Roland Murphy | Arizona Builder’s Exchange
The old cliché is that a rising tide lifts all boats.
Since the regional and national economies ran aground nearly a decade ago, that tide has been slower coming back in than anyone would have liked, but in the past few years the Valley as a whole has finally rebounded nicely, with some areas in particular riding major waves of recovery.
Two projects currently in development in Chandler by Ryan Companies illustrate just how wide-ranging the city’s rebound has been and serve as a microcosm for the scope of construction activity across the area.
Chandler 87
Formerly known as Site 6, Chandler 87 is a city-owned site at the NWC of Arizona Avenue and Chicago Street downtown. The city conglomerated 23 vacant parcels to create the site and designated it for cultural and entertainment use under the South Arizona Avenue Corridor Area Plan, which has been a key component of downtown’s emergence as an up and coming entertainment destination. (See “Chandler, Gilbert Grow Downtowns with Entertainment,” Page XXX)
Three buildings are proposed under the development agreement. Particular plans call for a five-story office building with a potential ground floor retail/restaurant component, a standalone retail/restaurant building and a two-story office building.
The five-story building will be up to 115 feet tall and at least 100KSF, possibly up to 150KSF. Between it and the standalone retail/restaurant space will be an outdoor plaza that could, potentially, be used as another downtown entertainment option for special events.
The third building, along the Chicago Street frontage, will be approximately 45KSF.
There also will eventually be a city parking garage along the west side of Oregon Street, the development’s western boundary.
