By Dianna M. Náñez | The Arizona Republic
Tempe has paved the way for a tax-incentive agreement on a conference-center development that Arizona State University wants to build as part of a sprawling commercial project in downtown.
ASU has targeted the southeastern corner of University Drive and Mill Avenue for a high-end development. Tempe leaders have long rallied for such a development.
Before the Great Recession, several developers had proposed hotel-conference centers for Tempe’s Mill Avenue District. The deals, including a $500 million mixed-use project at the site currently under consideration, died when the economy tanked.
On Thursday, the Tempe City Council unanimously approved a state-mandated “notice of intent” to enter into a retail-development tax-incentive agreement for a conference center at University and Mill. The state requires cities to provide the notice at least 14 days before OK’ing an agreement.
