In January, the City of Tempe announced it was planning to recreate a three-acre former Big Lots retail site at 950 E. Baseline Road into a combined site with a new fire station and at least 50 affordable housing units.
The announcement listed four primary considerations for the project:
- A minimum of 50 affordable housing units near essential services and employment opportunities;
- A new fire station;
- Design that accommodates co-location of the two uses, such as noise reduction measures, and
- Maximizing land use and effectively meeting broad community needs.
The $6.6M site purchase was touted as the first investment under the City’s 2024 Affordable Housing Bond and the first co-location of a fire station and housing development in the Valley.
A recent local news report detailed how the City is working to iron out how the property will be shared and how the housing will be funded…