Tucson Real Estate Blogs » You Have To Be Kidding Me, Down Town Tucson Revitalization?

Tucson Real Estate & Golf Properties

Douglas Trudeau , Assoc. Broker
Prudential Foothills Real Estate
64 N. Harrison Road, Suite 160
Tucson , AZ 85748
Mobile: 520-954-2209
Contact Me

You Have To Be Kidding Me, Down Town Tucson Revitalization?

No matter what you call it downtown Tucson redevelopment isn’t redeveloping. Downtown Tucson revitalization isn’t revitalizing. Rio Nuevo isn’t any more. Bureaucratic and political interference is the blame. Because of inability by bureaucrats and politicians to come together and commit to a plan, downtown Tucson is dying of starvation. The name was even changed from Rio Nuevo, like that was going to make the difference. You have to be kidding me.

What has happened to date will go down in the history books on what not to do. Developers were ready and on the starting blocks poised, muscles tense, adrenalin flowing, and ready to start. Some got cramps and crawled away, others fell over like petrified statues. The starting gun was more like an old fashioned cork gun that nobody heard. Or wait, maybe somebody forgot to pull the trigger.

Where are the restaurants? Where are the stores? Where is the improved parking? Where are the condos? The window of opportunity passed and our bureaucrats and politicians didn’t even see it pass by. Where is the boost down town Tucson so desperately needs? I remember attending meetings where our politicians promised they would streamline the process for businesses to get going in downtown Tucson. If they meant going from a turtle’s pace to a snail’s pace, I must have misunderstood them. Because, that is exactly what happened.

Here is an example. My son and his friend came to me three years ago looking for a place to build a Sushi restaurant. I am not a Commercial Realtor, but, I am an MBA. We looked at traffic flows, ingress, egress, parking, delivery points, and other impacting opportunities. I suggested they look at Rio Nuevo. They did and liked the idea. I helped them find a competent Commercial Realtor. Looked at a few sights and gave them my opinion from a business stand point; i.e., cost, access, customer seating, design to compliment work flow, etc. Even set up a model business plan for them. They found the right combination in a short period of time. They have a lot of backing, including Mayor Walkup. So why has it taken 3 years to get their business up and running? By the way, they are still waiting. Meanwhile, costs have increased, more and more would be retailer, business people, and developers have aborted plans for down town Tucson. Why so long?

First they had to go through the standard landlord tenant agreement. Then the standard architectural design, applying for a liquor license, and all the other standard requirements. The promised streamline from politicians and city bureaucrats went out the window. Instead of it becoming easier to establish a business downtown, it became harder. Instead of more businesses coming to down town Tucson, more decided it wasn’t worth the effort. By the time a business woman or man gets through all the departments, the inconsistencies between each, and the lack of cooperation between each, no wonder they give up. Hats off to my son’s friend sticking in there and my son staying by his side. I would have moved the business to Oro Valley or Marana a long time ago. Our elected officials and tax paid bureaucrats have done more harm to downtown Tucson than good. The old saying, “The right hand doesn’t know what the left is doing” applies here.

What our city politicians and bureaucrats need is to have a reality check, let business develop and help them to get started. Look at all the taxes the city, county and state have lost out on. If businesses were supported, downtown Tucson would gain the buyers, customers, and patrons it needs for revitalization. You would see a new interest in downtown. With the right infrastructure and variety of businesses, who knows how down town Tucson will grow. At least, get out of the way, and give it a chance.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 27th, 2008 at 12:55 pm and is filed under Tucson News & Events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Hello. This sounds more like a situation where you are blaming the city. If it is the Sushi place I am thinking of, you had a lot of problems with your landlord, far more than you had with the city.

People have expectations that downtown revitalization happens fast. It takes time. 20 years plus in Austin, and they are still working on it.

Don’t let past city leaders who were terrible ruin it for the current bunch. Councilmember Nina Trasoff is leading the charge, but these things take time.

May 28th, 2008 // Wallace
Hey Wallace,

Are you employed by a particular politician?
How do you know what problems they have/had with the landlord?

This isn’t the first business that has been given the run-a-round by city officials and departments. What about Nimbus?

Anyway…I see the sushi place has their sign up. I am very impressed. I can hardly wait for it to open. Everyone I’ve come in contact with in the downtown area is ready for SUSHI!

I wish the owners much success…

June 3rd, 2008 // Luz

Tucson Real Estate Blogs & Golf

Submit Email For Feed

Really Simple Syndicate

You Have To Be Kidding Me, Down Town Tucson Revitalization?

Leave a Reply

Categories

Archives

Favorites

Tucson Golf

Blogroll