Central Scottsdale is starting to develop its own identity, with the help of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa tribes.
In the last 15 years, the corridor along the Loop 101 bordering Scottsdale just north of Talking Stick Resort has exploded into what’s now known as the Talking Stick Entertainment District: an experience-oriented destination zone offering everything from Butterfly Wonderland and OdySea Aquarium to Medieval Times, iFly Indoor Skydiving, Topgolf and PopStroke, the Tiger Woods-designed mini-golf venue.
Now, two new developments are going in on the northern border of the district, and the additions may be the mortar that finally seals the migration of Scottsdale culture and economics to what’s now considered “central Scottsdale.”
The Edge, a $70 million high-end shopping center located just north of where the 101 twerks at 90th Street, has already opened for its first phase of tenants.
Just south of that, The Sydney, a 26-acre mixed-use entertainment hub featuring flagship tenants like The Rustic live music venue, Pickle & Social for pickleball and dining, and Reverb, a new hotel concept by the Hard Rock chain, is set to open in stages over 2025.
“We see in Scottsdale two major trade areas that are catering to the entertainment and restaurant experiences: Old Town Scottsdale to the south, and Kierland Commons and Scottsdale Quarter to the north,” says Walt Brown Jr., CEO of Diversified Partners, which is developing the projects in collaboration with Palmer Development Group.
“But there’s a pocket of central Scottsdale that we believe is underserved, and that’s primarily because they’re just out of land. It’s really hard to get land on the scale necessary to create the attractive environment for consumers to spend their time. And the only way to capture their time is to have multiple different options in a friendly environment.”
Enter the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community. Since the opening of Talking Stick Resort in 2010, the two tribes have made a concerted effort to move the agricultural land that long occupied the space further east, making room for more commercial development along the 101. For the tribes, the developments bring consistent revenue through long-term leasing agreements (typically up to 99 years) that’s reinvested into critical community services such as housing, education, health care and cultural preservation.
For developers, there are lower upfront costs in leasing as opposed to purchasing land outright; tax advantages in building on sovereign land exempt from property taxes; and access to what’s now a prime location.
“There’s a lot of effort and patience that goes into working with the individual Native American families that actually have title to this land,” Brown says. “But we couldn’t do this without the support of the senior staff at Salt River.”
The Ringmaster
Amram Knishinsky saw it all coming over a decade ago, when the Israeli-born former shopping center developer launched Butterfly Wonderland, the 5-acre butterfly pavilion a mile north of the Talking Stick Resort that now anchors Arizona Boardwalk.
“Butterfly Wonderland proved to me that if you build the right attractions, they will come,” says the 81-year-old entrepreneur. “And then you just have to create more attractions that will keep them coming.”
The novel amusement-park-as-outdoor-mall concept grew to include OdySea Aquarium, UFO Experience, Pangaea Land of the Dinosaurs and six other unique attractions, all centered around an outdoor courtyard. He’s now planning another extension.
In the interim, other developers have expanded on Knishinsky’s vision, adding mostly other experiential attractions to the vibrant entertainment district. Is the ringmaster pleased with how the rest of the circus has panned out?
“They’re all bringing the kind of attractions that are unique and different than anything else,” he says. “So, whatever we’ve done here, it’s alive.”
