‘New Town’ may be in the wings Article originally posted on HERE on April 9, 2025 At the rate things are going, Old Town may need a new name. Anyone for New Town? Granted, that might not land well in “The West’s Most Western Town.” Even so, while Mayor Lisa Borowsky continues a thus-far losing battle over an Old Town parking garage she calls “a monstrosity,” multiple projects that could collectively transform the area loom large. The projects range from hotels to “mixed-use” developments blending retail, restaurants, apartments and condos. Though many projects remain tenuous, as funding-thirsty developments are notoriously touch-and-go, Scottsdale City Council in recent years cleared the way for thousands of new residents in Old Town. Several builders are charging ahead. Less than 1 mile apart, cranes are putting the finishing touches on two big hotels: The Kimsey’s AC Hotel near Indian School and Scottsdale roads and the Maya Hotel in the Entertainment District. Just west of the Kimsey development, bulldozers have started clearing for the long-delayed Fifth and Goldwater project. Scottsdale’s historic city center has not been getting much ink lately – perhaps since none of the Old Town developments are in the “mega” category, like the 1,300 unit Optima McDowell Mountain Apartments or the much-anguished Axon plan of 1,900 apartments/condos. Both of those massive players and several other landscape-changing developments are in North Scottsdale. As a March 30 Progress story noted, with 3,000 multifamily units under construction, another 6,000 units were listed by the city as “in the development pipeline” recently. About half of those are in Old Town. A crucial asterisk: those are just apartment/condo/townhome projects. Hotel flurry The city’s elected officials have signed off on a dozen towering – by Scottsdale standards, at least – Old Town hotels. Last year, the 11-story Caesar’s Republic Scottsdale opened in the Fashion Square section of Old Town. While several of the Old Town hotels pine for construction funding, the AC and Maya hotels should be open this year. A neighboring residential project is in its early stages of “moving dirt.” New … but old: Fifth and Goldwater. “This is a new case for a site that was rezoned back in 2007,” according to Greg Bloemberg, a city planner. According to the Fifth and Goldwater application, “This project proposes development of 232 luxury residential units and approximately 32,000 square feet of a mixture of commercial uses including retail and restaurants.” The 5-acre site is at the long-fallow northwest corner of Indian School Road and Goldwater Boulevard – where for years locals passing by have wondered “what’s going to be here?” Now, existing buildings are being demolished to make way for a five-story parking garage and “residential units wrapping the garage.” The Fifth and Goldwater “architectural approach is meant to fit into the masonry facades on the adjacent sites on Indian School and Goldwater and provide a much-needed engaged pedestrian connection from Indian School to Fifth Avenue along Goldwater.” Entertainment District An area of Old Town traditionally viewed as Scottsdale’s “party zone” is under heavy development. At a Feb. 11 Council meeting before the approval of a preconstruction contract for a parking garage at First and Brown, Borowsky raged against it – and continues to do so, long after a 6-1 vote (the mayor being the lone vote against). One month later, Borowsky was part of a unanimous vote for a nearly identical parking structure just a few blocks north – in the booming Entertainment District. The Maya Hotel, a 12-story structure that towers over its modest neighbors, is finally nearing completion. The project from the Yari brothers – known for owning many of the Entertainment District bars – was approved in 2021. Nearby, the Saddlebag restaurant and bar is underway. Across Camelback Road, the Minnezona multifamily development is underway. The project was approved and cleared in 2022. According to its application, “The Minnezona Condominiums project will consist of three buildings … placed on two lots on the north side of Minnezona Avenue.” Nine townhome-style units are being constructed. Looming in the area is the somewhat mysterious, perhaps slightly pretentiously named Scottsdale City Center. The Stockdale Capital/Yari brothers project plans nearly 300 residential units – and much, much more. According to the Scottsdale City Center application submitted in mid-2023: “The largest owner of real estate in the area, Stockdale Capital, is looking to evolve and mature the greater Entertainment District-area into a mixed-use district. Art will be the unifying theme of Scottsdale’s next great neighborhood.” The 3-acre site of Scottsdale City Center is near the southeast corner of Camelback and Scottsdale roads. “The project is a mixed-use project of ground-level retail, restaurants, a residential tower with top-tier amenities and a flexible public plaza. “City Center will fill the gap in the pedestrian experience between districts,” the application promises, “and supplement the city’s shortage of housing.” The apartments and/or condos will be stacked on 12 floors – with “a below grade three-level parking structure.” According to Oswin “Oz” Wagner, a SmithGroup project manager running this show, “Our team is ready to submit for a DRB package to the city of Scottsdale. “No timeline on continuing design or start of construction.” But wait… Many more much-debated developments have been approved around Old Town, including the Artisan, a shop-and-live complex on Indian School Road. Then there’s the whopper: Gentry on the Green, an 1,800-unit apartment complex approved by City Council in December 2019. Two years later, the developer of the project at Camelback Road and 78th Street said it would be built in multiple phases … but, despite Development Review Board in mid-2022, construction has not started on Gentry on the Green.