Commercial Developments
Tucson Downtown Arena Proposed Again – 3rd Time a Charm?
February 25, 2009 by Tucson Realtor - Michael Krotchie · Leave a Comment
This article about the Stockton Arena is from yesterday’s AZ Daily Star. I have been thinking about it since then and hadn’t posted because I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. Tucson has been through this downtown arena talk twice before already and it’s become a running joke among Tucsonans, along with Rio Nuevo. Check out the following timeline:
DOWNTOWN ARENA TIMELINE
• OCTOBER 2003: Although not part of the Rio Nuevo ballot measure approved by voters, talk begins about building a new arena Downtown.
• JANUARY 2004: The City Council votes 4-3 to solicit proposals from developers for a new arena.
• AUGUST 2004: The city selects an arena development team led by Texas-based Garfield Traub.
• MARCH 2007: Downtown landowner Allan Norville unveils plans to build a Downtown arena and gem-show exhibit hall. Two days later, the city releases plans for a new arena shaped like a desert tortoise shell.
• APRIL 2007: The City Council unexpectedly approves the $130 million tortoise-shell arena with no public notice or input.
• APRIL 2008: A public-records request by the Arizona Daily Star showed costs for the tortoise arena had ballooned to $196 million.
• MAY 2008: The City Council kills the tortoise-shell arena because of the cost. It voted to negotiate with Norville to build a smaller arena on his land, but the deal is never finalized.
• FEBRUARY 2009: With no money to buy Norville’s land, the city moves the arena to a third site and is set to choose the arena’s architect and operator.
Here are the latest glamour shots courtesy of the Daily Star:
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So while I love the pictures, I’ll hold my sincere excitement until we see a little more progress (actually breaking ground would satisfy me).
Here are your stats for today:
| New Listings | 134 |
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| Back on Market | 18 |
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| Price Increases | 10 |
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| Price Reductions | 147 |
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| Contingents | 52 |
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| Pendings | 25 |
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| Solds | 48 |
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| Expireds | 24 |
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| Inactives | 40 |
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The Rise of Tucson “Power Centers” – Good or Bad?
May 15, 2008 by Tucson Realtor - Michael Krotchie · 2 Comments
In today’s Arizona Daily Star, there is an article about the final gasp of the De Anza Drive-In to make way for another big-box “Power Center”. A short excerpt:
A developer is finalizing a deal to buy the De Anza Drive-In, at 1401 S. Alvernon Way, and has already started marketing it as a retail complex.Evergreen Development Co. is calling the project De Anza Crossings, a 20-acre retail “power center,” in marketing materials distributed by Picor Commercial Real Estate Services.Gregg Alpert, Evergreen managing principal, declined to say when he expects the sale to be final, saying only that it would be “later this year.” As far as Alpert knows, De Anza Land and Leisure doesn’t have plans to keep running the theater after the sale, but “we would be open to it,” he said.
- Rooney Ranch – Located on the SW corner of 1st Avenue and Oracle (technically Oro Valley), Rooney Ranch, developed by Barclay, sits on 65 acres and consists of a Home Depot, Fry’s, Target, Ross, Sport Authority, PetSmart, Office Max, and Starbucks.
- Tucson Spectrum, a 1 million square-foot power center at the SW corner of I-19 and Irvington Road. Also developed by Barclay, this power center boasts giants such as Best Buy, J.C. Penney, Sports Authority, Pier 1 Imports, Old Navy, and a Harkins Theatre occupying 620,000 square feet.
- Oro Valley Marketplace – Located at Tangerine/Oracle Road and developed by Vestar, Oro Valley Marketplace is 800,000 square feet and features merchants such as a Wal-Mart Supercenter, Best Buy, Century Theatres, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Cost Plus World Market, and a few restaurants to boot.
- Marana Spectrum – In my previous post I wrote about this development, to be located at the southeast corner of Camino de Manana and Linda Vista Boulevard (east of I-10 between Cortaro and Avra Valley) and will cover nearly 170 acres. Estimated to have roughly 100 stores, Marana Spectrum will carry 3 “anchor stores” of at least 100,000 sqft, making the total square footage approximately equal to that of the Tucson Mall.
- Tangerine Crossings – a 1 million-plus square foot project at the NE corner of I-10 and Tangerine Road in Marana being planned by Westcor, developer of La Encantada in the Catalina Foothills. The new Tangerine road (realigned and 4 lanes) is officially set to open June 25, 2008.
- De Anza Crossings – 20 acre spread located where the current De Anza Drive-In resides. Projected to be finalized late 2008.
- Passages of Tucson – This may stand in category by itself. When (and if) completed, Passages of Tucson will be 4.3 million square feet of retail, commercial, and residential space. Featuring a series of villages, the developer plans on building eight themed areas, grouping similar stores, restaurants, offices and activity centers into one area. The villages would follow a Southwestern motif, incorporating “new urbanism” design principles, with pedestrian-friendly streets and open courtyards. With final buildout not scheduled until 2020 (wow!) it remains to be seen if this behemoth will ever take shape.
Tower Theatres – A New State-of-the-Art Theater in Marana
June 24, 2007 by Tucson Realtor - Michael Krotchie · 16 Comments
Update: 7.27.2008:
I see that most of the traffic to this page is from people searching for the actual Tower Theatres website (for box office information probably) so here is the link to the Tower Theatres website in Marana. For those of you who would like a little history, feel free to keep reading! 
Marana residents rejoice! For those of you tired of driving to the [tag]Foothills Mall[/tag] to catch a flick good news is on the horizon.
[tag]Linda Vista Cinemas[/tag] [tag]Tower Theatres[/tag], a 12-16 screen digital image projection theater (the first in Southern Arizona) is slated to open this fall. It will have stadium seating and 40-foot wide screens, and will be located on [tag]Arizona Pavilions[/tag] Drive off of the [tag]Cortaro Road[/tag] exit, just west of Kohl’s.
I snapped these photos the other day, two from the front of the theater and one from the backside. I actually got a screw stuck in my tire from the construction site while I was driving around. Grrrr.
Features will include THX surround sound, a gourmet coffee bar and a video arcade. It was originally planned to have 18 screens but budgetary constraints forced developers to scale the project back a bit. I spoke with Andy Seleznov from Larson Baker LLC (the developing company) and he informed me the theater should be completed and open for business by October Winter 2007.
Marana Spectrum – A Huge Retail “Power Center” coming in 2010
June 6, 2007 by Tucson Realtor - Michael Krotchie · 4 Comments
Adding to the explosive growth in Marana, AZ is the steady progress of a new 1.3 million square foot retail shopping center dubbed Marana Spectrum. It will be located at the southeast corner of Camino de Manana and Linda Vista Boulevard (east of I-10 between Cortaro and Avra Valley) and will cover nearly 170 acres. Estimated to have roughly 100 stores, Marana Spectrum will carry 3 “anchor stores” of at least 100,000 sqft, making the total square footage approximately equal to that of the Tucson Mall. That’s HUGE! Take a look at the proposed layout below:
The ball started rolling about one and a half years ago and plans have been released by the company in charge of the construction of the center (Kimco Developers Inc.). A brief excerpt from their site on what they do:
“Kimco Developers pursues the development of quality open-air retail shopping centers with national tenants, both on our own and through joint ventures with quality developers.
These projects will be supermarket anchored power centers, mixed-use or lifestyle centers.”
What is even more exciting about this center is the fact that it basically ensures a Twin Peaks interchange at I-10. With such a large retail center being built the Town of Marana will finally have to build the interchange that most Continental Ranch residents have been clamoring for over the past five years. It will also alleviate some of the congestion that has been building up during the past few years at the Cortaro Road interchange and also ease the traffic that will be generated from the pending subdivision of Saguaro Springs (read about it here).
The project is slated to begin in 2008 and be completed by 2010 (I wonder if that will coincide with the opening of the Twin Peaks interchange & the completion of the 3 year I-10 expansion project!).
As of yet no anchor stores have been announced but possible candidates will probably be stores along the lines of Best Buy, Bed Bath & Beyond, Circuit City, etc.
This is definitely going to be a huge step in Marana’s development plan and I can’t wait for it to be finished!
UPDATED 8/13/2007 – From today’s Arizona Daily Star article: “Plan update: The developer, Barclay Group, is still in negotiations with the town of Marana on a development agreement. The retail center’s opening is contingent upon the completion of the planned I-10/ Twin Peaks Road interchange. Construction on the interchange is expected to begin in early 2008. The Town Council approved a site plan for the center on Tuesday.”
UPDATED 3/14/2009 – Ground breaking should be any time now. The areas on both sides of I-10 have been cleared in preparation for construction to begin and two massive power poles have been erected just east of I-10 where the interchange will be; I assume to put power lines over I-10.
I've lived in the Old Pueblo for more than a decade and have an intimate knowledge of Tucson as well as the surrounding areas. I go hiking and traveling whenever I have a break from real estate (which isn't often enough!) and enjoy taking in an Arizona sunset while relaxing in my backyard. 
