Light Rail Park & Ride - McClitock / Apache

The Tempe Light Rail Park and Ride Facility at the McClintock and Apache Stop looks /sounds like it will be an interesting place. Built on 4.6 acres, the facility will be a mix of parking, retail and residential units. The latest notes I have from a recent meeting mention 'Flexible Retail" (12,300 sq ft.), 450 residential units and a 6 story, 65 ft. tall structure.

The first 300 parking spaces will be Park & Ride and I read that the parking structure will not be prominently visible.

The first phase calls for the parking structure with retail and residential to follow. The project was designed to be "perfect" for crime prevention although I am not sure of the specifics as to what they meant by that. Based on notes from an area committee meeting, they are looking for some "destination retail" to be a part of the project. Of course, Starbucks was mentioned but maybe a cool little coffee house or some good food will suffice.

The only name I could find was Gray Development Apache Blvd. (1811 East Apache)

I took these pictures today standing between what looks to me like the main entrance and the main structure. There is a stop light just east of McClintock with the PnR signage. I will contact the developer soon to see if any new/updated information is available. (maybe some drawings or pics?)

Tempe Light Rail Meeting

There will be an "open house" at the Tempe Police Substation ( 1855 E Apache) this Wednesday at 6PM to discuss the light rail stations on Apache Blvd. Currently, there are four stations on Apache ranging from Dorsey to McClintock to Smith-Martin and down to Price Road. These stations look to be fairly significant as 3 of the 4 also will have Park-and-Ride Stations. The meeting, which is open to the public, will be to share ideas for the area, discuss future light rail stations and to provide an overview of existing conditions near these areas. The area in discussion is considered Line Section 5 and has some pretty interesting "dynamics" that will come in to play. ie: Great access to the 101, a lot of commercial potential and some housing areas that will undoubtedly go through some changes in the near future.
Other public meetings are held monthly to provide section updates and for people to voice their opinion on construction etc. I have been to several of these meetings and try to drink a Red Bull before in case something of real interest is discussed. This Wednesday's meeting sounds like it will be pretty interesting though. Maybe I'll see ya there.. Feel free to check the Rail Life blog for info on more Light Rail meetings..