Plan your wedding reception – or next concert – at these enterprising event spaces around Phoenix.
Livewire (above)
Location: Scottsdale Nightlife District
Quick Pitch: EDM concert one night; Amway award gala the next
Owners: Les and Diane Corieri
Opened: December 2014
When Scottsdale power couple Les and Diane Corieri tore down their legendary Axis/Radius nightclub in 2013, the ghosts of a million vodka-tonics weeped in unison. It was the Valley’s signature nightlife circus for many years. But from the ashes sprang two new Corieri properties: Bottled Blonde, a mega-bar the couple cannily hitched to the emerging craft beer trend, and Livewire, perhaps the most geeked-out event space in the Valley. A 25-foot HD video wall and scores of programmable LED light banks make the 1,160 max-capacity venue a natural fit for music acts like Lil Wayne and Steve Aoki, but Livewire is also equipped for intimate seated gatherings and corporate events, according to Les Corieri. “We get a lot of top artists clamoring to play here because of the built-in light effects,” he says. “But it can be anything that you want to roll out in a really exciting way with a big wow factor.” Yes, that includes your nephew’s bar mitzvah.
Chateau Luxe
Location: North Phoenix
Quick Pitch: Plush nuptials and swanky soirée space
Owner: Deepika Bhalla
Opened: March 2015
You can almost see Scarlett O’Hara wandering the halls of Chateau Luxe in her garnet ballgown, her lush bustle blending seamlessly into the plush red carpet. But unlike the painted plantation Tara in Gone with the Wind, Chateau Luxe’s opulence is very real. The resplendent venue sprawls across 50,000 square feet, ornamented with contoured walls, terrazzo tile and large crystal chandeliers looming over the rooms like gilded gods. Two ballrooms, two patios, a garden and a chapel make the venue a posh mise en scène for matrimony, and Chef Kaushik Chowdhury makes unforgettable food that’s as fetching as the setting. Couples tying the knot at Chateau Luxe are privy to individual green rooms with massage tables. With a meeting space that can accommodate up to a thousand people, state-of-the-art audio and video, and high-speed wireless Internet throughout, the venue also functions as a fine site for corporate fêtes.
The Orchard
Location: Phoenix
Quick Pitch: Historical homes resurrected as restaurant hub
Owners: Ken and Lucia Schnitzer and Jerry Mansoor
ETA: December 2015 or January 2016
“It’s a house, so we’re trying to make it feel like a home when you come in,” Lucia Schnitzer of Luci’s Healthy Marketplace says of her new restaurant and retail venture, The Orchard, located on a former citrus grove at 12th Street and Glendale Avenue. The two structures on the two-acre property – a 1940s ranch house and a 1920s adobe home – were refurbished by Venue Projects, the design group behind Windsor and Southern Rail. Décor illustrating the agricultural history of Arizona adorns the property, which will house a market, a juice bar, a wine bar, an ice cream parlor, a splash pad, and an as-yet-unnamed Arizona-centric restaurant. The owners plan to host community events on the lawn, such as yoga and movie screenings. “We’re excited to rejuvenate [the orchard]. We’ve planted some trees,” Schnitzer says. “We hope to bring something special to the community.”
