Consortium to Redevelop Metrocenter Mall in Phoenix

Diversified Partners has joined a consortium to replace a 51-year-old shuttered mall in Phoenix with an $850 million retail village of nearly 2,000 homes.

The Scottsdale shopping center developer signed on to help build the Village, a 65-acre project to replace the Metrocenter mall at 9617 North Metro Parkway West, the Phoenix Business Journal reported.

The consortium, which includes Concord Wilshire, TLG Investment Partners and CDS International Holdings, based in Florida, and Houston-based Hines, has already begun to demolish the 1.4 million-square-foot mall, which closed in 2020.

Plans for the Village now include up to 1,940 residential units, including apartments and for-sale townhomes, centered around a public park and plaza and up to 240,000 square feet of shops and restaurants. Initial plans for offices and a hotel were scrubbed as not financially feasible.

Diversified Partners, a national development firm known for its prominent retail projects across greater Phoenix, plans to announce a name and features for the retail project, expected to include an “eclectic” mix of shops, food and beverage options.

“We envision this prime property becoming one of the top destinations in Arizona,” Walt Brown, CEO of Diversified Partners, said in a statement.

This month, the developers secured a $24.5 million loan through Florida-based Fuse Group Investment for the abatement and mall demolition, as well as for site grading.

The City of Phoenix has issued three demolition permits valued at nearly $4 million to Los Angeles-based Resource Environmental for the removal of the former U-Haul/Macy’s building, the former Dillards and the main shopping mall totaling 568,600 square feet.

Demolition is expected to take a year, with another year to build project infrastructure as some of the residential units break ground, according to the Business Journal.

Houston-based Hines will oversee construction of the Village including the public infrastructure such as streets, water, sewer, parks, parking structures and more.

The overall development will incorporate a newly opened light rail station and route that could expand farther west to employers along Interstate 17 such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s North Phoenix campus.

The developers are exploring options and designs for housing products from across the nation and targeted at first-time homeowners or employees at TSMC.

“We would love it if we could be able to deliver some first-home buyer product at a reasonable price point this close into the center of the Valley,” Steve Betts, senior development director for Concord Wilshire, told the Business Journal.

“That would be a home run for the community if we could pull that off, but time will tell over the next several months or year as to whether we can make that product work here.”

Diversified Partners, founded by Brown in 1996, owns retail properties across Arizona and provides brokerage, property development, construction and property management services, according to its website.

— Dana Bartholomew