A
well-known Valley home developer is the
latest player to firm up plans for
luxury live-work-play hubs in the
northeast Valley.
DMB Associates Inc., the Scottsdale
company behind Verrado and DC Ranch,
plans to build up to 1,100 residences
and 1.8 million square feet of shops,
restaurants, hotels and offices with
underground parking on the northeastern
corner of Scottsdale Road and Loop 101.
Dubbed One Scottsdale, the
120-acre project stretching from Loop
101 to Thompson Peak Parkway was once
known as Stacked 40s. Construction of
One Scottsdale's 60-acre commercial
core, which sits on the south end of the
development and will include for-sale
condominiums above retail and
brownstones on tree-lined streets, will
begin next year and finish in fall 2009.
DMB will then start working on the
second half of the project, a 60-acre
piece of land to the north that will
include houses and a resort.
Higher
opportunity?
Scottsdale city officials have
limited the height of buildings on the
site to 60 feet, or four or five stories
tall. But just across from One
Scottsdale on the other side of
Scottsdale Road, Phoenix has given
another developer permission to build a
similar project with buildings that
reach 190 feet, or about 17 stories.
DMB could ask the city for more height
in One Scottsdale's mixed-use core to
make the project more visually
interesting, said Robert Mayhew, manager
of DMB's commercial properties. Some
neighbors are opposed to tall buildings
for the area's low-slung skyline.
Kroy Ekblaw, Scottsdale executive
assistant for strategic projects, said
DMB has not formally applied to raise
the height limit for One Scottsdale.
"We're open to hearing their ideas and
taking it through the process," which
would require public hearings, Ekblaw
said.
Benefits
of 'panache'
The
northeast Valley is emerging as a
battleground for developers of mega
mixed-use projects. Four developers,
including DMB, are planning to build
similar hubs that include shops,
restaurants, offices and residences.
The other projects are Palisene, on the
northwestern corner of Loop 101 and
Scottsdale Road in Phoenix; CityNorth,
on the northwestern corner of Loop 101
and 56th Street in Phoenix; and Kierland
Gateway, on Scottsdale Road across from
Kierland Commons in Scottsdale.
"Our niche can survive," Mayhew said.
"There is some panache about being on
Scottsdale Road . . . that helps us."
One Scottsdale will include up to
600,000 square feet of retail. It won't
be a regional mall, Mayhew said, but one
or two department stores could be part
of the mix.
DMB would not say which retailers it is
negotiating with but would say that it
is trying to attract local retailers as
well as national chains that have yet to
open in the Valley.
Plans also call for 10 to 15 small
restaurants, some of them clustered on a
boulevard that will be blocked off to
cars in the evening.
Mayhew said the project's design will
blend contemporary and traditional
architecture. DMB has hired seven local
and national architects to design parts
of the project, which will include
curved streets in the shopping district
and unique features such as a building
like the Flatiron Building that will
help to separate One Scottsdale
from its competition.
"It's like the porridge," Mayhew said.
"We're about the right temperature and
the right size."
Erica Sagon
The Arizona Republic
May. 11, 2006 12:00 AM
Staff writer Peter Corbett
contributed to this article.
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