EXCLUSIVE: 19-acre, $75M multifamily mixed-use development coming to Gilbert's Agritopia
When the Johnston family opened the first homes at Agritopia in 2003, it began to change how people viewed Gilbert.
"This whole part of the East Valley is growing because of how (Agritopia has) been designed and how it looks. It is very shocking when you see what kind of people live here because you wouldn’t guess it if you didn’t come here and see it," said William Johnston, business manager for Johnston Properties. "Gilbert is changing, but not in a negative way, it’s becoming more than a suburb."
The $75 million, 19-acre mixed-use development Epicenter is coming to Agritopia in 2019.
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The $75 million, 19-acre mixed-use development Epicenter is coming to Agritopia in 2019.
PROVIDED BY JOHNSTON PROPERTIES
Now the Johnston family is bringing one more major development to its farmland: Epicenter, a 19.7-acre, four-story mixed-use center on the northwest corner of Higley and Ray roads.
Whitneybell Perry is the architect, Terrascape is the civil engineer and Floor Associates is the landscape architect. Epicenter will break ground this fall, and the center is expected to open during first-quarter 2019.
"This is a model for densifying Phoenix," said Joe Johnston, founder of Agritopia. "This is suburban urbanization, and hopefully it's something others can emulate."
The $75 million project has been in the works since 1999, when the Johnstons first created their land plan for Agritopia. Joe said they originally planned for a grocery-anchored center, but then realized that things had to be done differently.
"The grocery center model imploded, and during the downturn we realized we couldn't curate something with different owners," he said. "So we said, 'let's do a single project.'"
The residential space
The plans for the project came together in 2012, when Michigan-based IPA Partners opened its senior living facility Generations on a parcel in Agritopia.
"That added a very important piece to the community," said William. "Because as people get older and they need more care, you don’t have to move away from your family, you can still live in the community. Really from birth to earth is what a lot of people say here."
IPA, which also runs the Liv apartments throughout the Valley, "seemed like the ideal fit for a partner," William said.
"We knew we needed to partner with someone else who had expertise in multifamily, and they saw the response for Generations and they wanted to do something in this community," said William. "The great thing is the mindset and idea and desires for this project were very much aligned."
It's the first time Johnston Properties has ever done a joint venture.
The end result is roughly 300,000 square feet of residential space on the second, third and fourth floors of Epicenter, with 287 units ranging from studio to three-bedroom apartments and two-bedroom penthouse apartments. Units will range from 500 to 2,000 square feet, costing between $900 and $4,000 a month.
Epicenter will be one of the tallest buildings in Gilbert, hitting about 60 feet.
"Barnone was a way for us to keep Gilbert cool and keep people here. Epicenter is the same thing," said William. "When you get out of college you can come here and have what Austin has and be closer to your family. We want to retain talent in Gilbert and in Phoenix."
The commercial space
The first floor of Epicenter will have about 54,000 square feet of retail and restaurants, where half will be food-focused, "because of the way the business has been going," said Joe Doucett, senior managing director of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, who's the broker for the first-floor retailers.
The entry point to Epicenter will be at Joe's Farm Grill, followed by a 4,700-square-foot pad for a restaurant. Total walking distance from end-to-end of Epicenter will be "the same as walking from California Pizza Kitchen to SimonMed at Biltmore Fashion Park," said Casey Treadwell of Vintage Partners, who's consulting on the development and helping land some tenants.
But what really sets this development apart from the flood of mixed-use projects around the Valley is the goal for Epicenter is to have all Arizona-based tenants.
"We’re going to have tenants that have multiple locations, tenants who have never run a business before, tenants who have never had an iteration of this business," said Doucett.
About 30 percent of the first-floor retail has been signed. Because the tenants are local, and some will open their first brick-and-mortar at the site, lease rates are "way below the market rate," said Treadwell.
"That experience of street front retail, when it’s started by locals, whether it's South Congress in Austin or downtown Denver, inevitably the nationals want to feed off that because the consumer goes there and they’re trying to catch that consumer in the area," said Treadwell.
Because of the intention for 100 percent Arizona business (including Tucson- and Flagstaff-based businesses as well), there won't be any conflict between Epicenter and other shopping centers in the area.
"It’s actually positive that we’re only a mile or two away from SanTan Village, because we don’t have to worry about the ownership changing their mind, or the city saying why don’t you go do this," said Doucett. "The city has their investment in the national core, and this will have its own draw. It’s an interesting point in the cycle of growth in Arizona for our restaurants and retail. It wasn’t that long ago where we didn’t have a whole lot that wasn’t imported to Arizona, and now we’re exporting concepts to other cities."
Parking will be different from other mixed-use spaces as well. Half the surface parking will be in the front and half in the back, with retail parking spaces numbering 500 and residential around 450.
"It has a higher parking ratio than a lot of cities are allowing now when it comes to mixed-use, and that’s to make sure businesses have enough people coming every day so they can be successful," said Treadwell.
Agritopia has continued to bring new dynamic development to the East Valley over the years, such as its multi-use retail and restaurant space Barnone, which opened last year, and the town has become the ideal place for development, considering the average resident is 32 years old and makes $100,000 to support a family of three.
"You’re looking at some of he strongest demographics in the state," Doucett said. "You look at other areas of town, you have the income but you don’t have the density, or you have the density but you don’t have the income."
Steven covers retail, restaurants, hospitality/tourism as well as aviation, small business and nonprofits.
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