Construction is set to start this month on a new retail project in east Mesa that will be anchored by a Sprouts Farmers Market store.

Common Bond Development Group, the developer behind the project whose portfolio also includes Global Ambassador Hotel, Park at 83 in Peoria and several neighborhood shopping centers around the Valley, announced it has broken ground on Eastmarket at Eastmark, its retail development on the northeast corner of East Ray Road and South Ellsworth Road in Mesa.

Eastmarket will feature nearly 45,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, including the 23,299-square-foot Sprouts Farmers Market store.

“Securing Sprouts at Eastmarket is a milestone for the Eastmark community, and is just the beginning,” Brian Frakes, the founder and president of Common Bond Development Group, said in a statement. “This project is about setting a high standard for neighborhood retail, something Eastmark residents can truly take pride in.”

In an announcement, Common Bond said the Eastmark master-planned community has long waited for a specialty grocer like Sprouts. Similarly, Frakes said in a statement that the plan is to bring a caliber of retail and restaurants to Eastmark that has not been there before.

Construction on Eastmarket is expected to wrap up in August 2026 with the Sprouts opening sometime in Q4 2026.

Sprouts has multiple Valley projects in the works

DMB Mesa Proving Grounds, LLC, a joint venture between Brookfield Residential and DMB Associates Inc., is the master developer for Eastmarket, but Common Bond Development Group has been tapped to develop the 6.6-acre first phase of the larger 32-acre site, which will ultimately include multifamily housing to round out the mixed-use development.

“Common Bond has proven to be the ideal partner for Eastmark,” said Eric Tune, the senior vice president of development at Brookfield Residential, said in a statement. “Their approach to design, tenancy, and neighborhood activation aligns perfectly with Eastmark’s vision for an inspired and elevated lifestyle.”

The east Mesa Sprouts is one of many the Phoenix-based grocer is developing around the Valley. Sprouts is not just expanding its retail footprint, but the company is currently building out a massive headquarters campus in north Phoenix and will include a flagship retail store, as well as multiple restaurants.

By Brandon Brown  –  Reporter, Phoenix Business Journal

Peoria residents are preparing to welcome three restaurant brands making their West Valley debut as part of The Park at 83 retail development.

The new $20 million project will feature popular wine bar Postino WineCafe and two well-known eateries under the Fox Restaurant Concepts LLC umbrella: modern Italian concept North Italia and Mexican eatery Blanco Cocina + Cantina.

All of this will be centered around a 2-acre park and community gathering space featuring year-round events adjacent to the Peoria Sports Complex in the city’s P83 entertainment district.

“Every one of these restaurants has an outdoor patio that’s probably two-to-three times their normal prototypes,” said Brian Frakes, a principal at Common Bond Development Group, the developer of the project. “The energy off these patios and off the park is going to be spectacular.”

The three new restaurants will be the first location for each brand in the West Valley as part of a larger effort by the cities there to bring more upscale retail concepts and reduce drive times for residents. They’re also adding to a growing trend of restaurant and retail projects in the Valley focusing on providing an experience to consumers with more amenities such as gathering areas, seating and landscaping.

The first two restaurants, North Italia and Blanco Cocina, are expected to open in October followed by Postino in January.

The buildings were built by A.R. Mays Construction and designed by Nelsen Partners. Prominent landscape designer Jeff Berghoff of Berhoff Design Group was the architect for the park, which will feature two acres of grass and trees centered around the core of the property.

Common Bond Development Group, the developer of the prominent Global Ambassador hotel in Phoenix, broke ground on the project in December after securing the tenants and working with the city through a request for proposal process.

Frakes brought in the three restaurants through his existing relationships with the CEO and co-founder of Postino, Lauren Bailey, and Sam Fox, who realized that their customer base included residents in the northwest Valley.

“We’d been talking to them quite a bit about the West Valley,” Frakes said. “We confirmed the demand for these concepts with the city — Jen Stein, the economic development director, was all over us, saying, ‘Hey, there’s a high demand for these restaurant users out there.”

Common Bond initially searched across Peoria for its project but chose the 2.6-acre site next to Peoria Sports Complex because of its regional access and surrounding demographics, as well as ample parking for patrons.

North Italia, which has four other locations in Arizona, will debut a first-to-market new fall and winter menu at its Peoria restaurant and feature sports decor as a nod to the city’s spring training complex next door.

Postino will feature its new cocktail menu and weekend brunch in Peoria including a rotating selection of boutique wines, newly introduced cocktails and craft brews. It will also sport a design based on the surrounding community.

By Audrey Jensen  –  Reporter, Phoenix Business Journal

Frakes has deep roots in the Valley, and has made sure to keep strong relationships with friends, including Sam Fox, throughout his life to create meaningful projects.

A new 105,790-square-foot, grocery-anchored retail center is under development in the northwest part of the Valley just west of the Loop 303.

Called Sterling Grove Shopping Center, the $27 million retail project will consist of a 63,290-square-foot Safeway, 20,000 square feet of connected retail space and 22,500 square feet between five standalone buildings on about 20 acres in Surprise.

The center will be developed on the northwest corner of Peoria Avenue and Cotton Lane and will add to the limited amount of retail space that’s currently available in the West Valley.

The project, which is being developed by Phoenix-based Common Bond Development Group and built by general contractor A.R. Mays., is expected to be completed in early 2023.

Common Bond Development purchased the overall 52-acre site in February for about $4 million from Suburban Land Reserve, a real estate arm of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, according to real estate database Vizzda.

It will also be located just south of Sterling Grove, a 780-acre master planned private golf community, and the planned Village at Prasada, a 700,000-square-foot shopping, entertainment and dining center. The company said it’s close to to signing additional leases, but Safeway is currently the only known tenant.

“Surprise has grown nearly 300% over the past decade plus, including an influx of young families and working professionals seeking new shopping, dining and entertainment options,” said Common Bond principal, Brian Frakes, in a statement. “We’ve been looking for just the right location for years now, and jumped at the opportunity to secure this expansive former farm property right off the 303 freeway and on the border of Surprise and Glendale.”

The retail center was specifically designed to dovetail into Toll Brothers’ new neighborhood featuring multiple parks surrounded by verdant gardens and a golf course, the company said.

Common Bond Development Group’s other projects include The Global Ambassador hotel in Phoenix in partnership with Sam Fox and another Safeway-anchored shopping center in Queen Creek called Ironwood Shopping Center.

Interested tenants can contact Alex Clark at Common Bond Development Group, which was founded in 2014.

When noted Valley restaurateur Sam Fox announced that he will be building his first luxury hotel project, there was no doubt who would be bringing his vision to life: Brian Frakes, founder and principal of Common Bond Development Group. Together, the pair have changed the way Phoenicians play and eat, and now they hope to generate that same magic within the lodging industry.

A fifth-generation Arizonan, born in Tucson and raised in Phoenix, Frakes didn’t set out to be in the commercial real estate business. He was a finance major at the University of Arizona and interned at an investment banking firm in New York City. When his then-girlfriend got accepted in the medical school in Tucson, he decided to stay in Arizona and began working at Westcor Partners, which developed shopping malls.

“It was an exciting time to be at Westcor because we got to work on a couple million square feet of major retail space, including SanTan Village in Gilbert and Chandler Fashion Center,” Frakes comments.

Following the purchase of Westcor by The Macerich Company in 2012, Frakes and a few other executives from the business formed WDP Partners, a real estate development company. “What started out as a leasing job in the development department quickly evolved into leading major projects on Scottsdale Road and Mayo in Phoenix and a Walmart-anchored shopping center in Queen Creek,” he says. The company also developed the Yuma Palms mall in Yuma.

It was during his time at WDP that he first collaborated with Fox, who was looking for a location along the Central Phoenix Corridor for a new dining venue. “I remember taking a photo of this old Ducati motorcycle dealership from the suicide lane on North 7th Street, sending it to Sam, and him saying, ‘That’s the one,’” Frakes recalls. “We had a vision that the canopy, under which they used to park the motorcycles, was there for us. I mean, show me another spot in town that has a 10,000-square-foot canopy over an outdoor patio. Sam said, ‘What if we had games, such as shuffleboard, ping pong and bag tossing?’ That was the evolution of The Yard concept.”

The success of The Yard encouraged Frakes to set out on his own and establish Common Bond. “I had always wanted to be an entrepreneur and start my own company,” he explains. “The natural progression of my career was to take the development knowledge I had acquired while working on complicated large-scale projects and applying it to that type of work with my own team.”

From Safeway- and Sprouts-anchored shopping centers to restaurants and adaptive reuse projects, Frakes prefers ventures that are both pleasing to the eye and beneficial to the community in which they’re located. “When I was at Westcor and working on these large projects, such as Scottsdale Fashion Square, I saw how they weren’t just malls but instead they were places that changed the community surrounding them. They increased sales tax revenue, which allowed the cities to fund police and fire departments as well as infrastructure,” he says.

“The thing that differentiates Common Bond is that we don’t just develop buildings, but we also spend a lot of time and money on the design,” Frakes continues. “We learned through the hospitality sector that the extra money you spend on design helps maximize the value of the asset and really creates a sense of place. The overall experience is more memorable than just a great cheeseburger. But, ultimately, we want all of our projects to really stand the test of time.” 

Fox was one of Common Bond’s original investors. The duo has since developed additional Yard “eatertainment” projects, anchored by Fox’s Culinary Dropout restaurant, in Tempe, Scottsdale and Gilbert, as well as Tucson.

“I know my skill set, and I know Sam’s skill set. When I’m connected with an operator on that level, whether it’s a grocery store, a restaurant user or a retailer, I can really engage and help them in the real estate development business. Then they can do what they’re great at in terms of operating first-class facilities,” Frakes explains.

Adds Fox, “I trust Brian implicitly. We grew up learning about the business together, and I’ve seen him make genuine and fair decisions over and over again. He understands real estate, reuse of real estate and creating value where no one else sees an opportunity. He also understands what’s important to me. I’m lucky that he goes with my wild ideas.”

These days, Frakes and Fox are working together again — this time bringing one of the most anticipated projects in the Valley’s hospitality sector to a prime location in Arcadia. Part of a bigger 17-acre, $300 million mixed-use development on Camelback Road and 44th Street, adjacent to the Phoenix Suns practice facility, The Global Ambassador hotel will feature 141 luxury rooms, five original food and beverage offerings, and an 18,000-square-foot rooftop lounge, the largest in the state, with sweeping views of Camelback Mountain.

“It’s going to have a major impact on the Valley,” Frakes says. “Ultimately, locals and out-of-town visitors will be able to create lasting memories.

“Phoenix has changed dramatically in the last 10 years,” Frakes continues. “When I was growing up, this town was a boom-and-bust real estate camp. Now, we have a very diversified economy, and a lot of decision makers and operators are moving here from other markets and creating demand and opportunities. It’s truly fascinating what is happening, and I hope that The Global Ambassador will leave its mark and be a great legacy for me and Sam.”

He adds with a chuckle, “Plus, it’s good to be next to the Suns right now while they’re on a roll.”

TUCSON, Ariz. (KOLD News 13) – Construction will soon begin for two new restaurants in Tucson. New restaurants Doughbird and Flower Child will be popping up where Old Chicago was formerly housed on Campbell Avenue.

“Our goal is to start construction by January. We will be demolishing that building and building a brand new 8000 square foot building,” said Brian Frakes, principal of Common Bond Development.

Franks is the developer on the Fox Restaurant Concepts project. He and Sam Fox are Tucson Natives. It will be the second time Fox and Frakes have worked together. They renovated a historic lumberyard into Culinary Dropout back in 2017.

Customers are looking forward to more Fox restaurants coming soon.

“If it’s anything like Culinary, we are so excited. We will go there all the time for sure,” said customer Jaden Phillips.

Wildflower, Zinburger, North Italia and Blanco are all Fox restaurants in Tucson. Soon Doughbird and Flower Child will be joining the growing list.

“Doughbird, there’s only one location of those up in Phoenix on Indian School. Then Flower Child which is a Fox Restaurant with a healthy, fast, causal concept. I think they have 25 of those locations across the country,” Frakes said.

Doughbird is known for putting a spin on American classics. It serves pizza, chicken and cocktails. Flower Child caters to vegetarian and vegan lifestyles with healthy made-from-scratch salads, bowls and wraps.

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Two new restaurants are coming to Tucson.

Local restaurateur Sam Fox of Fox Restaurant Concepts is collaborating with Brian Frakes of Common Bond Development Group to bring two new restaurants to Tucson, Flower Child and Doughbird.

In Late 2022, the restaurants will open in the Campbell Plaza, located at 2960 N. Campbell Avenue, formerly an Old Chicago restaurant. This will be the second customized build for Common Bond and Fox Restaurant Concepts in Tucson, following the first of Culinary Dropout back in 2017.

Common Bond Development Group also recreated the locations of Postino WineCafé and Snooze, an A.M. Eatery.

“We have been looking for just the right location on Campbell Avenue for nearly five years, until we found the perfect standalone pad,” said Common Bond principal and Tucson native, Brian Frakes. “Not only is it just around the corner from Culinary Dropout, but it’s on one of the city’s main north-south arterials, and is located on the east side of the road, perfect for people driving home from downtown looking to pop-in for a quick meal, or to grab food to go on the way home.”

Both, Flower Child and Doughbird will be located near the last opening, which was Culinary Dropout.

“We’re always looking for great opportunities to grow in Tucson and finally found the perfect location for these two restaurants,” said Sam Fox. “It’s been a longtime goal of ours to bring Flower Child to Tucson, and we are excited to be able to do it alongside Doughbird, a concept that we are just beginning to grow. During what’s been a challenging time for our industry, we’re grateful for our loyal guests in Tucson and hope that they will enjoy these restaurants time and time again.”

Flower Child will cater to all lifestyles, including vegetarian, vegan, meat-eating, gluten-free, keto and paleo with a customizable made-from-scratch menu. While Doughbird includes a duo of pizza and chicken, with hand-stretched and Detroit-style square pan pizza alongside rotisserie and crispy chicken.

The two restaurants are expected to be open in late 2022.