Chandler, Arizona -- Wadsworth Development Group in a joint venture partnership with Accelerated Development Services attended a ribbon cutting and grand opening ceremony on August 3rd for Goodwill of Central and Northern Arizona. The 23,975-square-foot store is located at the southeast corner of Ray Road and Rural Road in Chandler, Arizona. Approximately 200 shoppers were in line prior to doors opening at 9 am to be the first to shop at the 91st Goodwill store to open in Arizona. The Wadsworth Accelerated team transformed and redeveloped the former Fry’s Grocery Store into the location for Goodwill.
Tim O’Neal, President and Chief Executive Office for Goodwill, Dave Cheatham, President of Accelerated Development Services, and Craig Esslinger, Senior Project Manager of Wadsworth Development cut the ribbon to kick off the grand opening. Mr. O’Neal commented on the construction and development of the space, “We are very happy to be here and want to thank Wadsworth Accelerated for their work on this store. This location has been an area we’ve wanted to be in for more than a decade. The final construction product is absolutely above and beyond anything we’ve ever experienced.”
The ownership group purchased the building in September of 2017 began to redevelop the vacant big box that was 62,190 total-square-feet into two distinct spaces. “This is the second project we have worked on with Goodwill, and we look forward to others in the future. They are a great retailer that runs clean and well-organized stores. They bring hundreds of daily shoppers and help reenergize the entire shopping center” said Dave Cheatham, President of Accelerated Development Services.
Approximately 37,000 square feet remains to be leased. Velocity Retail Group leads the leasing team for the ownership group. Darren Pitts, Executive Vice President at Velocity handled the Goodwill transaction, which represents another big box leased by the Velocity Retail team. “We are working with other tenants for the remainder of the space and hope to have additional announcements soon that should please the residents in the area,” he said.