From: http://azstarnet.com/entertainment/blogs/caliente-tuned-in/tucson-brewery-to-open-next-weekend/article_7ee0f42a-1c69-11e1-8fa0-001871e3ce6c.html

From: http://www.insidetucsonbusiness.com/news/top_stories/city-s-new-planning-efforts-for-streetcar-should-result-in/article_b2a7f9c2-1168-11e1-be68-001cc4c002e0.html#.TsbhX_IlquI

A combination of private sector investment, better land use planning, and the potential of the modern streetcar has created “horrendous interest” in economic development in Tucson’s urban core.

For the first time in about 20 years, real estate deals and development projects “actually pencil out. That’s really good news,” said Ron Schwabe, CEO of Peach Properties, to about 140 attendees at the Pima County Real Estate Research Council’s fourth quarter forum Nov. 10. “The private sector has stepped up, the street car is a plus, and probably the biggest help was the city finally adopting some programs.”

Schwabe’s company first ventured downtown in the late 1980s. It has redeveloped old buildings in the Toole Avenue warehouse district, the One North Fifth apartments, and the Providence Service Block at 44 E. Broadway.

For the University of Arizona, Schwabe is developing off-campus student housing at 246 E. Broadway.

“Everybody was counting on Rio Nuevo to bring downtown back. It has been a long slog, after years of pain, Rio Nuevo has gotten out of the way,” he said.

To spark private development along the 3.9-mile streetcar route, the city has stepped up its land use planning efforts. Jim Mazzocco, planning administrator for the city, said staff has been directed to have the entire route “ready by 2013 to encourage the type of land use that supports the streetcar, the ridership, the neighborhoods and all the mixed use development.”

It is an extremely challenging balancing act because the route runs through some historic neighborhoods between the UA campus and downtown.

“There are gaps and barriers. Where do you put transit-oriented development and how do you protect historic neighborhoods all at the same time?” he said.

The planning process divides the route into different sections: the university, transition, infill and downtown core. Each has special planning needs and challenges, such as building height and density restrictions.

In the infill district, for example, the very first project faced great resistance from nearby residents in historic neighborhoods. They challenged a high-density student housing development called The District, at 550 N. Fifth Ave.

“The reaction of the West University Neighborhood Association to this project was, they were appalled,” said Mazzocco. “At public hearings, they said the infill district is a bad idea, don’t allow this. They felt the project is not compatible with their neighborhood, they don’t like the height, its looks. They don’t want the students. They could have appealed it but did not.”

Jane McCollum, general manager of the Marshall Foundation, supported the city’s land planning efforts along the streetcar route because it will provide several benefits. Those advantages include land use certainty, reduced planning and development costs, faster plan reviews and construction timelines, more responsible development, and neighborhood stabilization.

“This planning will bring certainty to both the neighborhoods and developers,” she said. “Design is very important. You can’t put a crappy project in where people live and have it be accepted. Instead of accepting crappy projects, we as developers need to hold ourselves and the neighbors to a higher standard. When you do that, you stabilize neighborhoods.”

At the western terminus of the streetcar across Interstate-10, the Gadsden Company is developing 30 acres of mixed use projects. Company partner Adam Weinstein’s perspective on the streetcar and related economic development took a totally different route.

He considers it all to be development-oriented transit.

“Transit gives the ability to get on and off in a routine manner rather than necessarily taking it from destination point A to B,” he said. “Along a streetcar line, the park-once opportunity sets up the land use opportunities. All the wonderful projects we’re seeing from Jane and Ron are setting up the network, that really is the driving force.”

Contact reporter Roger Yohem at ryohem@azbiz.com or (520) 295-4254.

http://www.tucsonweekly.com/TheRange/archives/2011/09/14/an-update-on-borderlands-brewing-company

See all this grain? This is what the guys down at Borderlands Brewing Companywill use to brew their first batches of beer, which could be ready by early October.

Myles Stone said yesterday that the only thing between him and brewing that first batch of beer is getting the electricity turned on, which is expected to happen any day now. In the meantime, artist Joe Pagac is working on the sign for the front of the building while overseeing a mural being painted on the back of the building.

This work with Pagac is the beginning of a partnership between the brewery and local artists that I find fascinating. Tucson artists will design the labels and it has been said that there will be many partnerships between Borderlands and Dinnerware Artspace, which is located in the other half of the building at 119 E. Toole Ave.

Stone says he hopes to have a few kegs ready for the Tucson Beer Festival on Oct. 8. He also says work is underway on the “most kick ass beer garden in the Southwest.”

Are you excited? I am.

BONUS CONTENT! Dan Gibson went on the Fook morning show on KFMA to talk about Borderlands and other new local breweries:

http://soundcloud.com/fook-1/new-tucson-breweries

http://insidetucsonbusiness.com/news/top_stories/trio-hopes-to-tap-success-at-borderlands-brewing/article_268cddee-cf65-11e0-b84a-001cc4c002e0.html

The microbrew craze took off in 1990s, but unlike Grunge Rock and dirty flannel shirts, it’s far from a remnant of that decade. In fact, while overall beer sales have fallen two years running, sales of microbrew products increased by double digits in 2009 and 2010.

“Microbrewers have been fighting for the same 5-percent of the market for 20 years,” said Myles Stone, 27, one-third of Borderlands Brewing Co., which will be Tucson’s newest microbrewery when it opens sometime next month at 119 E. Toole Ave. downtown.

Stone, a third-year medical student, doesn’t have a background in brewing, other than the home brewing he and a partner, Mike Mallozzi, 32, have done. Mallozzi, a microbiologist at the UA, has worked in quality control for Budweiser in Colorado.

Their other partner is Blake Collins, 25, who has worked at a home-brewing supply store.

Microbreweries are one segment of the larger craft brewing industry, which also includes brewpubs, regional craft breweries and contract brewers.

The distinguishing factor in all of these comes down to volume. Microbreweries typically produce less than 15,000 barrels of brew per year. A barrel equals 31 gallons, or about the size of two standard beer kegs.

Stone said Borderlands plans to produce about 500 barrels their first year and double that in the second.

Located just steps away from the Union Pacific tracks in an old produce warehouse, Borderlands will brew and pour at the refurbished building.

Since Arizona allows limited self-distribution, Stone said Borderlands can sell directly to bars and restaurants. That, he said, gives them the ability to fill customers’ orders at a moment’s notice.

That’s key to their business plan, Stone said.

And, he thinks getting their beer into eateries should be relatively easy because Borderlands has no plans to open a restaurant of its own.

“We talked about it for like 10 seconds, and we were like that’s not us,” Stone said.

Probably just as well, he added, the restaurants they’ve spoken with seemed much more receptive to carrying Borderland beer when they learned Stone and company don’t plan to serve food.

In addition, most of their investors advanced relatively small sums, several thousand dollars at most, and live in the area.

“We plan on making dividend payments to investors in about a year,” Stone said.

If industry statistics are any indication, it would seem the investment in a microbrewery is a pretty good bet.

Of the more than 1,700 microbreweries and craft brewers in the U.S. in 2010, only 41 closed, according to the industry group the Brewers Association.

Portland, Ore., is a city that is only slightly larger than Tucson but has more than 40 microbreweries. The entire Portland metro area has roughly 2 million residents.

Even Flagstaff, a city of fewer than 68,000 people, has four breweries, all within walking distance of one another.

For their part, the crew at Borderlands Brewing hopes they have found a recipe for success.

“What we were told early on,” Stone said, “is that breweries don’t fail because of the beer.”

Contact reporter Patrick McNamara at pmcnamar@azbiz.com or (520) 295-4259.

http://www.azpm.org/arts-and-life/story/2011/8/9/1830-property-business-wins-lumie-award/

Story By Caitlin Harrington

The Tucson Pima Arts Council awarded its 2011 Small Business Partner Lumie to Peach Properties of Tucson for its support of artists in the community.

“There’s always something vacant, so artists approach us, and we’ve done openings, exhibits, movie sets … a lot of different venues,” says Ron Schwabe, owner of Peach Properties Inc.

Schwabe says he plans to continue to give venues to local artists while also being able to show off his properties to the public.

http://downtowntucson.kold.com/news/real-estate/talks-starting-peach-properties-build-hotel-apartments-bus-depot-along-freeway-frontage/54424

Submitted by Teya Vitu, Downtown Tucson Partnership writer

Thursday, July 7th, 3:31 pm

From: http://uanews.org/node/39097

The UA is moving forward with two proposals that could provide housing for approximately 1,200 students along the Modern Streetcar line by 2013. The projects will expand the University’s presence downtown.

The University of Arizona has selected two development teams as potential partners to build much-needed student housing along the new Modern Streetcar line in downtown Tucson.

Both teams submitted proposals in response to a University RFP for public-private student housing partnerships that was issued last year.

The University hopes to construct housing that would include roughly 1,200 student beds along the streetcar route by 2013.

“This new student housing initiative will further increase the University’s community engagement while providing additional social and economic life to a renewed downtown redevelopment effort,” UA President Robert N. Shelton said.

“The Modern Streetcar serves almost as a campus extension into the downtown area, with students, faculty members and visitors being able to move back and forth within minutes, and without the need for a car and all of the challenges it presents.”

One of the selected proposals was submitted by the Capstone Development Corp. with local developer Jim Campbell and is located on East Congress Street at the North Fourth Avenue underpass.

A portion of the project is proposed to be constructed in conjunction with a city parking garage that is currently under construction.

The other selected proposal was submitted by local company Peach Properties and is just south of the Capstone project, at Fourth Avenue and East Broadway Boulevard.

Both of the projects likely would incorporate new retail facilities and benefit from other nearby downtown amenities. They also would be located close to a proposed streetcar stop.

These proposals add to the UA’s ventures downtown. The University will offer graduate programs in the county’s Roy Place Building at South Stone Avenue and East Pennington Street, and the National Institute for Civil Discourse will be adjacent to the Providence Building at Stone Aveune and Broadway Boulevard.

City and county support are integral to these projects.

“The City of Tucson and the University of Arizona share the same destiny. And we share the vision of downtown Tucson as the place where the city and the UA join together to build a brighter future for our region,” Tucson Mayor Bob Walkup said.

“Today’s announcement of hundreds of new UA residential units in the downtown is a big step toward implementing that vision. It will also help build th downtown economy and reduce the demand for mini-dorm housing in neighborhoods near the central campus.”

University officials will work to complete affiliation agreements with the selected development teams, allowing the design and construction of the projects to proceed.

The UA is taking an innovative approach to public-private projects by actively providing student referrals and branding and marketing assistance in lieu of financial participation. In this manner, the developers can improve their project financing positions while the University avoids additional budget impacts.

The UA will continue to look for other financially feasible opportunities to grow its downtown presence.

Published at http://www.azpm.org/arts-and-life/story/2011/2/14/1830-arts-and-culture-come-together/

In Tucson over the past decade, the arts community and the city center have frequently worked together, albeit informally.

Now David Aguirre, executive director of the Dinnerware Gallery, and Myles Stone, co-founder of Borderlands Brewery, want to seriously develop a new partnership of arts and culture in the area between Congress and Sixth. They’re planning a symposium where Tucson’s downtown artists can come together to exchange and evaluate ideas. And in particular, one idea: the formation of a collective of artists’ collectives in the warehouse Aguirre and Stone share.

The new 16,000-square-foot space will include the brewery and gallery along with a full-fledged art center serving adults and youth. The syposium will help artists to develop direction for the “arts triangle” they envision incubating in the warehouse district.

Myles Stone and Mike Mallozzi don’t need to create a faux Old West ambience for their Borderlands Brewing Co. They just need to move into the century-old warehouse at 119 E. Toole Ave. and set up shop.

“It’s like a frontier town,” brewmaster Mallozzi said. “You’ve got a saddle-harness mural right on the wall.”

By sheer coincidence, Stone’s great, great uncle, James Edward Tooley, owned this very warehouse a half century ago for his produce distribution company. What would Tooley think of its 21st incarnation as a microbrewery?

“If he’s anything like the uncles I know, he’d be very happy,” Stone weighed in. “We want this place to feel like a warehouse by the railroad tracks.”

They rode their bikes around Downtown looking for a place to start Borderlands. They saw the “for lease” sign put up by Peach Properties, which acquired the warehouse a year ago in an Arizona Department of Transportation auction. Borderlands will share the warehouse with Dinnerware Artspace (There are several separate rooms).

They could set up their microbrewery anywhere in town, but brewing in suburbia just doesn’t appeal to them..

“There’s no soul to that,” Mallozzi said. “We want to be a microbrewery of Tucson, not just in Tucson.”

The warehouses in Toole are in the early stages of become a veritable arts district as ADOT in the past year and a half auctioned off a string of warehouse acquired by Peach Properties and Steve Fenton. This will allow a permanence to take shape beyond the month-to-month tenancy that artists have lived with for 20 years.

“We can help shape the future,” Stone said.

“I think it’s a perfect place to bring people together,” Mallozzi said.

Think of Borderlands Brewing as a beer variant of going wine tasting at the winery. This is a brewery with a public tasting room.

“It’s important for us to establish ourselves as not just another bar,” Stone said. “We won’t be open all day, every day, We will have special events, a Friday afternoon club, afternoon and evening tastings, one or two regular events.”

They see Borderlands as a laboratory to get public comment on their brews.

“This is the showcase for our beers,” Mallozzi said.

Mallozzi will craft five mainstay beers: a stout, a brown ale, a lager, an amber and an India pale ale.  Other seasonal offerings will be a vanilla porter and a prickly pear wheat.

They hope to be serving their signature brews by June.

Mallozzi brings a bit of a pedigree to his brewmastery. As an undergraduate at Colorado State University, his student job was as a quality assurance technician at the local Anheuser-Busch brewery. Now he’s making use of his Ph.D in microbiology and immunology as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Arizona, researching clostridium difficile, the bacteria that causes diarrhea.

“I’d like to develop our own yeast strain and unique flavors,” Mallozzi said.

Stone is a medical student at UA with the ambition to start  family practice physician. Last year, he was a student fellow at the Rural Health Professions Program on the Hopi Reservation.

Like many a high-tech enterprise started in a garage (Hewlett-Packard, for one), Mallozzi started brewing beer a year and a half ago in Stone’s living room and then graduated to Stone’s parents’ garage and backyard.

“You would be surprised to know how many grad students make and enjoy beer,” Stone said. “Or maybe you wouldn’t be surprised.”

Six months later, with their graduate student discipline, they started researching the  industry and found 31 microbreweries in Arizona with Nimbus Brewing Co., Thunder Canyon Brewery and Barrio Brewing Co., the Tucson representation. They determined Arizona had a much lower per capita density of microbreweries than many states, and the large proportion of Arizona’s microbreweries made beer just for their establishments.

“This is a dream I didn’t really think would happen,” Mallozzi said.

Borderlands primarily plans to distribute its beer. Their business plan outlines an ambition to distribute beer around Tucson in the first couple years, expand to the rest of Arizona in years three to five, and beyond that to other states in the region.

“We’d like to become the leading brewery of the Southwest,” Mallozzi said.

Along with broader ambitions, the Borderlands duo also embraces bringing their brewing arts to the heart of the Warehouse Arts District.

“We think it synergizes perfectly with the arts district. We’d like to host events. I think it’s the perfect place to bring people together,” Mallozzi said.

One of the few downtown programs most people agree was a complete success was for facade grants that helped improve the appearance of four prominent downtown properties since 2008.

Now with $80,000 left over from the original program, plus another $80,000 in matching money from Providence Service Corp., the Downtown Tucson Partnership will start its second round of facade grants by early next year, said Michael Keith, chief executive officer of the Downtown Tucson Partnership.

And the partnership has larger ambitions: It wants about $2 million from the city and Rio Nuevo to enlarge the program to unprecedented levels.

“For $2 million, we can really have an impact,” Keith said.

Keith made his pitch to Rio Nuevo earlier this month. The board sounded receptive, but it wanted more details. Keith said he has not pitched the idea to the city because of its massive budget deficit.

In 2008, using $450,000 left over from an earlier downtown-improvement program, the partnership allowed 20 people to compete for four facade grants, giving away some money for design work. Three of the original winners and amounts received are: the Scott Building, 64 E. Broadway, and owner Ron Schwabe, $125,000; the Rialto Block and owner Scott Stiteler, $125,000; and The Screening Room, 127 E. Congress St., $63,000. The fourth grant was given to Wigorama, at East Congress Street and Scott Avenue.

Wigorama couldn’t perform under the grant, and it was then given to another downtown owner who later declined it. Finally, it went to Beowulf Alley Theatre, 11 S. Sixth Ave., for more than $31,000. The Beowulf is being finished now, Keith said.

The buildings had to be deemed historic, and the program required that the city be given a “historic easement” on the property. The property owners had to match the grants with their own money.

Facade grants are seen as a way to provide the downtown with an immediate aesthetic face-lift, making tangible improvements to the area for relatively little cost. Providence Service Corp. moved into the Scott Building after it was fixed up.

Keith said the new program will take the $80,000 remaining from 2008, which will be matched by money raised by Fletcher McCusker, chief executive officer of Providence. McCusker had been seeking his own facade grant for a building west of the Scott Building.

In addition to the one or two historic-facade grants ranging from $60,000 to $120,000 for buildings that are on the National Register of Historic Places or are eligible, the facade program also will have a smaller “paint and awning program” for smaller storefronts. That program pays for quick fixes, new awnings or paint jobs.

The requirement for business owners to match each grant with an equal amount of their own will remain the same.

Keith said the partnership will put aside $20,000 to $40,000 initially for the paint-and-awning program to fund awards of between $500 and $5,000.

But if the partnership could get $2 million in funding from the city, it could do 15 large historic-facade grants and 20 grants under the smaller paint-and-awning program, Keith said.

Rio Nuevo Board Vice Chairman Mark Irvin said he was interested in the program but needs to know more about it, specifically about the bidding process and how the projects are selected.

Because the city has a huge budget deficit and Rio Nuevo has a small amount of cash right now, Irvin suggested that the program could be spread out over several years, with Rio Nuevo covering the initial funding and the city picking up the rest.

Keith said he hasn’t talked more with Rio Nuevo about the program.

The facade program provides good bang for the buck, Irvin said.

“I would have loved to have done a facade program when we were flush with cash,” Rio Nuevo’s Irvin said. He added that with the $230 million the district has spent, “we could have done a facade for every building in the district.”

Contact reporter Rob O’Dell at 573-4346 or rodell@azstarnet.com

From http://www.downtowntucson.org December 2010 by Teya Vitu

Peach Properties

299 S. Park Ave., 798.3331, peachprops.com

• Owners: Ron and Patricia Schwabe

• Properties: 1 E. Toole and 119 E. Toole warehouses; Firestone Building, 439 N. Sixth Ave; Market Inn building, 403 N. 6th Ave.; The Scott, 64 E. Broadway and 50 E. Broadway; minority owner One North Fifth commercial strip; 21 apartment complexes

• Projects: Developing 44 E. Broadway; manages Citizens Warehouse, 44 W. Sixth St.

Peach Properties keeps evolving year after year, sometimes even month after month. The primary focus right now for owners Ron and Patricia Schwabe is the pair of warehouses at 1 E. Toole Ave. and 119 E. Toole Ave., which they acquired at Arizona Department of Transportation auctions in the past year. This puts them in the heart of the arts district, and artist studios and galleries will occupy portions of both warehouses. Peach also manages the Citizens Artists Studio Warehouse, 44 W. Sixth St., and owns the Firestone Building, 439 N. Sixth Ave.

Before the Toole Avenue warehouse came to the forefront, the Schwabes were encamped at Congress and Fifth Street, where Ron persuaded the city and developers Williams & Dame to renovate the former Martin Luther King Jr. Apartments into the One North Fifth Apartments rather than tear down the 1970 concrete structure. Across the street, Patricia opened the now-closed Tooley’s on Congress Café and managed the neighboring properties on the 200 block of Congress, where Preen and Dinnerware Artspace were located until last year. Peach Properties also improved the façade of the building now called The Scott, 64 E. Broadway, and own the neighboring 50 E. Broadway, both now occupied by Providence Service Corp. Peach also is developing 44 E. Broadway for Providence, which bought the four-story, hulking concrete shell in summer. A basic theme follows Peach Properties from project to project: Ron believes in reusing historic buildings. Patricia believes in finding the best uses for each space – food is never far away. Tooley’s Café is next door to the Peach offices, 299 S. Park Ave.; Tooley’s on Congress opened right after Peach became minority partners in One North Fifth and across the street at the southwest corner of Congress and Fifth; and Patricia is set on incorporating eateries of one sort or another at the Toole warehouses. “I still think we need to have some eating in all those buildings,” Patricia said. “Tooley’s on Congress was a crazy idea. We needed to have something in there. With Tooley’s open, it helped both sides of the street. We did all the pre-leases for One North Fifth at Tooley’s because we didn’t have an office there.”

The biggest evolution for Peach came in 2000, when Ron Schwabe dropped the Elar Property Corp. name he had used since 1982 and adopted Peach. With the name change came a radical change in business philosophy, and the Peach name offers a vital clue: It’s based on the Japanese story Momotaro the Peach Boy. The 20th century had Schwabe developing and managing properties in Arizona; Portland; Vancouver, Wash.; Albuquerque and El Paso. During the 1990s, Schwabe split his time between Tucson and Portland, where he grew up. “Ninety percent of the properties we managed in Portland were owned by Asians,” which resulted in quarterly trips to Hong Kong for Schwabe, he said. That eventually brought him to the attention of Housemate Kanari of Tokyo. That led to a partnership between Elar and Housemate, the name change to Peach, and ultimately Schwabe sold his Oregon and Washington operations to Housemate, and the partnership ended in 2004. “We had larger properties,” Ron Schwabe said. “We worked out of that business model. We had 160 employees at Elar. That’s a pile of people problems galore. That other model is so gruesome. It was always a fight for more units and the numbers.” Before Housemate entered the picture, Schwabe’s company managed upwards of 5,000 apartment units. Now, the 21 apartment complexes they own and dozen commercial properties they own or manage are all are within four miles of the 299 S. Park Ave. Peach offices. The apartment complexes are all smaller with no more than 20 units. “We don’t follow that corporate model,” Patricia said. “We are a momand- pop deal.” The Japanese influence stuck with Schwabe. “I followed their model of business,” Schwabe said. “They have small properties. It’s just a more sane way to do business, to live. The smaller stuff, it’s close, it’s easy to keep on top of it. It’s just not so cut-throat. The whole punchline is it’s given me the time to do other stuff. ”

Schwabe got his appreciation for historic buildings in Portland, where he had his office in what is now the Pearl District. That’s the upscale business and art gallery quarter that was still known as the Northwest Industrial Triangle when Schwabe set up shop in the 1980s. “I’m a sucker for older buildings,” Schwabe said. “They’re authentic. They have stories. They have a soul. People pick up on it and it actually works.” Ron acquires and renovates building and then Patricia figures out how to use them and handles the leasing and management. Right now she’s working on the 119 E. Toole warehouse, where Dinnerware Gallery will be; but what else? Patricia is considering a brew pub. “We’re tying to be patient and get the best people,” she said. “We get calls from window tinting and auto detailing people. I get calls from people who would be good office users. That would be a shame. We want people who bring business. We don’t want the doors to be shut all day. We want people to experience those buildings.”

The Tucson Warehouse Arts District came alive Saturday October 4th. David Aguirre previewed the new Dinnerware Gallery located at the corner of 7th Ave and Toole Ave. Steve Eye had an open house for his new project at 35 East Toole, The Arches, along with the regular Solar Culture open art show. The streets were jammed with cars and the sidewalks crowded with people. The Warehouse District is taking another large step forward!

Tucson, Arizona, July 27, 2010 – TREO announces today that Tucson-based Providence Service Corporation
(PRSC-NASDAQ) has acquired the 30,000 square foot, four-story building at 44 East Broadway, adjacent to its new
corporate headquarters. Providence will occupy the second floor, lease out the third floor and is working with Peach
Properties to develop six residential lofts with rooftop decks on the top floor. Providence and Peach are also
remodeling the adjacent building, built in 1915 as the Graham Brother’s Truck Garage. There will be an interior
breezeway through the three formerly boarded up structures and new facades restored to their historical appearance.

“Our staff is thrilled to be downtown,” said Fletcher McCusker, Providence Chairman and CEO. “We walk everywhere,
bike to work, and are involved in every aspect of downtown life from the museums to the theatres to helping organize
entertainment. The new building will allow us to consolidate our IT functions, save multiple leases and secure adjacent
parking for our employees.” The 44 East Broadway purchase will add 50 jobs downtown, bringing the total Providence
employment in Tucson to 400 (100 downtown).

Providence has been very active in downtown Tucson since March when McCusker announced the company’s intent
to locate its corporate headquarters at Scott and Broadway, across the street from Unisource’s new corporate
headquarters. McCusker has since become one of TREO’s Chairman’s Circle members and will represent TREO on
the Downtown Tucson Partnership board.

“Urban Renaissance is a key component of the Economic Blueprint and momentum is building, led by private sector
entrepreneurs (big and small) who are investing private money into downtown urban redevelopment. The block will
now showcase two Tucson-based public companies, two blocks of restaurant and retail space anchored by a streetcar
stop. This private sector momentum is critical to downtown success,” said Joe Snell, president & CEO, TREO.

“This represents yet another great step forward towards the goal of activating the downtown area. Fletcher McCusker
and Providence Corporation are truly ‘making a difference’ in and for our community,” said Steve Kozachik, Ward 6
Council Member, City of Tucson.

Click here to watch the video of Peach Properties owner, Ron Schwabe discussing the future of downtown Tucson’s Warehouse Arts District on Arizona Public Media: http://ondemand.azpm.org/ondemand-home/story/2010/6/3/1714-warehouse-arts-district-in-transition/

TUCSON – Tucson’s downtown warehouse district has long been a haven for the local artist community. Clustered around the railroad, these buildings are known for solid construction, large floor plans, and cheap rent. Until recently, the future many of these structures seemed uncertain, and they appeared headed for demolition. But, now the downtown links project has been redesigned and many of the buildings are being sold by the Arizona Department of Transportation.

Ron Schwabe is owner of Peach Properties, a real estate development company that specializes in existing properties. He recently purchased two historic warehouses on Toole Avenue in the historic arts district. One of the buildings is the former Zee’s Warehouse, which has been vacant for several years. He says that he’s happy to have the opportunity to invest in these buildings and he thinks the area is poised for change. Schwabe acknowledges that developing a property like this means that a certain number of artists may be priced out of the area. The cheap rents may not be around after all the work is done, but he also says that it’s important to keep the artistic community as part of the overall mix. “We’re going to have arts-related uses here… but it’s probably not going to be the painter, sculptor with 2,000 square feet, paying 200 dollars a month.”

Marvin Saver is an artist and the president of Warehouse Arts Management Organization, the non profit organization that was awarded control of several buildings within the warehouse district.

Shaver says that WAMO’s mission is to cultivate and manage Tucson’s Historic Warehouse Arts District into a center for production, exhibition, education, and management of the arts. He points out that this is an important part of a master plan developed by the city. “It’s a great plan, and now we’re stepping closer to getting that,” by creating these partnerships within the community.

The dream plan to have Tucson’s rich artistic community provide some of the stimulus for growth has been elusive in the past. But, if you talk to Michael Kieth, the interim CEO of the Downtown Tucson Partnership, you’ll hear that we might be reaching a tipping point. “It already has this magical vibe,” he says and points out that the plan allows for artists to be active participants and part of the economic engine of the warehouse arts district. He says he’s not too worried that the arts community could be entirely priced out of the area, and as property becomes more valuable it creates diversity around the edges.

Michael Kieth is confident about the direction that the downtown warehouse district is headed… and a person in charge of creating Partnerships, he’s also excited about the collaborative work that is taking place between private companies, government, and non-profits like WAMO.

Click here to watch the news report: http://www.kvoa.com/news/investors-buying-in-downtown-arts-district/

TUCSON – Investors are buying up state owned property in the downtown Historic Warehouse Arts District.

Ron Schwabe, owner of Peach Properties, says he’s been investing in downtown Tucson since the late 1980′s. He says this is the time to start investing more.

“Downtown is finally starting to come around. It’s become more viable in the last year than the last 20 years,” Schwabe said.

He recently purchased two historic warehouses on Toole Avenue in the Arts District. One of the buildings is the former Zee’s Warehouse, 1 East Toole Avenue. It’s been vacant the last few years.

Schwabe says it was built in 1903 and now he is working to clean it out, restore it and eventually rent it out. He says he already has a few interested tenants like a brewery and an art gallery.

The Arizona Department of Transportation has sold some of the historic warehouses but some of them are still for sale.

Steve Fenton, developer, also purchased several of the warehouses.

Marvin Shaver, president of the Warehouse Arts Management Organization, WAMO, wants to make sure whoever buys in the area, preserves the warehouses and keeps the Arts District in mind.

“We’re working with anybody who owns property down here to make it into an Arts District,” Shaver said.

He says on top of trying to keep the rent affordable to artists, they want the Arts District to really get going.

“We envision this being a real happening place that everybody would want to come to,” he added.

He says they want to see art walks, coffee shops, retail and restaurants. He says the area needs private investors like Schwabe to make it a reality and this is just the beginning.

“This is a key to making downtown come alive again,” Shaver said.

Click here to see more properties for sale,

http://www.azdot.gov/Highways/ROW/PropMgmt/index.asp

Coley Ward Arizona Daily Star | Posted: Wednesday, April 7, 2010

On Tuesday, the state of Arizona sold three of its downtown Tucson properties at auction.

The largest parcel went to Geoff Shephard, president of Arizona Autopark, who paid $652,000 for a 46,569-square-foot lot on Toole Avenue, between Sixth and Seventh Avenues.

Shephard said he would continue to use the lot, which the city has rented since 1987, for parking.

“We’ll be offering a very good deal to city employees – the cheapest in downtown,” he said.

This is the second time that Shephard’s company has owned the parking lot; years ago he sold it to the state – one of 37 properties that the Arizona Department of Transportation bought between 1986 and 1991 for a proposed expansion of the Aviation Parkway corridor through downtown.

The city’s easement over six of the properties expired in February, and control of the lands reverted to the state.

Now ADOT is divesting itself of its Tucson properties.

Developer Steve Fenton and Peach Properties’ Patricia Schwabe bought the other two lots sold at Tuesday’s auction.

Fenton paid $402,000 for a 17,358-square-foot lot at 35 E. Toole Ave. Previously, the building there was home to ArtWorks, an inner-city program for high school youths. Before that, it was called the Crane Plumbing Supply Warehouse.

Fenton said he would restore the building and use it as an “arts-related warehouse.”

The building might house artist studios or gallery space, he said.

Peach Properties paid $360,000 for an 18,375-square-foot lot at 119 E. Toole Ave. Once home to Baker Bros. Produce Warehouse, the building there was most recently occupied by RISE, a nonprofit social-service agency.

Both of the buildings bought by Fenton and Peach Properties have their warts.

In 2007, an Arizona Daily Star investigation documented fire damage to the ceiling of the Baker Bros. building and noted that the east and west sides of the warehouse had been condemned.

At the Crane Plumbing Supply Warehouse, there were extensive amounts of friable and non-friable asbestos, as well as substantial water damage to the roof and ceiling.

Schwabe said she would refurbish the Baker Bros. warehouse, then convert it into a restaurant.

“It needs a lot of work,” she said.

Both Peach Properties and Fenton have been aggressively buying downtown buildings since ADOT started selling them last year.

In October, Peach Properties paid $252,000 for Zee’s Warehouse, 1 E. Toole Ave., which is vacant but once was home to Zee Haag, an artist.

In November, Fenton paid $101,000 for the building that is home to Solar Culture, 31 E. Toole Ave., a gallery and music venue.

The next month, Fenton paid $512,000 for the building at 15-19 E. Toole Ave., which housed the rehearsal space of Salvador Duran, a Latin singer and flamenco guitar player, in addition to Astro Fab furniture makers and artist Jessica McCain’s studio. All have since moved out.

Both of the warehouses Fenton bought face a vacant lot where Pima County and the city of Tucson plan to build a new courthouse.

That project is on hold.

Seven properties went unsold at Tuesday’s auction.

The Gloo Factory, a nonprofit media-resource center at 106 E. Council St., was one of the properties that didn’t receive a bid.

Gloo Factory owner Dwight Metzger, who has been raising funds to buy the building but still has a way to go, said he was happy to live to fight another day.

“Maybe time is on our side,” Metzger said.

ADOT will continue to market the unsold properties, spokeswoman Teresa Welborn said.

“They’ll stay on the ADOT Web site on the page that says ‘properties for sale,’ ” she said.

If ADOT receives an offer for one of its remaining properties, it will trigger a 30-day clock. A second offer during that time will send the property to auction.

If no other offer is made, the original bidder can purchase the property.

Contact reporter Coley Ward at 807-8429 or cward@azstarnet.com

David Wichner Arizona Daily Star | Posted: Wednesday, February 10, 2010 12:00 am

Social services provider Providence Service Corp. says it will relocate its corporate headquarters to downtown Tucson from its current east-central location by this summer.

Providence – one of Tucson’s few publicly traded companies – said it will remodel and lease the vacant building at 64 E. Broadway, at the southwest corner of North Scott Avenue and West Broadway. It is across the street from the site of UniSource Energy Corp.’s planned new headquarters.

Providence is now headquartered at 5524 E. Fourth St., just east of North Craycroft Road.

Providence plans to move its executive and corporate staff of about 50 people as soon as the remodeling is finished, the company said in a news release.

UniSource, parent of Tucson Electric Power Co. and the only Tucson-based company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, plans to move from the tower that bears its name at 1 S. Church Ave. to a new building at 88 E. Broadway by the end of 2011.

“This will put two of Tucson’s public companies side by side and should further support the downtown area as a developing business environment,” Providence Chairman and CEO Fletcher McCusker said in a news release.

Providence has been traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market since 2003.

McCusker cited recent improvements downtown, such as the Scott Avenue streetscape, Rialto block facade improvements, new restaurants, retail and fitness space “along with the promise of a more friendly business environment” as factors that helped persuade the company to relocate.

The planned headquarters building is owned by Ron and Patricia Schwabe. Providence is leasing the property through Peach Properties, which is also owned by the Schwabes.

“The commitment of one of the biggest businesses in Tucson is huge” for downtown redevelopment, Ron Schwabe said.

He noted that the company’s employees will join other downtown workers that form a “captive” clientele for restaurants and other businesses in the area.

Mayor Bob Walkup said he hopes that Providence’s relocation will be “another spark to get local and national businesses to see the value and long term prospects of a downtown Tucson location.”

The mayor’s office, along with the Downtown Tucson Partnership, Madden Media and Tucson Electric Power, were actively involved in recruiting Providence to move downtown, the company said.

Providence, which provides counseling, nonemergency medical transportation and other social services under government contracts, employs more than 11,000 people nationwide.

DID YOU KNOW

The building at 64 E. Broadway, dubbed “The Scott,” was originally built in 1909 and added onto in 1919, according to Peach Properties.

The building was occupied by a gold-weighing business and later housed doctors’ offices and a pharmacy. The most recent tenant was the nonprofit Southern Arizona Legal Aid.

Posted at http://www.azstarnet.com/business/local/article_96335ce3-a3d6-518b-9112-09404ce42c29.html

“One North Fifth Apartments…six-story high rise, Hotel Congress across the street, soon-to-open On a Roll two blocks away.” ~Tucson Citizen, August 25, 2008.

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/ss/frontpage/94869.php

“The owner of Peach Properties and other partners have invested about $9 million into the renovation and additional construction of the former Martin Luther King apartments in Downtown Tucson.” ~Arizona Public Media, January 6, 2009

http://ondemand.azpm.org/videoshorts/watch/2009/1/6/kuat-dowtown-development

“Schwabe has earned a reputation as a landowner who can successfully renovate and market art space.” ~ Tucson Weekly, September 04, 2008

http://www.tucsonweekly.com/tucson/Currents/Content?oid=oid%3A114952

“While other downtown housing projects hit varied stumbling blocks, Williams & Dame Development came from Portland, Ore., saw downtown, partnered with local real estate company Peach Properties and summarily started and finished converting the former MLK into One North Fifth.” ~Tucson Citizen, August 25, 2008

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/ss/frontpage/94869.php

“Ranked No. 42 in The Top 50 Affordable Housing Developers”~ Affordable Housing Finance, May 2007

http://www.housingfinance.com/ahf/articles/2007/may/TOPDEVELOPERS-5-0507.htm

“Cost Versus Culture
Tucson’s Warehouse District fights an uphill battle to survive

As interest in the Warehouse District grew, the private sector began to invest in the fight to save an “old town” that is uniquely Tucson. Thanks to folks like businessman Mark Berman, artist Susan Gamble and her sister Lesley, investor Ron Schwabe and many others, several buildings directly north of the ADOT-owned properties were purchased and rehabilitated for artist uses. These include the Davis Dominguez Gallery, Santa Theresa Tile Works, DeWitt Designs furniture and the Gallery at 6th and 6th, located in an old Firestone store.” ~Tucson Weekly, March 01, 2007

http://www.tucsonweekly.com/tucson/Currents/Content?oid=93099

“Another investment group, Ron Schwabe and two partners, who had previously converted warehouses into arts spaces in Portland, purchased Tucson’s Firestone and Bookman Auto Parts buildings and is actively rehabbing the combined 38,000 sf into artists’ rental studios and retail space.” ~ New Village Press

http://www.newvillage.net/Journal/Issue1/1artintucson.html