A new project could transform a vacant county-owned lot off the Rillito River into the “front door” for the Chuck Huckelberry Loop, officials say.
With approval from the Pima County Board of Supervisors in March, a developer is moving forward with its plans for ALIGN, a 5.3-acre commercial project that will sit just south of the Rillito River and east of North Alvernon Way.
The developer, Infinite Concepts, LP, is led by brothers Mark and Eric Erman, who own Ermanos Bar, as well as the speakeasy concept Portal Cocktails.
“We are honored that Pima County has entrusted our team with the project,” Mark Erman said in a news release. “We’ve been developing this idea for years and see ourselves as trustees of the land charged to build an inspiring place for the whole community.”
County supervisors began taking proposals for use of the land in 2021 and Infinite Concepts’ proposal was chosen in February 2022.
Along with public parking and restrooms incorporated into the project, ALIGN’s total footprint will reach seven acres, according to a county news release.
While currently in the planning-and-design stages, Infinite Concepts’ 2021 proposal says ALIGN would act as the ‘front door’ for the Chuck Huckelberry Loop, the 137-mile bike-and-pedestrian path that runs through unincorporated parts of the county, Marana, Oro Valley, Tucson and South Tucson.
ALIGN will have four “primary elements,” according to Infinite Concepts: a landscaped park, retail space, overnight accommodations and an indoor-outdoor “bathhouse and wellness facility.”
“Amidst an epidemic of loneliness and a growing mental health crisis, the Ermans aspire to create a low-tech third-place gathering environment — both a publicly accessible welcome stop for Loop users and first-rate destination for locals and visitors desiring a refuge where restorative effects can be experienced inside a day without leaving town,” according to a news release this week from Infinite Concepts.
“The primary aspiration for ALIGN is to infuse the good feelings of slow cooking, fire, drink, and music from wild settings into a nourishing social environment,” said Eric Erman. “Over the years, we have evolved as hosts, and we continue to practice the art of wholehearted hospitality which requires genuine care and listening.”
Infinite Concepts is the lead developer. Brooklyn-based HelenHanCreative, LLC., will act as lead designer, according to a project fact sheet.
Other groups joining the design team are San Francisco-based Studio O.G. + Landscape, and Tucson-based companies BWS Architects, ARC Studio, Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc., as well as Schneider Structural Engineers.
Tucson-based Under a Tree will be the project’s health consultant and Wave Hospitality Advisors, from Laguna Niguel, Calif., will be the hospitality consultant.
As part of 5-year development agreement, Infinite Concepts and the county will begin negotiations for a ground lease within the next year, only after the developer goes through a rezoning process with the Tucson as it’s still within city limits, Pima County Administrator Jan Lesher said in a March 11 memo.
“The seed of the project was planted in 1988,” the county says, when the Pima County Regional Flood Control District bought the land to construct bank protections on the river after the devasting floods of 1983.
