Businesses at And St. Shea under watchful eyes
- January
- 15
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Baier, whose district includes Sunnyslope and neighborhoods as far west as Interstate 17, says she especially is concerned about “changing uses of existing structures.”
The district, once the gateway to north Phoenix at the northern end of the Dreamy Draw, extends along 32nd Street from the Arizona 51 to Desert Cove Drive, and along Shea Boulevard from 31st to 35th Streets.
The area has two large strip malls, several smaller strips, a half dozen office buildings, two lots where gas stations used to stand, a convenience store and a payday loan business. Shadow Mountain High School is just to the west, and Paradise Valley Mall is three miles away.
The neighborhood has a grocery, enough restaurants that a person would not have to dine at the same one twice in a week, car washes, cleaners, day care centers and barbershops.
A Standard station on the southwestern corner has been spruced up. The McDonald’s at the southern end was redone a few years ago. And the plaza that is home to Bashas’ and Walgreen’s had an extensive makeover several years ago.
But a strip mall on the northwestern corner is not as well-maintained. Office buildings along the eastern side of 32nd Street south of Shea are all but vacant. Other office buildings also have vacancies, and even the Bashas’ center has two vacancies where stores moved out in the past year.
“The corner has had some hard times,” said Brett Bednarz, owner of Shea Caf�, who lives in the area.
Visitors to the area might be surprised, based on the condition of the business area, to learn that the neighborhood around the district is well off. Census records from 2000 from ZIP code 85028 show this to be an area of single family homes, with fewer than average rentals or vacancies. It is a fairly well-educated area, with 41.5 percent holding at least a college degree, compared to 24 percent nationally.
Two percent of the people are poor, compared with 8 percent countywide.
The median income of about $65,000 is above the national and county norms, which are in the $40,000s.
Median home values hover well above the national and county medians, and have held their value reasonably well in the current housing downtown.
“I think the area is in need of new development,” said Wade Turner, a member of the Paradise Valley Village Planning Committee, who lives near the site of the new office building. “I am pleased that a developer is investing in the area.”
In his seven years in the area, Turner said he has not seen much change and is hopeful the neighborhood would support businesses in place.
Bednarz of Shea Caf� said he hoped to create a family gathering place when he began his business four years ago.
“But this is a quiet neighborhood, with two dead ends,” he said, “and the area lacked a family place to get together.”
Both Shea and 32nd dead-end at the Phoenix Mountain Preserve.
He said the area reached a low point several years ago, when a Wendy’s restaurant shut down. He said it appeared at the time the number of families in the area was declining. But that is changing, with people who grew up in the area coming back to raise their families.
“Small things are improving,” he said. “Business is picking up. Each month has been better than the same month a year earlier.”
Baier, the councilwoman for the area, said she is happy to see stability in both businesses and in homes.
She acknowledges that the city could develop new ideas that lead to neighborhood improvements.
She plans to form an advisory committee, made up of neighborhood activists and land use experts, to talk about how to stop retail flight, how to sustain and support existing businesses, and how to attract new and vibrant stores.
“It is up to people in their own neighborhoods,” she said. “They need to support to kinds of local businesses that help keep their neighborhoods attractive.”
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