Billion-dollar CrackerJax redevelopment project gets first approval in Scottsdale

By Ron Davis, Phoenix Business Journal

Billion-dollar CrackerJax redevelopment project gets first approval in Scottsdale

The next billion-dollar development project in north Scottsdale took another step toward reality on Wednesday.

A rezoning for The Parque — a mixed-use development at the site of the former CrackerJax amusement park — was recommended for approval on Sept. 27 by the Scottsdale Planning Commission in a 6-0 vote.

Proposed for The Parque are more than 1,200 residential units including multifamily, condominiums and workforce housing; a 100,000-square-foot Class A office building; nearly 35,000 square feet for new restaurants; more than 25,000 square feet for additional retail; a 223-key, five-star branded hotel; and 92,500 square feet of flexible space. A hotel-branded condominium would be the tallest of the 12 possible buildings at The Parque at 119 feet.

Plans also call for a 2-acre, open space “Central Park” in the middle of the development, which is described as a “focal point” of The Parque.

Billionaire George Kurtz, the co-founder and CEO of cybersecurity company CrowdStrike, and one of the wealthiest people in Arizona, acquired the land in 2022 for $55.5 million. At the time of the purchase, Kurtz said he wanted to create “a transformational, sustainable mixed-use campus as a catalyst to attract top innovators, technology entrepreneurs, knowledge workers, and venture capitalists to accelerate Scottsdale’s growing technology cluster.”

The ownership team consists of Kurtz and David Megdal, while Nelsen Partners has been tasked as the project architect. Texas-based Nelsen Partners has worked on other prominent Valley retail developments including the nearby Kierland Commons and Scottsdale Quarter as well as the Arizona Biltmore and Goodyear’s new downtown. It is also working on the planned Five North commercial core at the Vistancia community in northwest Peoria.

Crackerjax redevelopment has been attempted before

John Berry of Berry Riddell LLC is the land-use attorney for the project. Berry told the Phoenix Business Journal after the vote Wednesday that he expects The Parque to go in front of Scottsdale City Council sometime in November.

The Parque was considered by Scottsdale’s Airport Advisory Commission on June 21. The project’s development team previously told the Phoenix Business Journal that it expects the public review process will likely last through the end of the year.

The site is in a highly coveted area in the Valley just north of Kierland Commons, Scottsdale Quarter and the Scottsdale Airpark. The Parque would be located just to the south of Axon Enterprise Inc.’s proposed site for a new corporate headquarters and more than 2,000 multifamily residential units, a 100-key hotel and retail in six five-story buildings.

Should it move forward and get built out, The Parque would join other billion-dollar developments in the works nearby in north Scottsdale, which include Nationwide Realty Investors’ Cavasson mixed-use campus, the emerging Optima McDowell Mountain Village luxury community and the 120-acre One Scottsdale mixed-use development.

The CrackerJax property had been subject to much speculation over the years about possible developments and buyers. In 2017, JDM Partners, which counts former Phoenix Suns owner Jerry Colangelo as a principal, submitted plans to the city of Scottsdale for a 2 million-square-foot mixed-use development that would have included offices, restaurants, condos, a hotel and a theater. Ultimately, those plans never advanced and JDM did not buy the property, according to previous reporting.