A high-rise could replace a two-story building that used to house the Tempe Center for the Arts at 124 E. Sixth St. It is not the location of the current center on Tempe Town Lake.
The 0.62-acre, city-owned site is next to the City Hall parking garage. Mike DiDomenico, Tempe’s economic development director, said they want a project with office space the city can use, along with ground floor retail and about 350 housing units, with at least 20% designated for lower income residents.
“Our council has been very clear and our mayor has led the charge regionally that you must build housing that's attainable and affordable to our workforce, to the people who are not at the upper end of the income scale,” he said. “I'm sure what we'll find are some developers in order to win the contest, if you will, will offer higher percentages to put them in a favorable light as compared to other designs or developers.”
DiDomenico said a study by the Maricopa Association of Governments projects Tempe will have 70,000 more residents by 2050. He said a key project component will be integrating new parking with the current garage adjacent to the property.
“So, in other words, at each level, as you go up the ramp of the existing garage, you'd be able to continue and go into the new parking that the new development would build. So that way you don't have separate points of entry and exit encroaching on the streets. You don't have to build additional pay points for people to pay on their way in and out,” DiDomenico said.
Developers who meet the qualifications must file required documents by Sept. 16.
