Why you don't see more vacant lots along light-rail route

• Sustainable Communities has helped fund or develop at least 25 projects along light-rail route
• Collaborative used first $20 million to leverage financing for $375 million in development
• More than 35 groups and governments are involved in the non-profit organization

The next time you ride light rail or drive along the many main streets it chugs down from Phoenix to Mesa, imagine as many as 25 more vacant lots and empty, rundown buildings along the route.

One of those empty lots would have been on the southwest corner of First Avenue and Roosevelt Street.

That prime corner in downtown Phoenix had been vacant for more than 50 years. MetroWest Development had to move utility and water lines, narrow a street by a lane and close a short, one-way street before it could start construction on the Union@Roosevelt apartments earlier this year.

The MetroWest project and at least two dozen other Valley infill projects are up or underway because of Valley non-profit Sustainable Communities Collaborative, which was created to support housing and redevelopment near light rail.

Sustainable Communities worked with MetroWest for more than two years to get the site at First and Roosevelt ready and help it get financing.

Last week, days before the opening of the Mesa extension of light rail, Sustainable Communities landed $30 million more in funding to bring more new housing and businesses to low-income communities along the tracks as well as high-volume bus routes.

"People stay away from infill because it takes some heavy lifting and creative thinking while working with many groups and governments. It's not easy to close a road in car-centric cities," Arizona growth expert Shannon Scutari told me. "But the city of Phoenix and many others saw it was worth it to build Union@Roosevelt, a place that makes it easy to bike and walk to light rail."

She is one of the founders of Sustainable Communities Collaborative, a partnership of more than 35 groups and governments that was funded four years ago with $20 million from the Local Initiatives Support Corp. and the Raza Development Fund.

That $20 million was used to leverage financing for $375 million in development. Local Initiative and Raza also furnished Sustainable Communities latest funding.

There had been high hopes for development along light rail when it was planned and built during the boom. But light rail began service as the economy and real-estate market were crashing in 2008. Several projects planned to go up along the emerging transportation corridor suffered or failed along with the rest of the region's housing market.

Sustainable Communities has helped breathe life back into many projects along the tracks, including these:

• In north central Phoenix, the Beef Eaters Restaurant at Third Avenue and Camelback closed in 2006 as light rail was under construction right in front of the long-time local favorite. Phoenix-based Venue Partners worked with Sustainable Communities to redevelop the site into Newton Place, named after Beef Eater founder Jay Newton. The now thriving mixed-used center is home to a Changing Hands bookstore and the Southern Rail restaurant.
• In Tempe, the 60-year-old Grace Community Church building has been redeveloped into Gracie's Village. The church still operates a thrift store there. The project includes 50 affordable apartments above the thrift store, a Wi-Fi lounge, roof deck and playground area.
• In downtown Mesa, Encore on First, a five-story, 81-unit urban building, has been constructed to provide transit-oriented living for seniors. The new housing project includes a fitness room, reflection pool, lounge with a large covered balcony, storage lockers and barbecue area.

So remember next time you see a thriving new project where people are living, hanging out or working along light rail, that place and more than 20 other projects like it wouldn't be there without many leaders taking a chance on an upstart nonprofit. And then just think what $30 million more means for the Valley.