From the Tucson Citizen, September 7, 2007

A red-brick solution
Student housing and other facilities may be good fit for downtown

Opportunity is knocking for downtown Tucson development in the potential for University of Arizona expansion.

Are city officials and private developers willing and able to respond?

Can they bring some of the university's signature red-brick facades into the downtown development mix, along with potentially thousands of students, faculty and staff?

UA President Robert Shelton told the Tucson Citizen Editorial Board last week, in response to a question, that he is agreeable to discussing location of university facilities downtown.

That's in addition to the planned UA Science Center and Arizona State Museum. The City Council has pledged $130 million in Rio Nuevo sales-tax money for the center and museum.

Given Shelton's openness, city officials and the private sector should approach the university to assess needs for student housing and other facilities that might go downtown.

Perhaps some classroom and research facilities don't need the infrastructure of the main campus and could be built downtown.

Or they could complement existing or planned downtown development, such as condominiums or apartments.

The potential benefit is significant. A critical mass of students, faculty and staff would attract retail, restaurant and entertainment businesses that are waiting for the downtown turnaround.

For an idea of what could happen, look at the ongoing business boom around the UA campus.

Steve Lynn, chairman of the new private-public Downtown Tucson Partnership, calls a strong university presence downtown an asset.

"I think in large measure because of what the modern streetcar is going to do in the way of connectivity between the university and downtown, the West Side and the Science Center, synergies will be created that will be good for development," Lynn said.

Shelton said he is interested in locating university facilities downtown as part of master development concepts, but not as stand-alone, isolated projects.

This is clearly an opportunity for private-sector developers to incorporate the university's needs into concepts and strategic plans for downtown.

And it is an opportunity for city officials to assist by clearing away red tape and getting infrastructure buildout going to support development.

No one idea, whether a new arena, a major hotel with accompanying retail or a university expansion, is the be-all and end-all of downtown revival.

But like many ideas, incorporating part of the university's population and facilities can be one more important step toward a new life for downtown Tucson.

How about it, city officials and developers? How about including some red brick on the drawing boards for downtown?

 

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