This week’s city council meeting covered important downtown issues, including the I-10 West light rail extension and improvements to the Phoenix Convention Center.
Request to Evaluate Advancing the Capitol/I-10 West Phase II Light Rail Extension
It wouldn’t be a City Council meeting if the Valley Metro Light Rail wasn’t brought up for discussion. In a letter from April 4, 2019, Council members Felicita Mendoza, Michael Nowakowski and Thelda Williams requested the Council to discuss and analyze Phase II of the light rail extension. The first stage of the expansion extends the existing light rail line from downtown Phoenix to the State Capitol, and the second phase extends the light rail from the Capitol to 79th Avenue.
The councilmembers stressed how essential the expansion was to their districts and that the current timeline of completion in 2030 was too long to wait. The extension was originally delayed in 2016.
On Wednesday, the council approved the analysis of the extension. Mendoza, Nowakowski and Williams also requested in their letter that the information gathering be completed by May 2019. This process would include community input at public meetings and discussions with the Citizens Transportation Commission.
Neighborhood Revitalization Program – Contract Award
City Council gave approval for the city to enter into a contract with Ability360, an organization that promotes programs that help and aid people with all disabilities. The organization received the Community Development Block Grant, a year-long $75,000 grant to provide home modification services for low-income physically disabled residents of Phoenix.
Request for Proposals for Redevelopment of Deck Park Vista
A Phoenix subcommittee voted to advance the request for proposals issuance for the Deck Park Vista apartments at 1125 N. Third St on April 3.
On Wednesday, the City Council reaffirmed the subcommittee’s recommendation to open Requests for Proposals (RFP) for the redevelopment of these apartments. The city approved the Housing Department to demolish the existing structures and develop a new 56-unit affordable rental property. The apartments will provide workforce housing and can be rented by families.
Related: Subcommittee recap: Central Station discussion and Deck Park Vista redevelopment
Authorization of Excise Tax-Funded Repairs or Improvements to the Phoenix Convention Center
The Phoenix Convention Center expansion project, finished in 2008, is showing signs of wear. The lower level exhibition hall of the North Building was constructed with a temporary shoring wall. While the City Council did not approve the issuance of any leases or financing agreements, but unanimously voted to continue discussing the item until the next formal meeting on May 1.
The repairs cannot exceed more than $50,000,000. In the meeting, Council discussed how the wall should cost approximately $25,000,000. The repair funds would use Excise taxes, taxes that are paid when purchases are made on a specific good, to replace this wall and continue the South expansion.
Lease and Development Agreements for Phoenix Central Station at 300 N. Central Ave.
City Council authorized the city to enter into a development agreement and necessary leases with Electric Red Ventures, LLC. The plan will redevelop Central Station, which is both bus and light rail platforms next to Civic Space Park, into a multi-use space comprised of two buildings. One tower will be 30 stories high with 300 apartments, a 150-room Intercontinental Hotel and 35,000 square feet of office space on the southeast portion. The second tower will be an 18-story tower, including student housing and 9,000 square feet of space for the replacement of the current Public Transit Department office space on the west side of the site.
Electric Red Ventures agreed to retain features of the transit center and improve the pedestrian and transit user access throughout the station. However, numerous residents voiced their displeasure at the meeting because of the development’s lack of affordable housing.
Authorization to Apply for and Accept Federal Funding for Transportation Projects in Federal Fiscal Years 2023 and 2024
City Council authorized the city to apply for federal funding that supports road and pedestrian safety improvement projects. In 2016, The Arizona Republic reported that Arizona had the highest pedestrian death rate in the country. The different projects are meant to reduce pedestrian injury collisions and fatalities. The City is required to contribute $2.06 million to match the $5.5 million available in federal funding.
Contact the reporter at ldiethel@asu.edu.
Correction: On April 18, this story was updated to clarify the differences between the I-10 West light rail extension and another light rail extension that was planned for West Phoenix and subsequently delayed on March 20.
Lisa Diethelm is the Politics editor for the Downtown Devil while she studies at The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in downtown Phoenix. She grew up in California and started her journalism career in high school.
