(Wikipedia Commons)
By Mark Carlisle | YourValley
A Phoenix subcommittee last week advanced a proposed change to the city’s lease with Arizona State University regarding its downtown Phoenix campus.
The change would allow ASU to keep ownership of the Mercado buildings of its downtown campus in exchange for Phoenix being able to retake control of a city-owned parking lot at the north end of the campus, freeing it up for development.
The proposed change also would remove a requirement to redevelop the property that houses the Valley Youth Theater, which will allow the theater to remain through the end of its term, which expires in early 2030.
Phoenix Community and Economic Development Director Christine Mackay said the intergovernmental agreement and master lease the city entered into with ASU in 2005 and 2006, respectively, made sense at the time but in reexamining the agreements today, staff felt those plans no longer made the most sense.
