Tempe's Mill Avenue has been in a state of evolution for more than three decades, going from a dilapidated strip of old buildings to a hip '80s hangout to a '90s college hotspot.
Now hit hard by a tough economy and the opening of a major retail competitor, Tempe Marketplace, the downtown district is facing its latest identity crisis.
This time, community leaders are hanging their hopes on an influx of posh high-rise condos and the December opening of light rail, changes they believe will bring Mill Avenue to a new pinnacle as a center of urban living.
When community activists saved older downtown buildings in the 1970s and early 1980s and some restaurants and shops opened on Mill, it seemed as if the street had a new lease on life.
In 1989, DMB Associates opened Centerpoint, a 21-acre project including offices, restaurants, retail and entertainment on the northwestern corner of Mill Avenue and University Drive. Though restaurants and retail came to Centerpoint and points north on Mill, big, steady crowds never followed.
Ten years later came the opening of Tempe Town Lake. Downtown is home to big nights after football games, a successful New Year's party and crowded art festivals. But consistent crowds of shoppers still are not there.
Residential space in the urban core was the missing ingredient, many say.
About 600 new residences are expected to be completed near Mill Avenue this year.
"We had an 18-hour downtown; we wanted a 24-hour downtown," Neil Calfee said. Formerly a Tempe deputy community development manager, Calfee is now Arizona State University's director of real- estate development.
Chris Wilson, vice president of Downtown Tempe Community, a non-profit organization that provides management services for the area, said residential adds a "constant factor."
"Residential is the holy grail of downtown development," he said. "Most people shop, dine and spend time within 1 or 2 miles of their home, and that gets intensified in an urban setting where they do it within a couple blocks."
City officials, developers and merchants say the fall opening of the Centerpoint Condominiums high-rise in particular will have a significant impact.
Developer Ken Losch said he will open Centerpoint in late October, despite financing complications brought on by the recent bankruptcy of his main financier, Mortgages Ltd.
Losch said several factors are coming into play that will help residential properties on Mill Avenue succeed, including the rising cost of commuting due to high gasoline prices, the opening of light rail through downtown Tempe and Tempe's proximity to jobs and freeways.
Tempe is in what Losch calls the "A Circle" for Valley development. In contrast with "C Circle" areas like east Mesa and Queen Creek, where distances to drive to work are great and house prices have plummeted, he said central Tempe has stronger real-estate values and is becoming a place where people want to live and work.
Losch said that his research shows that within a 1-mile radius of Mill, there are 11,000 jobs; within 2 miles, 20,000 jobs; and 3 miles, 60,000 jobs.
"Mill Avenue is the next spot to be in town," Losch said.
Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman said the number of developers that are still building in Tempe is symbolic of the advantages Tempe has. The city is a Valley focal point nestled among metropolitan Phoenix, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and the Valley's southeast suburbia.
"Yeah, there's lots of opportunity to look for black clouds in the economy," Hallman said. "(But) if there's anyplace to look for silver linings, it's in Tempe."
Julian Wright, who recently opened LaBocca restaurant and was the originator of The Library bar and Jax Thai Bar, agreed.
"Mill Avenue is slowly growing up," he said. "The type of projects that are being opened are starting to cater to an older, more mature clientele, people who enjoy urbanism."
Tempe realty agent Will Daly, who operates the Web site WeKnowUrban.com, said that downtown Tempe now has the finite geography that large urban areas like Chicago have. Daly said Town Lake and light rail have helped create these artificial boundaries that force cities to build upward and not outward.
"Tempe is vertical, very walkable. Everything is within walking distance," Daly said. "With the light rail, you're adding a 20-mile focal point and providing a boundary, just like the lake. Most urban settings have either a boundary or a focal point. With Mill Avenue, you've got both."
Developer Ross Robb is a veteran of downtown Tempe development. Robb oversaw the financing and administration of Hayden Square, a Mill Avenue residential and commercial center, and the Casa Loma and Andre buildings, with office and retail space.
Robb agrees that high gas prices are convincing people to move closer in, that freeways create a "power center" around Tempe and that light rail will bring people by the thousands to Mill Avenue.
"But a lot depends on the national and local economy," he said. "Whether this perfect storm happens in the next few months or 24 or 48 months, I don't know."
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