Request for Information - Redevelopment Ideas for the Joel D. Valdez Main Library

To inspire a broad range of visionary and context-sensitive responses, the City encourages respondents to consider the following guiding themes and design considerations:

 

Urban Context & Public Realm

• Activation of Jácome Plaza and street frontages as vibrant, shaded, and welcoming public spaces appropriate to a Sonoran Desert city.
• Integration with the surrounding downtown environment, enhancing walkability, connectivity, and civic presence.

 

Adaptive Reuse and Redevelopment Potential

• Creative approaches to reimagining or redeveloping the existing Property Components.
• Mixed-use opportunities that may include residential, commercial, retail, civic, cultural, or educational functions.

Future-Oriented Infrastructure

• Consideration of evolving mobility, including shared, electric, and autonomous vehicles.
• Potential reuse or reconfiguration of the underground parking garage.
• Integration with future transit improvements.

 

Sustainability and Resilience

• Environmentally responsible site planning.
• Water stewardship, heat mitigation, and climate-adaptive design.
• High-performance building systems.

 

Community & Cultural Value

• Opportunities to foster inclusivity, civic engagement, cultural programming, and public amenities, including, and not limited to, a new cultural center occupying up to 40,000 square feet of new or existing space, a commercial kitchen, arts/music classroom space, and a concert space.
• Strategies to preserve or reinterpret the civic identity of the site and surroundings.

 

Zoning and Dimensional Standards

• No minimum setbacks
• No maximum lot coverage
• No maximum density
• No minimum parking requirements
• 300’ maximum building height

Respondents are encouraged to interpret these considerations broadly and to propose bold, context-sensitive concepts that advance Tucson’s cultural, economic, and civic life.

Information Requested

Respondents are invited to submit a written narrative (maximum 6 pages), with optional accompanying visual materials, that addresses the following:

 

1. Conceptual Use Ideas - Proposed mix of uses, programming, or activities.
2. Community Impact – Describe how the concept could contribute to the vibrancy, identity, and economy of Downtown Tucson.

 

3. Financing & Partnership Models – Describe partnership, joint venture, leasing or other structures that would facilitate transformation of the site.
4. Design Approaches – Renderings, diagrams, or other visual materials that illustrate the concept are recommended, but not required. Reuse of existing materials or prior project examples is welcomed.