A downtown Tempe church has decided to build a high-rise, following a trend set by offices, hotels and condos.
The All Saints Catholic Newman Center plans to construct a dorm tower on its postage stamp-sized property across from Arizona State University. It would cost up to $50 million.
It’s unclear just how tall the tower will rise, but city planners have said Newman Center officials have discussed a roughly 20-story structure.
Newman Center leaders told parishioners on Sunday they had decided to build a tower that will house about 500 students.
A private developer, Domus Communities of Kansas City, will pay to build and maintain the tower.
The company and the Newman Center are working toward a growing trend at college campuses, where churches build housing at public universities. The church hopes the on-campus living will bring its ministry to more students.
The tower will force the church to demolish the 1962 building where generations of Catholic students gathered during their college years. The project will include new offices and a new chapel on the .08-acre property.
The church already had planned to demolish about half its building to construct a larger chapel. The old facility seats about 250, but more than 500 can cram into the room.
Parishioners had raised about $6 million for that project, which is needed to rebuild the chapel and offices. Church officials did not return phone calls about the project, but a web site — www.preparehimroom.org — spells out the project’s details.
The Newman Center will keep a 1903 red brick church on the corner of College Avenue and University Drive. The landmark building is the Valley’s oldest church facility.
The tower still needs city approval.
If it doesn’t get it, the Newman Center will revert to its original plan of replacing just half the existing facility. Newman Center leaders plan to start the two-year construction project in June 2008.
ASU officials are eager to see the project go forward. The university projects it needs to spend $3.4 billion in the next decades to repair buildings and to construct new classrooms, office and dorms. Privately funded housing would help ASU meet some of the demand without the university having to pay for it, said Virgil Renzulli, vice president of public affairs.
“Anything that would bring additional residence halls to ASU is very, very welcome,” Renzulli said.
Garin Groff
