HX_Guy

It's not really up to the city. The height limit is imposed by the FAA and with Sky Harbor's runway being only about 3 miles east of downtown, I don't see they raising it in the core. In midtown and even as close to downtown as north of Fillmore, they can build without limit I believe. I think there are city limit of about 700', but if someone seriously wanted to build taller I'm sure the city would give a variance...that is, if the NIMBYS would shut the hell up. Either way, the lack of height isn't the least bit of a problem with Phoenix's downtown. We don't really need 700'+ tall towers. I would rather see 10 400' towers then 5 800' towers.

It wont' happen due to the airport. The height that will be allowed in the downtown core is probably no higher then 525'.

Speaking of proposals...here are two more. Very preliminary right now with not very many details, but it appears to be a condo/hotel tower at 43 stories tall, making it one of the tallest buildings in Phoenix. The Art Deco building immediately to the right of the tower is the 1931 Valley National Bank building which is currently being renovated into a boutique hotel by the same developer who wants to put up the Momentum tower. The same developer is also currently topping out a 34 story condo tower, 44 Monroe, just down the street from this project. Bottom line, they definitely already have a strong presence in Phoenix's downtown. I love the architecture of this one, something new and striking for Phoenix. 32 Stories / 375' Client: W Developments, Inc. Core and Shell Architect: HKS Contractor: The Weitz Company Residential: 204 Units Retail: 8,000 sf Parking: 299 Cars Currently in the permitting process. I understand that W Developments is a big condo developer in Chicago? They are also behind the 23 story high rise condo, Summit at Copper Square, which is getting ready for it's first residents to move in. Another rumor is that they never announce a project that they don't follow through on...so I guess we'll see how this one plays out.

Downdown Construction Updates: April 13th, 2007 44 Monroe now at 22 physical floors built. Summit at Copper Square. Sheraton Hotel, at 17 physical floors, with 215. McKinley in the foreground. 215. E McKinley Condos. Phoenix Convention Center. Alta Phoenix site undergoing some sort of work. Central Park East. Light Rail Station at Van Buren and Central. Walter Cronkite School of Journalism site undergoing preperation work. Light Rail power lines on Washington at 52nd St.

...and for some more renderings...here is the new Central Park East office tower which is supposed to be 26 floors at around 383'.

32-story condo tower proposed for downtown Phoenix Ginger D. Richardson The Arizona Republic Mar. 13, 2007 06:17 PM A developer who has already made his mark in downtown Phoenix with one condominium tower is now proposing a second, 32-story residential project in the heart of the city. The $100 million development, called Omega, would be located at Second Avenue and Adams Street, behind the Orpheum Lofts. Once built, it would be the third urban housing high-rise downtown. It is the brainchild of Chicago native turned Phoenix resident David Wallach, who is taking an increasingly active role in the redevelopment of Phoenix's core. Wallach, principal of W Developments LLC, was the first to take a chance on downtown's urban living appeal when he announced plans to build the 165-unit Summit at Copper Square condominium tower in 2004. Today, that project, located next to Chase Field, is 85 percent sold, and its first residents won't even move in until this summer. And Wallach is also one of a consortium of local businessmen who recently announced plans to create a blocks-long entertainment district along Jackson Street, on downtown Phoenix's southern edge. Maybe that explains why Wallach is bullish on the need for residential housing in the heart of the city, despite lingering concerns about the health Phoenix's real estate market. "The premise that the housing market is soft in downtown is not the right place to start," Wallach said Tuesday. "The right product, in the right neighborhood, has a really good chance of succeeding." Wallach said he hopes to break ground on Omega later this year, and said the tower could open in 2009. It features one-, two- and three-bedroom units, starting at about $400-plus a square foot. That would put the smallest, 750 square-foot residences in the $300,000 price range. Penthouse dwellings are as large as 2400 square feet, meaning that they would likely be offered at close to $1 million. Each of the 214 units will contain amenities like marble baths, granite countertops, and all-wood cabinetry. The tower itself will boast a 12th floor pool, a rooftop party and meeting rooms, workout facilities, six floors of parking and ground floor retail. Wallach hopes to fill that space with an upscale restaurant. But he believes one of the project's biggest selling points will be its location. The tower is located across the street from the Orpheum Theatre, and close to Phoenix City Hall. It is also within walking distance to many of downtown's biggest draws, including the Dodge Theatre, US Airways Center and Chase Field. "It's all about location, location, location," Wallach said. "The sightlines from every part of the building are spectacular." The plans for the Omega tower come only six months after money constraints and the Valley's flagging real estate market helped kill a mixed-use development known as Central Park East. That project, which would have combined an office tower with high-rise condominiums and academic space for the Arizona State University's downtown Phoenix campus, has since been retooled into a plan for high-end commercial office space. Wallach quickly douses any suggestion that his development might meet a similar fate. "Projects don't get built for a variety of reasons," he said. "But I have never announced a project that I didn't actually build."

Off the top of my head, the new dorms will be between 15-17 stories each...or maybe it was one at 15 stories and the other at 17. I just recall those figures from an article I read a while back.

Developmental Plan There are two phases in the development process: Phase 1: Build New Meeting Facility on Terrace Site (West Building) 62,000+ s.f. Exhibition Hall 45,000+ s.f. Ballroom 48,000 s.f. Meeting Space Height: 110' Above Ground Parking: 200 Cars Open! Phase 2: Replace North Building 310,000 s.f. total Exhibition Hall 100,000 s.f. Meeting Space 50,000 s.f. Ballroom Height: 100' Above Ground Parking: Up to 400 Cars Open Fall 2008 Accepting groups in January 2009

26-story office tower planned Downtown Phoenix building would help fill void for Class A space Ginger D. Richardson and Yvette Armendariz The Arizona Republic Feb. 27, 2007 12:00 AM http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepu...ffice0227.html A group of developers is moving forward with plans to bring downtown Phoenix what could be its first high-end commercial office tower in eight years. The $160 million project, if it comes to fruition, would help address a critical need in the city core, where vacancy rates have dropped to about 5.5 percent in recent years. That's about half of the citywide average. "Right now, downtown cannot offer Class A space to large office users," said Charles Miscio, a first vice president at CB Richard Ellis, adding that the low vacancies also were pushing up downtown rents. Class A space, like the kind in the proposed project, is generally defined as newer space in premier locations with upgraded amenities. Plans call for the 700,000-square-foot structure, known as One Central Park East, to be open by mid-2009. It would be near the northwestern corner of Van Buren and First streets and contain 475,000 square feet of office space, plus parking for 600 cars and ground-floor retail. Downtown's most recent high-rise office buildings, the Collier Center and the Phelps Dodge Tower, opened in 2001. "This is a major addition to the downtown skyline," Mike Szkatulski, senior managing director of Mesirow Financial Real Estate Inc., said of the proposed development. "It will be, without qualification, the best office space available in this market." Mesirow Financial is one of three partners in the Central Park East joint venture. The others are A & L Investments LLC, a Virginia-based real estate investment firm, and the National Electric Benefit Fund, which invests on behalf of the country's electrical workers. This is the second incarnation of the Central Park East project. An earlier plan that would have combined the office tower with high-rise condominiums and academic space for Arizona State University's downtown Phoenix campus was scrapped last year because of money constraints and the Valley's flagging real estate market. The project's demise forced developers to redesign the building so they could move forward on the most-needed component, the office tower, while still leaving room on the site to develop ASU space and residential housing should either be needed in the future. Plans call for the proposed tower to be 26 stories, or about 383 feet. By comparison, downtown's tallest building, Chase Tower, is 40 stories, about 486 feet. Rents in the building likely will be $35 to $40 a square foot, and Szkatulski said that developers plan to start meeting with potential tenants as early as next week. One Central Park East is one of two high-end commercial office buildings scheduled to open in Phoenix in 2009. The other will be part of CityScape, a $900 million mixed-use project that also includes shopping, hotel rooms and condominiums. Plans call for CityScape to cover three city blocks just south of Washington Street and include Patriots Square Park. Its office tower would contain roughly 550,000 square feet of space. A second, similar-size high-rise could provide office space, residences or a combination of the two. Even if all the towers were built, they probably still wouldn't meet the demand for high-end office space downtown, officials say. "It's a great start, but it doesn't fill the entire need over the next 10 years or so," Brian Kearney, president and CEO of the partnership, said of the proposed projects. The Downtown Phoenix Partnership commissioned a study about 18 months ago that found demand for Class A space to be 2.5 million or 3 million square feet through 2015.

The redesign of Patriots Park and the conceptual master plan presented by the developers were approved 5-2 tonight. There were some small changes made since the original plan, I photoshopped the original picture to show the changes. Original plan: New plan: