Queen Creek officials outline downtown core projects, new restaurants and town-owned development site

Queen Creek economic development staff on Tuesday updated the Planning and Zoning Commission on downtown redevelopment work, including recently opened connector streets, temporary event space, several incoming restaurants and a town-owned parcel the town intends to market for private development when council directs.

The update, delivered by Economic Development Director Doreen Cott, said the town’s earlier 2017 town-center planning work narrowed focus to a more walkable downtown core and that recent infrastructure investments are creating that pattern on the ground. “When we updated that plan, we realized that the larger town center had really developed and we wanted to focus in on more of that walkable downtown,” Cott said.

Cott described three new connector roadways — Munoz, Summers Place and Aldecoa — that link Old Ellsworth Road to the Loop and create smaller, walkable blocks. Summers Place is being used as a temporary roadway while the town prepares an RFP for the town-owned land between the two new streets. Town staff have striped the site to host special events; the Feast of All moved to the new location last Friday and the promoter hopes to return weekly, with a possible Saturday market.

Cott said several private projects are moving forward near the downtown core. Badlands Bar and Grill has opened in a building that previously housed Lone Star and Queen Creek Café. A tenant known as the Sacred Pint is undergoing tenant improvements to become a taproom operated by the owners of Old Ellsworth Broom Company; Cott said “there won’t be a kitchen” at that location but patrons can order food from other local restaurants.

Cott also described a two-story restaurant-and-brewery project called Perch, led by a developer who previously operates in Chandler. The developer has pulled permits and is finalizing financing; Cott said financing has slowed several projects but she expects vertical construction “in the next few weeks” once financing completes. She said the Perch project includes ancillary retail and restaurant space and that the developer has discussed possible uses such as a steak house, a speakeasy and an ax-throwing venue, although those uses were not finalized.

The town closed a real-estate transaction last week on a mixed-use project west of the library and adjacent parcels along Ocotillo, Cott said. That mixed-use project will include luxury multifamily (for rent and product), professional office, and restaurant and retail spaces; Cott identified three confirmed restaurant tenants for that site as Snooze, Postino’s and Shake Shack.

Cott also updated commissioners on other hospitality projects: a previously proposed teppanyaki project at the former mission market site is under new consideration by a developer proposing a “Rusty Buckle Saloon” concept; and a Homewood Suites hotel project on a town-owned parcel north of the downtown core has closed but not yet broken ground while the developer finalizes an SBA loan.

Cott said the town is being deliberate about issuing an RFP for the town‑owned land between Munoz and Aldecoa: “We don’t want to rush anything. We want to make sure that we do it right,” she said, noting other pipeline projects the town is tracking before soliciting development proposals.

Commissioners thanked staff for the update; there was no public comment and no formal action at the work study session.

Less urgent implementation details discussed included temporary event infrastructure (striping and staging for weekly events), the town-owned parcel that will be marketed via RFP at council direction, and ongoing developer financing as the principal constraint on construction timing.

Community members and commissioners will see subsequent project-level applications and permits as the private developers submit plans and as council provides direction on issuance of any RFP for town-owned land.