By City of Tempe
Tempe wants to transform a sprawling site in the heart of the Apache corridor into a living and shopping hub with a significant expansion of affordable housing and a new grocery store for the neighborhood.
The nearly eight-acre site includes the Apache Central Center, home of the former Food City, and two adjacent parcels near Apache Blvd. and Dorsey Lane. All three parcels are owned by the City. As envisioned, the site could be a landmark housing and retail development in the area.
The project site comprises 7.55 acres located at the NEC of Dorsey Lane and Apache Blvd. and SWC of Lemon Street and Dorsey Lane.
The city issued a Request for Proposal earlier this month seeking development partners.
New Destination
The Apache Central project is designed to help meet the goals of the city’s Affordable Housing Strategy and Hometown for All initiative to greatly expand affordable and workforce housing in Tempe. Plans for the site include:
- A mixed-income project with as many as 400 housing units, with a maximum height of five stories;
- At least half of all units to be priced for people with low and moderate incomes;
- A new grocery store with job opportunities for affordable housing tenants;
- Sustainability elements to promote shade and energy efficiency, and roof-top solar panels to power the city’s nearby EnVision Center, a resource and resiliency hub, during emergencies;
- Promotion of public transit such as light rail and Tempe Streetcar through minimal onsite parking.
Once a developer is selected, any proposal must go through all required public processes. The estimated timeline for construction is two to three years.
Planning for the Future
Tempe purchased the Apache Central Center in 2021 following the closure of Food City. Mayor Corey Woods said the city acted quickly to buy the property in response to neighborhood concerns about the possibility of unattainable housing going in. Neighborhood leaders also lamented the loss of a grocery store, creating a food desert in the area.
The City used $10.7M in General Fund dollars to buy the property.
The City previously owned two parcels to the west of Apache Central that are part of the RFP. One is used as a park and ride lot and also houses the EnVision Center set to open later this year. The other serves as a school parking lot and an overflow park and ride lot. Any new development plan must include a replacement park and ride and school parking.
To accelerate development of the site, Tempe has already taken two important steps.
The city initiated an up-zoning process to align zoning on the three parcels and allow for a mixed-use, high-density project. The plan was approved March 2 by the City Council.
The City is also conducting site preparation work such as archeological remediation on several parcels along Apache Boulevard, including the three parcels in the RFP. Doing this work at the front end creates shovel-ready land for future development partners. The City is using about $1.8M in funds generated through Hometown for All for this work.
At the March 2 City Council meeting, Woods noted that the RFP intentionally includes mixed-income housing. With a variety of housing types, a developer has the flexibility to access traditional financing. A previous affordable housing project planned on the two lots adjacent to Apache Central fell through when the developer could not qualify for Low Income Housing Tax Credit financing.
More information is available here. (Source)
