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A new proposal for 2 miles of Broadway, known as the Sunshine Mile, would allow buildings up to 16 stories tall. The city council will have the final say on approval when the point is before them in the coming weeks.
Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
With housing shortages driving up housing and rental prices, consideration is being given to building affordable high-rise buildings east of downtown Tucson.
A new proposal for 2 miles of Broadway, known as the Sunshine Mile, would allow buildings up to 14 and 16 stories tall.
The project has received urban overlay district approval from the City of Tucson’s Zoning Examiner’s Office, allowing flexibility in design and heights to encourage urban infill.
The city council will have the final say on approval when the point is before them in the coming weeks.
There are two other urban overlay districts in Tucson – Main Gate Square near the University of Arizona and Grant Road between Oracle Road and First Avenue.
The Sunshine Mile is the first to create incentives for affordable housing.
“We’ll see how the rest of the world values our work,” said Fletcher McCusker, chairman of the Rio Nuevo board, when they voted for the overlay district last week.
After much feedback from the surrounding neighborhoods, affordable housing emerged as a priority.
“This was a major priority to offset the potential negative effects of public and private investment such as rising property prices, gentrification and displacement,” said Evren Sönmez, who has lived in the Rincon Heights neighborhood for 11 years. “We are very interested in increasing the affordable housing stock in our neighborhood and we advocate fair results with every plan or project proposal, whenever we have a voice.”
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/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gray/XGU6SM7T4ND6XMX5IQROUZBVFY.jpg "Tucson Veterans Day Parade canceled due to downtown construction")