Roosevelt Row is Part of Cool Streets of North America

The renewal did not begin until ASU opened a satellite campus, followed by the metro light rail line.

PHOENIX—Once a sleepy railroad stop, Phoenix began to grow with new residents in the early 1900s. At that time, East Roosevelt became one of the first neighborhoods to emerge and by the 1920s, it was a streetcar suburb. Craftsman and California bungalows along with Period Revival houses were popular housing designs, says Cushman & Wakefield in a new report. The area started to decline with construction of the local freeway system beginning in 1960. Historic homes were razed and others were turned into halfway homes. By the late 1980s, East Roosevelt was considered a blighted drug neighborhood. The seeds of what is now known as Roosevelt Row (or “RoRo” by locals) were sown in the early 1990s when the area’s cheap rents began to lure an adventurous arts crowd. But while Roosevelt Row became known as Phoenix’s arts neighborhood, the full renaissance of the neighborhood really did not begin until relatively recently. In 2006, Arizona State University opened a satellite campus there. This was followed in 2008 by a new Metro Light Rail line that connects Roosevelt Row to Downtown Phoenix, much like the streetcars once did decades ago. In the years since, the area has had an influx of millennials drawn to its arts vibe, historic architecture and surprising level of walkability in a city otherwise known for sprawl. Roosevelt Row is situated immediately northeast of downtown and southeast of the junction of Interstate 10 and Highway 51. The prime east-west retail corridor is East Roosevelt Street, between North 7th Avenue and North 16th Street. North Central Avenue is the dominant north-south commercial strip. According to Cushman & Wakefield’s report on the top 100  “Cool Streets of North America,” the cool street cycle and trend is an urban renewal pattern where neighborhoods experience a period of neglect, increase in crime and social weaknesses that decrease home values. Inexpensive rent leads to new residents and the neighborhood eventually stabilizes and rebounds as new residents and businesses move in. These edgy but troubled neighborhoods re-invent to “prime hipness” and then become mainstream. These factors describe RoRo to a tee, hence it is the only Phoenix district that is ranked nationally in the cool street movement reported by Cushman & Wakefield. The cool street or “millennial street” trend is driven by 85 million of US millennials as they overtake the baby boomer generation. The millennial consumer is also driving the restaurant activity in every cool street in America as part of the urban renewal. A business that is leading in this trend in the prime corridor of Phoenix is DeSoto Central Market , a retail and restaurant hub on Roosevelt Row owned by managing partner, Shawn Connelly . Originally built in 1928 as the C.P. Stephens DeSoto Six Motocars dealership, the preserved historic building was converted to a food hall and encompasses various independently owned restaurants and shops such as  Tea & Toast Co. and the larder + the delta , the  DCM Bar , shops, and alternative working and meeting/event spaces in a central community space. Connelly tells GlobeSt.com: “DeSoto Central Market was designed to be a community hub that complements and adds to the vibrant, artisan and localist energy on Roosevelt Row. Phoenix is a beautiful city with a booming millennial population and we are thrilled to be an integral part of that community. The area has huge potential for progressive growth and development. I expect to see many commercial tenants moving in over the next few years that will cater to millennials and people who are looking for an urban lifestyle as a whole. We are excited to be here now and we look forward to the evolution of Downtown Phoenix.” Cushman & Wakefield reports that retail rents typically range from $18 to $28 per square foot, although there are the occasional deals beyond that range in either direction. Rents have climbed steadily despite the fact that overall retail vacancy in the neighborhood is close to 9%. But nearly all of that is older space (averaging more than 55 years) that borders on being functionally obsolete. Demand is on the rise, yet there is virtually no new inventory in this market and little available in terms of refurbished shop space. In other words, conditions are ripe for major redevelopment plays.