A joint venture that plans to build a sprawling mixed-use development on the shores of the Tempe Town Lake has received final zoning approval for the project from the city of Tempe. It will be the first project to be built along the shores of the two-mile long, man-made lake.

Construction will begin on the first phase of Hayden Ferry Lakeside, which will go up at the northeast corner of Rio Salado Parkway and Mill Avenue. At build-out the project will include an eight-story, Class A, 200,000-sf office building, a restaurant, a three-level parking structure, nearly 600,000-sf of retail space, a full-service hotel and 388 condominiums. The first phase, which will be completed by June 2002, will include the office building, restaurant and parking garage.

The project is a joint venture of SunCor Development, a Phoenix-based development company wholly owned by Pinnacle West, Boston-based Bay State Milling Company and Tempe-based Benton-Robb Development.

SunCor, along with the general contractor on the project, McCarthy Construction, have announced that they will both move their corporation headquarters to the eight-story office building. SunCor will lease 42,000-sf, and McCarthy will take 14,000-sf.

"The Town Lake has great potential and, with Hayden Ferry Lakeside as a catalyst, we look forward to becoming a big part of its success," says Peggy Kirch, VP of commercial development for SunCor.

Based on demographic numbers, the downtown Tempe area is considered the center of the Maricopa County workforce. Tempe is landlocked on all sides by Phoenix and other suburbs. Arizona State University, which has 50,000 students annually, is just a mile south of the project.

Tempe poured $50 million into building Tempe Town Lake, which runs from just west of Mill Avenue to McClintock Road. The city had hoped that the lake, which was filled just over a year ago, would attract droves of new development to create an ambiance similar San Antonio Riverwalk. But deal after deal has fallen through, including a 1,000-room Peabody Hotel project that collapsed last year.

Now, it looks as though the lake is beginning to bring in the sought after development.

A number of projects are going through the city, and a condominium project is underway just west of the project. Tempe has proposed building a $335-million stadium for the Arizona Cardinals on a parcel, just to the northwest of the lake. The Tourism and Sports Authority will decide on Tuesday where to build the stadium, either in Tempe or the West Valley.