The town of Gilbert is ready to move forward on a key part of the Heritage District redevelopment plan.
Staff is asking the Gilbert Town Council on Dec. 13 to approve the sale of a 2.88-acre lot on the district’s south end to a St. Louis-based real estate group for a mixed-use development at a cost of $4.6 million.
The town calls the vacant lot at Gilbert and Elliot roads the “South Anchor,” and views it as a critical component to the district because it serves as a gateway to Gilbert’s historic downtown. It also is sometimes called the Christmas Tree lot because a vendor sold Christmas trees on it for many years.
“We believe that through the development of this site, it will strengthen adjacent commercial uses and spur development of nearby vacant parcels on Gilbert Road,” Gilbert Economic Development Director Dan Henderson said.
The development agreement with Keeley Development Group calls for a minimum of 2,000 square feet of general-commercial development, 200 loft-above residential units and 2,000 square feet of co-working/community space in a 344,000 square feet of building.
It also will include a parking structure “wrapped” by the residential building, to be used for vehicular parking supporting the residential, commercial and visitor uses developed within the project, according to town documents.
“The desire of this development is to encourage pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use development, to bring a mixed of neighborhood services, restaurants, cafes, possible office, some live work and maybe a grocery store,” Henderson said, adding that a grocery store is an identified need for the area but not a certainty in the development.
Henderson noted the project is adjacent to the Lacy Tract and the town wanted a walkable area with strong urban design and the residential portion oriented toward the Western edge so it would provide buffer to the homes in that area from the commercial portion.
The developer intends to respect the architectural character stipulations of the Heritage District and not seek a variance, including on the restriction to 55-foot maximum heights of the district, Henderson said. The height maximum has been a sticking point on some past development projects in the district.
The developer also agreed to at its cost, design, construct and install the eastern half of North Ash Street between West Elliot Road and West Bruce Avenue, including paving, painting, striping, traffic control, curbing, sidewalk, landscaping, irrigation and lighting. The town will approve such plans.
As part of that, Henderson said the developer would be putting in the south end of what was known in the redevelopment plan as the Paseo, a pedestrian and bicycle path from Elliot Road to Juniper Avenue. It is meant to be a north-south connective link between Heritage District neighborhoods, parks, plazas, and key redevelopment areas.
Henderson said the path will be known as Water Tower Way going forward.
In addition to the purchase price, the developer will make a $250,000 contribution to Heritage District improvements.
The proceeds of the sale and the contribution will go into the town’s general fund, with the $250,000 earmarked for the Heritage District.
The sale of the South Anchor land has been a long time coming. It was identified as a key project in the 2018 Heritage District Redevelopment Plan, and the town, at council direction, put out a Request for Qualifications and a Request for Proposals in 2020. It interviewed three firms at that time and began negotiations with the one that it ranked at the top.
However, those negotiations from June 2020 to April 2021 on the site vision, mix of land uses, and design intent failed to reach consensus, and the town, again at council direction, broke off negotiations and put out another Request for Proposals with additional clarity for developers in July 2021.
Negotiations began in March with KDG Real Estate. The contract calls for the developer to close the sale by Feb. 28 with options to extend that up to four times by 30 days with the payment of a $250,000 extension deposit.
“It has the potential to move along quite quickly,” Henderson said.
Tom Blodgett Senior News Editor | Gilbert @sp_blodgett
Meet Tom Tom Blodgett joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2022, when the company acquired Community Impact Newspaper's Phoenix-area properties. Raised in Arizona, he has spent more than 35 years in journalism in the state.
Community: He has served as an instructional professional in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication since 2005, and is editorial adviser to The State Press, the university's independent student media outlet. He also is director of operations for an 18U girls fastpitch softball team from Gilbert.
Education: Arizona State University with a BS in Journalism.
Random Fact: He lived in Belgium during his freshman year of high school.
Hobbies: Tweeting enthusiastically about ASU softball (season-ticket holder) and grumpily about other local sports (pessimistic fan).
town of Gilbert,
Gilbert Town Council,
Gilbert Heritage District,
Heritage District South Anchor,
KDG Real Estate,
Keeley Development Group,
Dan Henderson
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