Construction cranes rise from the dirt near Sixth Street and Mill Avenue, piercing the sky and helping to construct high-rise condominium towers.
The towers will be part of Centerpoint Condominiums, a development slated to include more than 800 residences. Between 2,000 and 5,000 condos in total could be constructed downtown and on the shores of Tempe Town Lake over the next 10 years.
Tempe residents, students and ASU professors have expressed concern these new developments - and the residents they bring - could make Mill Avenue less of a student hangout, further increase downtown traffic congestion and make housing
unaffordable in surrounding neighborhoods.
But city officials said this development could generate more tax revenue in a city that doesn't have room to grow outward. The new residents could also help prop up downtown businesses that have long struggled to attract consistent customers.
Student life
The University Arches shopping center near campus will only be a memory by next year.
This center, located near Forest Avenue and University Drive, includes more than a dozen businesses catering to students that could be demolished to make way for a high-rise project called University Square.
Despite the loss and the prospect of new wealthier condo residents coming in, Tempe officials say students will remain downtown stores' biggest customers.
But Mill Avenue seems to already cater to the urban professionals that could be living in the new condos because it has high-end businesses, said Crocker Liu, an ASU finance professor.
"You don't have those cheap beer joints you have in most college towns," Liu said. "You have P.F. Chang's."
Once the "yuppies" begin moving in and downtown rents get too expensive, remaining student-oriented businesses downtown might eventually relocate to the east of campus, Liu said.
High-end businesses might take their place because tenants offering cheap products can't afford the steeper rents, said Steve Goumas, owner of Rula Bula, an Irish pub.
"You'll lose businesses that aren't generating high sales per square foot - like bars," he said.
Someday students won't dominate downtown crowds, said Michael Monti, owner of Monti's La Casa Vieja, which has been open for about 50 years.
"They're going to see a retail environment akin to what you might find in Scottsdale or Beverly Hills," Monti said.
Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman said while students are part of downtown's customer base, they aren't any more important to the businesses than other groups.
"It's not about students," he said. "It's about the unique, eclectic businesses that locate in an urban environment."
But even in a more upscale setting, the new residents can coexist with students, said Catherine Schultz, manager at Swell Clothing.
"Tempe is a college town," Schultz said. "I can't see a bunch of new residents running [students] out."
The college students might not mesh well with the older residents living in the condos, though, said political science junior Stratton Hickcox.
"I know my parents wouldn't hang out with me," he added.
But empty nesters and college students alike are still likely to find a varied mix of businesses downtown even after the condos are built, said Mary Ann Miller, president and CEO of the Tempe Chamber of Commerce.
"You certainly will have high-end businesses move in that cater to residents of the condos, but you will also have businesses that pop up and cater to the student population as long as the students keep going downtown," she said.
New businesses that could come downtown because of the condo projects include grocery stores, dry cleaners and other stores offering basic services to downtown residents.
One condo tower, Mosaic, will include a Whole Foods grocery store on the ground floor and would be located on the corner of University Drive and Ash Avenue.
Tempe is also trying to bring back student-oriented businesses, said Chris Salomone, Tempe's community development manager.
It's important to support a major source of customers for downtown retailers and restaurants, he said.
According to a 2004 study of downtown Tempe business conditions, ASU will continue to significantly influence what businesses locate to downtown.
The study cited ASU findings that each student spends about $5,300 annually on retail, food and beverage purchases.
Much of this money goes downtown because students are often on campus, the study said.
Downtown business in general could also get a boost from the influx of new residents, Hallman said.
Downtown businesses have traditionally suffered because the city targeted customers like they were tourists from 1985 until 2002, Hallman said.
"Mill Avenue over the 1990s transitioned to an outdoor mall filled with chain stores," he said.
Adding residents back downtown could help provide businesses with more consistent customers, he added.
A residential population would also generate more tax revenue to fund city services, Hallman said.
Since Tempe is a built-out city with little vacant land left, the best way to continue growing the tax base is to bring dense development to the city, Salomone said.
Developers also will find it hard to make a profit without high-rise development because land is so expensive, he said.
These days, land can go for $25 to $155 per square foot.
Bumper-to-bumper congestion
Tempe resident Maria Bahr said traffic in her neighborhood is already horrible and the new downtown condo projects will only make congestion worse.
"Who wants to live in a place where you are constantly being bombarded by traffic and you can't send your kids outside to play for safety fears?" said Bahr, who lives in the University Park neighborhood, which is located south of campus.
But residential projects don't generally cause big traffic problems, said Glenn Kephart, Tempe public works manager.
New downtown residents would likely walk to work or drive away from downtown during rush hour, he said.
Projects with offices would increase congestion because workers would travel in and out of downtown during peak hours, he added.
At least two downtown projects, Hayden Ferry Lakeside and University Square, would include office buildings in addition to condominium towers.
To alleviate future downtown congestion, the city is banking on more commuters taking the light rail, which opens in 2008, or bus, Kephart said.
Commuters could leave their cars at park-and-ride lots and then ride mass transit downtown, he said.
But Bill Butler, 78, chair of the Riverside/Sunset Neighborhood Association, located west of downtown, said he wasn't convinced commuters would take light rail until congestion made traveling anywhere in town a hassle.
Butler said he's also worried about more cars speeding through his neighborhood to avoid congestion on major streets.
"You're not going to have thousands of condos going in downtown without having double thousands of cars," he said. "Where are they going to go?"
To determine how these projects will affect congestion in and around downtown, each project developer must submit a study on the topic and some are required to give money for traffic calming measures, such as speed bumps.
For example, Centerpoint Condominiums developer Avenue Communities gave $400,000 for traffic-calming measures and $2.2 million to construct public parking spaces.
Unaffordable housing
Housing near downtown Tempe, which some say is already expensive, could become pricier as the new downtown condo projects get built.
It costs about $260,000 to buy a home in the Clark Park neighborhood southwest of campus, and most college graduates probably can't afford that, said Lisa Roach, chair of the neighborhood's association.
"If you want to buy a house, you better have a really good inheritance," said Roach, 45.
Rising downtown property values could drive up property taxes and rents in surrounding neighborhoods, and this could lead to gentrification, Salomone said.
This phenomenon occurs when higher-income people drive out lower-income residents and dramatically change a neighborhood.
Still, gentrification can also revitalize a previously run-down area by increasing the tax base and attracting more creative, intellectual people, Liu added.
Increased property values would also help homeowners in the Gililland neighborhood, said Jack Matlaga, chair of the neighborhood's association.
"People can cash out," said Matlaga, 30, whose neighborhood is located west of campus. "That's their retirement."
Despite the possible benefits to some homeowners, keeping housing affordable so low- and middle-income people can live near downtown is a priority, Salomone said.
The city can accomplish this by requiring condo developers to provide affordable units, subsidizing rental housing to reduce the cost of rent and buying land where housing for low-income families can be built.
Tempe could fund affordable housing with money that includes subsidies from the condo developers, which now totals almost $1 million, Hallman said.
This fund would include $400,000 given by developers of the Armory project - a high-rise development on Veterans Way and College Avenue - and $500 per condo unit sold from developers of the University Square project.
"A few million would be a remarkable achievement," Hallman said.
Unknown buyers
Seven of Bob Stephan's neighbors at the Edgewater condo tower near Tempe Town Lake are rowdy college students that throw loud parties.
"Some of them have weekend bashes that are intolerable," Stephan said.
Buyers of the new condos coming into downtown Tempe could include ASU students in addition to the young, urban professionals and empty nesters developers are targeting, said Jay Butler, director of the Arizona Real Estate Center at the Polytechnic campus.
Bob Normile, sales manager for Hayden Ferry Lakeside, said a mix of residents lived at Edgewater.
This tower, which is part of the Hayden Ferry Lakeside project now under construction near Rio Salado Parkway and Mill Avenue, could eventually include 400 condominiums in four towers.
But it's unclear who's actually buying the condos since most projects aren't on sale yet, Jay Butler said.
The real estate market may also have trouble absorbing thousands of units in a short period of time, he added.
The chances of these projects happening will depend heavily on whether they can sell enough units and get enough financing, said Chris Anaradian, Tempe's development services manager.
This means only 40 percent to 60 percent of the planned condos may actually get built, he added.
More than 40 out of 104 units have already been sold at Bridgeview, a 12-story condo tower at Hayden Ferry Lakeside, with its completion not expected until 2008, Normile said.
"It's obvious there's a market for [these condos]," Normile said. "Millions of people have been waiting for this [urban] lifestyle to exist here."
Meet your neighbors
This is a sample of three different Tempe residents.The following describes their lives, and how they might be altered by the changing landscape downtown.
Compiled by Grayson Steinberg
Tom Tokoph, An urban professional
Tom Tokoph enjoys living in an urban setting so much he also works in one and sells it to other people.
Tokoph, 35, who has resided in a 2,000 square foot unit in the Lofts at Orchidhouse near Sixth Street and Mill Avenue since 2003, also owns Urban Realty and Development.
This business, a real estate firm that sells condominiums throughout the downtowns of Tempe, Scottsdale and Phoenix is also based out of the Orchidhouse.
"I can work a full day, go to dinner, go to a movie and get home by 9:30 [p.m.] on a weekday," Tokoph said.
Now Tokoph has a wide array of restaurants, entertainment options and Tempe Town Lake and the events held there, all in walking distance of home.
Previously, when he and his wife lived in a condominium near 44th Street and Camelback Road, they had to drive everywhere.
"I like not having to use my car," he said. "I'm a big advocate of walking."
The social atmosphere of the Orchidhouse is also nice, Tokoph said.
Partly due to his work, he said he knows almost everyone there.
This friendly atmosphere allows for events like an upcoming "progressive" dinner, where each floor of the building will make a different course, he added.
He said he couldn't do this in a more suburban environment.
"The whole idea of a gated community ... you hardly know your neighbors," he added.
But Tokoph said there are some downsides to urban living, including a lack of grocery stores, dry cleaners and other neighborhood services.
"Right now, you have to drive really far for those places," he said.
These services will appear as more condos are constructed in a series of high-rise towers, bringing new residents downtown and creating demand for these businesses, he said.
Some developments, including the proposed Mosaic project at University Drive and Ash Avenue, will include grocery stores on the ground floor.
Once these services appear, it will make downtown more walkable and enjoyable, he said.
Also, unlike some residents in surrounding neighborhoods, Tokoph said he's not concerned about increased traffic congestion due to the new developments.
This is because one high-rise project takes about two years to build, so it could take several years for downtown to significantly change, he added.
Tokoph said the noise downtown does sometimes annoy him, but he's willing to put up with that.
"It's a small tradeoff," Tokoph said. "How do you move from here to Gilbert? There's just no way."
Aaron Thuringer, An ASU student
On weekends, Aaron Thuringer likes going to Mill Avenue for the bar scene, particularly The Tavern on Mill and McDuffy's, before it closed this summer.
The best part about Mill Avenue, in general, is the atmosphere, said Thuringer, an interdisciplinary studies senior.
"Every college has their own Mill Avenue," said Thuringer who lives in a two-bedroom apartment near Mill Avenue and Baseline Road. "It caters to students and it's basically like an extension of college."
The potential influx of urban professionals and empty nesters to the proposed downtown Tempe condo projects won't change that unless the new residents drive off popular, student-oriented businesses, he added.
"But ASU is getting bigger and bigger," he said. "The influx of students from ASU could probably offset that."
Thuringer also likes sports a lot.
Posters for the Arizona Cardinals, the Diamondbacks and the Phoenix Suns line the walls of Thuringer's apartment, and a bag of golf clubs lies on the floor.
He also works as a supervisor at Just Sports, a sports apparel store at Scottsdale Fashion Square, and said he would like to work in a college athletic department someday.
But his love for sports doesn't translate into being skilled at playing them, he said.
"I have zero athletic ability," said Thuringer.
Thuringer will graduate from ASU in December, but said he will probably stay in Tempe afterward.
"It's easier than relocating," said Thuringer, who was born and raised in the Phoenix area. "I know where everything is. I know people here. If I had to move, I'd start all over again."
The only part about Tempe he doesn't really like is the constant construction and congestion, he added.
He said his life balances both studying and partying equally while his off-campus lifestyle lets him "do [his] own thing."
He partied a lot early in college, but said he spends most nights at home now.
His current two-bedroom apartment, at about $700 per month total, is small, but that doesn't bother him, he said.
"As long as there's a place to eat, sleep, that's all you really need," Thuringer said.
But Thuringer added he wished he could be doing more than he does now, such as traveling.
"My life isn't dull by any means," he said. "[But] you wouldn't make an interesting movie about it."
Lisa Roach, A neighborhood resident
Lisa Roach said for the most part her neighborhood is liberal.
"We'll let you do your own thing," said Roach, 45, who has lived on 15th Street, between Roosevelt Street and Farmer Avenue, for 8 years. "But when something bad is at the door, [we] come out in droves."
For example, soon after a fire broke out at one home, many neighbors stopped by within the next day and checked to see the residents were all right.
But a big threat to her neighborhood comes in the form of the high-rise condominium projects proposed for downtown Tempe, she said.
Her concerns include increased traffic congestion near downtown, a decrease in the amount of affordable housing in her neighborhood, and having enough water and electricity capacity to support thousands of new residents.
Keeping housing affordable is critical to attracting younger people to buy homes in her neighborhood, she said.
"We need young people to continue the neighborhood," Roach said.
Affordable housing is already scarce in Tempe, and if people aren't buying houses in her neighborhood, investors might instead rent them out, she said.
But young people, particularly students, won't stop hanging out downtown even with the presence of the new residents, she added.
"The students will win," she said. "ASU's huge."
For now, Roach, a self-declared history buff, said she is doing her part to protect the neighborhood by researching how and whether it can be designated historic.
Doing this ensures the neighborhood properties will be preserved and it can also make it harder to redevelop the neighborhood, she said.
In her free time, Roach, who works as an administrator at CTX Mortgage, likes tending to her garden of tomatoes, basil and sweet potatoes, spending time with her children and grandchildren, volunteering and going to the library.
Once a week, she also practices yoga.
"I should do it more," she said. "It has taught me some balance."
Reach the reporter at: grayson.steinberg@asu.edu.
