tucson wants to build new architecturally sensitive housing

The City of Tucson’s Housing and Community Development Department has issued a Request for Information for a project that will see the housing redevelopment of three separate city-owned properties.

According to city documents, the new housing must be built in a way that is “compatible with the history and character of their neighborhoods.”

The first site is located on the northeast corner of Contzen Avenue and Delong Street in the city’s historic Barrio Anita.

An area of the city with a large Hispanic population where the earliest structures were built Sonoran style with adobe walls and flat roofs, mixed in with latter-day Queen Anne style structures, the hope is that eight detached affordable homes will be built, paying homage to the architectural history of the neighborhood.

The second site is located at the northeast corner of 11th Avenue and 1st Street in the Dunbar Springs neighborhood, at a location formerly occupied by the Salvation Army Hospitality House.

The Dunbar Springs area is dotted with homes dating to the early 20th century, often designed in the popular Gothic Revival style.

Plans call for the construction of anywhere from 7 to 12 new apartment units at the Dunbar Springs site.

The final site is situated in the Menlo Park neighborhood, a more than 100 year-old section of the city featuring a combination of homes built in the Spanish Colonial, Prairie, and post-World War II ranch styles.
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The city hopes to build at least half a dozen new units on the 1.4-acre Menlo Park site located on the east side of the intersection of Westmoreland Avenue and Menlo Park Place.

​By Garry Boulard

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