February 20, 2012
In our last blog posting, we referenced HUBZones. HUB stands for Historically Underutilized Business zones. The program helps small businesses in urban and rural communities gain preferential access to federal procurement opportunities. These preferences go to small businesses that obtain HUBZone certification in part by employing staff who live in a HUBZone. The company must also [...]
February 17, 2012
The City of Tucson has a Small Business Enterprise program which offers incentives to small businesses interested in doing business with the City of Tucson on contracts administered by the Procurement Department, which may include, bid preferences and subcontracting goals for construction, goods, services, and materials. For certification by the City of Tucson, please fill out [...]
February 13, 2012
We are proud of our partnership with the University of Arizona and particularly proud of the climate of innovation that the UA brings to our city. Please join us at the 2012 Innovation Day on campus. Details in this .pdf: http://www.downtowntucson.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/20120213-Innovation-Day.pdf
February 13, 2012
PACE — Property Assessed Clean Energy — financing is a tool that allows property owners to finance energy efficiency retrofits and renewable energy projects in existing commercial buildings. Basically, the program allows property owners within the designated district to borrow the upfront costs of the energy retrofits from the local government in exchange for the [...]
February 10, 2012
Pursuant to the Request For Interest for the Marist College (see, http://www.downtowntucson.org/invest/opportunities/), we are arranging tours. Please email us (econdev@downtowntucson.org) or call us (520-837-6508) to arrange a date and time!
February 9, 2012
A shout out for City Manager Richard Miranda who had a nice letter published February 6, 2012 in the New York Times! DEAR EDITORS: As Tucson’s city manager, I assure you that even with the departure of Major League Baseball spring training, life is good. Today, we are enjoying 75-degree weather and the arrival of [...]
February 9, 2012
Technicians for Sustainability 2012 Solar Grant Open Applications Tucson, AZ – February 6, 2012 – Technicians for Sustainability (TFS) is proud to announce the opening of our 2012 Solar Grant application process. Starting immediately we will be accepting applications until March 21st, the Spring Equinox. The TFS grant program is funded by 1% of our [...]
February 8, 2012
And we’re off! Add this to the student housing and all the new restaurants opening, and you can see why Downtown Tucson is HAPPENING!!! from: http://azstarnet.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/new-broadway-stone-building-to-house-rta-s-headquarters/article_d7f28a4e-813d-578c-baee-0d4e732a0f33.html New Broadway-Stone building to house RTA’s headquarters The RTA, the biggest investor in the Tucson modern-streetcar project, is planning to move into a new, streetcar-oriented building downtown. Robert Caylor [...]
February 8, 2012
The Marist College building is the only three-story adobe building in Southern Arizona, and was the first integrated school in Tucson. We are circulating a Request for Interest to possible developers/end users of the property which is ideal for a boutique hotel — or any other creative use! The Marist College is profiled in Sunday’s [...]
February 8, 2012
Building The Next Tucson Justin Williams, Startup Tucson February 7, 2012 In 2010, Boulder, CO was named “America’s Best Town for Startups.” Why? “With the University of Colorado as an anchor and a backyard full of mountains as lifestyle bait, Boulder now has the highest concentration of software engineers per capita in the nation. It’s [...]
February 7, 2012
We will provide updates as soon as we have details, but wanted to make sure you knew this – from: http://azstarnet.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/pima-county-reduces-development-fees/article_be5f5930-51bf-11e1-acde-0019bb2963f4.html Pima County will give developers a break on fees for plans and plan extensions because so many projects are on hold due to poor economic conditions. “We all recognize the symptoms of the economy. [...]
February 6, 2012
The Federal government enacted a program about 10 years ago designed to stimulate private investment in low to moderate income areas of the country called the “New Markets Tax Credits” program. In a nutshell, tax credits are offered to qualifying projects in distressed and severely distressed areas (“severely distressed” is when the income is less [...]
January 25, 2012
We are still analyzing the information, but a preliminary review of the proposals outlined by the President last night has been conducted by Michael Novogradac. Links to the original documents are included in his fine post: http://novogradac.wordpress.com/ Quotes and items in italic below are from Mr. Novogradac’s piece. Major tax credits will be available for [...]
January 18, 2012
Historic tax credits are a terrific way to help finance the rehabilitation of older, historic buildings. There are two different programs, both of which apply to many of our Downtown structures. This post provides information about the 20% credit ONLY. To find out how to use the credit, consult with your accountant. The IRS guidelines [...]
January 17, 2012
By Jewell Anderson Planning Intern, Downtown Tucson Partnership Urban Planning MS Candidate School of Landscape Architecture and Planning University of Arizona Development has become less expensive in Tucson. In April, 2011, the Governor signed into law comprehensive changes to the impact fee regulations, all intended to reduce the cost of development. Impact fees are a [...]
January 17, 2012
Make sure you check out this very cool project sponsored by the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce: FREE-RENT CONTEST TO SPOTLIGHT DOWNTOWN By Rhonda Bodfield, AZ Daily Star (January 17, 2012). Downtown advocates say they’re so convinced downtown is a good place to do business that they’re putting their money where their assurances are. The Tucson [...]
January 16, 2012
Az Commerce Authority $1.5M Innovation Challenge Grant Now Accepting Applications The Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA) has announced its second $1.5 million Arizona Innovation Challenge, the country’s largest monetary award for a technology commercialization challenge. The ACA will award $1.5 million to the most promising technology ventures that participate in the 2nd Arizona Innovation Challenge (awards [...]
January 10, 2012
Microbusiness Advancement Center’s Business Planning Course is being presented by the Women’s Business Center. The series will cover all key elements of planning or re-tooling a successful business within its three planning clusters. This is a flexible and rotating schedule culminating in the development of a fully professional business plan. The work has been designed [...]
January 4, 2012
by Pamela Sutherland Originally published in Trend Report Downtown Tucson is continuing its momentum with more restaurants opening every month (Playground just opened on Congress and 5th Avenue, and Reilly Pizza plans its launch later this month). Unisource opened its new building in November and now has approximately 500 people Downtown, and the FBI is [...]