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PRESS RELEASE: Major $350 Million Mixed-Use Commercial Development Planned for Downtown Tempe

TEMPE, AZ – USA Place, LLC, has been selected to develop a new 330-room Omni Hotel and 30,000-square-foot conference center on a 10.5-acre site located at the southeast corner of Mill Avenue and University Drive, subject to Tempe City Council and Arizona Board of Regents final approval of development agreements. In addition to the hotel and conference center, USA Place will include a new national headquarters and training center for USA Basketball, a 4,500-seat event center, 500 luxury apartments, 160,000 square feet of retail and up to 200,000 square feet of office space, including the new home for Arizona Interscholastic Association events.

The principals of USA Place, LLC, include Susan Eastridge, CEO of Concord Eastridge; Michael Hallmark, principal of Future Cities; and Robert Harris, CEO of Harris Sports & Entertainment. 

At a Board meeting on July 25, USA Basketball’s Board of Directors approved the move to Tempe and USA Place as the home of its new national headquarters and training center.

The location, described by the developers as one of the most important urban sites in the Southwest, is adjacent to ASU’s main campus and Tempe’s Mill Avenue District, a short walk to light rail stations and minutes from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

The mixed-use plan created by Future Cities emphasizes walkable urban neighborhoods with four- and five-story residential units above retail shops, restaurants and services. Parking is designed to be primarily below grade and in one parking structure at the corner of 10th Street and Myrtle.

The full-service Omni Hotel will be Tempe’s first four-diamond hotel. With 58 distinctive luxury hotels and resorts across North America, Omni Hotels & Resorts is recognized as a market leader for group and transient business as well as with leisure travelers.  The adjacent 30,000-square-foot conference center will feature a grand ballroom capable of seating 1,000 for dining, a junior ballroom and meeting space.

The site’s other major anchor will be USA Basketball, which will relocate their national headquarters and training center to USA Place in the fall of 2015.  Currently based in Colorado Springs, Colo., USA Basketball serves as the national governing body for men’s and women’s basketball in the U.S. They are officially recognized by the United States Olympic Committee and the International Basketball Federation(FIBA) asbeing solely responsible for the selection, training and fielding of USAteams that compete in FIBA sponsored international basketball competitions, including the Olympics and World Championships. 

Led by Chairman Jerry Colangelo, USA Basketball’s programming for men and women includes U16 (16 years old and under), U17, U18, U19 and the national teams.  USA Basketball also features national teams for 3x3 competitions, and a youth development program which provides kids, parents and coaches with instructional and educational resources.  USA teams are the reigning men’s and women’s champions in the Olympics and currently rank No. 1 in all five of FIBA’s world ranking categories, including men, women, boys and girls.

A new multi-court event center, with seating up to 4,500, will serve as the training site for USA Basketball primarily in the summer months and for regional youth and adult recreational and competitive athletics programming the rest of the year.  A third USA Place development partner, former Phoenix Suns V.P. Robert Harris, will manage the facility and create original programming for the center including tournaments, camps, leagues and clinics.  

“This is an exciting and an incredible opportunity that offers nothing but positives for USA Basketball,” said Colangelo. “USA Place will offer USA Basketball an excellent site for the development of its office headquarters, a training center and event center that will provide the organization with a first-class site for hosting junior level events and will allow USA Basketball to continue to evolve.”

“The new USA Basketball headquarters and training center will be first-class, state of art facilities, something I know we will be very proud of.”

In addition to USA Basketball, the Arizona Interscholastic Association (AIA) will also host programming at the event center, which will include post season state high school tournaments for boys and girls basketball, volleyball, wrestling, badminton and spiritline.  High schools will also have an opportunity to participate in regular season “Games-of-the-Week” there.  AIA is the primary governing body for high school athletics in Arizona.

AIA’s Chuck Schmidt believes the move will create more opportunity for AIA programs.  

“We’re very excited to have a permanent home where we can host our events.  Being able to share a home court with USA Basketball will be a remarkable experience for our kids,” he said.

Omni executives recognize the Tempe site and development concept as important to Omni’s brand.  

“USA Place is our first property development in the Valley, which is important to our brand development strategy as well as for our guests,” said Mike Deitemeyer, president of Omni Hotels & Resorts. “The complex presents Tempe with great synergistic opportunities, and we are committed to ensuring that the Omni Tempe Hotel, and our team, is engaged Tempe community, Greater Phoenix region and state."

The site is located next to ASU’s Tempe campus on land owned by ASU.  USA Place, LLC, is entering into a long-term ground lease with a base term of 99 years.  ASU and the City of Tempe have formed a partnership to support the creation of the conference center and as a result, the conference center will revert to public ownership after twenty years.

Construction of the project is planned to begin by year-end with the hotel, conference center, event center and first phase of residential, retail and office scheduled to open during the second half of 2015.

About USA Place, LLC

The principals of USA Place, LLC, include Susan Eastridge, CEO of Concord Eastridge; Michael Hallmark, principal of Future Cities; and Robert Harris, CEO of Harris Sports & Entertainment. 

Concord Eastridge

Co-founded by Eastridge and Jeff Arnold, Concord Eastridge (CEI) is a nationally respected leader in public/private and mixed-use development in association with universities and colleges, public entities, not-for-profit organizations and other institutions.  Concord Eastridge also develops a variety of commercial and multi-family residential projects for its own account with a robust portfolio of private development projects that complements its public/private development endeavors.  Eastridge’s experience includes the development of more than 7 million square feet of commercial space valued in excess of $1.5 billion and the acquisition/disposition of approximately $900 million in commercial property. She has leased more than 1.5 million square feet of office, retail and industrial space, and she has also directed a management portfolio of commercial properties totaling 3.8 million square feet.


Concord Eastridge is not new to this ASU site.  In 2004, CEI was selected from a national competition when the university was seeking a master developer to build the proposed ASU Arts & Business Gateway, which would have included academic buildings and the ASU bookstore as well as a small hotel and conference center.  Two years later, the project was stalled due to university funding constraints.

Future Cities

Founded by Hallmark and Sean Duncan, Future Cities is a planning and development company that leads in the creation of destination venues, attractions and fan/guest experiences all within the context of better-planned and more sustainable urban communities.  Future Cities recently led a multi-disciplined team in developing design and planning concepts for a phased development of a new Sun Devil Stadium and the surrounding commercial District.

A leading expert in the design and strategic development of sports and entertainment venues and the urban environments that support them, Hallmark was a founder and director of two of the nation’s most successful and fastest growing sports/entertainment design firms (Ellerbe Becket in 1988-1995 and NBBJ in 1995-1999).  Named one of the nation’s “most influential persons in the development of sports facilities” by the Sports Business Journal in 2004, he has served as principal architect for 12 NBA/NHL arenas and 4 MLB ballparks, including US Airways Center and Chase Field in Phoenix and Staples Center in Los Angeles.   

Harris Sports & Entertainment

Prior to founding Harris Sports & Entertainment, a venue and events management firm, Harris served as vice president of the Phoenix Suns where he played an integral role in the franchise’s business operations from1992 – 2006.  Active in the community, Harris is a member of The Thunderbirds, host organization of the Waste Management Phoenix Open.  He has served on the board of directors of a number of non-profit organizations including Phoenix Suns Charities and as a loaned executive to the Valley of the Sun United Way.  He is also a partner in several Valley restaurants including Majerle’s Sports Grill at Chandler Fashion Center.

Project Design & Construction

Design for individual buildings within USA Place will be by a consortium of design firms including Tempe-based Architekton, Seattle-based Miller Hull, and Bill Nord of Newport Beach, California. Master planning will be led by Future Cities. Turner Construction will serve as the project’s general contractor.

More information about USA Place can be found at www.USAplace.usand www.facebook.com/USAplace.

About USA Basketball

Based in Colorado Springs, Colo., since January 1979, USA Basketball is a nonprofit organization and the national governing body for men's and women's basketball in the United States. As the recognized governing body for basketball in the U.S. by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), USA Basketball is responsible for the selection, training and fielding of USA teams that compete in FIBA sponsored international competitions, as well as for some national competitions.

During the 2009-12 quadrennium, 1,273 men and women players and 235 coaches participated in USA Basketball, including USA Basketball teams and trials, and USA Basketball 3x3 FIBA championships. 

USA teams are the current men's and women's champions in the Olympics; men's and women's FIBA World Championships (Basketball World Cup); men’s and women’s FIBA U19 World Championships; men's and women's FIBA U17 World Championships; men's and women's U18 and U16 FIBA Americas Championships, and FIBA 3x3 Women's World Championship and FIBA 3x3 Women's U18 World Championship.  USA Basketball also currently ranks No. 1 in all five of FIBA's world ranking categories, including combined, men's, women's, boys and girls USA Basketball also currently ranks No. 1 in all five of FIBA's world ranking categories, including combined, men's, women's, boys and girls.

For further information about USA Basketball, go to the official Web site of USA Basketball at http://www.usab.comand connect with us on https://www.facebook.com/usabasketball
https://twitter.com/usabasketball, and http://www.youtube.com/usab.