Efforts are under way to develop the Desert Ridge area south of Loop 101 into a bioscience and technology hub, just days after Mayor Greg Stanton announced plans for the Desert Ridge Bioscience Technology Collaborative.
According to Dr. Wyatt Decker, chief executive of the Mayo Clinic in Arizona, more concrete plans could take form within six months, although full development of the plan is likely to take much longer.
“We worked with the mayor to develop the concept,” Decker said, “and we are pleased with his support for Mayo.”
Mayo Hospital is the key medical facility in northeast Phoenix. It occupies 210 acres at 56th Street and Mayo Boulevard, south of Loop 101. It opened in 1998.
Under the Desert Ridge Specific Plan, development in the area between 56th and 64th streets, Loop 101 and the Central Arizona Project canal must be related to or supportive of medical uses, including retail and residential.
Stanton’s plan, announced during his inauguration speech on Tuesday, would expand that idea west to Tatum Boulevard. Some non-medical users already are in place in the area, including American Express and Sumco, which manufactures silicon wafers for the microprocessing and computer industries.
Decker said representatives from Mayo, Arizona State University and the Mayor’s Office have begun working on the next steps. They want to develop a “clear vision” for the future, while showing “meaningful progress” as soon as they can, Decker said.
He foresees medical startups based on ideas generated at Mayo, ASU or elsewhere.
Maria Baier, who as state land commissioner controls most of the vacant property, said Stanton told her of his idea, but she does not have a lot of detail yet. “I told him I would do everything I can to be supportive,” she said. “This idea is quite visionary and positive for the community.”
She said there has been plenty of interest in the land throughout the Desert Ridge and Paradise Ridge areas — large, mostly undeveloped tracts of land along Loop 101 in northeast Phoenix.
“The question is whether we bring it out now or wait for recovery,” she said. “You typically would not dispose of property in a down market.”
The Arizona State Land Department manages the State Land Trust and controls 9.2million acres after selling or leasing 1.6 million acres. The department is required to “enhance value and optimize economic return” on the land for its beneficiaries, primarily public schools.
“We want the trust to realize the appreciation of value in a better market,” Baier said.
She said some of the land in question already has restrictions, including a ban on buildings that would block the view of the Mayo Clinic from the freeway. The department could come to an agreement with the city to determine how the land could be used.
0 Responses to “AZ Central – Desert Ridge area to become bioscience, tech hub”