Two businesses opening soon at The Switchyard in downtown Queen Creek
Rendering courtesy of Creation
Postino will be opening its 3,800-square-foot space at The Switchyard at the end of the month.
Courtesy town of Queen Creek
Queen Creek’s Planning & Zoning Commission is recommending that a portion of the mixed-use development, the Union at Ellsworth, be rezoned to allow a 250-unit apartment complex,
Phase one of construction on The Switchyard in downtown Queen Creek is nearing completion.
“We’re going to be complete with construction in the next two weeks for our site and shell,” Jagger Everett, vice president of development for developer Creation Equity, told the Queen Creek Planning & Zoning Commission at its Oct. 14 meeting. “We have our first tenants planning to open by the end of this month.”
The $120 million mixed-use development encompasses 10 acres on the northeast corner of Ellsworth Loop and East Ocotillo roads. It will have 54,000 square feet of restaurant, retail and office space, plus a 215-residence luxury apartment community.
There will be seven buildings on the site — four single-story buildings with office, retail and restaurant space, and three four-story buildings that will house 215 apartment units and office space.
The Switchyard will open in phases. The residential portion of the project is currently in the design phase.
“We have our first tenants planning to open by the end of this month. That’ll be Postino and V O Med Spa,” Everett said. “Currently we have 12 tenants signed at this project. Eight of those 12 tenants are going to be opening in the next six months.”
Everett added that the site opening is 82% preleased, and the company expects to start constructing a second building just south of Victoria Lane at the end of this month.
Of the 12 current tenants, five are sit-down restaurants, he said.
Everett gave the update on The Switchyard as he discussed Phoenix-based Creation Equity’s second proposed project in Queen Creek, The Union at Ellsworth.
The commission voted to recommend approval of Creation Equity’s request to rezone a 6.5-acre parcel at the southern end of the 25-acre development at the southwest corner of Ellsworth and Queen Creek roads to allow for multifamily housing.
The proposed apartment complex will have five buildings for a combined 250 units and could be up to five stories tall. One of the conditions of approval for the rezoning is that multifamily housing is prohibited on the northwest corner of Union at Ellsworth, a staff report stated.
The rezoning recommendation must go before the Queen Creek Town Council for final approval.
Union at Ellsworth is split into four categories with two being for commercial retail and office, one for multifamily housing and one for a hotel. The developer will also add some off-site infrastructure such as roads.
The town has approved site plans for the two commercial sections, but Creation Equity must still seek approvals for the proposed apartment complex and the hotel.
While providing the update on Union at Ellsworth, Everett told commissioners that the developers “have an executed lease with a specialty organic grocer.”
“We’re under NDA right now, so we’re unable to disclose the actual tenant, but it’s a well-known name brand,” Everett said. “That’ll be our main anchor on the northeast corner of the site, and several of the tenants that you see at The Switchyard also operate multiple concepts and have already expressed interest in going to the Union.”
According to the project narrative, the Union at Ellsworth “is envisioned as a dynamic destination, combining high-quality office, commercial and multifamily residential uses in a walkable, engaging environment.”
Creation Equity also has projects in Scottsdale, Tempe and Gilbert.
“They are not cookie-cutter developers doing the same thing over and over and over again,” Creation Equity representative Brennan Ray of the Ray Law Firm told the commission.
Janet Perez can be reached at jperez@iniusa.org. Please send your comments about this article to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.
Janet Perez News Editor | Queen Creek &
San Tan Valley
Meet Janet Janet Perez joined Independent Newsmedia as editor of the Queen Creek Independent and Florence Independent in 2020. She started her career in 1989 with the Gannett-owned El Paso Times. In 1992, she moved to Tempe and has worked in newspapers, magazines, radio and television. She left Arizona for three years to work at New Mexico State University and Baylor University before returning to work at Arizona State University. Missing the business, she went back to journalism in 2017.
Community: A long-time pet owner, she supports animal welfare causes.
Education: University of Texas at El Paso with a BA in journalism and a minor in political science.
Random Fact: She had a head full of random facts.
Hobbies: Reading, watching documentaries, cooking and playing with her dogs.
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