22 March 13th-March 19th, 2025 phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS | Back Again Following last year’s dramatic exit, The Pemberton returns. BY TIRION BOAN T he Pemberton has spun a winding tale in downtown Phoenix, and its new chapter is about to begin. The Sarah H. Pemberton House was built in 1920 on the corner of Second and Portland streets. The historic house was acquired by private equity and development company True North Studio in 2018. True North and its owner Jonathon Vento restored the house and then filled it with local businesses. He leased rooms inside to various shops and boutiques. Outside, food trucks set up in courtyards throughout the grounds. Popular food trucks such as Saint Pasta and Baja Fish Tacos joined bars, shops and music performance spaces where customers could grab a craft cocktail at one food trailer, order some tacos at another and sit to eat under the twinkle lights in communal dining areas. The businesses rotated, always offering customers some- thing new and the whole concept quickly became a downtown destination. But after three years, The Pemberton closed in March 2024. The news came as an unexpected announcement, and tenants were just as shocked as The Pemberton’s customers. Longtime tenant Melanie Franco, who had run her gem shop Black Amethyst from The Pemberton since April 2021, shared her frustrations. Franco told Phoenix New Times she wasn’t notified of the closure until a few weeks before she had to vacate. The Pemberton’s management denied her claim, saying they had sent emails noti- fying tenants of the upcoming closure. But she was left scrambling and held a fund- raiser to help save her business as she looked for a new home. To Saint Pasta owner Racan Alhoch, the concerns sounded familiar. The former tenant and popular food truck-turned- restaurant owner said The Pemberton was “horribly managed.” “The way that they closed The Pemberton in that they didn’t give anybody news and it was very sudden, that’s just how they operate,” Alhoch told New Times last spring. The Pemberton returns But now, it’s back. The Pemberton has teased a return on its social media pages over the last few months. It is now offi- cially scheduled to reopen on March 14. “I wanted to provide a ‘gift’ to the community — a place where everyone feels welcome and all walks of life can enjoy and escape the negativity in the world,” Vento said in a news release announcing the upcoming opening. The revamped space will display art from 100 artists, be home to 10 bars and include themed areas. Some of the themes include a Japanese garden, an Icelandic village and a “Dia de los Muertos area” according to the release. What’s different this time around, is that all of the bars inside The Pemberton will be “in-house,” according to a spokes- person for the company. It won’t be a collective of different local businesses, but rather a selection of food and drink spots all run by Vento. While The Pemberton has come and gone, only to return again, True North Studio and Vento’s deep connection to the Roosevelt Row area continues. The company owns or has developed much of the land throughout the arts district, and on its website, lists the Cambria Hotel, the Ten-0-One building, multiple apartment blocks and the build- ings that house The Theodore, Sottise, Lom Wong, Ghost Donkey, Cham Pang Lanes, Palma, Luckys Indoor Outdoor and MonOrchid as its projects. Some of those parcels have since changed hands, according to records from the Maricopa County Assessors Office. But True North Studio maintains a behind-the- scenes grip on the downtown district. The Pemberton is the only True North space where Vento is the face of the project. We’ll soon see how it looks this time around. The Pemberton Reopening March 14 1121 N. Second St. A year after it closed, The Pemberton is coming back with a new look. (Wayne Rainey, Rainey Studios) Prior to its March 2024 closure, The Pemberton was home to many restaurants, bars and retail businesses. (True North Studio) ▼ Food & Drink
