approved at 15 stories. The council members pounded city staff on how Tempe's police, fire, sewage, and roads would handle the influx of 140 new people the additional stories will likely bring.

Members Ben Arredondo and Len Copple voted against the approval.

Mayor Hugh Hallman, who favors the added height, said the towers will fix the "fundamental flaw downtown" by integrating housing into the mix that is dominated by bars and restaurants.

It's one thing to have visitors who visit the downtown district on weekends, he said, but "this brings people downtown permanently."

Approval for the additional stories will result in 70 more luxury condos. In total, there will be 788 units; of those about 120 have sold.

Representatives of Avenue Communities, the developer of the project, said the extra floors are needed because the cost of construction has increased 80 percent over the past 18 months. Ken Losch is one of the key Avenue Communities developers in charge of getting the buildings into the ground. He called the height addition process "painful" but said it will be worth it in the end.

"We see Tempe becoming a world-class environment," he said. "It'll be on par with Miami's South Beach in the next 10 years."

Losch intends to take full advantage: His parents plan to move from the Grayhawk neighborhood in north Scottsdale to downtown Tempe. And, for himself, he has reserved one of Centerpoint's penthouses.