Culdesac, a 17-acre car-free community being built in Tempe, has signed three new retail tenants to operate a grocery store, restaurant and coffee shop in the unique development.
The $170 million project with 761 residential units will not provide any parking spaces for its residents. Because of its “post-car” design and ethos, it is expected to attract a unique type of person and the food and beverage providers on the property have to share similar world views, said Lavanya Sunder, the general manager of Culdesac Tempe.
The headlining restaurant for the community, which is being built at 2025 E. Apache Blvd. in Tempe, will be run by husband-and-wife team Armando Hernandez and Nadia Holguin. The duo have had success with their Tacos Chiwas restaurant, which now has three locations across the Valley. At Culdesac, they will open Cocina Chiwas, which will be an expanded version of the Tacos Chiwas menu and will include a brunch menu.
“We don’t want to just be a ‘Mexican’ restaurant,” Hernadez said in a statement. “We want to celebrate regional cuisine from Chihuahua, Sonora, and Sinaloa.”
Culdesac Tempe also signed Firecreek Coffee Co. as a tenant. Firecreek operates three retail locations and a roasting facility in northern Arizona. The upcoming Tempe location will be its first in Tempe.
The development will also have a grocery store called Street Corner Urban Market. Street Corner Urban Market is a franchise concept for smaller, unique grocery concepts and this will be its first Arizona location. Vikram Dhillon, who worked for Street Corner Urban Market’s corporate office, is actually moving his family from San Diego to Arizona to be the independent owner and operator of Street Corner at Culdesac Tempe.
“I come from a family of 7-Eleven convenience store operators,” Dhillon said in a statement. “I was destined to follow the family business – but with a twist. The corner store of the future is all about local, high-quality goods and personalized service, and I’m moving to Tempe to make it happen.”
Culdesac Tempe still is working on leasing a few other retails spaces and will announce the operator of the co-working space later this year.
During the pandemic, Sunder, the property’s general manager, said there has been an increase in interest in people moving into Culdesac Tempe. She said with a renewed focus on remote working, she thinks the idea of living without a car, in a walkable and bikeable community is very appealing to people and that she is getting inquires from people all over the country who want to move there.
Leasing will start this year, and the property will open in 2022
While the people living at Culdesac won’t have cars, the community will have 150 parking spaces for people who will be coming to visit residents or patronizing Cocina Chiwas, Firecreek Coffee Co. or Street Corner Urban Market.
Culdesac was founded by former Opendoor founding team member Ryan Johnson and economic development specialist Jeff Berens. The real estate developer is backed by Khosla Ventures, Initialized Capital, Zigg Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, and Y Combinator.
Brown, Brandon. “Taco Chiwas founders commit to larger restaurant in Tempe car-free community” Phoenix Business Journal, May 12th, 2021. https://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/news/2021/05/12/taco-chiwas-founders-commit-to-larger-restaurant.html?ana=e_phx_bn_breakingnews_breakingnews&j=90559793&t=Breaking%20News&mkt_tok=NjczLVVXWS0yMjkAAAF9APcbElbmm95GfiboC4GYrYLv2SfMRuwziKOH9FpZoHlpSazG0XPMkHDbmWfNMvkQuLZOhkGeolmP8WZ7jpMMmedPBtjtd6HeUyasBS-_B6ZvOdT28BQ