As Phoenix continues to expand outward, a local nonprofit organization has taken the initiative to accelerate development of vacant lots downtown.
Over the next three years, Project Rising plans to renovate 34 vacant lots and buildings located between Missouri Avenue and Buckeye Road and 15th Avenue and 15th Street into mixed-use residential and commercial communities. The organization is focusing on vacant lots and buildings with the potential for hosting community-based activities or businesses.
Project Rising launched with a reception and presentation Wednesday at Dirtt Environmental Solutions. The organization’s office is in entrepreneurial incubator Seed Spot.
Ikoloji Sustainability Collaborative President Leslie Lindo is the organization’s executive director. According to a Wednesday press release, the initial board of directors consists of Matthew Meaker, Sacks Tierney P.A.; Phil Allsopp, Transpolis Global; Laine Seaton, nonprofit executive consultant; Jim McPherson, McPherson & Associates; Talonya Adams, Axis Law PLLC; John Glenn, CCBG Architects, Inc.; and Shannon Scutari, Scutari & Company.
Project Rising will start by identifying sites to be renovated. The organization will then seek community input to refine its goals.
The aim of the renovations is to promote walkability, sustainability and a hybrid of community and commerce in the core of Phoenix, Lindo said.
“We want to capitalize on the existing opportunities we have in Phoenix and set an example,” Lindo said. “We have these vibrant spaces, and it’s all about being able to invest dollars to be put into the community.”
In Phoenix, 43 percent of land is occupied by vacant lots, Lindo said, citing a 2000 study by the Brookings Institution Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy in Washington, D.C.
Project Rising’s plans for development in downtown Phoenix are not entirely for economic reasons.
Environmental consciousness is a major priority, as well, Lindo said. She added that she hopes bringing more businesses and residential communities downtown will make walking, biking and riding the light rail more viable options.
“Most of our growth has been on the outskirts of the city, and that has a lot of negative impact environmentally and on the health and well-being of the people within our community,” Lindo said.
Project Rising hopes to promote community involvement by remaining open to suggestions on activation sites.
The project’s positive environmental impact has drawn the support of Harvey Smith of the Maricopa Workforce Connections’ division of sustainability and green energy.
Developing vacant lots and buildings will use fewer resources than starting from scratch and expanding outside of Phoenix. Urban infill is “a very cheap way of building” that is more practical than developing on Phoenix’s outskirts, Smith said.
This method of development will create jobs downtown, along with having positive environmental and social effects on the community, Smith said.
Project Rising’s plan to keep business at the center of Phoenix to create greater economic density has also earned the support of Colin Tetreault, senior policy adviser for sustainability to Mayor Greg Stanton.
The money people can save by walking, biking or riding the light rail to businesses developed via Project Rising can be put back into local businesses and boost the local economy, Tetreault said.
Project Rising’s goal is to eliminate the notion that developers negatively affect the community, Lindo said.
“Project Rising provides a solution to actually activate our vacant sites,” Lindo said. “We have a vision and foundations being laid, and Project Rising is the urban infill accelerator.”
Contact the reporter at pkunthar@asu.edu
