By Roland Murphy for AZBEX
When the City of Phoenix approved rezoning 104 acres at the SEC of 19th Avenue and Baseline Road to enable a mixed-use retail and residential development in 2024, it deferred the requirements for site plans, elevations and landscaping plans until users were identified.
Now, big-box discount grocer WinCo Foods wants to build an 84KSF store as an anchor development in the 35-acre retail portion of the site, and owner City to City Commercial and master developer Diversified Partners are requesting a stipulation change to let the plan move forward.
Of the 55 stipulations attached to the rezoning approval, the first requires future developments to submit updated site plans for review by the Phoenix Planning Hearing Officer and the South Mountain Village Planning Committee under a stipulation modification.
The current stipulation modification request includes the updated site plan and asks that it be applied to WinCo and all future lots on the commercial site. According to the updated language, “This is a legislative review for conceptual purposes only. Specific development standards and requirements will be determined by the Planning Hearing Officer and the Planning and Development Department.”
The updated site plan for The Grove on Baseline covers WinCo’s portion and six other lots. In the application’s rationale requesting the change, project land use representative Richert & Associates said City staff advised that the commercial portion of the property could be processed as a single site, with the residential portion to be processed separately.
In addition to the WinCo store, the site plan shows various pads on the remaining lots ranging in size from 986SF to 7.2KSF.
According to the DATABEX project database description of the master-planned area, and citing the original submissions, “Plans call for a total of approximately 360 apartments over 17 acres, 39 acres of single-family homes, and 213 townhomes on 15 acres. Townhomes could be either for rent or for sale, depending on market conditions. There will be approximately 35 acres of commercial development designed around a 3.5-acre central park.”
The narrative for the stipulation modification says WinCo has signed a purchase agreement to buy its portion of the property. Following the initial rezoning, “The owners… sold various of the preliminary lots to builders with expertise in providing needed housing opportunities and desired support commercial.”
A local news outlet reported Diversified Partners says the community has expressed a desire for retail operations in the area, and the company is trying to drive as much retail as possible for the northern portion of the site. The residential portions will be built on the southern section.
The article also cited Diversified Partners officials as saying the WinCo development plans to break ground by early to mid 2027.
