Inside the revamped $52M Camelback office that offers a celebrity chef, speakeasy and dog park

Article originally posted on AZ Central on May 1, 2025

As businesses look for ways to encourage workers to come to offices more often, one Phoenix developer is betting big on a new strategy: make the office feel like a resort and sign a local celebrity chef to run the on-site restaurant and catering.

George Oliver, a Phoenix-based commercial real estate firm, recently completed construction on Bond, the revamped version of a 40-year-old Camelback Corridor office building on 32^nd Street and Camelback Road. The $52 million renovation included creating a central restaurant, a basement speakeasy, full-service gym, yoga rooms, a billiards and game room, resort-style locker rooms, a dog park, and signing Mark Tarbell, founder of the nearby Tarbell’s restaurant and local TV personality, to run the building’s food program.

George Oliver bought the building for $61 million in 2022, according to real estate database Vizzda. The company has a history of other luxury office renovations, including in south Scottsdale, Phoenix, a recent project in Tempe and another planned in Old Town Scottsdale.

“We wanted to create a happening area,” Curt Kremer, founder and managing partner of George Oliver, said. “We want it to feel like a hotel more than an office.”

The resort-like atmosphere includes an app that office workers can use to access the amenity spaces in the building, like a billiards and game room with games like shuffleboard, darts and poker tables. The app can also be used to order food to be picked up at the onsite restaurant or delivered to a person’s office inside the building.

The onsite restaurant, called Cultivate, is led by Tarbell and serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. The restaurant features a coffee bar and sit-down dining and is open to the public as well as to office workers. Tarbell is also the leader of onsite catering in the office, giving businesses the option to host catered events in their office or the shared amenity spaces, like the bookable, private speakeasy.

“Bond’s food and beverage offering is truly a first-of-its-kind in our market,” Kremer said in an email.

“We set out to create something more than just an on-site café, we wanted to deliver a hospitality-driven culinary experience that rivals the best in the city, right in the middle of an office building,” he added. “To do that, we knew we needed a partner who not only understands our clientele but also brings world-class execution and a deep connection to the local community. Mark Tarbell checked every box.”

The fitness center at Bond is the biggest and most detailed of any of George Oliver’s properties, Kremer said.

The spa-inspired locker rooms feature a sauna, steam room and cold plunge showers. The two-story gym features Peloton bikes, NordicTrack incline treadmills, free weights and other high-end gym equipment. The office hosts yoga classes or businesses can host their own private team classes.

The upgrade of the 300,000-square-foot office has been the biggest conversion George Oliver has completed, Kremer said, but the conversion is expensive and would not be effective in every office building or every market.

About 70% of the office space at Bond is leased, but only about 50% of it is occupied, Kremer said. Some businesses are still waiting for their offices to be finished before they can move in.

Kremer said existing amenities in the market, like restaurants and entertainment, along with a strong local business presence and easy accessibility, make a luxury office building more likely to succeed. Office leasing remains slow in Phoenix, but tenants have been interested in new space in high-quality areas, such as the Grove on 44th Street, adjacent to the Global Ambassador Hotel.

“Unfortunately, the current supply of luxury office space is limited, and what is available is leasing quickly,” Kremer said. “This dynamic creates a unique opportunity for developers who understand how to deliver premium workplace experiences.”

Even still, Kremer said, companies that might have leased additional conference room space in their offices might want to cut back. To make up for downsizing, he and his team added bookable training rooms, conference rooms and private offices that tenants can use to have a meeting without adding extra space to their leases.