The Rio Nuevo district soon will be home to  a new hotel, a patio expansion, and an eastside location for a popular Oro Valley eatery.

At its recent meeting, the Rio Nuevo Board first heard an update on Oregon-based hospitality group Obie Companies' latest hotel venture at 75 E. Broadway Blvd.

Obie has multiple hotel and business properties across Oregon and approached the board last October about building a new hotel downtown.

Since then, Obie has completed a housing and hospitality study and developed an outline of strategies to maximize the space’s retail component.

“I think we’ve been doing good work on beginning to refine and design the building concept,” Brian Obie, president and CEO of Obie Companies, said during Rio Nuevo’s February 25 board meeting.

Obie said the group sees a real opportunity in designing a hotel lobby that opens onto Congress Street and through the former site of the Chicago Music Store. He said the lobby will have multiple functions, including entertainment, retail, restaurants, and speakeasies.

“We’re trying to create, really, a destination with multiple uses there that are integral to the hotel lobby, but integral to the street and what else is happening in downtown Tucson,” Obie said.

The group will spend this month refining the hotel design and studying parking needs and additional building support. It aims to submit a funding request to the Rio Nuevo board by the end of the third quarter.

“It’s an exciting aspect of bringing this together and creating the energy of downtown,” Obie said.

Billy Elliott, owner of Elliott’s on Congress, is also looking to capitalize on the energy of downtown and is asking the board to help fund a patio expansion.

“This would give us a lot of extra seating capacity, and I think a dog-friendly, inviting atmosphere,” Elliott said.

The expansion would be “streetery-style,” similar to other patios on Congress, including Batch and Blue Front. It will be built on a platform level with the sidewalk and offer six feet of pedestrian walking space.

The patio would take up 1.5 parking spaces and provide 24 additional seats. Elliott requested $23,485.62 from the board to help cover construction costs, with the motion passing unanimously.

Moving out of downtown and over to the east side, Cold Beers and Cheeseburgers is looking to expand its footprint in Tucson with a location in the Park Place mall.

“It brings an awesome energy to the east side and significant opportunity for future tax generation and really getting the east side reactivated,” said Keri Silvyn, owner and partner of Lazarus & Silvyn P.C.

With the help of Silvyn and Evergreen Developing Company, this will be the sports bar’s second location to open in Tucson. The first, located in Oro Valley on North Oracle Road, opened in 2023. The chain also has locations in Scottsdale, Chandler and Marciopa.

“We immediately saw the vision for turning the lights back on here at the east side of Park Place Mall,” said Russell Perkins, principal at Evergreen Developing Company.

Bringing a mid-century vibe with a modern twist, Cold Beers and Cheeseburgers plans to renovate and move into a portion of the former Sears building.

“For us, it’s really all about kind of reconnecting the community to that special place that had so much meaning for so many people for literally generations,” said Bryan Lamond, senior vice president of Evergreen Developing Company.

The burger joint will include 6,024 square feet of restaurant space with 2,600 square feet of patio space.

Evergreen has invested around $32.9 million to renovate the space and projects around $4.5 million in annual sales for the restaurant’s second location. Silvyn and Evergreen requested $2.3 million in funding from the Rio Nuevo board to complete the project.

“We are now confidently creating a place, and placemaking is really important to that multi-family component,” Perkins said.

The motion to fund the new restaurant through three different phases passed unanimously, with $500,000 to be disbursed this month, another $500,000 in the next fiscal year, and $1.3 million over time, through a sales tax rebate.

“I just drove past the mall the other day, and it needs some love,” said Rio Nuevo board member Edmund Marquez, thanking Silvyn and her team.

Arilynn Hyatt is a journalism major at the University of Arizona and Tucson Spotlight intern. Contact her at arilynndhyatt@arizona.edu.

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