When family-owned Posner's Art Store turns 100 next year, it might have to celebrate its centennial in a new location.
The store on North Park Avenue, which is owned and operated by husband and wife Dick and Emily Brown, has sold art supplies just west of the University of Arizona since the 1970s. But in January, the Browns got a letter from a new property manager saying they had until the end of the year to pack their brushes.
The store sits on property that Chicago-based Campus Acquisitions plans to turn into a 14-story student housing tower. The developer is looking to build two such towers, one on North Tyndall and one on North Park, both south of East Speedway.
Groundbreaking on the Tyndall project could start in April, said Stephen Bus, the company's vice president of acquisitions and development. The 586-bed building would include a rooftop pool, outdoor terraces and exercise rooms, its website says.
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Campus Acquisitions plans to move forward with the Park Avenue phase in 2013, but neighborhood opposition could put construction on both towers on hold.
As for Posner's Art Store, the housing company isn't looking to kick out a longtime family-owned business, Bus said. The Park building will include retail space, and Bus said Campus Acquisitions would "absolutely" consider leasing to Posner's.
Emily Brown said she hadn't yet talked with anyone from Campus Acquisitions, but such an arrangement would only work if she had space to run the store while the tower is under construction.
"We can't be out of business for a year or two," she said.
Campus Acquisition's project is possible because of a new zoning option recently approved by the City Council that allows high-density projects along the route of the modern streetcar. Neighbors, meanwhile, have bristled over the zoning changes and have mobilized to overturn them. They say the council pushed them through too fast. They also worry about the impact such high-density developments will have on historic properties.
"The fallout from this is one of our concerns. What's going to happen?" said Chris Gans, president of the West University Neighborhood Association.
Those who oppose the zoning are working to gather 8,500 signatures by the end of the month, which would force the City Council to reverse its decision or put the issue before voters at the next general election.
While Posner's Art Store wasn't a primary trigger in the push to stop the council's action, it demonstrates the reach of the decision, Gans said.
"People like Posner's are the ones who kind of get pushed out," he said.
For the Browns, closing up shop isn't an option.
"We're not going to let a 100-year-old, family-owned business go out," Emily Brown said.
The shop opened in downtown in 1913. Decades later, in 1977, Louis Posner sold the store to Dick Brown. By that time, it had already moved to a small strip mall just west of the UA.
With its location so close to the university - and just a short walk from the art and architecture departments - the bulk of the store's business is students. The Browns have been looking for available space nearby and have found a couple of options, but would prefer to stay where they are.
"Certainly, we want to stay here. This is where we've been ... for years. But we have to have a backup," Emily Brown said.
Still, when it comes to student housing, the City Council has to walk a fine line, said Councilman Steve Kozachik, whose ward includes the West University Neighborhood.
Residents in university-area neighborhoods have bemoaned the arrival of so-called "mini-dorms," where several students live in one house with individual locking bedrooms and shared living space. That arrangement, they argue, violates single-family zoning requirements.
When minidorms start popping up, residents often argue that it's better to put students in higher-density buildings along major streets. The project proposed by Campus Acquisitions does that, Kozachik noted.
Also, with its location just west of the university, the project will relieve traffic as students won't have to commute through neighborhoods.
"If there's a place where it's legitimate to put a large student housing project, it's right there near the university," Kozachik said.
Contact reporter Dale Quinn at dquinn@azstarnet.com or 573-4197.