Suits and ties are in and maroon and gold are out at the former McDuffy's Sports Bar.
The Ash Avenue building, home to the bar since 1988, closed last month and has been gutted to make way for developer Avenue Communities LLC's temporary corporate headquarters.
Avenue Communities is taking a two-year pit stop in McDuffy's during a move from central Phoenix to a refurbished Hayden Flour Mill, said company spokeswoman Margie D'Andrea.
The company plans to redevelop the mill and move there after renovations are complete, she said.
"Our lease is up at our current headquarters," D'Andrea said. "It's really just a plain business decision. We decided to move down to the Mill Avenue District sooner rather than later."
McDuffy's Sports Bar owner Scott Adams sold the building to Avenue Communities over fears of declining patronage.
Adams expected annual losses of up to $400,000 if his Tempe bar stayed in business, he said.
Fewer customers because of the absence of the Arizona Cardinals and a steady drop in Mill's pedestrian traffic would have hit him hardest, he said.
"It was great for us, and we loved every minute of it, but it didn't always translate into dollars and cents," Adams said.
McDuffy's, which also has a location in Peoria, will open a Chandler location in early 2007. But Adams didn't say if or when McDuffy's will return to Tempe.
"We just have to see what makes the most sense when the opportunity comes along," he said.
Psychology senior Mike Larsson said he was shocked when he heard McDuffy's was gone.
The bar, a student favorite, included dozens of TVs playing various sports games and at one time shared a building with the Bash on Ash, which hosted live music before turning into dance club.
He recalled a Juliana Theory and Something Corporate concert at Bash on Ash he attended during high school.
"It was one of the nicest venues," he said. "It was just the right size; it was packed, still somewhat intimate."
Chicano studies senior Gilbert Celaya said he would miss the laid-back atmosphere and the chance to watch multiple sports games at one time.
"They took away Long Wong's and now they're taking away McDuffy's," Celaya said. "Bring it back, man. What's next, Julio's Too [Mexican Food]?"
D'Andrea said Avenue Communities plans to keep the McDuffy's site and may eventually construct two high-rise condominium towers in its place, but no further details were available.
For the Hayden Flour Mill, plans include the new headquarters and 10,000 square feet of boutique retail space.
Residential space is also planned, although the size and design have not been finalized, D'Andrea said.
Neil Calfee, deputy community development manager for Tempe, said the mill would require structural renovations for conversion into office and retail uses. Renovations would include removal of machinery and cleaning up the mill.
Some machinery could be saved for an on-site exhibit on the mill's history, he said.
Despite its age and damage from a 2002 fire, the mill is basically intact, he said.
"There's a tremendous amount of stability in that building," Calfee added.
Reach the reporter at Grayson.Steinberg.
