JANUARY 2004
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From The Editor
Biggers is one of several investors or builders highlighted in Reel’s article, all of whom seem to have “gotten it”—that is, identify with something special about Downtown and see unique opportunities here—sooner than most. Some have been slugging it out in the Downtown area for many years, while others are relative newcomers. All have interesting stories, but what is striking is that whether they are Tucson natives or have adopted the Old Pueblo later in life, they all have fallen in love with this place, and it’s been reflected in their work. John Wesley Miller has long been recognized for his commitment to making sunny Tucson run on solar power, while Tom Wuelpern has championed rammed-earth construction as an environmentally-appropriate building response to Tucson’s climate. Michael Keith snooped around old Downtown houses as a youth, admiring the architecture of structures slated for demolition. As with the work of Wuelpern and Miller, Keith’s buildings have been socially-responsible in their modern energy-efficiency, but also, as Reel puts it, “historically-informed” with the structural design and external appearance. All of these developers and builders see the value of “place making”, and all recognized opportunity in Downtown Tucson when others didn’t. Biggers, Tom Warne, Don Semro and Yoram Levy have made investments on Congress Street, and have also been selected to develop Depot Plaza, which includes the new MLK public housing, along with over a hundred new units of market-rate housing between Congress and Toole near 5th Avenue. After several barrio and Armory Park projects, Warren Michaels and partners have renovated a two-story commercial building along Congress, and are now bringing loft housing to Tucson with Ice House Lofts. But, in addition to the builders featured in the article, it’s important to recognize some of the other recent investments that have been made. The Colton Company has committed $1 million to the construction of the new Pennington Street Garage, soon to replace the old City Hall Annex with 570 parking spaces and new retail space, while Buck Baccus and Swain Chapman have upgraded the façades and made other improvements to the properties along Congress and Stone that surround the Fox Theatre. Joan O’Dwyer recently purchased the Dinnerware building at 135 E. Congress and has opened Wilde Playhouse there, bringing some cool flair to the area. Fiore and Kathy Iannacone have upgraded their Italian Kitchen with their recent opening of Enoteca at 58 W. Congress St., in the former Eegee’s location. I suspect that in 2004, some of those who have been kicking themselves for not getting in sooner will stake their own claim on Downtown’s future. Donovan Durband |
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his month’s feature recognizes a number of entrepreneurs and investors who have committed capital to renovating and rebuilding Downtown Tucson. While much of the early investment in Downtown through the Rio Nuevo Project has been public money, it is widely understood that revitalization can’t succeed without private investment. In fact, a few years ago when the Rio Nuevo Master Plan was approved, the City announced that Rio Nuevo was a $750 million project—of which over $600 million was expected to be private investment leveraged from the $120 million projected to be generated from the tax-increment financing over the next ten years. After some delays in receiving the TIF funding from the State of Arizona, the early returns are better than expected, so that we are likely to see a greater public investment than $120 million. Similarly, new private investment has been slower to materialize than had been hoped, but as Doug Biggers points out in James Reel’s article on page 8, the City has “made the context right”, and the private sector is getting involved.