Downtown Phoenix is going green! Today the Phoenix City Council is expected to pass a portion of the Urban Form Project that includes the Connected Oasis. This is a blueprint for increasing downtown shade, parks, and foot traffic. The Connected Oasis plan is beautiful…check it out by clicking here.

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Developers want to silence nearly all train horns on a stretch of tracks on the southern end of Downtown Phoenix. The proposed quiet zone would impact Union Pacific trains that travel along Harrison Street between Third Avenue and Fourth Street. Several developers have built condos in the area and other plans to build more condominiums and hotels are underway.

Train engineers honk their horns at each railroad crossing in Phoenix. In quiet zones, train operators use horns less often. A temporary quiet zone may cost as little as $250,000 but would face a years review by the Federal Railroad Administration. A permanent quiet zone could cost up to $4.5 million but many of the recommended improvements are probably already in place, substantially reducing the price tag. The city has already contributed $150,000 toward the project, and several businesses have raised about $100,000 so far.

Developers have big plans for the neighborhood. W Developments, the firm that built the Summit at Copper Square, is involved in the proposed Jackson Street Entertainment District for the area. CityScape, a $900 million RED Development project, is expected to include hotels and dwellings. The Luhr’s building will one day be a hotel

UrbanLiving360 - Downtown Phoenix Lofts, High-rises, and Unique Condominiums

The light rail line keeps on growin’! Work will begin soon on another 3.2-miles starting just south of Bethany Home Road stretching north on 19th Avenue to Dunlap Avenue. It will connect to the 20-mile Metro light-rail line, which will start running in late December. Utility relocation starts this fall with the first track probably to be installed in late 2009 on a project scheduled for completion by 2012.

To clear a path for this light rail section, in May 2007 Phoenix began to buy homes. So far 38 residential properties have been purchased at a price of $7.4 million. The city is buying four remaining residential properties but more could be added as the light-rail design for the route is completed

City officials say 15,135 residents live within a half-mile of the northwest extension, with 6,855 housing units in the area, and this will allow many north-central Phoenix residents to more easily travel downtown and as far as Tempe and Mesa. The Metro light rail will run south from Bethany Home Road, wind its way through central Phoenix and downtown and go east on Washington Street to Tempe and Mesa.

On Monday, the Phoenix Historic Preservation Commission approved a proposal that would set aside $500,000 to preserve two iconic, 1920s-era downtown Phoenix skyscrapers. The proposal would also allow the developer to raze buildings on the south side of the block to make room for a future hotel.

Hansji Urban bought the Luhrs block for $28 million last year. The block was built by a pioneer-era Phoenix clan. The patriarch, German immigrant George Heinrich Nicholas Luhrs, built the 10-story Luhrs Building in 1924 and he broke ground on the 14-story Luhrs Tower in 1929. The area is bound by Central Avenue, First Avenue, Jefferson Street and Madison Street, nestled between future developments, CityScape and the Jackson Street Entertainment District

The City Council could consider the proposal as early as June. If approved, Hansji Urban would get $500,000 in city grant money to help preserve the vacant Luhrs Building, which needs many repairs. The plan would also protect most of the one-story span along Jefferson Street that links the Luhrs Building and Luhrs Tower. Other buildings on the south side of the block - including a 1950 parking structure and a 1951 Luhrs Tower annex that faces First Avenue - could face the wrecking ball.

The firm plans to invest $1.3 million to rehab the outside of the vacant Luhrs Building, which needs the most repairs. Luhrs Tower is occupied and needs less work. Bringing the Luhrs Building up to code and other upgrades could cost another $8 million. Ultimately, Hansji Urban, which is affiliated with an Irvine, Calif. hotel developer, plans to build a hotel on the south side of the block. The proposed hotel, which would take a year and a half to plan, could rise as more 200 feet tall.

Recent talks between Banner Health and the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center have revived hopes for a comprehensive cancer center in Downtown Phoenix. Houston-based M.D. Anderson serves 80,000 cancer patients a year as one of the country’s oldest and largest cancer centers. The collaboration between the two major players is seen as a positive sign for metro Phoenix, currently served by branches of two noted cancer clinics.

Portland Place has just released new pricing on select units. These units have been discounted from 10-20% from last week’s asking price! Check out urbanliving360.com for more details and to request information.

High-end business travelers will not be the only ones to benefit from the addition of Hotel Monroe to our turf. Sure we love witnessing the transformation of this historic Valley Bank Building into a luxury boutique hotel taking shape at Monroe Street at Central Avenue. But what really gets us going is picturing ourselves meeting friends at the underground wine bar, The Vault, then deciding whether to grab a bite at the bistro, splurge on fine-dining or head straight for the rooftop bar for some star-gazing, all on site. (And of course, hopping the light rail home!)

Located on Monroe Street at Central Avenue, Hotel Monroe is on track for a late November opening according to Grace Communities, also the developers of downtown Phoenix’s 44 Monroe high-rise condo project. We’ll be ready when they are, so save us a table: Happy hour, anyone?

After a long year, the Phoenix City Council has made a decision about the fate of a Downtown Phoenix parking garage, the controversial Jefferson Street parking garage. Both the Phoenix Suns/Arizona Diamondbacks and the Jackson Street Entertainment District groups want it but the City Council has decided that the sports group will purchase it for $20 million dollars. However, the city council has stipulated that they must negotiate with the principals of Jackson Street Entertainment District about wrapping the south side of the garage with shops and multifamily housing.

The final agreement also asks the principals of the Sun/Diamondbacks to develop the historic Sun Mercantile Building and a hotel in the area so that it is consistent with the Jackson Street developers’ plans. Last year, they had to scuttle plans to build a $200 million W Hotel on land between US Airways Center and the garage.

The proceeds of the $20 million sale will go to CityScape to help fund the $900 million complex of offices, hotels, shops and restaurants.

Today, the Phoenix Business Journal reports:

The metro region’s key growth areas for commercial and mixed-use real estate in the near future are downtown Phoenix, the light rail corridor, downtown Mesa and the southwest and southeast areas, according to a new report from Colliers International. The annual report, called 2020 Vision, was released Wednesday by Colliers at its meeting at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa.

The most immediate growth is expected in and around downtown Phoenix’s bioscience community and along the 20-mile light rail system from northwest Phoenix through downtown to Tempe and Mesa, said Colliers Managing Director Mike Fitz-Gerald. In downtown Phoenix, where more than $3 billion in public and private redevelopment projects are under way, officials are awaiting a final decision from Florida pharmaceutical executives interested in opening a regional office in downtown Phoenix. It would open with 20 employees and expand to as many as 300. Fitz-Gerald and Colliers Associate Kevin Lange declined to identify the Florida company. They are anticipating an official announcement from the company soon.

Lange said the Florida company’s president and chief executive officer, during their recent visit to Arizona, were courted by a team of representatives from the offices of Gov. Janet Napolitano, Mayor Phil Gordon, Translational Genomics Research Institute, Greater Phoenix Economic Council, University of Arizona, Arizona State University, Greater Phoenix Economic Council, and The Plaza Cos. Lange said the meetings with the Florida executives “just a couple of months ago” took place at Mayo Clinic Hospital and at TGen before they ended up in the offices of GPEC President and CEO Barry Broome.

Lange said the Florida executives, who visited San Diego and other cities, were attracted to downtown Phoenix because of the existing 28-acre bioscience community northwest and northeast of Van Buren and Seventh streets. Its members include TGen, UA College of Medicine, UA College of Pharmacy; ASU School of Nursing; Arizona BioMedical Collaborative, the proposed Phoenix Biomedical Plaza and a proposed teaching hospital.

Fitz-Gerald and Lange said they are receiving more inquiries from developers and investors interested in property within about 2 miles of the bioscience community and other new work in downtown Phoenix. “They want to be as close as possible to the biomedical campus,” Lange said.

He also briefs callers about properties along the light rail system, which is scheduled to open in late 2008. “The light rail corridor has become very important,” Lange said.

The ASU College of Nursing just keeps getting bigger and better! (See expansion info below) If you are a nursing student or a member of the faculty, there are great options for nearby chic urban living - and at affordable prices! Check out 215 E. McKinley and Roosevelt 11 and give us a call at 480-232-9699 if you would like more information.

ASU News: Tuesday, the ASU College of Nursing and Healthcare Innovation broke ground on a $30 million addition to its existing five-story building in Downtown Phoenix. Opening in 2009, it will provide more teaching and office space for the college. Started in 1957 with just three faculty members and six students, the school now has nearly 2,000 students and is the nation’s largest. In 2002, ASU graduated an average of 160 nurses a year. Now it graduates 320 a year.

ASU is in the midst of a multi-million dollar building spree in the heart of Phoenix. The university partnered with Phoenix city leaders to open a downtown campus in 2006. It’s a key part of plans to revitalize the heart of the city. Construction crews are building a $150 million student housing complex, which is called Taylor Place, a $71 million school of journalism and a $30 million park with a $2.4 million artwork crafted by Boston artist Janet Echelman.