Papago Plaza Razed, Papago Plaza Raised

Construction of a more contemporary Papago Plaza has begun over the demolition of the iconic, shopping center at Scottsdale and McDowell roads in Scottsdale. The new Papago Plaza will feature an adaptive re-use design of natural elements that include brick, stone and wood with a mid-century modern aesthetic. The retail development will include art murals, neighborhood gathering areas for events, a common heavily-landscaped park area with full-service Wi-Fi, fountains, benches and child-friendly water feature.

The new project is being broken into three main phases: retail buildings plus a possible three-story office on one of the retail buildings and parking structure (Pivot Development and Sigma Contracting), hotel (PEG Development) and multifamily (Alliance Residential).

Sigma’s portion of the project is valued at $11 million to $16 million and will consist of the complete demolition of the original Papago Plaza that was constructed in the mid-1960s and renovated in the early 1980s. The three retail buildings total 21,000 square feet, a grocery store will be 22,000 square feet, planned office building will be 45,000 square feet and parking garage will be 120,000 square feet. This portion of the project totals approximately five acres of site work. Anticipated completion date is fall 2020.

Papago Plaza was originally built in the 1960s by the Malouf family and subsequently renovated to the “pueblo” look in the early 1980s. Mashburn purchased the property from the Maloufs six years ago and began the concept of redeveloping the property. “Sigma is honored and very excited to be working on this project with Lee Mashburn and Pivot Development,” says Dan Hinkson, president of Sigma, an Arizona-based company founded in 1983 and licensed in eight Southwestern states. “We have worked together on various projects for almost 20 years. We started on this project shortly after Lee purchased this property almost seven years ago and helped bring a variety of concepts to the table over time along with potential tenants.”

“We are extremely proud of this project. We look at it as the gateway to South Scottsdale. With SkySong across the street, we want to create a synergy at this intersection,” says Mashburn, president of Pivot.