by Jahna Berry – Jun. 9, 2009 10:46 AM
The Arizona Republic
As more windows go up on CityScape’s office tower, the beginnings of a 250-room hotel has begun to rise out of the ground at the CityScape construction site.
The three-block $900 million project will bring shops, offices, restaurants, a grocery store and a pharmacy to downtown Phoenix, the developer says. When it’s complete, CityScape will stretch from First Avenue to Second Street and from Washington Street to Jefferson Street in downtown Phoenix.
The office tower is expected to top out – reach its highest point – around July 15, officials say
“We are getting a floor and half (of windows) up a week,” said Brent Leif construction manager at Hunt Construction Group. “We are right where we want to be.”
Crews recently assembled a third tower crane on the site, which will help build a garage and, later, part of the hotel, Leif added.
In 2011, the San Francisco-based Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants chain plans to open Hotel Palomar, which will include about 165 condos.
The 29-story building will have two levels of shops, 10 hotel floors and 17 floors of residential space, said Jeff Moloznik, development manager for RED Development, the project’s developer.
Construction continues on the first two Cityscape blocks, but the economic slump has delayed work on the third block.
Early plans called for 1,000 condos and a second hotel to be built on the block bound by Washington, Jefferson, First and Second streets.
The developer for that block, Barron Collier, says that it plans to build when the economy improves.
City leaders are closely watching CityScape’s progress.
More than $120 million in city incentives is linked to the deal.
Phoenix agreed to purchase the project’s underground parking garage and pay for repairs to an existing parking garage at a cost of $96.5 million.
In addition, it will waive the property taxes on key components for eight years, worth at least $26 million, according to past city estimates.
0 Responses to “AZ Central – 250-room hotel on rise at City-Scape”