The Rio Nuevo board will greenlight a redevelopment deal Tuesday, January 23. The deal will turn a downtown parking lot into one of the tallest buildings in Tucson.

The taxing district board will vote on opening formal discussions with an out-of-town developer to build a 300-foot tall tower on the county-owned property on East Broadway between Sixth and Scott avenues.

The project is one of several responses to Rio Nuevo’s call for proposals for the site last year to encourage more development in the heart of downtown.

The guidelines set by Rio Nuevo set a minimum for the proposals, calling for an eight-story structure with at least 150,000-square-feet in retail/office space and a 500-space parking garage. It also requires there to be retail shops or restaurants on the ground floor facing Broadway.

Downtown Tucson Will Get a New Skyscraper

Those familiar with the lead proposal said the building would be one of the tallest structures in Tucson.

The height limit for the county-owned property is 300 feet. Only one structure in Tucson is taller — downtown’s One South Church. That building is 23 stories high and at about 330 feet in height, making it the tallest building in Tucson. Caterpillar is among the tenants there. The company is waiting for the building of its new headquarters west of Interstate 10. Built in 1986, the building was previously known as the UniSource Energy Tower.

Officials are excited about the new development, saying it is one of the largest deals for the taxing district.

“This is going to be a game-changer for downtown,” said a member of the Rio Nuevo Board, Edmund Marquez.

The project is still in the earliest of stages, with Rio Nuevo expected to finalize a deal with the developer in the coming weeks

It will also involve the city of Tucson and Pima County, which worked closely with the taxing district on the redevelopment of the property.

“I think it’s a positive step,” said Tucson City Councilman Steve Kozachik.

“It’s a continuation of redevelopment downtown and it takes the property off the county rolls and onto the private sector. We are very excited to be part of this project”, said John Moffatt, the county’s economic development director.