Final meetings set for community input on south Phoenix project
Phoenix is pushing forward with plans to redevelop the southwest corner of the 24th Street and Broadway Road intersection, which has sat vacant since 1999 when the city condemned the land and demolished a grocery store to combat crime and blight.
For decades, dreams for the intersection have gone unfulfilled, and most of the city-owned land remains empty. But now a plan has been set to solicit proposals from developers early next year.
The city is holding a final series of community meetings this month to hear what residents want to see on the land. So far, the most popular idea for the southwest corner is a grocery store.
After three months of door-to-door outreach headed by south Phoenix resident Thomas Claiborn, the city received 282 survey responses. Most of the surveys, 185, were completed by residents who live within two miles of the site, said District 8 Councilmember Carlos Garcia.
The survey asked respondents to rank what they want to see at the corner: a grocery store, a medical service, a commercial space, housing, or something else.
A grocery store was the most popular first choice, with a medical service coming in second. In the "other" category, respondents suggested a range of ideas including a restaurant, a gas station, and a community-centered space like a community garden, playground, or resource center. The city-owned Broadway Neighborhood Resource Center across the street — though intended to be a community center — has been largely inaccessible to residents and serves as a police substation.
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Meeting dates set
Beginning next week, the city will hold four meetings to hear resident desires for the 12-acre lot. Each meeting will focus on a different category of development that could come to the corner: affordable housing, commercial space, cultural space, or health and wellness facilities.
The meetings will all take place at the neighborhood resource center, 2405 E. Broadway Road:
Affordable Housing: Tuesday, Oct. 18, 6-7 p.m.
Commercial: Wednesday, Oct. 19, 6-7 p.m.
Cultural: Saturday, Oct. 22, 9-11 a.m.
Health and Wellness: Tuesday, Oct. 25, 6-7 p.m.
“As we break out into the focus groups, I’m asking you to ask very constructive, hard questions,” Claiborn told attendees of an Oct. 5 community meeting. This could include, for example, defining what is meant by "affordable housing," he said.
It could also include discussing some of the competing visions that arose during last week's meeting. Some attendees said they want to ensure the area becomes a commercial hub so that south Phoenix residents keep their money in the community.
"My idea is to get people that don't shop or consume in this area to come to this area and drop their dollar off," said south Phoenix resident Darlene Jackson, whose vision for the corner includes a museum, a strip mall with small businesses, an insurance company, or a credit union. She wants to build wealth in south Phoenix, she said, and keep the next generation in mind.
"We're starting to be oldheads," Jackson said, gesturing to the other meeting attendees.
Other speakers at last week's meeting said they want the development to serve the people who already live there and not encourage gentrification and displacement.
In addition to the focus group meetings, feedback will be accepted online at phoenix.gov/fourcorners and via email at council.district.8@phoenix.gov. The deadline to comment is November 1.
Notifying developers
After compiling feedback, Phoenix's Community and Economic Development Director Christine Mackay will return to the resource center on Nov. 14. At that meeting, she said, she will describe the requirements the city plans to put in the call for proposals that will be sent to developers.
“We’ll do what you want us to," Mackay told the Oct. 5 meeting audience. "But I’ll provide you my professional guidance on some of the challenges you may face."
Once city staff crafts the request for proposals, the City Council has to approve it. Mackay said the city's goal is to notify developers of the opportunity in January.
Some people at the meeting said they want developers who know the area personally to be told about the opportunity. Mackay encouraged attendees to tell interested local developers to register for the Request for Proposals Notification List through the Community and Economic Development Department's website.
For Claiborn, a developer's philosophy is more important than where they are based.
“For me, my concern is more the mindset of the developer, the asset-based, benefit-based development” that will not just bring outside people in, but provide ongoing benefits and growth to the people who already live there, he said.
Mackay said she is in the process of reaching out to economic development counterparts in cities like Chicago, Washington, Philadelphia, and New York to seek recommendations for specific developers who have completed similar projects. She said this outreach is important because most development in Phoenix is on undeveloped land, meaning that local developers may not have as much experience with a revitalization project like this.
Over the next month, Claiborn and Garcia want to make sure every resident with something to share has the chance to be heard. The goal is to get the "most authentic, real answers to Nov. 14 so that Chris can do what she does,” Garcia said.
Madeleine Parrish covers south Phoenix for The Arizona Republic. Reach her at mparrish@arizonarepublic.com and follow her on Twitter @maddieparrish61.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Meetings set for community input on 24th and Broadway land in Phoenix
