According to the Arizona Republic article today by Emily Gersema, Ramada Inn in Downtown Phoenix Days from Demolition, the $700,000 demolition of the old Sahara Hotel, currently a defunct Ramada Inn, is scheduled to happen later this month. Before we go into why this building is important and why it’s worth saving, let’s first visit [...]

The Beef Eaters building on 300 W. Camelback is awaiting its new destiny.  In its heyday, it was a happening dinner spot in the Valley, complete with a gorgeous bar, lots of comfortable booth seating, a community room, a huge kitchen that could serve several restaurants and a cellar basement. From the outside, it’s difficult [...]

I was very excited when I got invited to an open house by Sunday Studio a couple of weeks ago to check out the eco-flip they did on McKinley and 16th St. in the Garfield Neighborhood.  The photo of the end product was gorgeous and it intrigued me.  I was duly impressed when I got [...]

Last week, I asked how we can make historic preservation a more lucrative option.  Today, Aaron Kimberlin tells us about one way to do just that – Tax Increment Financing: ___________________________________________________________________________________________ Nationally, Tax Increment Financing (“TIF”) is the foremost tool used to stimulate downtown redevelopment and economically jumpstart blighted areas.  Arizona is the only state [...]

“I think most buildings that are being built are very much focused on managing cost…So you tend to see less creativity in that environment, less exciting designs, less upscale materials being used in them.” Kermit Baker, the CFO of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), says in today’s CNN article, ‘Masterpieces’ on hold, waiting for [...]

As Jim McPherson mentioned yesterday, there’s already a criteria in place to evaluate whether a building is worth saving or not, and that is the Phoenix Historic Property Register.  There is also the National Register which is essentially the same but slightly different.  Here’s a look at what they require… The Phoenix Historic Property Register [...]

As I mentioned yesterday, there was some strong disagreement in the historic preservation community about my post Why Not All Buildings Should be Saved.  It’s important to hear all points of view on this subject and have a constructive discussion about it.  Below is Jim McPherson’s point of view about the Leighton Knipe house and [...]

Last week I posted my point of view about why not all old buildings should be saved.  I used the Leighton Knipe house as an example of an old building that isn’t necessarily worth fighting for.  But a few people in the historic preservation community disagreed with me.  One of the people who’s spoken out [...]

This weekend, the Phoenix Historic Neighborhood Coalition (PHNC) released the Most enDangered Dozen.  It’s a list of local historic buildings in danger of being torn down, some because they are in blighted neighborhoods, some because they themselves are in terrible condition and some because their owners have foreclosed.  In other words, these properties are on [...]