Evergreen Development is ramping up construction at its 31-acre Trellis on Bell community at 12th Street and Bell Road in north Phoenix.

The Phoenix-based developer is beginning construction on the community’s residential apartments, while new restaurant and retail tenants Café Rio, Blaze Pizza and Arizona Hair Company have signed leases to help anchor the 12,171-square-foot shops building. Freestanding drive-thru restaurants Raising Cane’s and Kneaders Bakery round out the first phase of the retail development.

“Our vision for Trellis on Bell has always been to make it one of the most desirable destinations in north Phoenix,” said Bruce Pomeroy, president of Evergreen Development. “Our retail and restaurant partners are helping make that vision come to life.”

Retailers in Phase One are expected to open before the end of 2016.  Evergreen Development’s leasing team is negotiating with additional restaurant and retail tenants for the remaining spaces in the Phase One multi-tenant building, as well as the two remaining retail pads. Phoenix-based Haworth Corp. has been hired to construct the multi-tenant retail building and manage site work.  Butler Design Group is the architect of the retail portion of the development.

To complement the retail components of the project, Evergreen has contracted with Scottsdale-based MT Builders to construct a 306-unit residential apartment complex, which is expected to break ground in June. Evergreen Development is also currently in escrow to sell 13.3 acres to a residential developer to build a single-family home community at Trellis on Bell.

Trellis on Bell is expected to be fully completed by 2018. Evergreen Development took ownership of the property in March 2015 from Western Digital Corporation, a company that previously operated a 500,000-square-foot semiconductor manufacturing plant on the site.