CityNorth opens with music and controversy
They call the main drag High Street, and it cuts through the center of Phase I of the new controversial shopping plaza east of Desert Ridge Marketplace. It’s called CityNorth and just opened this week, north of the 101 Freeway at 56th Street. (I didn’t bring my camera, so, sorry, no pictures.)
In a deal with city of Phoenix, developers reap profits from the sales taxes paid by consumers who will be shopping and dining here–50 percent of the profits, I read online. That’s a lot of dough to give away, and I can see why people are upset, what with the term “bailout” becoming the norm for government and big industry these days.
But since that’s not my expertise, I’ll just focus on what I saw first-hand so you might get a taste of what you’d see if you go. We’ll just stick to the travel aspect, in other words.
The grand opening happened this week, and I convinced my boyfriend to come with me last night to see why the mayor’s office thinks this was such a great idea. Well, to be sure, what we saw was just another shopping mall with stores and restaurants and really expensive condos for rent and for sale. It kind of reminded me of a toned-down (in some respects) Kierland Commons. Of course, it’s not fully built yet, and with the economic downturn, Phase II has been delayed. I can’t envision what it will look like when fully built. With all the lights turned on, you can call it a bright spot in the middle of barren desert for now.
We did tour the condos, built directly over the shops, instead of in separate buildings as at Kierland. And they’re nice, if, as my boyfriend said, “you wanna live at the mall.” Okay, well, some people do. But I probably wouldn’t pay the $2,500 rental fees or the $600,000 purchase price to live there (Just a few numbers we read on the fliers.). But, hey, if you are into this sort of living arrangement, it might be worth a look. Otherwise, from my point of view, it was fun to pretend to house hunt. In the homes facing High Street, balconies overlook the shops, which wouldn’t exactly make for quiet living if management plans celebrations with live music every weekend. Just thought you should know that, if you’re seriously looking…
Before we toured the condos, we ate at a Japanese steakhouse called Saito’s, which may not have been fully prepared to address large crowds at dinnertime. Service at the hibachi table we sat at was semi-poor, meaning it was late and the waitress kept apologizing for being late or not getting our orders in at all. You’re sitting there kind of at the whim of service in these cases, so what do you say to that? I’m not one to yell or get upset about such things, unless I specifically let service know ahead of time I’m in a hurry, which we weren’t. But the meal was great, and the mai tai cocktails tasty and potent.
After one of our table mates complained about slow service, virtually no entertainment by our hibachi chef (While other tables were whooping it up with their chefs’ antics, all we got was an onion volcano.), and other things I couldn’t overhear, the manager gave everyone at our table a 50 percent discount, and you couldn’t complain about that! Besides, I think we gave the restaurant the benefit of the doubt, for opening day jitters. And since the manager did address all of us at the table personally, telling us she’ll focus more on training, asking us–with a smile and friendly manner–to please come back again, I think I would return. Besides, sitting there at the table made me miss Ayako’s of Tokyo. For those of you who might recall this Biltmore Fashion Park favorite, you’ll know what I mean.
During our visit, we also walked around to window shop (basic upscale chain stores, a few boutiques) and check out the bands–all music styles covered: country, contemporary rock, and Mariachi (an all-woman band). I did read that a few anchor stores, Bloomingdale’s (the first in Arizona) and Nordstrom, will be opening there soon, but we only saw evidence of Nordstrom–there was sign that advertised this. Despite the economic slow-down, my guess is this place will become a busy site this holiday season–once people realize it’s open.
All in all, I enjoyed my Sunday evening exploring a new entertainment venue.
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