A joint venture between EverWest Real Estate Partners and WHI Real Estate Partners L.P. (WHIREP) earned unanimous approval by the Scottsdale City Council for a zoning modification, and has started construction on The Quad, a major 13-acre, 14-building redevelopment project.
Once completed, the buildings will blend elements of a lifestyle center and office park to create a next-generation creative office community. The project is located at the northwest corner of 64th Street and Thomas in Scottsdale..
“The Quad is the real-world application of buzzwords like ‘casual collisions’ and ‘horizontal connections’ – an approach that lessens the normally harsh separation between indoor and outdoor space. This is something that is still new to metro Phoenix but that has achieved great success in high-density markets like San Diego, Los Angeles and Silicon Valley,” said Curt Kremer, managing principal – Equity Ventures for EverWest. “We are excited to bring this concept to the Valley.”
Over the next six months, EverWest and WHIREP will transform The Quad, formerly Scottsdale Executive Villas, into 166,606 square feet of creative office space across 14 stand-alone buildings.
Office suites will range from 2,000 to 12,500 square feet, and include private outdoor workspaces and sliding patio doors that create a true indoor-outdoor work environment. Buildings at The Quad will be connected by park-styled courtyards and seating areas that EverWest will activate with free, property-wide Wi-Fi.
Along with shell delivery, EverWest and WHIREP will build out six speculative creative suites totaling approximately 38,000 square feet. These suites will be equipped with open style collaboration spaces, focus rooms, huddle rooms, standard glass offices, open ceilings, break rooms, coffee bars and an innovative finish palate.
“This is a 1980s-built project that we are taking down to the structure,” said Kremer. “When you do this, you expose architectural features like high ceilings, raw concrete masonry walls and beautiful wood beams – elements that tenants today love and that we are excited to preserve and to mix with cutting-edge designs that are being developed by the Gensler interiors team in Denver.”
A central, 4,500-square-foot gathering facility called The Q will anchor The Quad, providing tenants with state-of-the-art conference and event space, a full catering kitchen, private tenant liquor cabinets and lounge seating that can accommodate activities ranging from corporate training to holiday parties. The Q will also include a tenant-exclusive fitness center with showers and lockers, and an on-site full service restaurant. The owners are in discussions with several popular, local restaurant operators interested in the space.
“Unlike traditional buildings, where workers make a beeline from the parking lot to their desks, every element of The Quad is meant to connect and network tenants, and foster an environment where companies develop relationships and share ideas,” said Amr Ceran, senior director for EverWest. “They can work not only in their office, but also in our common areas or on their patio, under a canopy of 30-year-old trees.”
The Quad maintains a direct connection to the Cross-Cut Canal multi-use path, and will incorporate a striped lane to transition cyclists from the paved path to The Quad property, where there will be multiple bike parking areas. The pet-friendly campus will also offer dedicated, fenced-in dog parks for those wanting to bring their pets to work.
The Quad is located approximately three miles from the Loop 101 and Loop 202 freeways, two miles from Old Town Scottsdale and is minutes from Sky Harbor International Airport, Arizona State University and downtown Tempe.
The architect for The Quad is Denver-based Gensler. The general contractor is Phoenix-based RSG Builders. Bryan Taute and Charlie von Arentschildt of CBRE are the project’s exclusive leasing brokers.
