Subcommittee recap: Central Station discussion and Deck Park Vista redevelopment

The Phoenix City Council Planning and Economic Development Subcommittee met Tuesday morning to discuss the development plans for Central Station and voted on the redevelopment of an existing downtown property, the city-owned Deck Park Vista Apartments.

Central Station

The redevelopment for Central Station was discussed by the subcommittee with no action taken. The project was previously recommended for City Council approval by the Aviation and Transportation Subcommittee on March 26.

The project is headed by Electric Red Ventures LLC, a subsidiary of Houston-based Medistar. Electric Red Ventures LLC will partner with other companies, including International Hotels Group and education housing company Greystar, on the project.

According to the plan, Central Station, currently a bus hub with light rail platforms on both sides, will be redeveloped into a multi-use space comprised of two buildings.

One building will be a 30-story tower that will have apartments, 150 hotel rooms, office and retail space, restaurants and grocery sales on the bottom floor. There will also be a three-story parking structure located underground.

The other building will be an 18-story tower that will contain student housing with the replacement for the current Central Station located on the bottom floor.

Despite the redevelopment, the current nine bus stations and two light rail stops at Central Station are here to stay.

“The commission wanted to make sure this site remained a transit center,” said Deputy City Manager Mario Paniagua.

Councilwoman Laura Pastor said she was relieved the development would still allow buses to travel on the property. She said she had concerns about pushing the buses out toward Central and First Avenue.

Brendan Walsh, executive director of Central Arizonans for a Sustainable Economy, asked the subcommittee about his concern about affordable housing.

“This is an important opportunity for the city to require affordable housing,” said Walsh. “I want to tell everyone working on this project to try to include affordable housing before it moves forward.”

Nick Wood, a prominent local land use attorney at Snell and Wilmer and representative for Medistar, answered Walsh’s question by saying that adding affordable and workforce housing is not possible for the Central Station Development.

Wood explained that the costs of the plan, including creating underground parking, the site’s transit element and the development company not using of one of Phoenix’s Government Property Lease Excise Taxes, which are tax incentives designed to encourage development and commonly known as GPLETs, make the inclusion of affordable and workforce housing infeasible.

“Over eight years, that’s $16 plus million in tax savings (Medistar) decided to forego,” he said.

City Council will vote on the redevelopment project on April 3.

Deck Vista Apartments

The subcommittee also voted to advance to City Council a request for proposals issuance for the Deck Park Vista apartments at 1125 N. Third Street.

The Phoenix Housing Department plans to redevelop the apartments into a mixed-use, multi-family rental space comprised of workforce housing while still allowing space for current senior residents. Deck Park Vista, constructed in 1992, currently serves as a senior residential apartment complex. The housing department will keep ownership of the land Deck Park Vista sits on to ensure “long-term affordability.”

According to the meeting’s agenda, the Housing Department said the site could house up to 436 units of affordable and workforce housing. 56 units will be subsidized by the Housing and Urban Development Department’s Section 8 program to replace the units currently inhabited by seniors.

There will be commercial space on the ground floor and the city will partner with non-profits to provide services to the residents. The building’s design will be “appropriate for Roosevelt Row Arts District and consistent with Evans Churchill East character area.”

The Housing Department proposed to demolish the existing buildings, relocate its current residents at the Housing Department’s expense, and then give current residents the first right of return at the new development.

Contact the reporters at smedwar7@asu.edu and thomas.triolo@asu.edu.