Historical Downtown Glendale Gets Modern Makeover

Long an antiques hot spot, downtown Glendale is in the midst of a modern revitalization.

It was déjà vu when developer Michael Starkle set eyes on the almost century-old Sine Building in downtown Glendale. “It reminded me of Whiskey Row in Prescott and the downtowns in Flagstaff and Durango, Colorado,” he says. “The building had tall pressed-tin ceilings, wood floors, brick walls, a grand staircase and large display windows. It was just gorgeous!” 

The structure, like its downtown environs, had good bones just waiting for the right folks to resuscitate it. Both are part of a multi-year revamp of the historical West Valley hub, with the downtown city campus undergoing a $70 million renovation. City Hall, E. Lowell Amphitheater, Murphy Park, city council chambers and a parking structure are getting upgrades, leading to nearby business openings (see below).

According to Ron Short, president of the Glendale Arizona Historical Society, the Sine Building dates from 1926, when Floyd Sine opened his furniture store there. “The building is important to the city’s history, even though the exterior facade has been altered and cannot be nominated for the National Register,” he says.

The property at 5747 W. Glendale Ave., renamed Marty Robbins Boulevard in its stretch through downtown after the city’s native son, had been boarded up for four years since the building’s previous incarnation as the Gaslight Inn, a boutique hotel, shuttered. 

“It was kind of an eyesore, having been fenced off for that long,” says Matt Harper, managing director of NAI Horizon, the commercial real estate firm handling the building’s leases. “Our neighbors were thrilled to see work done on the building and have upgraded their facades.”

The rehab project came with some heavy lifting – about five inches worth. “The front part of the building’s foundation had sunk,” Harper says. “A company jacked up the structure. It took about two weeks to prep and one day to raise it to install 25 new piers.”

An antique hand-carved bar imported from England is the focal point of the building’s first tenant, Simple Machine Brewing Co., which will likely have some built-in regular customers. The second-story former guest rooms are being converted into 11 unique apartments called Gaslight Lofts to bring a residential component to downtown Glendale. 

Harper envisions the project kick-starting downtown redevelopment of the city founded, ironically, as a temperance colony in 1891. 

“We started in downtown Mesa 10 years ago before it took off, and we’re hoping for the same thing here,” he says. “Glendale’s legit; it’s the most authentic downtown in the West Valley.”

Municipal Motivation
These new businesses are joining the downtown Glendale renaissance.

HomeStat

-21%

Drop in the average selling price of a condo unit in Glendale ($221,000-$175,000) during the six-month period from May to October 2022, the largest such drop in Arizona. As elsewhere in the state, single-family homes fared better in Glendale, dropping only 7% during the same period.

—Craig Outhier

Interior shots of the Gaslight building in Glendale under renovation, taken in January – renovations are still in the works, but moving along swifty! (Photos by  Mirelle Inglefield)