From The Editor

any development opportunities are afoot downtown, as important projects are either ready to be made available to the private sector, in design, or underway. A brief summary of what’s happening right now:

“Place-making” on Congress Street—Congress Street, from the west side all the way to the railroad tracks on the east, is about to be transformed. Rio Development, a team of local builders selected by the City to construct around 200 residences on 13 acres west of the Santa Cruz River, recently wrapped up a three-day design charrette. New urbanist architect Stefanos Polyzoides is working with Rio Development on the architectural vision. What is being designed will be very exciting and very appealing, and will be a great way to kick off development on the west side of Rio Nuevo. The new sales office at 264 E. Congress will have more information on some new housing opportunities on the west side.

The Rio Nuevo District has issued a Request for Proposals to four pre-qualified development teams to redevelop the Thrifty Block between Stone and Scott. Responses are due in late March, with a developer to be selected about a month later.

Meanwhile, the City has submitted a grant application for HOPE VI funding to seed the development of Depot Plaza, which will bring over 100 market-rate residences to join a redeveloped Martin Luther King Apartments. The McGuire’s building, vacant for the last five years just east of the Ronstadt Transit Center, is undergoing demolition at the Depot Plaza site. The Historic Depot on Toole will be dedicated on March 20, exactly 124 years from the railroad’s arrival in Tucson. The Depot Plaza project must be designed in such a way as to complement an area already anchored by the historic Hotel Congress and the depot.

Over at Scott and Pennington, the City Hall Annex has now been demolished, making way for the new 570-space Pennington Street Garage. City officials are currently negotiating a deal for a design-build project at the site.

The time seems right to formally define the Congress Street Arts and Entertainment District, to design public space improvements that can complement private development in creating a sense of place, and to identify any needed changes to ordinances and codes that can be made to help set the table for what needs to come.

Warehouse Arts District on Toole—Master planning is almost complete in the Warehouse Arts District. Architect and planner Corky Poster has unveiled a plan to provide infill of empty lots along Toole Avenue, creating more critical mass of artists living and working in the historic Warehouse District. The ten-year-old plan for the last mile of the Barraza-Aviation Parkway clearly needs to be reconsidered if the Warehouse District is to be viable, but it is an important project for diverting through-traffic away from Congress and other streets that should be evolving towards a more pedestrian, multi-modal orientation.

Courting Stone Avenue (see Vital Signs for more information)—Pima County has plans of its own, to construct a consolidated court complex with the City of Tucson in Downtown, along the east side of Stone, north of Chicanos por la Causa. The proposed court complex will be a part of the County’s bond package, to be presented to voters in May.

Upgrading the Gray Lady—On January 26, the Tucson City Council approved a plan to ask interested developers to make a proposal for a new sports and entertainment arena to be built at the southeast corner of Congress and I-10. A new arena would make Downtown Tucson more competitive for attracting professional sports, more concerts, and would be a catalyst for making the convention center competitive as a convention venue. If a new arena were to be built, there would be an opportunity to use $30 million in state funding to demolish the old arena and create new exhibit and meeting space for the TCC. Presently, the TCC does not have enough meeting space to be competitive in attracting conventions. With a new arena, hotel, UA Science Center, and possibly more retail in the Civic Plaza area, conventioneers would have facilities, as well as plenty of attractions within walking distance. No one can deny the potential impact of an arena and improved convention center on making Downtown a destination for conventions and tourists. Other cities of our size, including Albuquerque, are taking the step of modernizing their arenas, and locating them Downtown. Fortunately, this time, no historic structures will be sacrificed to the plans for modernizing our Downtown. This time, we’ll get it right.

Enjoy the Gem Shows, everybody.

Donovan Durband
Executive Director, Tucson Downtown Alliance
President, It’s Happening Downtown, Inc.

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