97,000-SF Center Bags 30,000-SF Grocery Anchor

GLENDALE, AZ-Kitchell Development Co. has signed AJ’s Fine Foods to a 30,000-sf spot, making it the anchor for the planned 97,000-sf Village at Arrowhead in Glendale.

The high-end retail project is going up at the southwest corner of 67th Avenue and the Loop 101 freeway. The neighborhood center also includes two pad sites ticketed for a financial institution and sit-down restaurant.

The anchor tenant, says Kitchell vice president Jeff Allen, is “recognized as one of the premier specialty grocers in the country and will allow us to attract other upscale tenants.”Bashas, one of the Valley’s largest supermarket chains, owns AJ Fine Foods. The venue offers more higher end shelf and fresh products than are usually found in grocery store chains. The stores also are known for their vast wine selections. It will mark the seventh AJ’s in the Valley.

The demographics surrounding the Village at Arrowhead site justify a high-end grocery store, says Dave Newquist, a broker with CB Richard Ellis’ Phoenix office and a leasing agent for the project. “Everybody has done their demographic homework,” he tells GlobeSt.com. “All the questions have been answered as to whether this would work in this part of town. All the incomes in the area are north of $80,000 per household. They have to be in that range to make it work.” The CB Richard Ellis leasing team also includes Ron Ault and Bob Pearlstein.

The Village at Arrowhead will go up near Arrowhead Ranch, which not only has high-income residents, but is one of the Valley’s fastest-growing, master-planned communities. The opening of Loop 101 through the West Valley more than two years ago has made the area much more attractive to homebuyers. Growth in this area was predicted to rise by more than 20% between 2000 and 2005.

With the securing of AJ’s Fine Foods as the anchor tenant, the task of signing other tenants to the center can begin in earnest, Newquist says. About 40,000 sf of inline space is available and two pads. Construction will begin in second quarter 2002.

Kitchell is the developer of the Arrowhead Promenade, a 250,000-sf retail center at the southwest corner of 59th Avenue and Loop 101 Freeway, also in the Glendale area. Completed last year, it is situated about a mile east of the Village at Arrowhead site.