The local trade area population is about 312,000, though the demographics have changed significantly since Desert Ridge Marketplace was built in 2001. “When we first opened the project, Gen-Y tenants were the focus because, frankly, all those households had teenagers,” said David J. Larcher, president and a founding principal of Vestar, which owns the project. “Now, as those teenagers have grown up and had their own kids, we are evolving the tenant mix a little bit so it becomes a little more sophisticated, a little more adult and a more well-rounded experience.”

Located along Loop 101/Pima Freeway at Tatum Boulevard, Desert Ridge Marketplace lists on its tenant roster Albertsons, an AMC movie theater, Barnes & Noble, Dave & Busters, HomeGoods, Kohl’s, Marshalls, Old Navy, Ross Dress for Less and Target.

The redevelopment’s timing was right, says Larcher, given the changing dynamics of retailing in general and of the local trade area in particular. “It’s been extremely successful, really, since the day it opened, 15 years ago,” he said. “But we just felt it was time for a refresh to bring it up to contemporary standards in terms of design and merchandising and the tenant mix. It really has a lot to do with how North Phoenix and the community of Desert Ridge have matured and grown.”

Loop 101 has become one of the busiest freeways in the Phoenix metro, and the local housing market has rebounded from the 2008 recession. The area has also attracted the largest resort in Arizona: the JW Marriott Desert Ridge, directly across the street from the retail center. The Mayo Clinic has opened a hospital and is building a cancer research center there in partnership with Arizona State University. American Express, which has about 7,000 employees living nearby, has continued to expand its office space.

Then, too, the cancellations of several planned retail developments helped Vestar’s cause. “Those projects have gone by the wayside and are more than likely never going to be built, so hence it was an opportunity for us to take our project up to the next level,” said Larcher.

TIMELINE

• September 2001  Vestar opens Desert Ridge Marketplace, the first major power center in North Phoenix

• September 2015   The firm announces plans for a $22 million redevelopment 

• January 2017   The renovation commences

• November 2017   The redevelopment is officially completed

A key component of the redevelopment was the creation of a 60,000-square-foot section devoted to health and wellness. It features a Pilates studio, a Massage Envy and a Flower Child health-food restaurant.

Adding more food options was certainly a priority. “We focused on putting in chef-driven restaurants and entertainment,” said Larcher. Entertainment is a major theme and point of emphasis too — the center holds nearly 300 public events per year that are free of charge. The redevelopment includes a live-music venue and a comedy club.

Vestar also updated the center’s architecture. “In terms of the physical improvements, architecturally and aesthetically it’s a more sophisticated vernacular in terms of the environment we’ve created, as opposed to the early-2000s, which was all about pastel colors and those sorts of things,” Larcher said. The new finishes include natural woods and more monochromatic tones.

The sophistication extends to an outdoor-lifestyle area at one end of the center, featuring boccie courts and other recreational amenities that appeal to adults. Structures that had provided shading have been replaced with live palm trees, and artificial turf is in place now in areas once made from concrete, to give the project a more parklike feel.

Connecting every element of the center was important, Larcher says. “With a project of this size, obviously, there are huge parking lots between the buildings, so we connected the buildings with shaded canopy structures that are landscaped, have misting systems and play music.”

Larcher says he learned several key things through the makeover.  “You really have to know the local community and what its needs and desires are and do whatever you can to weave them into the fabric of your project,” he said. On one Sunday in early November, the center was host to a food-and-wine festival for some 7,000 people, which raised money for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

“All of a sudden, by [our offering] these opportunities for community members to really experience a nice environment, they embrace the project and it becomes theirs — the community takes ownership of it, and you develop a very strong customer loyalty by doing that,” said Larcher.

Vestar has two other major renovation projects under way. One of these is a 600,000-square-foot, destination lifestyle center called The Gateway, in downtown Salt Lake City. The firm has plans to transform the property into an urban entertainment center with the new tenants to include comedy clubs, music venues, a Dave & Busters, additional restaurants and a boutique hotel. The other project is called The Orchard Town Center, a 900,000-square-foot open-air regional retail center in Westminster, Colo., north of Denver, where Vestar is undertaking a renovation similar to the one at The Gateway.

Phoenix-based Vestar owns and manages a portfolio that amounts to 26 million square feet throughout the Western U.S.