15 Aug 22nd-Aug 28th, 2024 phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS | at a foundational level,” he says. Allen echoes Arnott. “His thought process and how he develops generally starts with how it can benefit somebody else or a group of people or a community,” Allen says. “That takes a lot more effort than to just say, ‘I want to build a business that’s successful.’” With the Jefferson House, Duncan and Allen can apply and expand on their expe- rience at The Churchill. “It gives us an opportunity to create a foundation of what we’ve already learned here,” Allen says. “It’s going to be more impactful to the community.” The new venue will offer plenty of simi- larities to the Roosevelt Row gathering space. Jefferson House will be built from repurposed shipping containers, harking back to the location’s rail yard history. And when it comes to selecting tenants, the focus will remain on incubating local busi- nesses and include social rent as part of their lease terms. But, it’s also a chance for the team to go bigger than they ever could at The Churchill thanks to a site about one-third larger. Designs are still in development, but Duncan hopes to make Jefferson House two stories, featuring office space in addi- tion to shops, restaurants and bars. “This opportunity is really cool, not only to give business over there a shot but also just have people be able to go to a place and experience multiple small businesses and bring everyone together,” Duncan says. The team is working on ways to improve climate control in an open-air building, and they concede that summers are challenging, even with discounts and special events to entice people to visit. “It’s hard to have eight good months and lose your ass for four and break even. That’s a bummer,” Duncan says. At the Jefferson House, they hope to do more to make the space one for all seasons, focusing on elements such as a kid-friendly splash pad in the courtyard and creating effective shading. “That’s going to be a major focus,” Allen says. “This is going to be a year-round thing.” With the construction timeline in the hands of the city, Duncan and Allen are hesitant to commit to an opening date but are currently interviewing prospective tenants. Restoring and scaling up downtown Back in downtown Phoenix, Duncan has two additional projects in the works. The first, located on Central Avenue and Garfield Street, can be seen from The Churchill’s rooftop. Duncan had eyed the former U-Haul building for a dining, arts and market space. He was supposed to close on the sale in March 2020 but scrapped those plans when the pandemic hit. “Covid just threw a wrench into everything. I still wanted to buy the building because I believed, in that long- term, (it) was a good investment,” Duncan says. He reached out to David Warren of Mainstreet Capital Partners, someone he’d met after The Churchill initially opened. Warren has developed projects in Phoenix, including Camelback Lakes, a Biltmore office center. When Duncan approached him looking for a partner, Warren and Mainstreet Capital agreed. “They kind of took a chance on me,” Duncan says. The development will be a new 30-story, 325-foot high-rise with around 250 apartments. Duncan will curate the food and retail on the two main floors, and Mainstreet Capital Partners will manage everything above that. “The nice part is they loved the concepts,” Duncan says. “For them, it makes a lot of sense because a lot of times the retail is an afterthought. This was back- wards. We already had the concept for the downstairs, and who wouldn’t Duncan brought in Stephen Allen, The Churchill’s operations director, to help guide the business out of the pandemic and solidify its place in downtown Phoenix. (Photo by Jacob Tyler Dunn) On the Rise from p 13 >> p 16