Not long after graduating from University of Arizona, Brian Frakes landed a dream job for any aspiring commercial real estate developer. The year was 1999, and he’d accepted a position as a development manager for Westcor, then the state’s premier shopping mall developer and famed for building some of the biggest, most profitable shopping malls in the nation. Frakes was clearly on the fast-track for success as nothing could ever come between Americans and their love for air-conditioned mega malls jam-packed with chain stores, food courts and movie theaters. But in an ominous sign, 1999 was also the year that Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, was named Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year” for popularizing a new trend called online shopping.
Nearly 25 years later, Frakes is busier than ever, and still focused on developing successful shopping centers and neighborhood hubs that proudly serve as a gathering point for communities across Arizona and beyond. But that’s only because Frakes has constantly reinvented his business, shifting his focus as the world transformed in ways he could have never imagined back at the end of the 20th century. Now the owner of Common Bond Development Group in Phoenix, Frakes is about to expand into an all-new field with the opening of The Global Ambassador, a luxury boutique hotel he’s developing alongside famed restauranter Sam Fox. And, according to Frakes, it’s all because he’s never been afraid to evolve with the times and break outdated “rules.”
“It’s ironic,” Frakes says. “Back at Westcor and the peak of the traditional shopping mall, no one wanted to do deals with restaurant tenants. At the time, they were chef-driven and had a high failure rate, so they were considered unreliable. But the business, and the world we live in, is so different now. Restaurateurs such as Sam Fox, and Lauren Bailey at Upward Projects, are incredible operators and run highly successful companies. Today, they are the most desirable tenants, and these are the quasi-lifestyle brands that can drive traffic and make or break a project.”
But much like Amazon spent years losing money in order to grow into a global behemoth, Frakes’ evolution started with taking a step backward in order to go boldly forward. “After Westcor was sold to Macerich, I decided to take a risk and leave the company to join WDP Partners, which was founded by four senior Westcor executives who bought back some of the company’s former assets and also developed new projects.”
Frakes’ work at Westcor and WDP reflected the changing times, including projects like the upscale Scottsdale 101 center and an outdoor-only regional shopping mall in Yuma. “Cutting my teeth on these very complex multi-tenant projects led to tremendous learning, especially Scottsdale 101, which was overall a very complicated project involving state land and getting signoff from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,” Frakes says. “It was also really instrumental to my career to be able to partner with these high-level executives and their decades of experience. They remain partners, friends and mentors to this day.”
But as Frakes set out to launch his own real estate development company, he knew he needed a completely different model from the traditional enclosed shopping mall, or even the outdoor shopping centers anchored by a movie theater that he’d been overseeing at WDP Partners. Seeking to secure stabilized revenue streams in this notoriously fickle field, Frakes built Common Bond Development Group into separate silos, and turned to two businesses he felt would drive development for today and the future.
For the first silo, Frakes focused on one of the few traditional retail developments that are still thriving in the Amazon age: neighborhood shopping centers anchored by a grocery store. “I have a wife and three kids,” Frakes says, “so we’re there all the time. All the things we need right in our neighborhood, a place to get your nails done, grab a coffee, eat dinner, grab groceries or goods. They are very highly trafficked and not being taken over by online retailing.”
Furthermore, Frakes also expanded into a new, and now highly-successful, niche of smaller, restaurant-focused developments. Starting with the ground-breaking mixed-used project in central Phoenix called The Yard, Frakes worked hand-in-glove with Sam Fox to transform a former motorcycle dealership into a vibrant, multi-restaurant space centered around a shared courtyard. It was an instant success, and Common Bond has gone on to develop The Yard Tempe and The Yard Tucson, alongside a curated collection of stylish restaurant-centric developments for popular hospitality and lifestyle brands, including Postino WineCafé, Snooze an A.M Eatery, Orange Theory Fitness and Starbucks.
All of which led to Common Bond’s newest, most ambitious development to date: a new urban luxury boutique hotel in the heart of Phoenix’s Camelback/Arcadia neighborhood called The Global Ambassador. Frakes says this project is personal to him as a proud fifth-generation Arizonan. “Obviously, economic success is important, but to me this project represents something more intangible. People who live and work here know Phoenix has evolved into a diverse, sophisticated trade area, but still, it takes guts to plant a flag. The Global Ambassador is the ultimate evolution of all my experiences, from Westcor to Common Bond. It’s design-focused, a place where people feel comfortable, and also a place they want to be.”
Did You Know: Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker, former Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald Jr. and country singer Dierks Bentley are all investors in The Global Ambassador hotel coming soon to Phoenix.
Did You Also Know: Arizona’s restaurant and foodservice employs up to 10% of all workers statewide and contributed $20.2 billion in sales in 2022 alone.
