On Thursday, September 24, crews start tearing the inside out of a 1978 office building at 7501 E. McCormick Parkway. Most people driving past will see construction fencing. What is going in behind it is a $70 million lakefront dining and retail district, and it sits in the middle of a neighborhood that has spent the last decade being priced as though it were a commuter suburb of Old Town.
If you own in McCormick Ranch, this is the most consequential thing to happen to your address since the lakes were dug.
What is actually being built
Scottsdale-based Diversified Partners closed on the former Forever Corporate Plaza site in late May for $25.5 million. The plan is to convert more than 100,000 square feet of dated office space into what they are calling The Lakefront at Scottsdale: restaurants with outdoor dining on the water, boutique and experiential retail, wellness concepts, public gathering space, and a smaller amount of genuinely Class A office.
Phase one converts roughly 60,000 square feet of office into restaurant and retail, plus Diversified's own corporate headquarters. Total investment is projected at $70 million.
The tenants signed so far
Four leases are already executed: SUSHISAMBA, V Modern Italian, La La Land Cafe, and Frost Gelato. SUSHISAMBA is the one worth pausing on. That is a brand with locations in Las Vegas, Miami, London, and Dubai. It does not open in neighborhood strip centers. Its presence tells you what price point the rest of the leasing is being targeted at.
Why McCormick Ranch has been the quiet part of Scottsdale
McCormick Ranch has roughly 40 subdivisions, two lakes, mature landscaping that no new-build community in North Scottsdale can replicate for another 30 years, and a location that puts you 10 minutes from Old Town and 15 from the Airpark. On paper it should trade at a premium.
It doesn't, and the reason has always been the same: there was nowhere to walk to. The retail serving the area was functional. Grocery, dry cleaner, a couple of decent restaurants. Anyone wanting a real night out drove to Old Town or Kierland. A neighborhood with lakes and no waterfront destination is a neighborhood with an unused asset.
What the numbers look like right now
Depending on which data set you pull, the median sale price in McCormick Ranch over the trailing twelve months sits somewhere around $980,000, up roughly 9 percent year over year. A standard updated three-bedroom generally trades between $850,000 and $1,250,000 depending on the subdivision, the finishes, and lot orientation. Homes are averaging around 54 days on market, with inventory in the mid-50s and a range running from the $600s up past $5 million.
Compare that to comparable square footage within walking distance of Old Town and the gap is substantial. That gap is the walkability discount.
What an amenity anchor does to the homes around it
The pattern is well established in this valley. Kierland Commons reset pricing for the housing around it. The Scottsdale Quarter did it again. The redevelopment of the old Paradise Valley Mall has moved values along the Tatum and Cactus corridor while the project is still only partially open.
The mechanism is not complicated. A walkable, high-quality dining and retail node does three things to nearby residential:
- It widens the buyer pool. Buyers who would not have considered the area now will, because the lifestyle case no longer requires a car for dinner.
- It shortens days on market. Listings that sit are usually listings with no story. An eight-minute walk to the lakefront district is a story.
- It pulls capital into the housing stock. When a neighborhood gets a reason to be aspirational, owners renovate instead of selling as-is, and the comparable sales improve across the board.
The important nuance is timing. Values do not move on groundbreaking day. They move when the first restaurants actually open and people start experiencing the place. That is typically 18 to 30 months out.
If you own in McCormick Ranch
You have a decision to make about timing, and the two reasonable answers point in opposite directions.
Selling in the next 6 to 12 months: you will not capture the amenity premium, but you can absolutely market the story. Buyers are forward-looking, and a well-presented listing that leads with the Lakefront project and the neighborhood's proximity to it will outperform an identical listing that doesn't mention it. This is a positioning opportunity, not a pricing one.
Holding 2 to 4 years: this is where the actual upside sits, and it is concentrated in the homes closest to McCormick Parkway. If you were already planning to renovate, doing it ahead of the district opening rather than after is the better sequence. You get to enjoy it, and you list into a stronger comp set.
One caution: do not overpay for a renovation on the assumption the project delivers on schedule and in full. Phase one is funded and moving. Later phases are subject to leasing velocity and capital markets, same as every project.
If you are buying
The window where McCormick Ranch is priced without the amenity is closing, and it is closing unevenly. Listings on the lake and within a short walk of McCormick Parkway will reprice first. The subdivisions on the outer edges will lag.
If you are relocating from California, this is worth understanding in context. A lakefront home with a walkable dining district, in a state with a 2.5 percent flat income tax rate, at a price that is a fraction of coastal California, is a very different proposition than the generic Scottsdale-is-cheaper pitch. The specific address matters more than the metro.
The honest caveats
Three things could soften this.
Construction disruption is real, and it runs for a while. If you are selling a home immediately adjacent to the site in the next 18 months, that is a negotiating point a buyer's agent will use.
Tenant risk exists. Signed leases are not open doors. Restaurant concepts fall through, particularly high-end ones.
And the office component is the soft spot. Class A office absorption in the Scottsdale submarket has been uneven. The retail and dining side is what drives residential value here, not the office.
Frequently asked questions
When does The Lakefront at Scottsdale open?
Interior demolition and remodeling begin September 24, 2026. Phase one involves converting roughly 60,000 square feet, which typically means a first-tenant opening window in late 2027 to 2028. No public opening date has been announced.
Where exactly is it?
7501 E. McCormick Parkway, Scottsdale, on the former Forever Corporate Plaza site, fronting the lake in McCormick Ranch.
Will this increase my property taxes?
Not directly. Arizona assesses residential property on its own valuation, not on nearby commercial development. If your home's market value rises because the neighborhood becomes more desirable, your assessed value can eventually follow, but that is a lagging and gradual effect, and Arizona's Proposition 117 caps annual limited property value growth at 5 percent.
Should I wait to sell until it opens?
It depends on your holding horizon and your reason for selling. If you are moving for a job, a school, or a life change, do not let a construction timeline drive that decision. If you are selling purely for financial reasons and you are within a short walk of the site, there is a reasonable argument for waiting. That conversation should happen with your specific home and subdivision in front of you.
Which McCormick Ranch subdivisions benefit most?
Proximity and walkability drive it. Homes on the lakes and those within a comfortable walk of McCormick Parkway have the most direct exposure. Outer subdivisions will see a softer, slower effect.
Is McCormick Ranch a good investment compared to North Scottsdale?
They are different bets. North Scottsdale is newer inventory and larger lots. McCormick Ranch is location, mature landscaping, lower entry price, and now a specific catalyst. For a buyer prioritizing walkability and value per square foot, the case for McCormick Ranch is stronger today than it has been in years.
The bottom line
McCormick Ranch has always had the bones. What it lacked was a reason for people to gather. That is being built right now, and the market has not fully priced it.
If you own here and want to know what your specific home and subdivision look like against this, or you are considering buying into the area before the district opens, I am happy to walk through the comparable sales with you.
