If everything goes according to plan, Flagstaff residents and visitors will be shopping, dining and working at Mountain View Village at Route 66 and Fourth Street by fall of 2009.

Still in the planning stages, developers are negotiating with merchants for all the spots in the 400,000 square-feet of retail restaurant and office space. They are also putting the final changes on their vision of how the 33-acre, mixed-use project should look.

“We are still trying to come up with an overall theme for the center,” said Ryan Manteuffel, leasing manager for Hawkins Companies, which was chosen in May 2007 from 12 development firms to purchase and develop the city-owned property.

“We are trying to create a village atmosphere that can be enjoyed by residents and visitors to Flagstaff alike,” he said.

This location of the project was made possible by the City of Flagstaff that recently spent about $8 million dollars to relocate the BNSF Railroad tracks that run through the site. It bridged Fourth Street and moved the tracks below grade, he said.

The Flagstaff Urban Trail System runs directly adjacent to the two parcels located along Route 66, continuing underneath the Fourth Street bridge connecting the two parcels and making both easily accessible, Manteuffel said.

While it is too early to name exactly what business will be opened in the shopping center, Manteuffel was able to tell what type of businesses would be leasing spots.

There will be an upscale boutique hotel and some office space. There sit down restaurants like an Applebees or Texas Roadhouse, he said.

 
A large store that caters to sports including hunting and fishing and probably a grocer similar to Whole foods or Sprouts, are also expected to sign leases, he said.

“We will have beauty shops, dry cleaners, nail salon, all upscale,” he said. “There will probably be a coffee shop maybe a book store. It won’t be your typical shopping center,” he said.

To make the center even more attractive, the city will soon open its Aqua Park and Multigenerational Center. The 40,0000 square-foot aqua center will include a pool, slides spray features, climbing apparatus, lap pool, a lazy river with vortex, therapy pool, hot tubs, wave pool and competition pool.

The multigenerational center with approximate 54,000 square feet and will offer a jogging and walking track, climbing wall, fitness areas with free weights, circuit training and cardio training. There will be meeting rooms, party rooms, aerobics and dance studios, game room and lounge, pro-shop, locker rooms and kitchen.

He said Walmart has expressed an interest in opening a store nearby on Huntington Drive.

For more information about this development contact Manteuffel at 480-289-2001.