Article originally published in azcentral by Corina Vanek
A luxury Hilton hotel is the latest building to open at Cavasson, Nationwide Realty Investors’ 134-acre masterplanned development in north Scottsdale, as the $1 billion project moves forward with plans for additional office, hotel and apartment buildings.
The six-story hotel includes 273 rooms with 18 suites, a 15,000-square-foot event center, a resort-style pool, an on-site restaurant that is also open to the public, a coffee shop and an event terrace. The development is located north of Loop 101 and Hayden Road.
“We wanted an upscale feel but not formal,” Brian Ellis, president of Nationwide Realty Investors said of the hotel.
The on-site restaurant, called the Desert Pony Tavern, offers indoor and outdoor dining, and walls that open to the outside patio when the weather is nice. The Southwest-inspired restaurant is open to hotel guests and to the public and has a cocktail mixologist and local beers on tap, Sally Shaffer, general manager of the hotel, said.
Next to the hotel, Pitch Pizzeria opened its second Scottsdale location. Ellis said Nationwide is planning for mostly retail and restaurant uses along Hayden Road at Cavasson, with offices and apartments mostly planned for the southern and western portions of the property.
Nationwide has zoning approval for 1.8 million square feet of office space at the site and has already built two office buildings.
Nationwide also received approval for up to 1,600 multifamily units at Cavasson, which will most likely be rental apartments but could include some for-sale condominium or other options, Ellis said.
Ellis said Nationwide is still looking for other restaurants to add to the mix at Cavasson and said the land north of the Hilton hotel could be developed into another hotel property.
“The objective is to create a really great, mixed-use space,” he said. “We’ve been pleased with the reception of what we’ve done.”