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Lake Havasu economic development officials outline retail, co‑working and housing challenges
Summary
The Partnership for Economic Development briefed the Lake Havasu City Council on progress at the Shops at Lake Havasu, a stalled co‑working building, drainage problems at Agave Business Park and workforce housing shortages that limit recruitment.
James Gray, executive director of the Lake Havasu City Partnership for Economic Development, updated the City Council on Aug. 27 on a range of projects aimed at attracting jobs and retail investment to Lake Havasu City.
Gray said the Shops at Lake Havasu has new private investment and redevelopment activity, including a planned 40,000‑square‑foot omnichannel storefront tied to local fulfillment operations. He said demolition, construction drawings and lot split work have been submitted and the property owner is aiming to close on the site in September. “This is a $2,500,000 investment,” Gray said.
Gray told the council the project has faced stops and starts: a prospective restaurant group dropped out late in the process and a second ownership group briefly paused negotiations. He said the shops’ long‑term success will depend on creating mixed uses and more residential density near the site, including a possible first wave of a 40‑unit apartment complex and a hotel site as later phases.
On co‑working, Gray said the Partnership’s early co‑working experiment (F106) helped test demand but a planned larger facility called Nomadic required construction costs that proved too high. “For this building to make sense for us, we had to be in the dollars $205 to $225 a square foot,” Gray said. He reported a funding gap of roughly $500,000–$700,000 for the proposed standalone building and said the Partnership is weighing alternatives, including a vertical placement in the downtown catalyst project to reduce land and parking costs.
Gray described drainage problems at the Agave Business Park as a continuing barrier to using development pads. “The pads are not gonna be utilized if we can’t figure out a path forward,” he said, and said staff are discussing a larger fix with the city.
The update also covered programming intended to build local entrepreneur capacity: Creative Comrades (monthly meetups and workshops), First Fridays (downtown activation) and a revived ASU Startup School set to run in a six‑week winter course. Gray said Startup School previously enrolled about 53 participants over three iterations and currently about five participant ventures are generating revenue. “We want that higher,” he said.
Council members pressed Gray on recruitment and workforce housing. Gray said land prices, limited large tracts, and the local labor pool — including seasonal and retired residents — hamper recruitment. He said workforce housing availability is constraining construction projects and business recruitment, citing an example in which a project manager struggled to find local housing. “We don’t have workforce housing,” Gray told the council.
Why it matters: Gray framed the work as a mix of place‑making and people development. He said public investment must be matched to private partners to attract large projects and that creating a vibrant downtown “third‑space” will support retail and restaurant demand.
Ending: Gray said the Partnership will continue work on branding the north side and on bringing the downtown catalyst project toward a development agreement; he will return with further updates at future council meetings.
