Why were people swinging sledgehammers inside the office building at Scottsdale Road and McCormick Parkway in late September? And why does the project still have more than a year to go before anyone can order a coffee there?
The building at 7501 E. McCormick Parkway went up in 1978. For most of the time since, it has been a corporate headquarters on the water. Developer Diversified Partners is now converting it into The Lakefront at Scottsdale, a mixed-use project of more than 100,000 square feet with restaurants, retail, wellness and office space. The restaurant names get most of the attention. The bigger change for McCormick Ranch is that a piece of lakefront that only an office tenant could use is being redesigned for the public. Much of that design is still being worked out right now, before a single restaurant opens.
A 1978 office kept one of the area's best lake views to itself
Walt Brown Jr., CEO of Diversified Partners, put it this way at the groundbreaking: "It's kind of been this crown jewel that no one had access to because it was a corporate office."
The Arizona Republic reported in June 2026 that the developer bought the building from Forever Living Products, which had its headquarters there, for $25.5 million. Forever Living isn't leaving. The developer's project page says the company will keep its headquarters on site, and Diversified Partners is moving its own offices into the building too. So the building will still have office tenants. The difference is that the ground floor and the shoreline are being opened to the public.
The developer calls the look a "modern Santa Barbara aesthetic." Plans include restaurant patios, guest arrival and valet along a drive called Forever Lane, and parking spread across surface lots, valet and an underground garage.
The calendar between now and the first latte
The September event was the start of construction, not an opening. Here's the sequence from the public record and the developer's own announcements:
Date | Milestone |
|---|---|
May 21, 2026 | Neighborhood meeting on the rezoning and General Plan amendment requests, held at The McCormick Scottsdale |
Late May 2026 | Diversified Partners closes on the $25.5 million purchase |
Sept. 24, 2026 | Groundbreaking; partial demolition of the 1970s interior |
Early October 2026 | Broader demolition scheduled to begin |
Early 2027 | Main construction scheduled once drawings and permits are done |
Around Nov. 1, 2027 | Developer's target for the first restaurants to open |
The developer says more than 250 people came to the groundbreaking, including Mayor Lisa Borowsky, Vice Mayor Maryann McAllen and Councilmembers Jan Dubauskas and Barry Graham. A.R. Mays Construction is the general contractor.
November 2027 is the developer's goal, not a set date. That gap explains why the site will look busy without much visible progress for a while. Most of the work for the rest of 2026 happens inside an existing building, and the bigger construction push can't start until permits are issued.
Who's coming, who's close, and one spot still unnamed
The first phase turns 60,000 square feet of office space into restaurants and retail, plus a 10,000-square-foot headquarters for Diversified Partners. Reports on the tenants don't fully match. The Phoenix Business Journal, republished by KTAR on Sept. 14, said four concepts had signed leases. Ten days later, the developer described one of those four as a letter of intent. Here's where each one stands:
- La La Land Kind Cafe. A coffee and matcha cafe known for its all-white interiors with yellow accents. It gets its own freestanding building on a corner of the site. It already has Valley locations at Kierland Commons and at 5039 N. 44th Street in Phoenix.
- V Modern Italian. About 7,000 square feet, expected to open in 2027. Its Scottsdale menu was developed with Michelin-starred chef Stefano Ciotti and will include house-made pastas and antipasti. The brand currently has locations in Nashville and Charleston. On Sept. 11, What Now Phoenix reported that the lease wasn't signed yet. Three days later, the Phoenix Business Journal report republished by KTAR listed it as signed.
- SUSHISAMBA. A Japanese, Brazilian and Peruvian restaurant. The developer says it has signed a letter of intent for about 12,000 square feet, which would make it the largest restaurant announced so far. What Now Phoenix reported that Scottsdale would be its third U.S. location, after Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
- Frost Gelato. Included in the Phoenix Business Journal's list of signed tenants but missing from the groundbreaking announcements. Its nearest current shops are at Kierland Commons and on North Tatum Boulevard.
- One unnamed concept. The Business Journal reported that another tenant will be announced after it gets its building permits.
Three of the restaurants will have large patios, each between 3,000 and 4,000 square feet. Patios that big tell you a lot about the plan. The point of the project is outdoor seating that looks out on the water.
How much of the water the public will actually get
This part is the least settled. The developer's plans call for a small marina with Duffy boat rentals and "public gathering areas centered around walkability and waterfront activation." Another post on the developer's site describes lake-facing patios and a pedestrian walkway lined with shops. None of the plans we reviewed confirm a public path along the shore, a connection to the McCormick Ranch path system or the Indian Bend Wash greenbelt, or whether the boat dock is open to people who aren't renting a boat.
The sources don't agree on the lake's name, either. The developer calls it McCormick Lake. The resort next door calls the view from its terrace Camelback Lake.
The city's process is also still underway. The McCormick Ranch Property Owners' Association announced the May neighborhood meeting on two city cases, rezoning case ZN-0005-2026 and General Plan amendment PA-0198-2026. We couldn't find a city record showing a final decision on either one. Under Scottsdale's process, the Planning Commission reviews land-use cases like these and the City Council makes the final ruling.
ABC15 reported that the developer is working with residents and the homeowners' association on the final design. A resident told the station they were excited about the prospect of coffee, restaurants and a view of Camelback Mountain.
That account names exactly what's still undecided. Walking over from the neighborhood, staying near the water and looking out at Camelback Mountain all depend on paths, access points and dock rules. Those are design questions, and the design isn't final. The MRPOA's page of projects under city review is where updates on these cases have been posted so far.
The lakeside table you can book this week
You can already sit by this water. Next door, The McCormick Scottsdale at 7421 N. Scottsdale Road runs Piñon Grill. The resort describes it as Southwestern-inspired, served on a lakeside terrace that looks out over the lake toward the McDowell Mountains. It's open Monday through Sunday from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., and the breakfast and lunch-dinner menus on the resort's site are dated 2026.
The resort also lists kayaks, canoes and fishing gear from sunrise to sunset, depending on availability. They appear on the resort's amenities list, so they're presented as perks for hotel guests, not public rentals. That distinction is a preview of the question The Lakefront still has to answer about its own Duffy boats.
The McCormick Scottsdale also hosted the May 21 neighborhood meeting about the project, in its Superstition Ballroom. If the developer's schedule holds, Piñon Grill will have a neighbor across the water by November 2027, and the two will share one shoreline.
A new restaurant row on the water can change how buyers think about the streets around it. At Bryce Hull Realty, we're following The Lakefront's permits and tenant announcements closely, and we're glad to talk through what they could mean for your McCormick Ranch home. Get your instant home valuation to see where your home stands before the patios open.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
