When Patriots Square was built it was hailed as a project that would bring people to downtown Phoenix on a 24/7 basis. Like all the other projects to bring people to downtown Phoenix Patriots Square was a dismal failure and a huge waste of tax dollars.
Now a new chapter opens in history and the city of Phoenix will piss away almost a billion bucks in our tax dollars in corporate welfare which will almost certainly fail like all the other Phoenix projects which were designed to bring people to downtown Phoenix on a 24/7 basis!
Party planned for Cityscape opening in Phoenix
by Emily Gersema - Oct. 31, 2010 09:20 PM
The Arizona Republic
In four days, the $900 million CityScape development in downtown Phoenix will celebrate its grand opening.
Mayor Phil Gordon kicks off four days of festivities on Thursday with his annual State of Downtown speech, which will be followed by concerts, wine and food tastings and entertainment.
The grand opening is a milestone for this project. RED Development spent five years transforming the idea for an urban office, retail and restaurant site into concrete and steel on two blocks sandwiched by Washington and Jefferson streets, First Avenue and Second Street.
One by one, stores and restaurants have been opening.
The first tenants included Gold's Gym, CVS/pharmacy, Lucky Strike bowling lanes, Par Exsalonce salon and spa, Five Guys Burgers and Fries, plus the Designer District and West of SoHo clothing stores. Openings for 15 other restaurants and stores are scheduled through the coming months, including clothing retailer Urban Outfitters on Thursday.
The development also signed new office tenants, including law firms Squire Sanders and Dempsey, and Jennings Strouss & Salmon. Also moving in are law firms Gust Rosenfeld and Polsinelli Shughart.
According to RED Development:
- 85 percent of its leasable 560,000 square feet of office space has been filled.
- 96 percent of its 180,000 square feet of retail space has been rented.
CityScape's capstone is the 250-room Hotel Palomar, a 34-story boutique hotel expected to be under construction until mid- to late 2011. It will be managed by Kimpton Hotels.
The development has drawn a mix of praise and criticism from residents, city officials and downtown business leaders.
Some consider it an optimistic symbol in a grim economy because RED has continued to build it and add tenants despite the recession. They appreciate the additional revenues CityScape will drum up.
But critics fear the project will boom, then bust.
Jeff Moloznik, RED's development manager, has heard some of the concerns, including one raised by a few members of downtown community groups who worry the project could become another Arizona Center, an outdoor mall at Third and Van Buren streets. It was considered a hot spot when it opened 20 years ago but has struggled to keep a full house of stores and restaurants in recent years.
"I think what separates CityScape from Arizona Center is that when you do take the wrapping paper off and our tenants are open, people will really see an engaged street front," Moloznik said. "If you want to have retail on this site, it has to be facing the street."
CityScape is closer than Arizona Center to the heart of downtown.
It is near the Renaissance Square office high-rise, Phelps Dodge, Wells Fargo, Phoenix City Hall, Maricopa County offices and US Airways Center.
"This is the densest place in all of the Valley," Moloznik said. "That didn't exist around or near Arizona Center."
The city is counting on the new development to boost sales-tax revenues.
Elliott D. Pollack & Co. prepared an economic and fiscal-impact analysis of the project in June 2006. It showed CityScape retail sales could generate up to $73.8 million in revenue for the development's two blocks once they are built out. This could provide about $2.2 million in annual sales taxes.
In addition, CityScape's office leases, once all spaces are filled, are projected to hit $24.3 million in revenues per year and generate about $722,000 in taxes.
The hotel would bring in $7.7 million a year with $461,900 in taxes, the analysis said. [ Hmmm ... the idiots in the city of Phoenix pissed away almost a billion dollars on this project and now they are bragging it will bring in a half a million bucks in tax revenue a year. Let's see the project cost $900 million and brings in $2.2 million in taxes a year. It will only take 409 years for the project to pay for it's self! Yes my math is correct! It will take a little over 400 years for the taxpayers to recover the costs of the welfare project for a billion dollar corporation. ]
11/5-7: CityScape music lineup for grand opening in Phoenix
by Larry Rodgers - Oct. 28, 2010 04:25 PM
The Arizona Republic
The lineup of supporting musical acts for the three-day grand-opening celebration for CityScape in downtown Phoenix on Friday, Nov. 5, through Sunday, Nov. 7, has been firmed up.
R&B singer Macy Gray will headline on Nov. 5, and alternative-rock band Third Eye Blind will get top billing on Nov. 6.
CityScape is a mixed-use development featuring stores, restaurants, a bowling alley, a hotel, offices and the redesigned Patriots Square park.
Here is a rundown provided by organizers of the three days of free concerts, held on an outdoor stage on Central Avenue, which will be closed to vehicle traffic between Jefferson and Washington streets. Acts are Arizona-based unless otherwise noted:
Friday, Nov. 5
Chris Alcaraz and More Love - Arizona rockabilly trio. 11 a.m.
The Walkens - Rock hits of the '80s and '90s. 4 p.m.
Rani G - DJ with live horn, guitar. 6 p.m.
Paige Bryan - Daughter of comic Sinbad and an ASU student sings R&B and funk. 8:30 p.m.
Macy Gray - R&B star with new album, "The Sellout." 9:30 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 6
Chris Putrino Trio - California-based guitarist-singer plays classic rock. 11 a.m.
Eagle Heart - Native American band plays classic rock. 1:30 p.m.
The After Dark Band - Hits from the '90s and more recent years. 3:30 p.m.
The Elevens - Theatrical performers from around the Valley play country-rock. 5:30 p.m.
The CheekTones - This Prescott Valley group performs original rock and blues. 7:30 p.m.
Third Eye Blind - The San Francisco-spawned rock group's latest album is "Ursa Major." 9:30 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 7
Bad Cactus Brass Band - A New Orleans-style jazz ensemble. Noon.
The Screamin' Javelinas - Phoenix City Councilman Claude Mattox fronts a band playing surf hits from the '50s and '60s. 2 p.m.
Steve Ansel & the Jackson Street Band - The 14-piece group plays R&B and show tunes. 4 p.m.
Reach the reporter at larry.rodgers@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8043.