Westgate area will serve up entertainment near Cardinals Stadium
Pat Flannery
The Arizona Republic
Dec. 23, 2003 12:00 AM
A sprawling music store and a half-dozen upscale restaurants and bars will join a 20-screen theater as the first tenants in an entertainment zone expected to break ground next year at the Glendale Arena complex.
The first phase of Westgate City Center, which developer Steve Ellman hopes to start by April, will encompass 450,000 square feet of office, retail and entertainment space and take about 14 months to build, Ellman said.
The 4,000-seat Loews Cineplex was announced earlier this year, but Ellman and several tenants appeared at a news conference Monday to unveil a working model of the project's first phase and assure people that the sports palace opening Friday at 91st and Glendale avenues will not be alone in a dirt field for long.
"We're doing big, fun, funky, state-of-the-art," Ellman said.
New tenants for the three-block entertainment-zone include:
• A Virgin Megastore, a 15,000-square-foot music and bookstore owned by Virgin Records.
• A Mastro's steak and seafood house and a 20,000- to 25,000-square-foot concept bar and eatery operated by The Mastro Group, a Valley restaurant company, that will include games, entertainment and rock and roll-themed bowling. Mastro's has restaurants in Scottsdale and Beverly Hills and operates Cocomo Joe's, Maloney's bars, two Marco Polo Supper Clubs and Mastro's Ocean Club in the Valley.
• Two more high-concept restaurants to be built by Arizona-based Fox Restaurant Concepts. Fox operates the fashionable North and Bloom restaurants in Scottsdale as well as several others in Tucson and Colorado, specializing in American cuisine with European and Asian influences.
• A Thaifoon restaurant. The upscale chain, specializing in Asian cuisine, began in Scottsdale and has restaurants in Orange County, Calif., and Salt Lake City.
• Martini Ranch, a trendy nightclub whose other venues have been popular in Scottsdale, San Diego and Encinitas, Calif.
When built out in six to eight years, Westgate is envisioned as a 6.5 million-square-foot entertainment, retail, office, hotel and residential complex taking up most of the half-square mile between Glendale and Maryland avenues east of Loop 101 in Glendale. The development will surround the $220 million Glendale Arena on three sides, with the Arizona Cardinals football stadium on the fourth.
The arena's first event is a lacrosse game Friday. Its grand opening Saturday features the Phoenix Coyotes against the Nashville Predators.
Glendale Mayor Elaine Scruggs lauded the development plan, saying it was so unique that "I don't think anyone will ever say Westgate copied some other shopping center." And while Glendale has never been known as a primary destination for upscale shopping or development, that's changing with its recent development boom and its changing demographics.
"The Arrowhead ZIP code is one of the wealthiest in the state, which fits our customers," said Jeff Mastro, general counsel for The Mastro Group. "That's what excited us, and this is a very unique project."
While Ellman has grandiose plans for Westgate, questions have been raised about his ability to deliver the project because of the shortage of investment capital he and his financial partners faced during the past year.
As co-owner of the Phoenix Coyotes, all of Ellman's holdings in the team, the arena's management and Westgate have been rolled along with his partners' holdings into a single entity for which new investors are being sought.
Ellman expects major new institutional investors by early next year. Jerry Moyes, a Glendale trucking magnate who has bankrolled much of the effort to date, said he, too, is confident, noting that some "high-level names and individuals" have been lured to the table by Allen & Co., the New York investment banking firm helping the partnership refinance.
Still, Ellman faces a city-imposed fine of up to $1 million for not meeting a mid-2004 deadline by which to have the first phase of Westgate developed near the arena. Ellman said the complex nature of the project and its features took more time to prepare, but he suggested it will take shape quickly once ground breaks. It is designed to be built in phases, but sections could be built ahead of schedule as leases are signed with tenants.
"You're going to see stuff popping up all over," Ellman said.
Ellman said another two dozen-plus leases should be signed within 45 to 60 days, at which point 68 percent of the first phase will be leased.
As envisioned by architects, the first phase will feature an elaborate fountain on the plaza north of the arena, edged by restaurants and retail stores that funnel pedestrians onto a long pedestrian mall lined with trees, water features and more stores and eateries. At the north end of the three-block area is a concentration of restaurants, shops, a coffee shop, another fountain in front of the theater complex and an outdoor amphitheater with a stage for live performances.
The buildings, some up to four stories, will be designed in what Ellman called "Arizona deco" style, with balconies and lights and a heavy concentration of billboards, giving the area a glitzy city feel. Water features are being designed by WET Design, the firm that designed the fountains at Bellagio in Las Vegas.
Ellman called it a place "where there's energy, activity, lights. It's 24/7. It's urban. It's Eastern."
Pat Flannery
The Arizona Republic
Dec. 23, 2003 12:00 AM
A sprawling music store and a half-dozen upscale restaurants and bars will join a 20-screen theater as the first tenants in an entertainment zone expected to break ground next year at the Glendale Arena complex.
The first phase of Westgate City Center, which developer Steve Ellman hopes to start by April, will encompass 450,000 square feet of office, retail and entertainment space and take about 14 months to build, Ellman said.
The 4,000-seat Loews Cineplex was announced earlier this year, but Ellman and several tenants appeared at a news conference Monday to unveil a working model of the project's first phase and assure people that the sports palace opening Friday at 91st and Glendale avenues will not be alone in a dirt field for long.
"We're doing big, fun, funky, state-of-the-art," Ellman said.
New tenants for the three-block entertainment-zone include:
• A Virgin Megastore, a 15,000-square-foot music and bookstore owned by Virgin Records.
• A Mastro's steak and seafood house and a 20,000- to 25,000-square-foot concept bar and eatery operated by The Mastro Group, a Valley restaurant company, that will include games, entertainment and rock and roll-themed bowling. Mastro's has restaurants in Scottsdale and Beverly Hills and operates Cocomo Joe's, Maloney's bars, two Marco Polo Supper Clubs and Mastro's Ocean Club in the Valley.
• Two more high-concept restaurants to be built by Arizona-based Fox Restaurant Concepts. Fox operates the fashionable North and Bloom restaurants in Scottsdale as well as several others in Tucson and Colorado, specializing in American cuisine with European and Asian influences.
• A Thaifoon restaurant. The upscale chain, specializing in Asian cuisine, began in Scottsdale and has restaurants in Orange County, Calif., and Salt Lake City.
• Martini Ranch, a trendy nightclub whose other venues have been popular in Scottsdale, San Diego and Encinitas, Calif.
When built out in six to eight years, Westgate is envisioned as a 6.5 million-square-foot entertainment, retail, office, hotel and residential complex taking up most of the half-square mile between Glendale and Maryland avenues east of Loop 101 in Glendale. The development will surround the $220 million Glendale Arena on three sides, with the Arizona Cardinals football stadium on the fourth.
The arena's first event is a lacrosse game Friday. Its grand opening Saturday features the Phoenix Coyotes against the Nashville Predators.
Glendale Mayor Elaine Scruggs lauded the development plan, saying it was so unique that "I don't think anyone will ever say Westgate copied some other shopping center." And while Glendale has never been known as a primary destination for upscale shopping or development, that's changing with its recent development boom and its changing demographics.
"The Arrowhead ZIP code is one of the wealthiest in the state, which fits our customers," said Jeff Mastro, general counsel for The Mastro Group. "That's what excited us, and this is a very unique project."
While Ellman has grandiose plans for Westgate, questions have been raised about his ability to deliver the project because of the shortage of investment capital he and his financial partners faced during the past year.
As co-owner of the Phoenix Coyotes, all of Ellman's holdings in the team, the arena's management and Westgate have been rolled along with his partners' holdings into a single entity for which new investors are being sought.
Ellman expects major new institutional investors by early next year. Jerry Moyes, a Glendale trucking magnate who has bankrolled much of the effort to date, said he, too, is confident, noting that some "high-level names and individuals" have been lured to the table by Allen & Co., the New York investment banking firm helping the partnership refinance.
Still, Ellman faces a city-imposed fine of up to $1 million for not meeting a mid-2004 deadline by which to have the first phase of Westgate developed near the arena. Ellman said the complex nature of the project and its features took more time to prepare, but he suggested it will take shape quickly once ground breaks. It is designed to be built in phases, but sections could be built ahead of schedule as leases are signed with tenants.
"You're going to see stuff popping up all over," Ellman said.
Ellman said another two dozen-plus leases should be signed within 45 to 60 days, at which point 68 percent of the first phase will be leased.
As envisioned by architects, the first phase will feature an elaborate fountain on the plaza north of the arena, edged by restaurants and retail stores that funnel pedestrians onto a long pedestrian mall lined with trees, water features and more stores and eateries. At the north end of the three-block area is a concentration of restaurants, shops, a coffee shop, another fountain in front of the theater complex and an outdoor amphitheater with a stage for live performances.
The buildings, some up to four stories, will be designed in what Ellman called "Arizona deco" style, with balconies and lights and a heavy concentration of billboards, giving the area a glitzy city feel. Water features are being designed by WET Design, the firm that designed the fountains at Bellagio in Las Vegas.
Ellman called it a place "where there's energy, activity, lights. It's 24/7. It's urban. It's Eastern."
