by Edward Gately – Mar. 2, 2012 10:30 AM
The Republic | azcentral.com
Many Fountain Hills residents have been waiting a long time to see commercial development on the south side of downtown’s Avenue of the Fountains off Saguaro Boulevard.
Will residents finally see something materialize this year?
In 2007, the land was rezoned to encourage mixed-use development. The next year, the Town Council entered a development agreement for the Fountain Hills Town Square, which called for 490,000 square feet of theater, retail, restaurant, office and residential on 15 acres. But financing fell through with the onset of the recession.
Now, a new plan has surfaced to build a smaller, $28 million entertainment complex. The Avenue would include a 2,226-seat, 12-screen movie theater — the town’s first theater — and new retail, restaurant and office space. The 6.5-acre site is at the southwestern corner of the Avenue of the Fountains and Verde River Drive, near the Fountain Hills Community Center and Centennial Circle.
The project totals more than 155,200 square feet.
The partners in the latest development are GMK Building and Development, the Fackler Trust,Haffar Entertainment Group and Sivers Cos. California-basedHaffar Entertainment would operate the theater.
George Kasnoff of GMK Building and Development and Dave Fackler of Nielsen-Fackler Planning & Development are heading up the project.
On Feb. 2, the council approved a concept plan and development agreement. The approvals came with several stipulations, such as the completion of a traffic impact study, a landscaping plan and a reduction in parking on the south side to increase the setback from the Village at Towne Center, a nearby condominium community.
Wendy Kelleher, a member of the Village’s HOA board, said she and other residents had concerns about the complex and parking being too close to their complex.
“What Mr. Kasnoff did was modify the plan per the council’s decision, taking 44 parking spaces out of that, and we’re happy with that,” she said. “So as far as the developer, we’re good.”
But skepticism runs high among some residents who doubt the complex will become a reality.
“They’ll see this spring,” Fackler said. He and his partners have been trying to get the commercial project off the ground since 2003.
Lori Gary, the town’s economic development administrator, feels confident. “It’s going to be a great project for downtown,” she said. “I think it’s going to enhance the vitality and … says there’s a market in Fountain Hills.”
Impact on jobs, revenues
Construction would take place in “one continuous phase” starting this spring, Fackler said. The first phase would be the theater and associated buildings, which would include a restaurant and other entertainment venues.
The project would be built on a 4.76-acre lot owned by Illinois-based Park Place Properties and two town-owned parcels. Asked whether the privately owned property has been purchased for the complex, Fackler said, “Sorry, this needs to be kept confidential at this point.”
Gary expects the first phase to bring 60 to 70 construction jobs to Fountain Hills.
“And it’s not just people coming in, doing the construction and leaving,” she said. “They’ll also leave a fiscal impact to the town as they go out to eat or as they purchase items in the town, or even if some of them have to come from a long way and stay in our hotels.”
When completed, the theater would employ about 30 people, and sales-tax revenue to the town would total $150,000 to $160,000 per year, Gary said. Once the complex is completed, the town should receive about $500,000 in sales-tax revenue annually, she said.
The second phase would include the two buildings along Avenue of the Fountains and construction should be completed within 18 months,Fackler said.
There has been criticism among some residents that the town won’t be able to support a 12-screen theater, so it will be a financial failure. This won’t be the case, Gary said.
“To have Haffar Entertainment as part of the project, and having the depth and breadth of knowledge that they do, we think that (Haffar President Frank Haffar) knows and understands the market, and has been able to plan for it.”
Haffar Entertainment didn’t return calls for comment.
Catalyst
In terms of eating and drinking, there are only a handful of venues on one side of Avenue of the Fountains. The other side is “nothing but dirt,” said Frank Ferrara, president and CEO of the Fountain Hills Chamber of Commerce.
“The project is necessary for the downtown area,” he said. “It would certainly bring more adventure to it, more nightlife based on what the plan is.”
Outside the Fountain Hills Library and Museum,Elle Kourysaid the town needs something for its young people. She has lived in the town since 2003.
“There’s so many older people like us here, we’re all aging, but we need to bring the youth in,” she said. “I think it’s going to help keep the youth here in the area. We have a son who is trying to relocate here and he’s excited about it for sure.”
Donald Hall, a five-year resident, looks forward to having a local venue to go see a movie or go out to eat, and “spending our money where we live,” he said. “You have to go all the way over into Scottsdale, 15-20 miles, but now we’ll be able to come right where we live.”
On the patio at Sofrita, Rosy Drahos, a winter resident, said it will be great for the town to get its own multiplex.
“Now, you go all the way down to Shea 14 and it’s a long ways,” she said.
