With the opening of CityScape at One E. Washington St., Downtown Phoenix now has an urban-style, mixed-use development where people can eat, shop, meet friends after work, relax at a boutique hotel, and even blow off some steam at the gym or roll a few frames at a bowling center.
Developers of CityScape envision retail and restaurants as being key to the project’s success. Some of the new downtown businesses include Gold’s Gym, CVS pharmacy, Charming Charlie, Urban Outfitters, Stand Up Live, Five Guys Burger and Fries, and The Arrogant Butcher. Scheduled to open in March 2012 is the 4-star Kimpton Palomar Hotel.
“If you have a comedy club, a couple of bars, a fine dining place, a yogurt shop, a burger place and a taco shop, it gives people more of an incentive to check (CityScape) out,” says Peder Bondhus, manager of Vitamin T, an already established Aaron May restaurant at CityScape.
Part of what CityScape has accomplished is due to its relationship with the Greater Phoenix Convention and Visitors Bureau (GPCVB) and the Downtown Phoenix Partnership.
“The Greater Phoenix CVB has been a relentless touring campaign,” says Jeff Moloznik, RED’s development manager. “We spend a lot of time with them touring prospective delegates to the downtown market and CityScape. They also help us with discussing what amenities are available for those who are considering coming to Phoenix for a convention.”
Moloznik says he believes that the success of downtown as a whole hinges on the collaboration of all of downtown’s stakeholders.
“ASU, the (Phoenix) symphony, Comerica, the sporting arenas, CityScape — we all contribute to what is good about Downtown Phoenix,” he says.
Adding to the mix of retail and restaurants are the Phoenix offices of several major law firms including Polsinelli Shughart, Squire Sanders & Dempsey, and Ballard Spahr. The building also houses Alliance Bank, Fidelity Title and RED Development.
And by the end of the year, UnitedHealthcare of Arizona plans to move 600 of its Valley employees to CityScape.
Restaurants scheduled to open later this year offer diverse meal selections, such as American-style breakfast or lunch at The Breakfast Club, Italian cuisine at The Strand, French favorites at La Crepe Nanou, and Japanese options at Silk Sushi.
“We have the utmost confidence in CityScape and the synergy it’s brought to Downtown Phoenix,” says Kyle Shivers, owner of The Breakfast Club. “We’re a breakfast and lunch venue, and the density and daytime market (in Phoenix) is exactly what we’re looking for.”
The only stumbling block CityScape has experienced so far occurred early this year, when LGO Public House pulled out of the project due to zoning and code restrictions relevant to a wood furnace burner.
