Towers Will Encroach Slightly On PHX Buffer Airspace

The CityScape construction project planned for downtown Phoenix, AZ has gained approval from the Federal Aviation Administration, despite high rise hotels and condos which could reach 400-to-510 feet in height.

FAA spokesman Ian Gregor told The Arizona Republic while the tallest of the buildings will extend into what's considered buffer airspace near Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, none of the buildings planned will have a negative effect on flights.

"We initially issued a Notice of Presumed Hazard because the structure heights exceeded several FAA obstruction standards," said Gregor.

John Bacon is a spokesman for RED Development, the Scottsdale-based company handling the CityScape development project. "It's what we expected all along," he said of the FAA ruling. "This was within the guidelines that the city established."

The CityScape controversy is one of several such debates raging in the Phoenix metropolitan area. As ANN reported in December, US Airways fought to keep a pair of 300-foot towers from being built in Tempe, east of PHX. The airline wanted a "good neighbor height" of 225 feet, and offered a compromise solution of three towers, at 257-feet apiece.

Phase 1 of the CityScape mixed retail and residential development could open by sometime in 2009. City leaders have considered it crucial in revitalizing downtown Phoenix development.

The project's total cost is estimated at $900 million, and the city has provided tax incentives worth $120 million to encourage the development.

FMI: www.faa.gov, www.downtownphxrising.org, http://phoenix.gov/skyharborairport/