$500 million development pitched for Hayden Mill
November 17th, 2006 . by
William Hermann
The Arizona Republic
Avenue Communities this morning announced it will develop a $500 million retail, office and commercial site on and around historic Hayden Flour Mill in downtown Tempe.
Archaeologists now are unearthing Indian sites in the area - at the foot of Tempe Butte and the north end of Mill Avenue - and nearby canals that were dug by early settlers to find and preserve historic material.
Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman said the city is working closely with Avenue Communities to bring the proposed 580,000 square-foot development to the shores of Tempe Town Lake.
“This project gives voice to our ancient and modern history and connects the lake and all it brings to Tempe with our historic Mill Avenue district,” Hallman said. “With this project, we finally create a single, unified whole for the area and for the economy.”
But before construction can begin, careful archaeological work must be done to inventory what is on the site.
So far, archaeologist Robert Stokes said, “We know that there was no major Native American village or community on the site - though there were several nearby. We’re finding pottery shards, the remains of a jail the early settlers built, and much other early work done in the 1880s through 1950s.”
Stokes works for Archaeological Consulting Services, Ltd, of Tempe, and the report he and his colleagues write after their work is done in 2007 will go to Tempe. The city then will work with the developer of the 5-acre site to see to it that important historical material is preserved, Stokes said.
Ken Losch,, principal and partner of Avenue Communities, a Phoenix development company, said preserving history “is a major part of what our development here is all about.”
“In fact, this is a difficult site to develop: It’s hard to do construction on this hillside and obviously the area is loaded with historic artifacts,” Losch said. “But we are going to incorporate the old mill buildings into our buildings: into our Oyster Bar, retail, offices, everything. Nothing important on this site is going away. The historical parts of this site willI be a part of what we’re doing.”
Losch said before construction can begin, Avenue Communities must acquire the land from Tempe, but Hallman said he expects nothing to stand in the way of the project.
“This is real, it’s going to happen, and it’s going to be very good for the city,” Hallman said.
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