Phoenix: CityNorth - 144 acre "Urban" development

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CityNorth aiming to land Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale's

Peter Corbett
The Arizona Republic
Dec. 8, 2006 12:00 AM

Developers of CityNorth think they have the inside track to landing Neiman Marcus and are hoping to bring Bloomingdale's to the $2 billion mixed-use project in northeast Phoenix.

That would be a coup for CityNorth, which is vying with Westcor and DMB Associates Inc. for major tenants at three planned shopping centers along Loop 101 between 56th Street and Scottsdale Road.

CityNorth and other industry players are attending an International Council of Shopping Centers deal-making event in New York, which ends today.
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The buzz Wednesday was that Barneys was talking about opening a store at Scottsdale Fashion Square, which is managed by Westcor.

Kenneth Himmel, a CityNorth development partner, said that Neiman Marcus is close to making an announcement to locate a second store in the Valley and hinted that it would be at CityNorth.

He also expects another anchor tenant to announce its plans soon.

"There is going to be a Bloomingdale's store in the Phoenix market . . . and we think it's reasonable to believe that it's going to be at CityNorth," Himmel said.

Michael Gould, Bloomingdale's chairman, told Women's Wear Daily that the luxury retailer has had preliminary discussions with developers for its first Arizona store.

Neiman Marcus spokeswoman Ginger Reeder said the Dallas-based retailer "never comments on real estate deals until they are finalized. We have made no announcement of any kind about Phoenix."

CityNorth has already landed a 144,000-square-foot Nordstrom store as an anchor for the 144-acre project. The first phase, which broke ground last month, includes 250,000 square feet of retail, an equal amount of office space and 264 residential units. It is scheduled to open northwest of 56th Street and Loop 101 in 2008, with Nordstrom opening in fall 2009.

The Thomas J. Klutznick Co. of Chicago is the other development partner for CityNorth.

Himmel said CityNorth's first phase is 80 percent leased with mostly national retailers.

A spokeswoman for Westcor, which is developing the Palisene shopping center northwest of Loop 101 and Scottsdale Road, said the company had no announcements related to the New York shopping-center event.

Denise Resnik, a spokeswoman for DMB, which is developing the One Scottsdale project northeast of Loop 101 and Scottsdale Road, said the company would not comment on its tenants until it has signed agreements.

The Scottsdale-base developer is seeking city approval to allow buildings of up to 90 feet at One Scottsdale.

Meanwhile, the Dial Corp. has announced it will break ground Monday on its 60-foot-tall building at One Scottsdale. It is the first business locating within the office park.