SoCal developer Doug Wilson is ready to start a massive mixed-use development that will include office, hotel and retail. But it's not in his native San Diego; it's here in Arizona, where the firm has never developed before.
It's called One Hundred Mill: 260k SF of Class-A office; a 15-story, 240-key, four-star hotel; and 17,300 SF of retail and restaurant space, all on a 2.5-acre parcel in Tempe. Douglas Wilson Cos, in a JV with Hensel Phelps Development, just got local approvals to start work. “The economic climate in Arizona is very attractive,” Doug (right, with his son Nicholas) tells us. “But the Tempe market is absolutely on fire.”
The $190M project, like many across the country, will focus on the Millennial workforce. Doug says the developers are looking at the tech sector to fill the office space, taking advantage of the industry's meteoric rise in Tempe, with its proximity to Arizona State University tech grads and an overall young workforce. He tells us Cushman & Wakefield (which is leasing the project for them) is in talks with “several hundred thousand square feet of tenants.”
The developers are packaging a historic home on the site called Hayden House into an indoor/outdoor dining environment, while boutique retail space will be available on the ground floor. As for the hotel, no flags have been selected yet, but Doug says the company is in talks with Kimpton (recently acquired by Atlanta-based InterContinental Hotels) to run it.
