By
Blake Smith
Arizona Daily Wildcat
The UA might have found a new home for proposed family housing and the facilities management department if a land swap with the Tucson Unified School District becomes reality.
In exchange for the property at 1010 E. 10th St., which is the current TUSD headquarters site, the University of Arizona would have to transfer ownership of the soon to be acquired Tucson Electric Power building, 220 W. Sixth St., to the school district.
The UA bought the TEP building in December with the intention of moving its facilities management office to the site.
Since 1996, the TUSD site has been in the university's planning documents, and efforts to gain possession of the property have been made, said UA spokeswoman Sharon Kha.
"It has shown up on our maps that we would like to do something with TUSD," Kha said.
Lynn Webster, TUSD interim executive manager for fiscal and operations support, said TUSD has always been interested in transferring ownership to the university, but there has been one major hold up.
"Our response was that they would have to find us a new home," Webster said.
Now that the UA has found TUSD a new location, the exchange will probably become reality, he added.
David Duffy, UA director of campus and facilities planning, said because of its proximity to the university, the building could be a beneficial exchange.
"We proposed in (the planning documents) that if we could, sometime in the future, it would make sense for us to acquire the property," Duffy said.
If the deal is finalized, UA Facilities Management could move into the current TUSD headquarters, while student family housing could be built in a parking lot across the street.
Duffy stressed that talks with the school district are in the preliminary stage and nothing has been decided.
To make the deal a reality, two appraisals of the TUSD site, which are currently underway, need to be done, Webster said.
The value of the TUSD property must be close to that of the $6.9 million TEP building. If it's not, the school district will have to turn over additional property to the university to compensate for the lower appraisal, Webster added.
He said the exchange would benefit TUSD greatly because it would allow the district to consolidate much of their staff into one building.
"Right now the staff that we would hope to move in there are spread amongst a half a dozen locations," he said.
The parcel of land is bound on the south by East Broadway Boulevard, on the north by East Ninth Street, and by North Park Avenue and North Fremont Avenue on the west and east, respectively.
There has been discussion about the possibility of putting family housing on the site for many years, said Jim Van Arsdel, director of UA Residence Life.
"My own sense for some time is that that site would be perfect for family housing," Van Arsdel said. "It is close to campus and in an existing neighborhood, so it would feel right."
He added that at the present time, UA Residence Life has not decided on a location to accommodate family housing after mold problems forced the closure of the Christopher City Apartments.
Until an exchange occurs, Van Arsdel said UA Residence Life will not participate in the negotiations.
"We want to respect the process that is already underway but recognize that this potential is good news," he added.
