Hourly Update

Council to vote on Tech Park annexation

The City Council is set to approve Tuesday an annexation with the University of Arizona to bring a resort hotel, a golf course and commercial development at the UA's Science and Technology park into the city. After negotiating since August, a task force of city, UA and KB Home representatives have finalized the deal to annex 573 acres of the park, which will go before council Tuesday. As part of the deal the UA will commit to not using groundwater on the planned golf course, which was the city's number one sticking point. The annexation has been on hold for three months because of a dispute over how to water the golf course. The parties haven't determined yet how the course will be watered, only that fresh groundwater won't be used. At post-annexation task force will be convened to sort out how the course will be watered. The agreement moves all three entities, and Eastbound Investments Ltd., a little closer to working out a deal for a UA biosciences park, housing and commercial project at East 36th Street and South Kino Parkway. KB plans build about 600 homes at the Tech Park, which will be included in the annexation. As part of the deal, KB will swap 65 acres at 36th and Kino to the UA for the biosciences park. In return, the UA will turn over land at the tech park for the KB subdivision.