Tempe Marketplace

Tempe Marketplace is a large open-air retail and entertainment center in Tempe, Arizona, near the Salt River and the interchange of Loop 101, also known as the Pima/Price Freeway, and Loop 202, the Red Mountain Freeway. Developed, owned, and operated by Vestar Development Company, the center opened on September 28, 2007. It occupies approximately 130 acres and contains nearly 1.3 million square feet of retail space. The property was created through the redevelopment of land with a difficult environmental history. The site had previously been used as a landfill and was considered sufficiently contaminated to be placed on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund list in 1983. It was removed from that list roughly two decades later. Development required cooperation between Vestar and the City of Tempe, including the assembly of land from 52 separate lot owners. The resulting project involved what has been described as the largest brownfield cleanup in Arizona’s history. Tempe Marketplace combines large-format retail with smaller shops, restaurants, entertainment venues, and public gathering spaces. Its layout is organized around two principal zones. An outer ring accommodates major “big-box” retailers and other large retail pads, while the central area, known as The District, contains smaller stores, dining venues, landscaping, water features, outdoor fireplaces, shade structures, and pedestrian-oriented spaces. Climate-adapted design elements, including misters and covered areas, support year-round use in the hot Arizona climate. The District also functions as an events and entertainment hub. A central courtyard includes a performance stage where free concerts and other public programs have featured local and national musical acts. A large LED screen displays sports and special events, giving the center a role beyond conventional shopping. The complex includes a Harkins Theatres multiplex with 16 screens, including a 604-seat Cine Capri auditorium. The theater hosted worldwide premieres of X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Only the Brave. Tempe Marketplace’s identity is therefore based on place-making as much as retail. It presents itself as a mixed-use-style destination without being a conventional enclosed mall, using outdoor circulation, programmed events, dining, entertainment, and landscaping to create a social environment around its tenant mix. Its history also gives the property significance as a major redevelopment and environmental-remediation project in the Phoenix area.

Tempe Marketplace was developed by Vestar Development Company as a large open-air retail and entertainment project in Tempe, Arizona. The site lies near the Salt River and close to the junction of Loop 101 and Loop 202, in an area near the boundaries of Tempe, Mesa, and the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community. The project’s land had a substantial environmental legacy. It had previously served as a landfill and was placed on the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund list in 1983 because of contamination concerns. The property was removed from the list about two decades later. Turning the site into a commercial center required extensive brownfield remediation and a complicated land-assembly process. Vestar and the City of Tempe worked to acquire property from 52 individual lot owners, enabling the redevelopment of a fragmented industrial and landfill site. The cleanup has been characterized as the largest brownfield remediation project in Arizona’s history. Tempe Marketplace opened on September 28, 2007. At opening, the center covered nearly 1.3 million square feet of retail space across approximately 130 acres. Rather than using a traditional enclosed-mall format, the project adopted an open-air plan with landscaped pedestrian routes, outdoor fireplaces, water features, shade structures, tall plantings, and summer cooling misters. The center is organized into two broad retail environments. An outer ring contains large-format and “big-box” retailers, while the central area, The District, focuses on smaller shops, restaurants, entertainment, and gathering spaces. This arrangement allows the property to serve both routine shopping trips and longer visits centered on dining or leisure. A major part of the center’s identity is its programming. The District includes a courtyard and stage used for free concerts and public events. The venue has presented a range of local and national musical acts, including Børns, Powerman 5000, Buckcherry, Pop Evil, The Struts, Dreamers, Jet, Trapt, and Drowning Pool. A large LED screen in the complex displays local sports and other special events. Entertainment is also provided by the Harkins Theatres multiplex in The District. The facility has 16 screens and includes a 604-seat Cine Capri auditorium. It hosted worldwide premieres of X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Only the Brave, adding a film-industry role to the center’s retail and event functions. Tempe Marketplace’s development transformed a contaminated former landfill into a major commercial destination. Its operating model combines tenant-based retail with dining, cinema, outdoor public space, and programmed entertainment. The property consequently functions as both a shopping center and a regional gathering place, while its environmental remediation remains a defining part of its development history.

• 2007

  Tempe Marketplace opens

  [1]Tempe Marketplaceen.wikipedia.org

  Vestar Development Company opened Tempe Marketplace on September 28 as a large open-air retail, dining, entertainment, and events destination.

• 2003

  Site removed from the Superfund list

  [1]Tempe Marketplaceen.wikipedia.org

  The property was removed from the Superfund list roughly 20 years after its original designation, clearing an important environmental hurdle for later redevelopment.

• 1983

  Site placed on the Superfund list

  [1]Tempe Marketplaceen.wikipedia.org

  The landfill site later redeveloped as Tempe Marketplace was placed on the U.S. EPA Superfund list because of contamination concerns.

• Harkins Theatre hosts major film premieres

  [1]Tempe Marketplaceen.wikipedia.org

  The center’s Harkins Theatre hosted worldwide premieres of X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Only the Brave.

An open-air lifestyle and retail destination combining large-format stores, smaller shops, dining, cinema, landscaped public spaces, and free entertainment in the Tempe area.

• Retail, dining, and entertainment district · 2007

  The District

  The District is the central pedestrian-oriented portion of Tempe Marketplace. It contains smaller shops, restaurants, entertainment venues, landscaped gathering areas, a courtyard stage, outdoor fireplaces, and water features. Its design supports extended visits and public programming rather than purely transactional shopping.

• Large-format retail · 2007

  Big-box retail ring

  The outer ring of Tempe Marketplace is designed for large-format retailers and major retail pads. It complements the smaller-scale stores and dining venues in The District and forms the center’s principal general-shopping component.

• Cinema and entertainment · 2007

  Harkins Theatres at The District

  The Harkins Theatres venue is a 16-screen multiplex within The District. It includes a 604-seat Cine Capri auditorium and has served as a venue for major film premieres as well as regular cinema programming.

• Live entertainment and public programming · 2007

  Courtyard concert and event venue

  The District’s central courtyard includes a performance stage used for free concerts and other public events. The program has featured local and national acts, helping position the center as an entertainment and community destination in addition to a retail property.

• 2007

  Adopt an open-air, mixed-use-style retail formatStrategy

  Background

  Vestar developed the project as an open-air center rather than a conventional enclosed mall, using separate large-format and pedestrian-oriented zones.

  Action taken

  The completed center combined an outer ring of large retailers with The District’s smaller shops, restaurants, entertainment, landscaped spaces, and event infrastructure.

  Aftermath

  The format made shopping, dining, cinema, live music, and public gathering central parts of the property’s identity.

  Source

• 2007

  Redevelop a remediated landfill siteOther

  Background

  The proposed commercial development involved land that had formerly been a contaminated landfill and had been listed under the federal Superfund program.

  Action taken

  Vestar and the City of Tempe assembled land from 52 individual lot owners and undertook the environmental redevelopment needed for the shopping center.

  Aftermath

  The project converted the former landfill into a major retail and entertainment destination and was described as Arizona’s largest brownfield cleanup.

  Source

1. 1Tempe Marketplaceen.wikipedia.org