What’s old is new again in fast-growing Gilbert

GILBERT — Gilbert is growing up, and it’s actually looking forward to growing old.

Officials for the town where growth has boomed since 2000 are now finalizing maps and information about its Heritage District redevelopment area.

Their goal is to lure more residents from the town’s new master-planned neighborhoods to its historic downtown.

“We want to give the community options other than just the mall and restaurants, for instance, you see at every mall or near every mall,” says Greg Tilque, Gilbert’s development services director. “Places like Hale Centre Theatre, that you can’t get anywhere else in the community.”

The Heritage District, which runs along Gilbert Road, is home to many small, independent shops and restaurants such as C & J’s Antiques & Gardens, Euro Café, Liberty Market and Joe’s BBQ, among others.

The project’s goal is to expand on these current shops and add more retail shops and restaurants as well as some office spaces, Tilque says.

“We’ve been focusing lately on restaurants,” he says. “We think that’s a big key: to have destination-type restaurants that either nobody else has, one-of-a-kind, like Farmhouse, Euro Café, Joe’s BBQ, or like Oregano’s, which has just a few stores but people know of them and it’s not something you’re going to have every place in the Valley.”

The idea is to draw a mix of demographics, with a focus on making it a family-oriented area.
No new taxes have been implemented in Gilbert to fund the project, Tilque says. The main sources of financing are the town’s general fund, impact fees from development, bonds, private donations, and grants.

The plan has been received fairly well by current business owners and residents alike.

“The whole idea of the project is to give an identity,” says NAME one of the owners of C & J’s Antiques & Gardens, a shop along the Heritage District. “I think long-term it will be really good.”

Those who live in the area also agree that the project will benefit the community overall.

“There’s great shops already in downtown Gilbert, but if you add more and make it a more vibrant and robust selection of stores you will end up with more people coming to shop and eat and be entertained down here, and we’ll all be better for it,” says Maria Hesse, of Gilbert.

Two new parks, one under the water tower where concerts and events can be held, will be finished by the end of the year, Tilque says. He also hopes the Heritage Marketplace will be open by next year.

To keep the Heritage District unique, developers are being careful about which businesses they bring into the area as tenants, NAME said one of the owners of C & J’s Antiques & Gardens. They want to recruit independent shops and avoid big chains, she says.

Developers also have architectural guidelines to unify the area. Adobe architecture will be emphasized, according to the official redevelopment plan.

Plans are also in place for a two- or three-story office project, Tilque says. This will hopefully draw more retail stores down to the area.

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