The University will tear down part of the Tempe Center, located at the corner of Mill Avenue and University Drive, to make room for more parking spaces within the next month, ASU officials said.
The dismal condition of the buildings prompted the University to tear them down, said University Planner Richard Stanley.
“The portion closest to University [Drive] is in terrible disrepair,” Stanley said. “It has been vacant for some time now.”
He said that part of the complex has only been used for storage in the past year.
The University had planned to tear down the entire complex in order to make room for condominiums, a hotel and expansions to the W.P. Carey Business School and the Fulton School of Engineering since 2005, Stanley said. A floundering real estate market has stalled those plans, he said.
“We determined it wasn’t financially feasible at the time,” Stanley said.
Mark Luebker is the manager of marketing and communications for the office of Global Engagement, which is located in the wing of the Tempe Center adjacent to the one being demolished.
Luebker said the University has not disclosed its plans for the office after its space is demolished but said he hopes for a more visible presence on campus.
“A lot of folks that walk by really don’t know we’re located here,” Luebker said. “We’d like to be someplace where our clients can find us.”
Luebker said the destruction of the wing nearest to Mill Avenue could help temporarily by making the office of Global Engagement more visible to students parking in the new spaces.
Michael Royce, manager of the Sacks Art of Sandwicherie, located across the parking lot from the condemned buildings, said the University had not notified him about its plans to tear down the property. He said he is not concerned about the project affecting his business.
“From what I’ve seen, [the University] has been pretty helpful to the people who do business for ASU. When there’s changes going on around us, they’re usually on the phone with us,” Royce said. “But they do have the power to do whatever they want, whenever they want.”
Reach the reporter at derek.quizon@asu.edu.
