A development of a different color
1st phase of Westgate center well on its way to completion
Frank Morris
staff writer
Look to the east while driving along Loop 101 and you'll see it: Westgate City Center, the 6.5 million-square-foot entertainment complex being developed by the Ellman Cos.
The first phase, which will consist of more than 500,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and loft office spaces, is nearing completion. More than 75 percent complete, Phase I is expected to open to the public in October.
The Ellman Cos. anticipate the project, at 95th and Glendale avenues, will attract nearly 22 million visitors annually - a number greater than the entire population of Mexico City's metropolitan area.
After facing a few years of delays, "we're moving quickly," said Jeffrey Hecht, director of public affairs for the Ellman Cos.
Phase I is about 70 percent leased out, and construction workers are on the site "from the first sunlight until about 2 p.m." each day, Hecht said.
The Ellman Cos. hope to have as much of Phase I leased out and completed this fall to cater to the thousands of football fans heading to Cardinals Stadium, Hecht said.
"The goal and the desire of the city was to create a full-service sports, family and entertainment area," Glendale spokeswoman Julie Frisoni said. "The development around the area is extremely important because it adds all those extra amenities where people want to live, work and play."
Adding new tenants
While construction carries on, Ellman Cos. continues to attract new tenants to the site.
On July 19, the developer announced that Garduno's Margarita Factory and Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant will set up shop at Westgate. It will mark the third Valley location for Garduno's, which has restaurants in Scottsdale and Chandler. The restaurant serves more than 350 kinds of margaritas.
"We feel [Westgate] is a unique combination of restaurant, retail and play area," said John Johnston, co-owner of the Arizona Garduno's. "We wanted to reach out and service our customers in the West Valley. We have a great deal of customers from there who come to our other locations."
The Gordon Biersch eatery will be the first structure to be constructed by the Ellman Cos. outside of Phase I, and be only the second Gordon Biersch location in the Phoenix area - the other is in Tempe.
Both Garduno's and Gordon Biersch will be built on pad sites next to Westgate's first phase.
More tenants will be announced in the coming weeks, Hecht said.
Something for everyone
When food lovers, shop-a-holics, sports fans and movie buffs head to Westgate this fall, they can expect their needs to be fulfilled, Hecht said.
"I don't think there's anybody from 2 to 82 that isn't going to find something at Westgate," he said.
A 4,000-seat, 20-screen AMC Theater will anchor the north end of Phase I. At 80,000 square feet, it's projected to be the largest movie theater in the state.
The AMC Theater will feature traditional stadium-style seating in addition to rooms filled with directors' chairs that can be reserved for private screenings, Hecht said.
The theater initially was slated to be a Loews Cineplex until AMC Entertainment Inc. merged with Loews Cineplex Entertainment Corp. in January.
In addition to movies, Westgate guests will have a plethora of eateries from which to choose.
Yard House, Tahitian Noni Cafe, Johnny Rockets, Coffee Plantation and Cold Stone Creamery will open in Phase I, along with three restaurants from Raving Brands Inc.: Moe's Southwest Grill, Mama Fu's Asian House and Doc Green's Gourmet Salads.
The only retail stores officially announced for the first phase of Westgate are Coronado Tobacco Co. and Qwest Solutions Center. The Ellman Cos. is working with other retail tenants right now, but the developer's policy is to wait until paperwork is finalized before naming them, Hecht said.
Phase II, which won't begin construction until the first part of next year, already has at least one retail tenant lined up: Barnes & Noble, which will be housed in a 20,000-square-foot single-tenant building.
'No beige here'
Westgate guests might question whether they're in Arizona, Hecht said. "We wanted something different."
Visitors will find themselves engulfed in vibrant hues of yellow, blue, orange and green.
"There's no beige here," Hecht said, calling the project's design and color scheme "Arizona deco."
"It's where Arizona meets South Beach," he said.
Additionally, Phase I will feature some 30 billboards, many of which will be electronic or animated and will reach dimensions as high as 100 feet or as wide as 80 feet.
"This is Times Square," Hecht said of Westgate's events plaza, where 20 of the 30 media signs will be displayed.
There also will be a 350-foot-long Bellagio-like fountain in the events plaza, which will host water shows set to music.
A two-minute walk to the north will allow visitors to take a rest at the project's fountain park.
Westgate City Center also has a number of other projects popping up.
The Quarter at Westgate's and Alexan Westgate's 422 townhouse and apartment units being developed by Trammel Crow Residential will provide a place for people to live as early as February of next year.
"What makes us so unique is the location - the lifestyle that it provides - and the product that we're delivering," said Theresa Perkovich, sales director at The Quarter. "Our floor plans are open, functional, and urban in design." A 12-story, 320-room Renaissance Hotel, being developed by John Q. Hammons Hotel Inc., also is making progress. Steel beams for the first few floors of the luxury hotel and convention center already have been erected.
The Renaissance Hotel is expected to be ready to accommodate visitors by August or September 2007, Frisoni said. It will be a much-needed amenity to the area, as Glendale will host the Super Bowl in 2008.
"Three and a half years ago this was a cotton field, and a year and a half from now, they're going to play the Super Bowl," Hecht said.
Westgate tenants
The following is a list of officially announced restaurant and retail tenants that have committed to setting up establishments at Westgate City Center:
Phase I
AMC Westgate 20
Coffee Plantation
Cold Stone Creamery
Coronado Tobacco Co.
Doc Green's Gourmet Salads
Johnny Rockets
Mama Fu's Asian House
Moe's Southwest Grill
Qwest Solutions Center
Tahitian Noni Cafe
Yard House
Pads
Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant
Garduno's Margarita Factory
Phase II
Barnes & Noble
(Visit the article on the Web, at
westvalleyview.com)