The Scape of Things to Come?

CityScape Helps Forge Change in Downtown

By Christia Gibbons

The 28-story first phase and retail second phase of CityScape are moving towards completion despite economic conditions. A hotel or residential component is still being planned for a future phase.

Crews with general contractor Hunt Construction Group will top off phase one, the 28-story office tower, this month. (Photo Courtesy Patti Reznik Photography)

Brent Leif looks out from his office window in the 15-story Luhrs Tower Building, one of Phoenix’ first skyscrapers, and sees the 28-story CityScape, downtown’s latest high-rise.

He marvels.

“We are counting our blessings about being in the position we’re in,” says Leif, Scottsdale-based Hunt Construction Group’s construction manager on the 618,000-sq-ft class A office tower being built at Central Ave. and Washington St. “Kudos to RED Development for starting this downtown high-rise.”

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The office tower is part of the first phase of CityScape, which was planned as a three-block, 2.5 million-sq-ft office, condo and retail development. All the right pieces – light rail, a completed Phoenix Convention Center, a convention hotel and Arizona State University facilities – fell into place to have CityScape make sense, Leif says. “It’s had so much steam behind it,” he adds.

Keith Earnest, vice president of RED Development in Scottsdale, agrees that the project has moved forward smoothly. “We’re marketing contratrians,” he says.

Leif and Earnest say any hiccups in the project have come not from the economy, but from the unexpected challenge of moving utilities. They say they never realized how complicated it would be to coordinate all aspects of extending the five-story underground parking garage under Central Avenue to provide more space.

The work of at least 10 city departments, businesses and nearby buildings had to be coordinated. Hunt had to temporarily relocate a rapid-transit station and bus stop from Central Avenue and modify First Street to accommodate the traffic and public transportation needs.

If he had it to do over, Leif says, he’d recommend redesigning the garage, rather than moving everything.

The office tower sits atop a five-story underground parking garage. An existing garage underneath the western block will be renovated and will sit underneath the retail component. (Photo Courtesy Patti Reznik Photography)

Earnest echoed his sentiment. “What would I pass on to others? Make sure to do your due diligence on underground utilities.”

Leif says the moving of the utilities “consumed a lot of the early construction time,” forcing some resequencing of the project. Otherwise, “the project has held pretty close to the original schedule,” he says.

The $140 million first phase of a three-block project was already rolling along when the economy went south. Leif says that since Hunt mobilized to the site the day after Christmas in 2007 and broke ground in January 2008, the project has moved forward.

Earnest attributes RED’s financial strength to “long-standing relationships.” For instance, RED has been working with Cleveland-based KeyBank for more than a decade, and it’s the lead financial institution on the CityScape project.

Leif says overall the company is seeing “less starts, less proposals.” CityScape, however, “is a long enough project that we should come out the back end when the economy comes up.”

Phase one, which has a topping out celebration scheduled for July 15, includes the construction of a 1,240-car underground parking garage and 44,000 sq ft of retail, shared space and offsite utilities. Leif describes the tower as “a sleek, modern piece of architecture unique to downtown.”

BIM was used throughout the project. The progress model above depicts the roof, penthouse and mechanical equipment for the north office tower, including temporary construction equipment. (Images courtesy Hunt Construction Group)

The underground parking level P1 sits below the north office tower. This model helped crews to visualize and coordinate the complex network of overhead mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire sprinkler and chilled water piping systems.

Leif says he anticipates the project will get a certificate of completion by the end of the year, and tenant improvements should start in the early fall, with the first tenants moving in during the first quarter 2010.

He adds that the project has benefited by the overall bad economy in some respects because he has a big work pool to draw from. The project averages about 120 workers each day, with additional ones to come aboard as the building progresses. “Already finishes are under way,” Leif says.

Rudy Erdmann, senior project manager of the Phoenix office of Weitz Co. says he averages 100 workers a day. His crew is building a two-story retail center as part of CityScape, including an AJ’s grocery story, and renovating the existing five-levelunderground parking structure on the block west of the tower. Work started in June, with an expected completion by July 2011, he says.

Having enough and the right-sized cranes available has been another side benefit of the current economy. Leif says there were early concerns that because of all the building in Dubai and in other parts of the United States, it would be difficult to get the needed cranes in a timely manner. The tallest of three cranes is 457-ft.

BIM models such as this one of the north tower’s south elevation helped the team visualize where to place the project’s three tower cranes safely within the building’s tight site.

Earnest points out that the current economy also provided some cost breaks on materials. Conversely, though, more rental concessions have to be made, including increased tenant improvement allowances, he says.

Still, Earnest says the space is 60% committed. Tenants include Gold’s Gym, Fox Restaurant Concepts, a CVS Pharmacy, Urban Outfitters, Jennings Strouss & Salmon and Squire Sanders & Dempsey law firms. Wachovia was set to be a major tenant, but its buyer, Wells Fargo, will sublease the intended space.

Leif says building information modeling has been used throughout the project, and that has saved “time in the field and the shop, and it saves money.”

“I truly believe this is where the industry is absolutely headed,” Leif says. “Contractors are getting more savvy with computer work. So are subcontractors.”

Next comes CityScape’s Palomar Hotel. Earnest says RED is working through the financing now, and he expects construction to start by the end of the year. The 250-room hotel will be south of the tower.

Given the current economy and residential downturn, Earnest says the condo space could be turned into hotel space, stay residential or be some combination of the two. “We are analyzing options for the hotel tower,” he says.

Key Players

Owner/Developer: RED Development
General Contractors: Hunt Construction Group; The Weitz Co.
Architect: Callison
Engineers: PK Associates; David Evans and Associates; KPFF Consulting Engineers
Subcontractors: Buesing Corp.; Suntec Concrete; JEN Electric; HACI; W.J. Maloney Plumbing; Walters and Wolf; BCS Demolition; Able Steel; ISEC; S Diamond Steel

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