The Desert Advocate - Real Estate

Editor | Links | Contact Us | Home

Classifieds | News | Events

Courtesy photo

Boutique retail is only part of the plan for Spectrum Ridge at Deer Valley.
(Click picture for full size image)

Courtesy photo

A wash runs through it: Service retail on the corner is separated from the other five product types in the commercial master-planned project Spectrum Ridge at Deer Valley.
(Click picture for full size image)

Class A office space will sit in back of the retail at Spectrum Ridge.

Development plans for the 80‑plus acres at 7th Street and Deer Valley Road took a sharp turn when the City of Phoenix began straightening the stretch of Deer Valley between 7th and Cave Creek Road. There are no more plans for lot sales of ultra‑lenient C2 zoning that might have seen

development of what Darren Tappen at Colliers International calls “down and dirty industrial use.” Instead, Vazza Company purchased the entire property this past April and plans a much higher‑scale master‑planned commercial product.

“We can fill all product types,” Stephen Vazza, a principal in the real estate firm, explained, pointing out there is a lack of retail and single‑story office condominiums in the area. Addressing that need, Spectrum Ridge at Deer Valley will offer 900,000 square feet of commercial space that will include office, retail and a hotel.

Looking at deliverability of product by second quarter of ’08, Tappen noted permits will be pulled by the end of this year and the project will be developed as a single phase. Internal roadways, utilities and infrastructure are already in place, as Vazza–a Boston‑based developer with other projects in the Deer Valley Airport area–purchased the property fully improved.

The property offers extensive frontage along the east side of 7th Street, and plans call for boutique retail to take advantage of it.

Buildings will be broadly scattered along that stretch and angled off‑axis to maximize the street exposure, with parking around each building. Ten buildings in all, they will range in size from 4,500 square feet to 13,600 square feet. Two driveways will enter the property from this side, breaking this retail section roughly into thirds.

Where the driveways lead back from the street and deeper into the property, they serve to break Spectrum Ridge into three different product projects. Furthest south will be office flex space, which will allow businesses to improve their space as 85‑90 percent office, with a small warehouse component, explained Tappen. Two buildings of 16,200 square feet, one of approximately half that, and three each of 12,880 and 20,430 square feet will allow businesses to lease space down to approximately 5,000 square feet or occupy up to a full building.

Class A office will fill the center section. Fifteen buildings will be single‑story, in sizes varying from 3,600 square feet to 10,500 square feet. These are aimed

at businesses looking for a full building of their own, although they could be split in half or divided down to space of 2,250 square feet, according to Tappen. The ground rises as it becomes further removed from 7th Street, and on the higher ground overlooking the single‑story office buildings will be two four‑story office buildings of 38,600 square feet each.

A four‑story, extended‑stay hotel will occupy the northernmost of these three sections, bordering a natural wash that runs diagonally through the property.

The wash effectively separates a corner section from the rest of the development, and this large triangle will be aimed at service center retail such as FedEx. Ten buildings, both stand‑alone and connected, range in size from 2,800 square feet to 25,000 square feet.

The final component of Spectrum Ridge at Deer Valley occupies the property’s highest ground where the slope continues to rise east of the hotel. This spot looks down across the wash and affords a great view westward toward the Deer Valley airport’s runway. This spot is expected to be attractive to a corporate user that wants to build a campus of its own, according to Tappen.

With the widened and improved Deer Valley Road, Vazza said he anticipates a huge increase in the overall volume of traffic passing through the area from Cave Creek Road toward Interstate 17. In this area, Tappen pointed out, “It’s the first [major] intersection to come on the market. It’s close to [Loop] 101, and is the first stop going west, after Scottsdale.”

“There are a lot of decision‑makers who live in North Scottsdale, who own or operate their own business,” Tappen noted, describing some of the targeted users for Spectrum Ridge’s commercial space. According to Vazza, “The Scottsdale Airpark is saturated, and the natural progression is toward Deer Valley.”

The Class A office space is being handled by Colliers International. Darren Tappen, Bob Lundstedt and Jim Keeley may be reached at (480) 596‑9000; Phil Breidenbach and Lindsey Carlson at (602) 222‑5000. Leasing of the office flex space is being handled by Cushman & Wakefield representatives Steve Sayre and Pat Harlan, who may be reached at (602) 253‑7900. All of the retail component is being handled by Rommie Mojahed and Mary Ridberg of the Upland Group at (480) 820‑9229.

Back To Real Estate