Ex-New Yorker buys, hopes to preserve downtown warehouses

Mar 14, 2004, 10:00pm MST Updated: Mar 11, 2004, 11:22am MST
Share on Google + Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn Share on Twitter Email this article
Save
Order Reprints
Print

Send this to a friend

Mike Padgett
The Business Journal

OK, you're cruising in the warehouse district with Michael Levine, formerly of Brooklyn, in a part of Phoenix that a few years ago was an area to avoid.

Today, the stigma of mean streets is becoming a memory, Levine and others say. They credit most of the change to the influence of America West Arena and Bank One Ballpark but also because of what Levine says is the business community's growing interest in the area on the southern edge of downtown Phoenix.

The warehouse district in the shadows of the sports arenas is Levine's bailiwick. He knows the ownership histories of some of the properties because he's interested in buying.

He recently bought three old brick and concrete warehouses and a vacant parcel he converted into a parking lot -- all a short walk from downtown. The parking lot is next to Bank One Ballpark, so it provides him with a steady cash flow to pay bills while he mulls the potential for renovating the warehouses into offices, art studios or live-work buildings.

"My plan is to save the buildings, first and foremost," says Levine, 35. "There is so much Arizona history that is gone. All of my buildings either had demolition permits or were advertised as bulldozer bait."

Coincidentally, on the same morning that Levine shares his dreams, about 2 miles north of his properties is a downtown redevelopment symposium. The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy co-hosted the land-use seminar March 4 at MonOrchid Studios, 214 E. Roosevelt St.

Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon welcomes the group, and one of the speakers is Wellington "Duke" Reiter, dean of the College of Architecture and Environmental Design at Arizona State University.

  • Page 1
  • 2
  • 3
|View All

Comments

If you are commenting using a Facebook account, your profile information may be displayed with your comment depending on your privacy settings. By leaving the 'Post to Facebook' box selected, your comment will be published to your Facebook profile in addition to the space below.

Connect with Business Journal events, special sections and more

spacer spacer spacer spacer
spacer spacer spacer spacer
spacer spacer spacer spacer

Videos

Vonage and Telesphere CEOs talk their merger

  • Play Video

    spacer

    The Top Ten Stocks for Nov. 11

  • Play Video

    spacer

    Alibaba Takes a Breather as Stock Drops

Most Popular

gipoco.com is neither affiliated with the authors of this page nor responsible for its contents. This is a safe-cache copy of the original web site.