August 21, 2008 – 6:43 am
Although the condominium market has been slow for a while, newspapers like to keep people excited and ready for the eventual opening of projects. I think it is great that the Phoenix Business Journal, AZ Republic and East Valley Tribune are still reporting on real estate development updates, whether their information is new or just repeated. In the last week or so, two separate articles have been published that highlight Tempe’s Mill Avenue district and the much anticipated opening of Centerpoint.
By now, most of you have at least heard a rumor or read one of the many articles regarding the Mortgages Ltd. situation. It is pretty simple, the primary construction lender for the Centerpoint project, Mortgages Limited Securities filed for Bankruptcy in June, which has caused the project to temporarily halt construction. Avenue Communities, the developer of the project is working out some legal issues at this time and hopes to bring a new lender on immediately.
Mill Avenue has drastically changed shape over the decades and ever since Tempe Town Lake was filled, a new energy has fell upon the hotspot. Mill has great restaurants, great bars, a great atmosphere for walking on the weekend, but few residences. Several developments that were supposed to add over 1000 condominiums to Mill Avenue have been put on hold or are another victim of Mortgages Limited. Mosaic, a 212 unit, 21-story tower planned for the north west corner of University and Ash is also suing Mortgages Limited.
Many projects have been proposed for the Mill Avenue area, while few have materialized. Some of these projects are victims of an this unfortunate lender situation, while others are “waiting” for the market to slightly recover. A few of these projects will probably never happen, but the ones that do will be a great new home for the Arizona Urbanite. If you think Mill is a hotspot now, just wait until several hundred more people call it home in the next two years.
During our last high rise and loft condo tour of Tempe Town Lake and Mill Avenue, several tour attendees asked about the status of the DMB redevelopment of Centerpoint on Mill, the retail, office, restaurant and movie cinema mall on the northwest corner of Mill Avenue and University Drive.
DMB, developers of DC Ranch, Verrado, One Scottsdale and other wonderful communities owns Centerpoint on Mill. The original intention was to immediatley begin a massive redevelopment that would include replacing the existing office building with a taller one, tearing down the single story shops facing Mill in order to build multi-story story buildings with shops on the ground floor and residential condominiums above, more shops in front of what was Harkins movie theater, and a 20 story hotel to be built where the theater now stands.
While DMB was slowly emptying the site of retailers etc (not renewing leases) the real estate market slowed significantly thus causing DMB to postpone the plans. It began leasing up the vacant spaces to new shop owners etc and slowly the site has come back to life (albeit much less vibrant than it had been). Completion of Centerpoint on Mill is now projected to take about ten years.
Many people were sorry to see the movie theater go and asked if another will be built to replace it. The answer, at least for now, is no. The eleven theater complex had seen plummeting attendance due to competing theaters at Arizona Mills and the new one opened at Tempe Marketplace making the the Mill Avenue theater unprofitable and thereby not viable. I believe this answer. My wife and I never had a problem catching a movie there and it always seemed to be no more than 25% occupied at best. I wondered how long it would survive although I did not understand why it was not more popular.
February 4, 2008 – 6:43 pm
Phoenix Vally Metro’s light rail service is scheduled to start toward the end of 2008. The impact of this project is two fold and can not be ignored. During construction some areas along the developing line saw commercial and residential projects start to spring up at a fast pace, hoping to draw attraction from the new service. Areas like the Central Corridor, Downtown Phoenix and Downtown Tempe. In contrast-some areas, like along Apach Blvd the changes has not been as positive. Many businesses were forced to close down due to construction and now the street is lined with vacant and abandoned builidings. Granted the Apache stretch of light rail was not the most attractive to begin with, but are we going to see the redevelopment to keep pace with other areas along the line. I would love to see the Campus Edge condominium lofts go up on Apache, that would be a great starting point to bringing great communities and areas together through ease of access. When you see the changes in Tempe and Phoenix you realize the potential for Apache.
January 8, 2008 – 6:21 pm
Merrion Square on University and Beck in Tempe was a great concept from the get go. 8 upscale live/work condos with retail on the ground floor and two stories of livable space above. I remember prices being high back in 2006 when construction started but had been told 4 of the 8 were under contract to purchase. Since that time construction had been proceeding at a relativley slow pace. Now it looks like the project is finished off and the pending sales have been canceled. The building stands for sale as a single property. None of the 8 live/work homes will be offered by the developer for individual sale. Asking price for the builiding–$2.85M.
It’s a shame to see that Merrion Square didn’t get the sales it needed to be completed as planned. Live/work is catching on in Tempe and the locals seem to love the idea of independant owners opening small businesses on the streetscape. University Drive has a ton of vehicle and pedestrian traffic and Merrion Square seems like a great location for business. Hopefully it will get sold and businesses/residents will start moving in.
October 14, 2007 – 8:41 pm
Saturday turned out to be a great day for this month’s WeKnowUrban bus tour featuring properties in and around Tempe Town Lake and the Mill Ave district. The sky was clear, temperatures were cool and we had a great time showing folks everything Tempe has to offer. I really enjoy taking clients through the existing and developing urban and high rise projects, places like Centerpoint, Brownstones at Tempe, Hayden Ferry and Sotelo. Most people have heard something about some or all of these projects but they are hard to appreciate until you visit them in person. Add to that the diverse infill projects like Tempe Urban Living and 5th St. Lofts and you truly have something for everyone.
Saturday’s group experienced first hand sales presentations from the high rise projects currently under construction and toured the streets of downtown Tempe to see where everything is coming together. Sotelo provided coffee and snacks before we left and lunch after. Centerpoint treated us to a surprise snack prepared by Chef Troy in the display kitchen at their Discovery Center. So the folks on the tour given a ton of statistical information, personal property tours, a driving tour and nobody went away hungry!
This is the type of tour we do with clients on a regular basis in Tempe and other communities across the valley, but really it’s just the tip of the iceberg. There are many other existing, developing and proposed projects all over downtown Tempe. Projects both large and small, all with something different to offer. We also coordinate building tours of the construction sites of some of the most popular developments. We are happy to talk with you about your specific interests, then tailor a personal tour.
All of us at WeKnowUrban would like to thank the folks at Sotelo, Bridgeview, Brownstones at Tempe and Centerpoint for their support of the WeKnowUrban Tempe bus tour.NEXT TOUR: Camelback Corridor. Click the tour tab on the www.weknowurban.com home page for more info.
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September 26, 2007 – 3:48 am
Join the experts of WeKnowUrban.com, Saturday, October 13th for a two hour bus tour of “urban living” in and around Tempe Lake and the Mill Avenue District. We’ll give you insider information of what’s hot and what’s not in Tempe high rises and lofts. Featured properties will include Sotello Condominiums, Hayden Ferry High Rise, Onyx High Rise, Northshore, Lumina High Rise, Brownstones of Tempe, Centerpoint and others. For additional information or to reserve your spot on the tour call (602) 476-1881 or visit www.WeKnowUrban.com and click the “Urban Tour” tab at the top of the page.
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