The Phoenix City Council voted 8-1 on Wednesday to allocate funding for “The Row,” a multistory development project that was met with dissension by some downtown residents.
“The Row,” a planned development by the Roosevelt Housing Associates, will house 56 to 75 apartments on the corner of Second Street between Portland and Roosevelt streets. It is slated to begin construction in late 2014 and finish by early 2016.
Despite a city-formed evaluation panel selecting “The Row” over three other proposals in September and the Evans Churchill Community Association further vetting the project at a November meeting, “The Row” has been met with contention in the community because of an age restriction that requires one member of each household in the project to be more than 55 years old.
District 2 Councilman Jim Waring was the only member to oppose the project.
The development includes plans to renovate the Knipe House into a brewery and restaurant operated by Pints Brewing out of Portland, Ore. The house, the oldest in the Evans Churchill neighborhood, was built in 1909 but damaged by a fire in 2010.
“Historic preservation isn’t about making museums,” said Robert Graham, the principal architect for the Motley Design Group who spoke in favor of the project to the City Council. “Part of the preservation approach is to allow rehabilitation in a way that preserves the important parts of the building and that’s exactly what’s proposed here.”
The city of Phoenix has owned the 1.5 acres of land designated for the project for the past 10 years. During that time frame, the lot has remained empty.
The project will cost $12 million and will reportedly bring $1.1 million into small businesses. The project has been in and out of subcommittees because of the age restriction dispute, with the most recent hearing held on Dec. 4.
Wayne Rainey, the director of MonOrchid studios on Roosevelt Row, had initially proposed his own project for the lot and opposed “The Row.” Rainey presented a petition to the council with 1,400 signatures against the development, seven of which were reportedly from business owners in the immediate area of the lot for development.
“It’s very disappointing,” Rainey said. “We thought at the very least that council would require them to mitigate the age restrictions, and evidently somebody did some very precise adept political maneuvering today, because this was not how this was expected to go out.”
Roosevelt Housing Associates has attempted to compromise with those opposed to the project by including an affidavit that each resident will have to sign notifying them that they are moving into a vibrant arts district.
“The way the housing is set up, it’s the poorest of the poor living in very good conditions,” Rainey said. “They don’t have the expendable income to go out and do things.”
Michael Davis, CEO and director of design for the architecture firm The Davis Experience, owns the property immediately south of the lot that will be used for the development.
“I generally have issues with something that’s restricting one demographic over the other,” Davis said. “I think in the greater construct of things what we really need down here is market housing.”
Dianne Barker, a senior citizen and community activist who lives downtown, testified in front of the City Council in support of “The Row.”
“(The project) is the right thing for the neighborhood,” Barker said. “Today’s seniors are not the same seniors of other generations past. Seniors today of my generation want to live in their own homes. I know some seniors who, because they live downtown, they’ve gotten healthier.”
The lot for development lies in District 7, which is headed by Councilman Michael Nowakowski.
“It was especially important that we start looking like the sixth largest city and that we have all the properties, especially all the city-owned properties filled,” Nowakowski said. “It should just be a mixture of people, that’s what makes a great city, and to me, Phoenix is a great city, so we need to have that diversity.”
Contact the reporter at nkruege1@asu.edu
