Original Article via Phoenix Business Journal
This month, Texas-based Alamo Drafthouse Cinema announced it would be part of a new $15 million development off Baseline and Rural roads in Tempe called the Collective.
The 50,650-square-foot space likely will be filled with new restaurants, retail and a fitness center to accompany the movie theater.
“It’s a stay all day sort of destination,” said David Sellers, president and CEO of LGE Design Build, general contractor for the project. “People want a place they can come to and get it all done with a single stop, and the Collective offers plenty of day and evening options for guests without them having to travel across the city.”
The Collective is scheduled to open early next year.
This summer, Valley chef Aaron Chamberlin, who is behind Phoenix Public Market Cafe and St. Francis, will open a sister concept to Phoenix Public Market in south Tempe, called Tempe Public Market Cafe, off Warner and Rural roads. Chamberlin also has plans to open a new concept nearby, called Ghost Ranch.
“It was a massively underserved market. The incomes were very high, the houses behind the restaurant were worth over a million dollars,” Chamberlin said. “I worked at La Grande Orange from the very beginning, and I saw that whole corner kind of take off and it kind of gave me a little bit of that feeling where there was nothing there and then all of a sudden it kind of blew up.”
Prior to either development, south Tempe has long been a quiet area for development, with most projects heading near the downtown and Tempe Town Lake areas of the East Valley city.
With two major names coming into the area, south Tempe is likely going to see much more development, whether it comes from other local developers or national restaurants chains looking to get in on the south Tempe game.
