Diversified Partners told the Carefree Town Council that the Carefree Quarter project has several leases under contract but has not yet secured anchor tenants, and town officials and residents raised questions about the project’s design, landscaping and lease mix.

Scott Hintze of Diversified Partners said the developer has signed deals with Panera Bread and Nothing Bundt Cakes and is close to signing a lease with Whataburger. He told the council that a number of other letters of intent and offers exist — he estimated 20–30 — but several anchor leases remain unsigned and macroeconomic uncertainty and volatile construction materials prices have slowed final contract execution.

"We've been working on getting our site plan approved. Our elevations are on the website. We're looking to be discussed and potentially approved through the design, development review board on Monday," Hintze said. He added that construction documents typically take two to three months to complete, and that the project will need a sewer lift‑station upgrade downstream to serve the development.

Town staff and council members asked for clarity on timing, tenant mix and acreage. Councilmember Roth and others pressed the developer to focus on retailers that will generate sales tax, saying several service tenants would not produce the same revenue per square foot as retail anchors. Hintze said the development agreement aligns developer and town incentives to pursue sales‑tax generating tenants, but that the market pause has delayed final anchor signings. He also said the project competes with a center across Cave Creek Road in the Town of Cave Creek; the developer named Evergreen as that project’s developer.

Residents and public commenters raised design concerns during the public comment period. John Imsky, who said he sits on the Design/Development Review Board and Planning and Zoning Commission, urged the council to require more demonstrable marketing performance from the developer beyond letters of intent. Janet Vivas and Jan Veil told the council they found the presented elevations and site plan to resemble an ordinary strip center with insufficient shade, a large asphalt parking area that would create a heat island, and under‑sized plantings unlikely to produce mature shade within a decade. Vivas recommended more structural shade, mature landscaping at opening and design elements adapted to the desert climate.

Several council members and residents also discussed the project name. One council member suggested using a different brand — "The Shops at Black Mountain" was proposed by a speaker — to avoid direct comparisons to Scottsdale Quarter, which has a different tenant mix and market position.

On zoning and site issues, the developer said Parcel C (the parcel on Cave Creek Road opposite Lowe’s) is already zoned commercial but carries a stipulation limiting it to office uses tied to an earlier 2018 zoning case. Diversified Partners asked staff to remove that stipulation so more commercial uses can be considered; staff indicated they would want to see a site plan to support any request to remove the stipulation.

Residents and council members asked for more disclosure on the developer’s marketing strategy. Hintze described a multi‑pronged approach led by an in‑house brokerage team and national listing services (for example, CoStar), and he said the developer maintains contact lists and meets with potential tenants and brokers at industry conventions. He acknowledged, however, that letters of intent do not equal executed leases and that conversion to signed contracts has taken longer than anticipated.

No formal council action was requested or taken on the update; staff invited the public to attend the Design/Development Review Board meeting the following Monday, when the site plan and elevations would be discussed.

Speakers quoted or cited in this article include only those identified in the meeting record.