Shopping center focuses on neighborhood services
by RaeAnne Marsh 

The dirt‑moving is complete, and so is–almost–the first of the buildings that will comprise The Shops at Dove Valley Ranch. The site on heavily traveled Carefree Highway, at Black Mountain Road, will be the final piece of the Dove Valley project, of which PK Development was the primary developer. Now working on the retail center, PK principal Lenn Pritchard said the project has been part of his plan all along for the area, intended to provide Dove Valley residents with typical neighborhood services.

To that end, Pritchard has brought in such tenants as a fitness center, a nail salon, pool supply and small‑pad grocery as well as a variety of restaurants. There is also a furniture store, an upscale pet supply store, and a business that installs special garage‑floor finishes. Negotiations are underway with a dental clinic. Says Pritchard, “I’d like to have a dentist and a doctor (in the neighborhood shopping center).”

“It’s a major import site,” says David Moline, owner of Phoenix‑based Moline Construction, general contractor on the project.

He reported the site presented little in the way of challenges to construction, although it did require raising the ground level to ensure proper drainage.

Anticipating the shopping center opening in December, the project broke ground approximately seven months ago. After sitting ready for several months behind PK’s roadside construction along Carefree Highway, the groundwork included laying gas and water lines in the county right of way to serve any future projects west of theirs. Ready‑in‑wait for an even longer time were the trees, salvaged from earlier Dove Valley development, that will be used in the landscape for The Shops at Dove Valley Ranch. Says Pritchard, “We’ve been growing trees for that site for three years.”

Many of the trees come from the Dove Valley residential development, saved specifically to replant on the commercial site. Pritchard notes the effort that has been made to maintain the existing trees along the wash on the rear, or south, side of the project, stating that these will be augmented with more trees to help screen the commercial project from the adjacent neighbors behind the project.

But even if visible, the project will not present an industrial look on any of its sides. Featuring four‑sided architecture, the buildings are designed to be attractive whether seen from the front, the side, or the rear. “The back has colored stucco and other features that the front does; it’s not an industrial‑looking building from the rear,” Pritchard notes.

Nine buildings in all are planned for the site, with five of them currently under construction. M&I Bank holds one pad streetside to Carefree Highway. A second of the five pads will house Brake Master. And Gallagher’s Sports Bar is taking shape on another. These, plus the single long building set nearer the rear of the property, will bring a total of 40,000 square feet of retail to the area. Individual units range in size from 1,100 to 3,800 square feet.

Half of the total square‑footage is found in the single in‑line building, which is fully leased and houses seven individual businesses. This building is set parallel to the wash running across the property, therefore facing on somewhat of a diagonal toward the corner–a site arrangement that results in maximizing the stores’ exposure in front to both Carefree Highway and Black Mountain Road.

Exposure of another sort was also a concern to the developer, as Pritchard explains, “We know we’re an intrusion on (the Dove Valley residents’) view,” and therefore, “we have reduced the height of the lights (throughout the shopping center) out of consideration of the neighbors.”

Described as “desert Southwest” by project architect Irwin Pasternak, of Phoenix‑based Irwin Pasternack AIA & Associates, the buildings’ design features arches and shaded overhangs. Desert colors used for the exteriors are ochres and beiges, with roof tiles of variegated ruddy tones. Cultured stone, colored to match the surrounding environment, adds textural variety.

“There’s neat lighting, and different walkways,” Pasternak adds, while pointing out the patio areas created for the restaurants.

The largest space remaining available from the current construction measures 3,600 square feet. Among the four buildings now in the planning stage, and expected to break ground early next year, are a 6,000‑square‑foot building and a 5,400‑square‑foot building.

With access from both Carefree Highway and Black Mountain Road, parking will be concentrated in the front of the project. Its design will reflect a response to Pritchard’s attitude: “Shopping center spaces are never wide enough, and there are never enough of them.” With approximately 20 percent more parking than is typical for this type of project, Pritchard describes The Shops at Dove Valley Ranch as “way over‑parked.”

Josh Gosnell of Phoenix‑based De Rito Partners is the leasing agent for The Shops at Dove Valley Ranch, and can be reached at (602) 553‑2951.