12 Aug 22nd-Aug 28th, 2024 phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS | ell Duncan is OK with playing the long game. The co-founder of The Churchill bet on downtown Phoenix before it was en vogue. “I believe in downtown. I think we’re scratching the surface,” Duncan says while sitting at one of the large wooden picnic tables in the sunken courtyard at The Churchill’s central courtyard on a sunny afternoon. “We’re a new city, we’re a young city.” Since its debut in 2018, the dining, shopping and gathering space has become a destination for locals and visitors alike. At that time, the dining and entertainment elements of Roosevelt Row were still blossoming. The Churchill joined long-time staples such as Carly’s Bistro and Fez but was ahead of spots that are often synonymous with a night out in the area, such as Arizona Wilderness Brewing Co., Luckys Indoor Outdoor and Rough Rider, which opened in 2019, 2020 and 2021, respectively. Duncan is a longtime downtown fan who fell in love with the area after buying a condo with his brother in the Warehouse District. Before launching The Churchill with his former business partner Hartley Rodie, Duncan worked in marketing and internet sales for a residential real estate company. The lanky 36-year-old is the first to point out that he didn’t really know what he was getting into. “I don’t know development. I didn’t go to school for this. I majored in graphic design,” he says. But friends and supporters know that Duncan’s insight, while intangible, is valuable. “He’s plugged into a lot of things; he knows which way the trends are headed,” says Stephen Allen, The Churchill’s director of operations. Nearly six years in, the eye-catching gray shipping container structure on First Street, brought to life by 10 restaurants, bars and shops, has persisted while similar concepts have come and gone. “We feel very lucky,” Duncan says. “For me, it’s more of a long-term thinking, I guess. I have the luxury and advantage that we own the land we sit on.” That long-term thinking, along with a strident belief that small businesses working together cultivate a special type of community, has created new opportunities across the Valley for Duncan. The developer now has three projects in the works: a downtown high-rise, restoration of an iconic Grand Avenue building and a bigger version of The Churchill in Peoria. Though he’s quick to quip that his path and the partnerships he’s struck up have been random or unintentional, he’s acutely aware of the impact these spaces can have on the business tenants, their customers and the broader community. “If we’re all doing well, it benefits everybody, and if we’re doing well, it benefits everyone around us,” he says. “These little drops create ripples and they overlap.” Meet Kell Duncan, the developer shaping the future of Phoenix. BY S A R A C R O C K E R on the RISE
