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Posted Nov 15, 2019, 5:22 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2013
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Meet Miracle Mile, the Phoenix historic district primed to be your next dining dest.
https://www.azcentral.com/story/ente...ll/3979848002/
Quote:
As cars whiz down McDowell Road, open signs glow in the windows of local businesses beckoning drivers to slow down and stop inside.
The section of McDowell Road from 7th Street to State Route 51 was once a bustling shopping and dining district. Now the stretch, which links downtown Phoenix to the highway, connects drivers to where they need to go. It doesn't, however, entice many to stop.
A recent influx of new shops and restaurants has residents and business owners hoping that will change. La Marquesa Mexican restaurant opened close to the freeway in May. The owners of Tacos Chiwas, a locally-owned and popular Mexican restaurant, are building a new location in the area. Rise Distilling, a distillery and restaurant, is on the way.
According to Michael Kelly, the commercial corridor coordinator for McDowell Road, there are seven Mexican restaurants from 16th to 20th Streets.
"There's been a lot of folks that have taken the risk," he says.
While most of the new developments are eagerly awaited by business owners and neighbors excited to see the area undergo a renaissance, some of the projects have caused controversy or faced battles with the community as they progress.
Despite the challenges, most community members agree: the Miracle Mile on McDowell is on its way to revitalization.
Rise Distilling Co. is set to open along McDowell Road in 2020. A rendering shows plans for the exterior of the building.
In the late 1940s, businesses set up shop along McDowell Road to connect downtown Phoenix's business districts with the residents living nearby in historic Coronado and Garfield neighborhoods. The area quickly grew into one of the busiest areas for local stores and restaurants in Phoenix and was dubbed the Miracle Mile.
In 1957, however, Phoenix's first mall opened on Central Avenue and Osborn Road to the north of downtown. The opening of the new shopping center, Park Central Mall, preceded a decline in business for the Miracle Mile. As Phoenix expanded and the growing suburbs drew families farther away from downtown, the Miracle Mile became increasingly seen as a thoroughfare and not a destination.
In 1989, McDowell Road was widened, street parking was eliminated and the speed limit increased, making it even harder for small businesses to draw customers inside.
But downtown Phoenix is growing. People are moving back into the city center and businesses are spilling over, once again, onto McDowell Road.
How restaurants are driving growth
Located in the middle of the Miracle Mile Mall, a stretch of shops on the east edge of the Miracle Mile, Mansion Furniture has been a mainstay on McDowell Road for more than ten years.
Owner Andres Fajardo and his brother reopened their parents' furniture business at its current location on McDowell in 2008. The business had previously operated multiple Valley locations for almost 20 years.
"We like the area because it's centrally located, not too far from any of the sub-cities, and the price was really affordable," Fajardo says.
In the time since they opened, Fajardo says the biggest improvements to the area have been made in the last three years. It's driven more business to the furniture shop, he says.
Fajardo credits the uptick to the new restaurants that have opened along McDowell. Customers wanting to try new food options travel from around the Valley, helping bring in business from different areas of the city, he says.
Along with multiple new restaurants, Fajardo has noticed an increase in new stores joining the area as well. The furniture store will soon have two new neighbors, a barbershop and dance studio, along with multiple new businesses that have popped up just across the street in recent years.
What new restaurants are on the way?
A large black and white mural featuring a woman's face looking out from an array of bight cactus and desert plants adorns the side of a building at the corner of McDowell Road and 20th Street.
The mural is one of the first projects Matthew Bingham tackled in the process of fixing up the building. The space will eventually house a distillery, tasting room and full-service restaurant called Grain and Bottle, which will serve new American food with a Southwestern twist.
Bingham looked all over the city before deciding that Miracle Mile was the perfect spot for his new business. At his day job, Bingham works at the Phoenix Children's Hospital, just minutes from the Miracle Mile.
Over the 13 years, he's worked in the area, Bingham has lunched at restaurants along McDowell.
"You can tell the neighborhood wants to be revitalized," Bingham says.
He bought the building in October 2017. It was originally built in 1955 and construction is set to start early next year. He hopes to restore the space and showcase its historical roots.
Another historic re-development, the Clio on McDowell, is currently under construction and searching for tenants. The project is an adaptive reuse of an old strip mall and when finished, includes plans for two stores along and a restaurant.
"It's good to see that there are some projects starting to fill in the vacancies," Bingham says. "But there's still a lot to be done."
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Walkability is an obstacle for business owners
Enter the strip mall on the northwest corner of McDowell Road and 18th Street and you'll find a bookstore, two art and gift stores and, soon, a coffee shop.
A currently vacant space occasionally hosts La Bohemia coffee pop-ups, soon to be a permanent cafe. Next door is Galeana 39. This store, owned by Curtis Parhams, sells candles, jewelry and art and opened about three years ago.
"Before, there was a lot of riff-raff and that has cleaned up now," Parhams says of McDowell Road. "There's a lot of stuff coming in and I'm really excited."
The improvements are thanks in no small part to the McDowell Road Revitalization Committee, a major force in the push for bettering the commercial corridor. The committee is made up of community members from local nonprofits and city organizations and has been meeting regularly for four years.
Joel McCabe, chief operating officer and vice president of Trellis and co-chair for the committee, says the committee has three main goals: Identifying connections to downtown, whether that be public transportation, bike lanes or other means of transport; making the corridor more pedestrian-friendly; providing outreach to local businesses.
A rendering of the future Tacos Chiwas building, which will be located approximately 230 feet east of the southeast corner of 19th Street and McDowell Road in central Phoenix.
"McDowell is very unique to Phoenix," McCabe says. "This is such an instrumental piece of the city."
So far, community cleanups have beautified the street and trees and greenery have been planted. Mural projects are also in the works to continue to improve the aesthetic appeal of the area.
But crosswalks are first on the list of requests from local business owners. Mansion Furniture is located directly across from Galeana 39 but there is no safe way to cross the busy street.
Traffic speed is another hot topic with many business owners, as cars speed past on the way to the freeway.
"I think the traffic just goes way too fast here," Parhams says.
Because of the speed, Kathy Cano-Murillo, who owns an art gallery and gift shop in the same building as Galeana 39, isn't sure a crosswalk will cut it. Her wish list includes a pedestrian bridge, plus more murals and art installations to solidify Miracle Mile as an arts district.
How you can help celebrate Miracle Mile
In celebration of the revitalization of the Miracle Mile, and to mark a point of progress, community members will host Miracle Mile Days on Saturday, Nov. 16.
The event, which was originally held more than 60 years ago to promote sales at stores along the Mile, will feature live mural painting, bands, food trucks, circus performances and discounts at some local stores.
McCabe hopes that the event will help get the community excited about all of the developments along the Miracle Mile.
"We're ready for them, whoever comes," he says. "Hopefully they come and then continue to come back."
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