Michael Keith, who has had his hand in several downtown redevelopments and did an infrastructure study of downtown's needs in 2007, will take over Glenn Lyons' job at the Downtown Tucson Partnership.
DTP reports:
Lifelong Tucsonan Michael Keith will become the interim CEO of the Downtown Tucson Partnership effective May 7.Keith will replace Glenn Lyons, who will be leaving that position to become president and CEO of the Downtown Community Alliance in Des Moines, Iowa. Keith will begin working with Lyons immediately to ensure a smooth transition.
Keith is president of Contemporary West Development, which specializes in historic restoration and new residential development in downtown Tucson. He led the effort in 2007 to prepare
the comprehensive City of Tucson Downtown Infrastructure Study and has been involved in several downtown renovation and improvement projects.
“Under Glenn Lyons’ leadership, the Downtown Tucson Partnership has been an integral part of the tremendous renaissance taking place Downtown,” said Larry Hecker, Chair of the Downtown Tucson Partnership’s Board of Directors. “We are well on the way to restoring downtown to its position as the heart and soul of our community. We are fortunate that a person with Michael’s skills, experience and knowledge stepped forward to ensure that the steadily gaining momentum of downtown revitalization will not slow.”
“It seems to me, looking around the country, that there is no linear progression to how downtowns get revitalized” said Keith. “Progress happens in fits and starts, quiets down, starts up again. You can feel the surge building up again in Tucson, a vibe downtown that is really beginning to intensify. I think the Downtown Tucson Partnership, with its cross-section of businesses, developers, merchants, artists, and civic leaders, must and will play an increasingly active and visible role in this resurgence.”
