News is spreading about a Scottsdale developer that is planning a 23-acre project in Carefree that could bring more than 100,000 square feet of retail and restaurants to the town.
The site is located at Cave Creek Road and Carefree Highway and has been named Carefree Quarter. Plans for the development go back all the way to 2018 and according to town documents, two developers have previously planned to develop the same site. The projects main hiccup is an onsite wash that needs to be relocated. Empire Group, the current developer of the proposed project, has partnered with Scottsdale-based Diversified Partners to bring on tenants and move the project forward. Empire is also proposing it gain a sales tax incentive to help with the cost of relocation of the wash.
Carefree’s primary source of revenue is through sales tax, and the addition of this retail development would be a boon to the town’s coffers, according to a report prepared by Steve Prokopek, the economic development director for the town. The report states that the site is not economically feasible as a retail development without the incentive.
Carefree is a small community, with an estimated population of 3,708 in 2023 according to the Arizona Commerce Authority. The town does not impose a property tax on residents, so the town’s funding mostly comes from sales tax. A boost in sales tax collection from the new retail development will bring notable funding to the town.
Town leadership has named this development as a priority. The site is nearby a commercial corridor to the southwest, but those businesses are located in neighboring Cave Creek and do not generate taxes for Carefree. Last month the town council voted to move forward on a retail redevelopment tax incentive agreement that would eventually provide up to $7 million to reimburse the cost of relocating the wash and other improvements including water lines and streets.
The incentive will be structured so that 51% of the taxes generated during the incentive period will be retained by the town and 49% would be reimbursed to the developer. This structure allows the town to retain more of a benefit than it would be giving away. A full development agreement is expected to go before the town council in this month.
If the development agreement is approved in November, the developer believes they will break ground in early 2025 with openings expected in the second or third quarter of 2026.
