KRISTIN ELVES/Arizona Daily Wildcat Students and traffic pass by University Drug, 943 E. University, yesterday afternoon. The complex at the northwest corner of East University Boulevard and North Park Avenue will be torn down to make room for a five-story building that will likely house several businesses and UA offices.

UA expected to purchase 80 percent of proposed five-story building

A planned five-story multipurpose building at the corner of North Park Avenue and East Second Street is beginning to take shape despite concerns from some nearby businesses.

Tenants in the East University Boulevard building complex - which will be destroyed to make room for the new building - face an uncertain future, as they are now operating on monthly leases and will be charged higher rent if they move to the new complex.

The Marshall Foundation, which owns the property, will offer all current tenants space in the new complex, but not all of them are sure they will be able to afford the move.

"No one knows what's going on what now," said Jason Lam, who along with his wife, Julie, owns 88 Express Indonesian Restaurant, 931 E. University Blvd. "The university is actually not really a good place to make money because, when you consider winter and summer, the students are only here for seven months a year - so we can't afford a raise in rent," Julie Lam said.

Last summer, the rent increase for tenants at locations like 88 Express and University Drug, 943 E. University Blvd., was quoted at 250 percent, but Tom Warne, a developer and consultant for the Marshall Foundation is no longer sure of an exact amount because the building drawings are not complete.

The raise in rent is a result of the higher costs of the brand-new building, which has to replace the old one.

"What will happen with the current tenants while the new building is being built will be decided," Warne said.

"They will be offered a different opportunity."

The University of Arizona is expected to purchase 80 percent of the building, and the remaining space would accommodate businesses - some of which may relocate there from their current East University Avenue location, Warne said. The Arizona Board of Regents will likely approve a plan at its meeting Friday that would allow the UA to enter into negotiations with the Marshall Foundation, said Jack Jewett, president-elect of the board of regents.

Jewett said the university can expect to move into the building by spring 2003.

Joining the UA as occupants of the new building will be the Arizona Bookstore, which will move from its current location at 815 N. Park Ave., Warne said.

Other businesses are also negotiating for space in the building, but Warne said Marshall Foundation policy prevents him from discussing what those businesses will be.

Preliminary designs for the building are already complete, but Marshall Foundation officials are not exactly certain how it will look because they are waiting on input from tenants.

Warne said the Marshall Foundation wants the building to look more like how Louise Foucar Marshall, the founder of the foundation, had envisioned.

"The brand new building will look like Chipotle and Urban Outfitters.

It will be solidly built and will be similar to what it was originally going to look like," Warne said.

"Everyone likes how the new buildings look."

The Marshall Foundation is a non-profit organization, located at 925 E. University Blvd., which raises funds from its real estate for community service and educational organizations.