Tonight, The Oro Valley Town Council will continue the hearing of the Oro Valley Village Center (“OVVC”). That is the new name of the revisioning of the Oro Valley Marketplace.
Making OVVC a reality as is currently proposed requires that the Council do things: One is to approve four exceptions to town code. The other is to enter into an agreement the developer, Town West, to partner in building and maintaining a proposed Entertainment Center.
The table in the panel below right shows what is being proposed for each of the four areas in which code exception approval is sought:
- Area 1: 248 Apartments which will be 49 feet in total height
- Area 2: Either a 105 room hotel with a drive thru or 72 apartments. The hotel will be 59 feet high
- Area 3: A three story building that may include retail/restaurant and/or 48 apartments. It also has a recreation area with (yet another) splash pad, wading pool, playground and shade structure, turf area, 1 acre public park, courtyard, and overflow parking. Note: These amenities are dependent on the town’s participation
- Area 4: 152 apartments, 128 hotel rooms and a drive-through.
The purpose of tonight’s hearing is to hear and to approve or not approve the four exceptions. There is no hearing regarding an economic development agreement.
According to the town staff report, the OVVC proposal can only move as proposed if all of the following code exceptions are approved:
- Change the type of open space in the central wash area (Development Area 3) from reconstructed open space to recreational open space
- Use the ESL Mixed-use Flexible Design Option as the applicant is proposing four potential apartment areas (All Development Areas)
- Amend the PAD to permit customized zoning allowances for building heights (Panel left)
- Grant site use changes that encompass the four (4) Development Areas within the center, one (1) of which (Area 2) has two proposed options
Yet, according to Town Staff: An economic development agreement regarding the Entertainment Center is essential for the the OVVC plan is to proceed as proposed
According to the town staff report: “The applicant has made it clear that development of the Entertainment District is subject to a future Town participation agreement. If alternative methods to meet recreation area requirements for the apartments are proposed in the future, the Master Development Plan will require reconsideration by Town Council.”
To date, there is no such participation (economic development) agreement
There is no drafted economic development agreement between the Town West regarding the Entertainment District. According to Keri Silvyn, the lead attorney representing Town West: "Town West, during the planning stages of the project, realized that the cost of developing the entertainment district was beyond that which the private development could absorb. As such, discussions began early on with town officials to explore the idea of a public/private partnership to finance and bring to reality this unique entertainment, dining and recreational space. The details would still need to be worked out, but the costs of construction would be shared between Town West and the town, as would maintenance responsibilities. The details have yet to be discussed."
Silvyn continued: "Town staff has asked us to work on the zoning first and then we would work on the public private partnership details. The idea here is that the Town is investing in unique public facilities that would provide new and interesting entertainment, dining and recreational spaces."
The amount of the town's investment could be up to $10 million, according to several independent sources.
Council has discussed a participation arrangement or at least the framework for it
The Town Council met in Executive Session on November 4 to discuss a "draft economic development agreement with Oro Valley Lifestyle Center LLC (Town West)". Since there is no such agreement we wonder what was the purpose of this meeting? We asked Mayor Winfield to provide information on this but he has not done so as of the time of this publication.
Things have changed
What seemed like a tentative agreement on OVCC at the May study session seems to changed. What is being requested today is different from what was discussed then. There is no longer mention of prestigious hotel chains clamoring for a site. There are more apartments requested. The Entertainment Center is ‘up in the air.’. All of this should make for a very interesting discussion tonight.
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