An ambitious plan could save dozens of structures along the Sunshine Mile destined to otherwise to be bulldozed as part of the Broadway widening project.
The city of Tucson, the Rio Nuevo Multipurpose Facilities District and the Regional Transportation Authority have signed off on an agreement that would offer incentives to private developers to create walkable, outdoor plazas with places to eat and shop along two sections of Broadway between Euclid Avenue and Country Club Road.
Plans to redevelop along two separate stretches of the Sunshine Mile could cost as much as $20 million, although a majority of that funding would come from private developers.
One such plan would save Solot Plaza, home to Tucson Tamale Co. among other businesses. Rather than demolishing the strip, off of Broadway east of Tucson Boulevard, it would lose its parking lot and transform into a pedestrian shopping plaza.
Another plan calls for a retail center using historic buildings threatened by the widening project, moving up to seven homes off of their current foundations and onto new concrete slabs on the northern edge of the properties.
The proposal comes from Rio Nuevo, which commissioned an independent study on how to best use the largely orphaned buildings and properties affected by the voter-approved Broadway widening project.
–Kelly Presnell
