Arizona State University, a tax-payer funded institution whose apparent purpose is to salvage poorly-thought-out commercial real estate investments, races to the rescue of another white elephant:
Arizona State University has struck a multiyear deal with downtown Phoenix’s only shopping mall and plans to use it as a temporary student union for its new college campus.
The university will lease about 4,000 square feet of space at the Arizona Center – an outdoor restaurant, retail and office complex at Third and Van Buren streets – and hopes to make it available to students for meetings and social gatherings by September.
The student union space will be directly above the AMC Theatres on the mall’s northern end.
The terms of the deal are still being finalized, but both ASU and the shopping center stand to benefit from the arrangement.
University officials, who have just weeks to go before the new Phoenix campus opens, are feverishly looking for ways to boost the student-life appeal of the downtown area. The Arizona Center has long been underutilized as a shopping destination. Partnering with the university could mean a substantial boost in the center’s foot traffic.
Alas, unless you’re wired with City Hall, they probably won’t take your house off your hands…
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