An area south of First Avenue and Fillmore Street is the tentative location of a planned ASU campus in downtown Phoenix, ASU President Michael Crow said Tuesday.
Crow said he hoped there would be "complete embedding with the community," in order to blur distinction between campus and city property.
"We're not interested in something just for us," Crow said. "This isn't the 19th century, and it isn't New Haven, Conn. This is Phoenix, Ariz. and it's 2004."
ASU and City of Phoenix officials announced the location for a future downtown campus, likely to be called ASU Capital Center at a City Council work study session on Tuesday.
Design plans must be approved by the Arizona Board of Regents, which could occur in January.
The University and the city released a report on downtown economic development to the public and City Council that outlined the University's plans for the downtown campus, said Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon.
The plan also outlined development ideas for an area bounded by Margaret T. Hance Park and Interstate 10, Lincoln Street, Seventh Avenue and Seventh Street, said Patrick Grady, director of Phoenix's Downtown Development Office.
The space would be divided into sections for uses such as entertainment, arts, education, government, housing and retail, according to the plan.
Another area would include a district for urban versions of stores like Home Depot and Target.
The plan includes a large public gathering space similar to Hayden Lawn to be built in the area north of Patriot's Square, Grady said.
ASU officials hope to move more than a half dozen colleges and schools to the downtown campus, including the College of Nursing, College of Public Programs, and the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
Crow said the plan was "more than just rhetoric."
"We're not presenting something to you today that's just an idea," Crow said. "It's a well-thought-out, well-scrubbed project."
Catalytix, an urban planning consulting firm that worked with the City of Phoenix, created a separate report that the city used to supplement its own report, said George Borowsky, chief innovation officer of Catalytix.
Catalytix is best known because of its famous founder, Borowsky said. He said urban planning "rock star" Richard Florida started the firm.
Florida wrote a book called "The Rise of the Creative Class," which claims that urban environments that attract creative people strengthen cities' economies.
Kirk Watson, a colleague of Borowsky, said a college environment would do that for Phoenix.
"The first rule is residents, residents, residents," Watson said. "The second rule is young residents."
Crow said having a university in downtown Phoenix would bring intellectuals to the town center, enriching the community.
"Our faculty are like ants," Crow said. "They start burrowing in."
A Town Hall meeting regarding the plan is scheduled for Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the Herberger Theater in Phoenix.
More city and public neighborhood meetings will be held for the next few weeks, and a final plan will likely be submitted to the City Council for a vote in the middle of November.
The Phoenix downtown plan can be downloaded at http://www.phoenix.gov/downtown. The city is accepting comments about the plan at the e-mail address downtown@phoenix.gov.
Reach the reporter at nicole.saidi@asu.edu.
