On behalf of Miller Plaza LLC, Phoenix-based retail brokerage specialist Western Retail Advisors has completed a 35,222-square-foot lease that will bring a new Whole Foods store to Downtown East Shopping Center, located at Indian School and Miller roads in the heart of Scottsdale. The store will become the fifth metro Phoenix location for Whole Foods, a natural and organic foods retailer.
Downtown East is located at 7628 E. Indian School Rd., minutes from historic Old Town Scottsdale and the upscale Scottsdale Fashion Square. The 93,000-square-foot center is presently 75% leased. Western Retail Advisors is currently working with several national tenants to take 16,000 square feet adjacent to Whole Foods, with those lease announcements expected soon.
“The demographics of Old Town Scottsdale and its surrounding submarkets are exceptional, and they continue to improve,” said Jakosky Properties President, Jack Jakosky in a statement. “Tenants have recognized this and, as a result, are actively competing for opportunities to locate here. We are thrilled to welcome Whole Foods and expect to have more announcements like this over the next few months.”
Whole Foods will replace an existing Fry’s Food Store, which has leased 50,000 square feet at the center for the past 48 years. This creates space for a second national tenant at Downtown East, further activating and modernizing the shopping center. An exterior renovation of this free-standing building will commence during the second half of 2024.
Western Retail Advisors Founding Partner Eric Termansen and Partner Neil Board represented Whole Foods in the lease negotiations. Ryan Desmond and Rachel Bliss of Western Retail Advisors are the center’s new listing brokers and will actively pursue shop tenants and creative office users for the remaining 8,900 square feet of vacant space.
“This trade area has experienced a rapid increase in high-end residential density,” said Termansen. “As each new luxury vertical residential project comes online, demand rises for top-notch prepared foods, restaurants and specialty retailers. The Whole Foods at Downtown East will serve this growing demographic and give shoppers from Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Arcadia and other nearby communities a more convenient way to access the Whole Foods brand.”
Austin-based Whole Foods operates more than 530 stores across the U.S., Canada and the U.K. This includes ten stores in Arizona – four of which are located in metro Phoenix (Tempe, Chandler, the Camelback Corridor and Paradise Valley).
The Downtown East Whole Foods will become the fifth metro Phoenix Whole Foods location, offering full-service seafood and meat counters, a specialty cheese department, premier prepared foods and bakery, Whole Body wellness department, and a curated grocery department including a range of certified organic and locally sourced options. It will also feature an extensive selection of beer and wine, and an in-store beer and wine bar.
A grand opening date for the new Downtown East Whole Foods store is forthcoming.
