You’ve probably noticed by now that I am a huge fan of reuse and re-purposing in Phoenix. With all the available space downtown, why not?

The Cathedral Town homes are a great example of adaptive reuse. This building, which used to be owned by the church across the street as rental property, has transformed in to elegant and (actually spacious) urban condos.

The developer, Metro West Development,  took an historic 1913 building and converted it into four modern townhouse-style condo’s ranging in size from 1,674 to 1,886 square feet. Located about 200 feet away from the Arts District light rail stop, the condos are just a short walk from dozens of local restaurants, markets, large entertainment venues, as well as Hance and the Downtown Civic Space Parks.  And though the neighborhood surrounding is great, it’s what’s inside that really gets me excited.

Metro West Development has a history of great work in downtown renovations. The Cathedral Townhomes have been stripped to the bone and rebuilt.  While these homes have been updated, the developer has gone the extra mile to maintaining a historical feel. Homes come with new Kohler fixtures, quartz kitchen countertops, double hung windows (many original that have been restored), and historically accurate high baseboards.

Through the years, I’ve seen many renovations and I’m genuinely impressed by this one. Three of the units are still available. The condos are currently priced in the $200s with a 140/mo HOA fee.

I don’t represent these homes, but I’m happy to show you. Please contact me at 602-456-9388

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Those of you who have been to the arts market in the Roosevelt Arts District may not know that it’s yet another brain child of the Roosevelt Row CDC. The A.R.T.S. Market serves small businesses and art vendors at First and third Fridays year round. Vendors looking to participate can secure a location for $50 for both First and Third Friday, or $80 for just First Friday.

Courtesy of Roosevelt Row

Does that seem a bit backwards? First Friday is prime property for vendors and artists looking to get their name out. But, with every artsy teen strolling the street in their winter tank tops, some adults may shy away from the crowd. Third Friday, though quieter then the hustle of First Friday Crowd, attracts a more serious adult, art crowd. Roosevelt Row, in all their wisdom, struck up this deal for vendors who show a commitment to participate in an A.R.T.S. market as well as to the growth of the district.

Vendors have to meet basic guidelines, which are outlined on the Roosevelt Row cite, and aren’t judged on aesthetics. And the deals don’t stop there. On November 12, Roosevelt Row will be hosting a pie social to benefit the Bioscience High School. After the pie social there will be an art walk where booths are only $25 for the night. On the nights that pie isn’t available Food vendors can grab a spot too by contacting the food trucks coalition who are acting as art walk partners.

Next first Friday is October 8th. We’ll see you there!

Irrigation in place as we moved dirt last Saturday.

Over the course of a weekend a once vacant lot on the corner of 6^th and Garfield became fertile ground for beauty and science. As we mentioned in our post last week, this past weekend volunteers, organizers, and even a couple politicians gathered for the planting of Valley of the Sunflowers.

Not too long ago, Sean Sweat, an Intel employee, met with some friends and discussed the potential for this lot. Luckily, he was talking to the right people. Kenny Barrett and Cindy Dach, of the Roosevelt Row CDC, and Braden Kay of the ASU Global Institute for Sustainability are good friends to have when you’ve got big ideas.

RRCDC is a non-profit downtown which promotes the interests of the downtown community by supporting public events and fostering urban renewal. Kay introduced the project to Bioscience High School, which also overlooks the lot. Bioscience High is currently building a biodiesel car, and was conveniently looking for a source of oil.

With help from the Roosevelt CDC and two start-up grants from Intel, They were able to propose his plans for a temporary sunflower field to the City. The hope of this and many other revitalization efforts is not only too beautiful but bring business downtown.

Of course the City was hesitant at first, but because VOS already had the plans and the money, it didn’t take long for the city to get on board. Because the project was temporary and funded, the city leased the lot to Valley of the

Sunflowers for free, putting it on the fast track to realization.

It was the “temporary” use of the lot made this project possible. The lot is currently allocated to the Arizona Cancer Center, which plans to start construction in the next two years. Until construction begins the two acre lot will be put to good use by VOS. They are planning two grow cycles, keeping stick notes and directions, so this project can be recreated again.

So how can you help? Well they’re still looking for an oil press and a tractor, if you’ve got one lying around. If not you can donate time through the RRCDC website or head to their kick starter page and donate to the cause.

As those of us with steak sauce stained shirts and full bellies already know, the fourth annual Arizona Restaurant week is in full swing. This year, over 200 restaurants are offering prix-fixe menus to hungry patrons looking for a deal.

All the restaurants are offering three course meals for $20, $30 or $40 person, excluding drinks, tax and tip. There are even some places offering two for $30.

Photo Courtesy of the Arizona Restaurant Week

As some of you may recall, when restaurant week started in 2008 there were less than 100 valley restaurants involved. But at $29 a meal, patrons rolled in by the hundreds. By 2009, the celebration had spread all the way to Tucson and this year they are state wide with four restaurants in Flagstaff.

Of course, you don’t have to pack up the whole family to enjoy a fantastic meal. Some of the finest dining restaurant week has to offer is from Phoenix food institutions.

Durant’s, which opened in 1955, is a swanky, old-school, red leather booth, seafood and steak house that serves a classic menu and great drinks. As jack Durant said himself “Good friends, Good Steaks, and the Best Booze, are the necessities of life,” If you agree, Durant’s is the place for you this restaurant week.

Pie at Stockyards - Picture Courtesy of AZCentral

If you’re a meat and potatoes kind of person, Stockyards is “Arizona’s Original Steak house.”   Stockyards started as a favorite meeting place for local cattlemen, bankers and politicians. If your looking for the taste of history, Stockyard joined the historical registrar in 2004 and will be helping Arizona celebrate its centennial this February. Or just skip the history and try one of their six restaurant week desserts.

Avanti, open in 1974, is classic Italian at its best. The romantic, zebra striped restaurant is still owned by the two original partners from Sorrento, Italy and is known for its impeccable food and unbelievable service.

If you’re looking to soak in Arizona in all its glory, you have to hit up El Chorro. Originally opened in 1937, El Chorro Lodge sits at the base of the Mummy Mountains offering classic Arizonan inspired cuisine. Many will agree with me when I say the best part of El Chorro’s restaurant week menu has to be their Gooey Caramel Cake which has been tempting patrons for years.

Courtesy of El Chorro Restaurant

Of course there are our favorites. Christopher’s and Crush is a new comer, with only three years on the block, but their hip atmosphere keeps patrons coming back for more. For you locavores, St Francis is offering fresh, rustic cuisine from local farms and even better kids eat FREE.  Ticoz Resto-Bar offers Latin-Arizonan Fusion cuisine, not to mention to die for tacos, for those of us looking to spice up our life.

Dining in Phoenix can be a wonderful adventure. With only 9 Days to work through the complete Restaurant Week menu, you can expect to see everyone out for a great meal at these Arizona standbys.

http://arizonarestaurantweek.com/participating-restaurants/

For those of you who are not already privy to recent ongoings around Margaret T. Hance Park, I hope the following serves as a useful primer.

The Margaret T. Park sits like a leafy green roof over the 101 tunnel between Culver and Portland. This was the final place in America where I-10 was joined, completing the ribbon of highway connecting the Atlantic Oceanside of Florida to the Pacific beaches of California.

The 32.5 acre park, which is adjacent to the Willow, Roosevelt and Evans Churchill neighborhoods, is gearing up for a major repurposing.

Thanks to the Parks and Recreation Department of Phoenix and the park’s vision steering committee, Margaret T. Hance Park may be getting a major facelift very soon.  A thirteen member committee along with several ASU architecture and landscaping students are creating a master plan to be proposed in December for future, long term changes to the park while still preserving its historical integrity.

The park is already home to the Irish Cultural Center, Japanese Friendship Gardens, and the Jewish Heritage Center as well as many events, like next month’s Oktoberfest. The committee, whose meetings are open to the public, plans to propose new structures and additions which can benefit and increase park programming, such as an amphitheater for concerts and shows or basketball courts for local teams.

The project is just one of many around the community help to better downtown neighborhoods for the good of the public and its real-estate. Cindy Dach, a six month veteran of the committee, is a former New Yorker and knows how important parks can be to a community, especially downtown.  For Cindy, “parks are vital,” especially to those downtown who “may never otherwise see a tree.”

Cindy is also a board member for the Roosevelt Row Community Development Corporation, which promotes revival of downtown Phoenix by endorsing the arts and creative renewal of vacant downtown spaces. This weekend the Roosevelt Row CDC will be hosting a public seed planting for their Valley of the Sunflowers project on Saturday.

We are lucky to have people like Cindy and downtown advocate Sean Sweat involved in these projects.

Revitalization projects all over central phoenix are working toward the same goal: happier, healthier neighborhoods, engaged communities, and a flourishing downtown.

There you go, reason 1,487 why I dig CenPho and think you should, too.

Have a great weekend!

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By the way, below is a rendering of one of the plans that was suggested in the 1960s to move traffic through Phoenix BEFORE historic neighborhood leaders got involved and fought for what became Margaret T. Hance Park. Do you get the feeling that we dodged a bullet?

It was nice to see this article in the Arizona Republic yesterday talking about a “rebound” in the condo market in Phoenix.

I don’t know if I would go so far as to call it a rebound. In fact, several of the projects the article talks about are still not sold –they turned in to apartment buildings instead.

However, the article does point out something that I’ve been saying for a while: an increasing number of people want that dense, urban experience. That is why 44 Monroe, for example, filled up with renters so quickly.

So, while you can still get a great condo downtown and in CenPho right now for much, much less than you could in 2006, and while the market for condos has not completely righted itself it is true that the inventory of condos in CenPho has dropped sharply over the past year. They are being gobbled up!

This demand should be an indicator to anybody, whether buying a house or a condo, that urban centers are going to be in great demand once the market stabilizes. If you are holding on to your house to sell later, have hope. If you are thinking about getting in to CenPho, now is a good time because it will be more expensive a year from now.

I’ve made the jump from John Hall to HomeSmart. I’m sure this means nearly nothing to most of you. But I want to explain to you why and what this means.

I chose to work with my former broker, John Hall & Associates, because they were locally owned. Re/Max, Realty Executives, Century 21 –these are all nation-wide broker and really, really big companies.

But, like many of you, I believe that we need to keep our dollars in our local economy. The fees that brokers take from agents could go to some corporate headquarters somewhere in Ohio, or they could stay here and add to our economy. This is why I am a member of Local First Arizona and I support locally-owned businesses.

Well, John Hall sold itself to a company called Realty One Group, out of Nevada. It did not take me long to realize that this was in opposition to what I believe.

I was happy to learn, however, that HomeSmart is locally owned and originates in Arizona. They have well over 1,000 agents and a very effective system for processing transactions.

This means little or nothing to you, the buyer or seller. But I want you to know that, even in decisions like this, I am committed to CenPho and my state.

I appreciate your business.