Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon’s annual State of Downtown Phoenix address marked the official grand opening of CityScape, a $900 million mixed-use property offering new restaurants, retail and entertainment to the area.
Hundreds of people attended the night’s festivities — the first of a four-day grand-opening gamut extending through the weekend — which featured several musical and artistic entertainers, the opening of new clothing boutiques and free samples of food from downtown restaurants.
During his seventh annual State of Downtown address, Mayor Gordon spoke about Phoenix’s successes over the last several years with the opening of the Civic Space, the downtown Sheraton Hotel, the construction of hundreds of residential units, and now CityScape.
“Together, we have created a revitalized downtown, that tonight, gleams like a jewel,” Gordon said. “If there’s one thing we all can agree on, it’s this: In Phoenix, dreams do come true. That’s the story of our downtown.”
Thursday night featured the opening of Urban Outfitters, a boutique selling trendy clothing, accessories, and apartment decor located on the corner of East Washington Street and North Central Avenue.
Michel Benharbon, owner of the boutique West of SoHo, located along North First Avenue and near East Jefferson Street, said Phoenix needed the new retail that CityScape brings.
“Downtown Phoenix was missing trend,” Benharbon said. “The area needed more shopping to be recognized as the big city that it is. The opening of CityScape will bring people in and give them a place to go and get new clothes or just relax.”
The celebration of CityScape will last four days and, along with the opening of Urban Outfitters on Thursday, will feature several openings planned for the rest of this year and into 2011, including the Oakville Grocery, the Stand Up Live comedy club, the Charming Charlie boutique and LGO Public House.
Erin Kennedy, a journalism freshman, said the new stores will especially benefit downtown students.
“CityScape seems like a nice place for college kids to go when they have some free time and just want to hang out,” Kennedy said. “Tonight’s event was really cool, and I’m happy new stores are finally open. It seems like downtown Phoenix is really growing and will continue its growth these next few years.”
Thursday’s event featured free samples of dinners and desserts from several local restaurants. Businesses like Zpizza, Fair Trade Cafe and 1130 set up booths to offer a taste of the dining in downtown Phoenix. Along with rows of food booths, several entertainers drew attention to CityScape’s opening event, including fire twirlers, silver and gold body-painted men and performers on stilts.
Natalie Amato, a journalism freshman, attended CityScape’s opening night and said she was satisfied with the grand opening’s turnout.
“The opening is really exciting because it seems like CityScape will bring in a lot of people from downtown,” Amato said. “The free food and live music was my favorite part because it set up a cool atmosphere and made for a good opening night.”
Contact the reporter at katie.kunkel@asu.edu
Contact the photographer at stephanie.snyder@asu.edu
