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Light Rail Transit Station Area Planning

Central & Roosevelt

The Central & Roosevelt Light Rail station is located at the intersection of Roosevelt Street, Central Avenue and 1st Avenue. The METRO station consists of 2 side platforms, joined in a "V" configuration around a pedestrian plaza. The station planning area consists of a ½ mile area around the station. The area contains a mix of commercial, office, residential, and recreational uses as well as undeveloped land. The community has a unique opportunity to create a plan to create new exciting development within this station area.

Community Meetings

The Station Area Plan will be the community's vision for how the area around the METRO Light Rail Station should develop in the future. The Station Area Planning process will bring together property owners, residents, business owners, developers and all interested persons to work together to create a plan for this Station Area. A series of community meetings will be held to create the Station Area Plan for the Central & Roosevelt METRO Station. The introductory meeting was held on November 18, 2004 at Burton Barr Library.

Meeting Summaries

Introductory Meeting: Approximately 10 people attended the introductory meeting at Burton Barr Library on November 18, 2004. A presentation (1.1 MB, PDF¹)about the area around the Central & Roosevelt METRO Station was provided and is available in Adobe PDF format.

1st Community Workshop: The Community Workshop for Central & Roosevelt Station was held on February 17, 2005 at the Burton Barr Library. About 20 participants broke into three working groups to brainstorm with City of Phoenix planners about the implications of light rail on land use in their neighborhood. The creative ideas brought forth at the Workshop will help shape development, accessways, and public spaces. Comments included but were not limited to: providing diverse housing options, providing a distinguishable route from the neighborhood to the station; preserving neighborhood character; providing shade along the route to support light rail as a viable year-round mode of transportation; providing space for public interaction at and around the station; supporting the already existing elderly and artist communities; and ensuring heavy neighborhood involvement in future development plans. Participants were enthusiastic overall of the potential in their neighborhood for change and were willing to seize the opportunity presented by the light rail.

Panel of TOD Experts: Approximately 30 people attended the TOD Panel of Experts station area plan meeting at Burton Barr Library on April 18, 2005. The panelists described their views about the potential of Light Rail developments in Phoenix. Ed Lewis; retail property developer of Kierland Commons and Corporate Center discussed his views about keeping customers happy and following national trends where TOD developments are gaining momentum in the retail marketplace. Jim Pederson; of Pederson Group provided views about larger shopping center properties, vertical shopping centers, and new customer patterns. Trends are that only 1 out of 4 homes are purchased by traditional families that have two parents and children. Tim Sprague; from Portland Place discussed his experience and challenges with developing a TOD condominium development along the Metro Light Rail. Examples included the hurdles of financing, knowing the City processes, and the importance of forming partnerships with neighborhoods, city staff and special interest groups. The meeting ended with a question & answer session where the citizens openly discussed ideas with the panelists. Participants enjoyed hearing diverse viewpoints and development strategies that the three experts found to be successful and how the panelists envision future development along the Light Rail.

2nd Community Workshop: On August 4, 2005 a community workshop was held at Burton Barr Library. The community workshop was critical in the development of the station area plan. Planning staff reviewed the discussions of the previous visioning workshop and handed out copies of the visioning results.

Workshop participants identified opportunities and constraints impacting development within the station area. In addition, participants reviewed a preliminary land use plan and recommended land use alternatives and heights for new development within the station planning area.

Opportunities identified included:

• Art community/galleries
• Cultural facilities such as Heard Museum and Burton Barr Library
• Deck Park/Look at using area below bridge for development of farmers market or other retail
• Proximity to downtown/entertainment
• Close to transportation systems
• ASU Downtown
• Available development sites/reinvestment in area is occurring

Constraints identified included:

• Lack of retail uses
• One way streets/traffic flow
• Not enough parking
• City processes do not encourage pedestrian-oriented development
• Land speculation driving up costs of development

Workshop Participants Would Like to See:

• Community parking within walking distance to downtown
• Downtown parking authority
• Change in tax structure to discourage land speculation on vacant property
• New development reflective of architectural and historical context
• Mixed use higher density development
• Design diversity
• Mixed income/affordable housing requirements
• More commercial/retail/department store
• Expansion of art community/venues

The next meeting will include a presentation of the alternative land use scenarios and heights. The community will identify the preferred land use and height scenario.

Looking northwest across Central Avenue	Looking southeast across Central Avenue

Last modified on 10/30/2008 11:12:57