Lofts In Tucson - Slow Progress, But Progress Nonetheless

 

 

Ahh, the dream of urban revitalization:  buying a loft with soaring ceilings, space just waiting for personalization in an old building in the downtown of your city.  Close enough that one can feel the heartbeat of the city's core, the culture, the vigor, the convenience!  Oh to live where one can walk to the nearest trendy eatery or boutique.  Seeing artists as one strolls the streets, honing their craft in a small park, the local taverns & coffee shops, watching the hope of becoming The Next Great Thing follow the rhythms of chance and opportunity.

Cities around the country have looked to revitalize their downtown areas with great success in some cases:  LoDo in Denver and Camden Yards in Baltimore come to rushing to mind. New York and Seattle have longer histories of loft apartments & condos housing the young, hip urban professional.  Old warehouses, court buildings and formerly industrial buildings springing into new lives with just a little TLC, imagination and vitality!

While several cities have seen resounding success, others have struggled.  The demand is there, the desire to build them is there, what is the problem?  Finances in most cases are a challenge - in Tucson, several projects are struggling to put together the package required to begin construction while others are searching for new investment to finish ideas already begun.  In some cases, the ideas are ahead of regulation changes, an example of bureaucracy ineptly matching the vigor and common sense of the visionaries looking to take a perfectly good shell and breathe new life into it.  Other factors can come into play also - including the timing of a project vs. economic cycles.

A few weeks ago, I enthusiastically attended receptions for 2 very different loft projects on Broadway in Downtown Tucson.  Conversation and ideas flowed along with hopes, dreams, food & wine.  People involved in the projects and their representatives beamed as they shared each projects vision with the attendees.

 

One project, at 44 East Broadway, is designed for luxury urban living with spacious lofts and penthouses housed in a former
Federal District Court Annex
 with a rich history of famous trials and landmark decisions.  The 44 project has already begun, with structural work in progress.  The public report is expected any day now.  Prices are targeted between $350,000 to $650,000 for the lofts and penthouses start around $1.25 million.  Nice idea, the plans are great...I can envision the target market, but an article in the Arizona Daily Star this week exposed a need for more funding to help construction proceed.  Project principals are downplaying the need while openly admitting that the search for additional investors is active.

 

 

 

Just down the street, 2 blocks to the east,
The Flats at Julian Drew Block are to provide simple, efficient modern living at affordable prices in this project spearheaded by award-winning architect, Rob Paulus.  This project features 53 flats with prices in the $100s.   The affordability factor coupled with proximity to the University of Arizona and nightlife has students and recent grads stamped all over it in my mind.  Paulus has a pretty good track record, with the success of another project downtown, the Ice House Lofts, lending credibility to his vision.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A third project just to the north of these 2 is languishing in idea phase...and starting to raise eyebrows with the lack of progress.  Is it money problems?  Could it be approval difficulties?  Who knows at this point, but that project needs to get a move-on to avoid the taint of failure before it begins.

Other loft projects have been outside of the Downtown envelope, an example being another Paulus project, Indigo Modern, which has generated booming interest but slow sales.  Hopefully, sales will pick up as interest rates and prices stay low.

What is the future of Loft Living in Tucson?  At this point, it seems promising, but expect some projects to come and go without being built, some projects making slow progress and the need to take a deep breath while the economy of going forward is sorted out.  I don't see the resounding success of Denver's LoDo being recreated, but utter failure is not in the cards, either.  Somewhere in the middle - lofts will be a solid niche in the Tucson real estate market, but not an exploding force, either.

I want to see more lofts available in our city - but we may have to wait a while to see a variety of choices.  Please contact me for more information on available lofts in Tucson.

       Kent Simpson ©2008 All rights reserved