The City of Tucson gave the go-ahead Thursday to a major new project in downtown Tucson when it signed an agreement with Rio Nuevo and Nor-Generations (Nor-Gen).
The agreement lets Rio Nuevo take over as landlord of the temporary Greyhound bus station currently on the site known as the arena for a proposed a 120,000-square-foot exhibition hall connecting to the Tucson Convention Center and new convention hotel and a visual arts center. The integrated plaza is intended to be a “dry” version of the San Antonio Riverwalk. Its layout includes a 2.5 acre public festival and events space shared with an adjoining museum complex and theater. With the purchase or property, Norville put forward an agreement with the University of Arizona for an art exhibition building and gem museum. West of the exhibition hall and festival space, Nor-Gen proposes a 140 room convention center hotel and 96 Class-A apartments. More than 1,400 parking spaces will also fill a pair of four-level parking structures.
The agreement will expedite the relocation of the station, allow Rio Nuevo to close on the sale of its part of the site to developer Nor-Gen, and allow the developer to move more quickly onto construction.
Rio Nuevo chair Fletcher McCusker told the council this project is an opportunity to preserve the gem shows, which are major contributors to Tucson’s economy and which need more hotel and exhibition space downtown.
The District Board had granted Nor-Gen an extension through the end of September to close on its $5.6M agreement to purchase the Arena Lot. Attorneys for Nor-Gen indicated they were ready to close, having satisfied all the Rio Nuevo pre-closing requirements but were negotiating with the city on the relocation of the temporary greyhound passenger terminal located in the middle of the lot.