Arizona Progress & Gazette
(Editor’s note: Opinion pieces are posted only for purposes of discussion.)
There are many important commercial corners in Phoenix but a largely vacant one at 32nd Street and Indian School Road is particularly so.
Once a proud, thriving center it has retreated to near nothingness.
With the recent success of businesses and restaurants like The Vig, Beckett’s Table and Crudo nearby, the corner surround by diverse neighborhoods is both an incredible opportunity to bookend Arcadia, or see this central Phoenix area west of 32nd tip itself into no man’s land.
The former aspiration got some welcome news this week in the form of acquisition by De Rito Partners. Owned by the constantly in motion Marty De Rito the enterprising company is a great match for a property with so much potential.
After all the concentration of cool Camelback Road stuff is one mile to the north. The 51 is only two miles west. And the best of Arcadia is just a very short distance away.
Michael Pollack has proven the import of neighborhood health and welfare by rehabilitating old commercial centers.
The task before De Rito is bigger than what Pollack typically takes on. But the reward could be even greater. Not just for a developer. But for a part of the city whose best future may be riding on the revitalization.
