By Katie Johnson
Originally Published in the PHOENIX NEW TIMES on March 21st, 2014
If you’ve driven through Old Town Scottsdale recently, you may have noticed some new changes on the horizon, starting with Sip Coffee & Brew House at the southwest corner of Scottsdale and Osborn roads. The new eatery is just a first taste of The Creative Center of Scottsdale, a community space set to open its doors this summer.
Occupying the former 4,000-square-foot home of Mandall’s Shooting Supplies, as well as the 2,000-square-foot space of a neighboring auto shop, The Creative Center of Scottsdale will act as a both a social hangout and networking hub for Valley creatives.
In addition to the co-working space occupying the larger building (the smaller structure has yet to find a tenant), the Center will also feature an outdoor patio for artists and occupants to mingle during Scottsdale’s Third Thursday Artwalk.
To transform the three properties, project owner and photographer Michelle Pelberg-Biely teamed up with Christina Noble of Contour Design Studio. “It’s a highly sustainable project,” says Noble, whose thoughtful design turned the Center into Scottsdale’s first commercial building to uphold the International Green Building Code.
“It’s going to save over 60 percent of its energy just in all of the different measures that we’re implementing. There’s going to be solar up on the roof and we’re trying to source things locally. It’s very much about the community and giving back to the community both in terms of the spaces that we design and the economics of its construction, and that’s why we wanted to source things as locally as possible.”
Although there is no definite date set for the Center’s summer 2014 opening, construction on the site is already well underway.
