Tempe Approves Deal to Revamp Danelle Plaza, a Site that has Gone Underused for Decades

Article originally posted on AZ Central on January 23, 2024

Tempe’s City Council unanimously approved a deal to revamp Danelle Plaza on Thursday, marking the most significant step to date in the city’s decadeslong effort to repurpose the deteriorating yet historic 14-acre site.

The Plaza sits at the corner of South Mill Avenue and West Southern Road. It was first built in the early 1960s and has evolved into a cultural hub for the city, with everything from public art to retro-style buildings to classic Tempe businesses such as the Yucca Tap Room, which Mayor Corey Woods said may be the “oldest live music venue” in the city.

It was originally billed as “the heart of Tempe’s new downtown,” but that vision crumbled when development there stagnated in 1983.

Today, 28 of the site’s 54 lots are empty and many of the remaining 26 are occupied by vacant storefronts, something Tempe leaders have decried as a massive waste of potential for nearly four decades.

But the city has struggled to fix the issue because building restrictions placed on the property by a nearby condominium association have made it next to impossible to build a sizable project in Danelle Plaza. The only way to get around those rules is to buy most of the lots on the property.

That’s why Tempe agreed to sell its three city-owned acres of Danelle Plaza to a developer on Thursday for about $3 million, once the company works out the technical project details. Officials also approved a tentative agreement for a project that is expected to bring apartments — including some affordable units — retail shops and restaurants to the underused site.

“It’s an opportunity for that embracement of arts and culture, live music. It does have a certain vibe down there that we want to try to enhance,” Councilmember Joel Navarro said. “I know it’s a difficult site. It’s been difficult for many a year to try to get to this point, so it’s a plus (that we are) where we’re at today.”

The two companies taking on the project, Guina Affiliated Developers and Desert Viking-Danelle Plaza, still have to secure other lots at Danelle Plaza and ensure they can get around the condo association restrictions. That means it’s still not a sure thing that the revamp will come to fruition.

The companies also have yet to craft a solid project plan, so there are very few details about what the development could actually look like.

The city hasn’t even seen a tentative plan at this point, according to Tempe’s economic development director Mike DiDomenic, who said that won’t happen until the developers own the entire property.

“(Members of my team) have not seen any elevation drawings, there have been no presentations of conceptual plans for the property, there really isn’t anything,” he said. “Frankly, we’re too early in the process for anything meaningful to be put together … Until the assemblage of all of the related parcels is done, you don’t know what you’re working with.”

Some audience members who spoke at Thursday’s meeting were anxious about the absence of a fleshed-out project plan, but Tempe Mayor Corey Woods described it as a “good thing” because it will give residents “the opportunity to talk about what they might like” with the city and developers.”

Councilmember Randy Keating said that the public input process will begin soon and that it will include  “anyone who wants to come and share their vision of that area with us moving forward” so that Tempe can craft a plan that everyone involved “can be very proud of moving forward.”

Keating also assured audience members that the historic Yucca Tap Room will remain intact no matter what form the final project proposal takes.

“It’s important to note that Yucca Tap Room isn’t going anywhere and we fully recognize that it is a cultural hub for our city and one of the places that makes Tempe special,” he said. “It is getting a cultural conservation easement to ensure that (it) will have a home there permanently moving forward.”

Woods made the case that the redevelopment will actually help the existing businesses within Danelle Plaza, rather than drive them out like some have feared.

The mayor said that the empty space in the plaza, which is blocked from street view by the few buildings standing there, has become a hotbed for crime, homelessness and drug use. He explained that the existing businesses have to make “a lot of calls for service” to the area, but that filling in the site will help cut down on that problematic behavior.

“A lot of folks have asked, ‘Well, why now? Why is this something that we have to get done right now?’ I think it really is because of that,” Woods said. “We want to make sure that we are supporting the current businesses on that site and the property owners who really have been … connected to this site for quite some time. So, it really is critically important.”