After a COVID-19 waylay, Verde at Cooley Station stakeholders will celebrate the completion of the development’s construction with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and two-day party, Friday, Dec. 5, and Saturday, Dec. 6.
The ribbon-cutting at the 23-acre, mixed-use development at 3945 E. Williams Field Road, Gilbert, is 10 a.m. Friday, Dec. 5.
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“We’re really excited about the upcoming Verde grand opening celebrate on Dec. 5 and Dec. 6,” said Norm Brody, one of the ownership group’s managing members, and the owner of Brody Associates Inc.
The mayor and other town employees, as well as the chamber, are set to speak during the event.
“It’s going to be a really exciting time,” Brody said.
Friday’s events will feature a Disney princess appearance and facepainting; a moonlit movie screening and a live comedy show at the Earnhardt Hyundai San Tan Pavilion. The entity has the pavilion’s naming rights for three years.
There will also be a Verde Crawl promotion with Verde’s tenants and up to $4,000 in prizes.
Saturday will see yoga in the park; bounce houses; golf simulators; the Phoenix Suns cheerleaders; “Gorilla,” the Suns’ mascot; interactive vendors; photo opportunities; and a basketball truck. The Chadwicks and Soulitify will round out the night on the Earnhardt Hyundai San Tan Pavilion Stage from 6 to 9 p.m.
Brody said his partners — Robert Batt and Gustavo Mazon — wished to create a mixed-use development that caters to the community. The development’s groundbreaking was in 2019, shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic started. The project went vertical in 2022.
“We had a battle between the isolation, supply chain issues and labor issues, which increased construction costs,” he said, adding there were no site plan changes.
In 2024, Verde at Cooley Station received the Visionary Award from the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce.
Now wrapped up, the colorful Verde at Cooley Station boasts 22 murals on the buildings’ outside walls, which, Brody hopes, will enhance the visitor experience. More than 50 annual events are expected at the development.
“We want to have something going on every week,” Brody said. “We wanted to support the community — especially the arts community. We started a 501(c)(3) called The Verde Gilbert Community Arts Initiative.
In partnership with Artlink, the murals will debut its virtual art tour of the murals around Verde.
“We’re launching that during the grand opening event,” he said. “Guests can open the link and walk around Verde and learn about the artists’ thought processes.”
The development has been giving back to the community during its construction phases. For four years, Verde at Cooley Station has been the title sponsor for the Gilbert Half Marathon, which attracted nearly 2,000 runners this year. The event starts and ends at Verde at Cooley Station.
“We just enjoy the interaction with the community,” Brody said. “I think that folks in Gilbert and the surrounding areas will enjoy coming here.”
The final piece of The Verde at Cooley Station was “building F,’ near Williams Field and Recker roads. Many of the tenants are occupied by women entrepreneurs.
“We were happy to finish the project at that location,” he said. “We have some really good tenants in there, as we do elsewhere. We’re all about service and entertainment.”
