High Street is full of new restaurants, shopping and other businesses have begun to fill the storefronts. Anyone who has visited the area on a Friday night has seen the crowds of people eating, drinking and having a great time. With plenty of things to do around Phoenix, the big question is what has caused this big resurgence?

Brief History

The development opened “Phase 1” in 2008 under the name “City North.” Due to the economic collapse later the same year, the project came to a screeching halt. “The only thing that stopped that from blossoming was the economy,” said Jim Fijan of CBRE, who was involved with the original project. “You had department stores and tenants lined up but they just couldn’t get the financing.” The development was originally slated for 2 separate phases, High Street and The Boulevard. Largely due to the economic downturn, Phase 2 has been delayed and in July of 2010 High Street went through foreclosure.

Development for Sale

In August of 2017, Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P. (HFF) announced that they had closed the sale of the 628,000-square-foot, high-profile mixed-use project. At the time, the development consisted of 99 multi-housing units; 174,705 square feet of retail, dining and entertainment options and 330,369 square feet of office space. Harbert Management Corporation, now owns the property in a joint venture with ScanlanKemperBard Companies. With a new owner ready to invest in the project, it was ready to finally find the success it had been chasing for nearly a decade.

Current State of High Street

According to the most recent information available, High Street is now at 84% occupancy and filling up fast. Premium dining restaurants such as La Bocca, Ocean Prime, Blue Martini and Modern Margarita (among others) have helped drive customers to the area in droves. Other major drivers of growth in the development include entertainment destinations such as Rick Bronson’s House of Comedy and Torch Cigar Bar. With dining and entertainment options bringing customers in, the future looks bright for High Street. According to the Arizona Builder’s Exchange there are plans in the works for more office space and a new hotel to be built in the future. All in all, we’re happy to report that High Street is back on track.