The Phoenix City Council approved plans for a request for proposal for the historic Barrister Place Building on Central Avenue and Jefferson Street, which will allow developers to bring their ideas to revive the vacant building.
Famous for its appearance in the movie “Psycho,” the Barrister Place Building has been vacant since 2010. Now, the city of Phoenix is asking developers to come up with plans that help contribute to the growing downtown scene while maintaining the building’s historical significance.
After a series of discussions last year, the Downtown, Aviation and Redevelopment Subcommittee had developed a request for proposal, or RFP, for the revitalization of the building, according to a City Council report from Feb. 5.
The Community and Economic Development Department has taken over as the department that is overseeing the effort to revitalize the property and had suggested in a recent meeting that the Downtown, Aviation and Redevelopment Subcommittee recommend approval from the city council for its plan.
Eric Johnson, economic development program manager for the Community and Economic Development Department, said the department took the lead in the project because it has a division that focuses on downtown redevelopment. He said the council was looking at buildings to revamp in order to generate revenue for the city while also finding creative ways to use them. He said the RFP was approved by the City Council last week.
When last in use, the building held offices and the police museum, Johnson said.
“Part of the recession was going on and through downsizing of the city we reallocated the parts,” Johnson said. “It was an efficiency effort to save the taxpayers money.”
The building was recently designated with Historic Preservation overlay zoning, according to the meeting notes from Feb. 5. With Phoenix’s reputation of being one of the most prominent cities in regard to adaptive reuse programs, the building will soon privately house the brainchild of a developer.
Sina Matthes, a spokesperson with the Community and Economic Development Department, said the building will not likely mirror the traditional forms of adaptive reuse seen around the city, such as restaurants or other small businesses.
Matthes said proposals that include these kinds of uses may fall into the description of adaptive reuse if they propose to change from the prior office use and the city is supportive of a variety of potential future uses of the building, including restaurant, retail, hotel, residential, office or other compatible uses, or mixes of those uses.
“We want to see what developers can think of,” she said. “This will go out to anyone.”
Jennifer Boucek, director for Preserve Phoenix, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving historic sites within the city, said preserving the building is a necessity.
“The Barrister Place Building is situated in a prominent site in downtown Phoenix,” Boucek said. “It’s one of the older buildings and it has great architectural detail. It’s a classic-looking building and represents a certain era in this city’s history.”
A proposal from a developer, according to the meeting notes, must include the following criteria: it must provide details for a single- or mixed-use redevelopment project that may include a wide variety of uses; increase new downtown investment, pedestrian activity and create new jobs and business opportunities; propose a viable adaptive reuse idea and protect the historic integrity of the building; and provide a reasonable return to the city, remaining consistent with the Council-approved Downtown Strategic Plan.
Johnson said that the building will be for sale or for lease, meaning that an accepted proposal will either take over the building, or the city will act as a sort of landlord.
“The city has seen a number of different proposals and solutions (for past projects),” Johnson said. “We’re not the specialists, and we’re leaving the option up to them.”
The request for proposal will be issued in March and will remain open for at least 60 days.
Contact the reporter at rbrisley@asu.edu
