Scottsdale Commercial Property Broker - Scottsdale Commercial Real Estate

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.

Arizona Commercial Real Estate.

DMB unveils northeast Valley project

Shops, offices, 1,100 residences planned

Higher opportunity?

Benefits of 'panache'