While at dinner with friends last night, I was asked about the CityScape development. CityScape is an interesting project in Downtown Phoenix that will include residences, retail, hotel and office space. Here is the Phoenix Business Journal article from April of 2006 that discusses the project:
The massive CityScape proposal in downtown Phoenix has four buildings nearly 40 stories high with 800,000 square feet of office space, 1,200 residential units and 150 hotel rooms, all with a price tag of $900 million, according to a development team’s proposal filed Friday with the city.
The high-dollar proposal was filed by RED Development LLC in Scottsdale and Barron Collier Co., which is based in Naples, Fla.
The residential component of CityScape would be the responsibility of the Novare Group, which has developed high-rise mixed-use, residential and hospitality projects in Austin, Texas; Atlanta; Charlotte, N.C.; Nashville, Tenn.; and Tampa, Fla.
The massive urban project in downtown Phoenix, covering up to three city blocks and 2.5 million square feet, would take about five years to complete. It includes 100,000 square feet of public plazas and 170,000 square feet of retail space. The retail space could be increased to 280,000 square feet, depending on development restrictions on an adjacent block.
The city’s financial involvement in the project, according to the proposal, consists of constructing underground parking with 4,500 spaces and leasing the parking back to the developers.
The proposal was filed Friday, before the noon deadline. The city’s review of the details with the developers will begin as early as April 11, said Acting Deputy City Manager David Cavazos.
The goal of the project is “to create a new, cohesive urban core for the city that provides day and night activities and uses for residents, tourists and conventioneers,” RED Development Principal Michael Ebert and Barron Collier Chief Executive Paul Marinelli co-wrote in their proposal.
Ebert and Marinelli also called their proposal “the largest project of its type ever constructed in the Phoenix metropolitan area.”
They said the timing is right for their development because of Arizona State University’s plans to open an expanded downtown campus in August, the current $600 million expansion of Phoenix Convention Center, the March 28 start of construction of a $350 million, 1,000-room downtown convention hotel, and the ongoing construction of the $1.3 billion light rail system between Phoenix, Tempe and Mesa.
The CityScape concept is proposed for the two blocks between Central Avenue and Second, Washington and Jefferson streets. West of those two city blocks is Patriots Square, which could be included in the proposal if the city resolves existing commitments on the square’s underground parking.
The first phase of CityScape, starting late this year, would consist of constructing about 170,000 square feet of new retail and commercial space on the first two blocks.
Here are some facts from the CityScape press release:
• 600,000-square-foot Class A office building
• +/- 250,000 square feet of retail and restaurants
• Two boutique hotels totaling 400 rooms (TWELVE and Hotel Palomar)
• +/- 1,200 condominiums
• +/- 65 for-rent, market-rate apartments
• +/- 100,000 total square feet of open space, including the new Patriot’s Park
• +/- 3,900 parking spaces (+/- 2,500 new spaces)
CityScape and other projects in Downtown Phoenix continue to increase the value of your Central Phoenix Real Estate.
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