Camelview Plaza
A fully-enclosed shopping and office complex was built adjacent to the FASHION SQUARE mall in the early 1970s. CAMELVIEW PLAZA, and its 10-story Bank of Arizona tower, encompassed around 361,000 leasable square feet. At its official dedication in 1974, CAMELVIEW PLAZA was anchored by a Texas-based Sakowitz specialty fashion store.
Drawing from Business Realty of Arizona, Incorporated
Drawing from Business Realty of Arizona, Incorporated
A freestanding movie house, the Harkins Cinema Seven Twin, pre-dated the adjacent mall. The theater were completed in June 1973, almost a year before the dedication of the first stores in CAMELVIEW PLAZA.
Photo from Harkins Theatres
Photo from Harkins Theatres
A CAMELVIEW PLAZA logo montage features trademarks of stores and services in operation at the mall during the 1970s.
The shopping concourse at SCOTTSDALE FASHION SQUARE was expanded westward in 1974 (in medium gray). A Diamond's department store was built on the west end. CAMELVIEW PLAZA -the mall next door- had also been dedicated in 1974. Its new Bullock's (in light gray) had just opened for business at the time of this circa-1977 plan.
CAMELVIEW PLAZA TENANTS 1977:
BULLOCK'S (with Home Store) / SAKOWITZ (with Tastemaker Gourmet Shop and Strawberry Patch Beauty Circle hair styling salon) / Cinema Seven Twin (outparcel) / CamelView Hairstylists / CamelView Terrace Restaurant / Courreges ladies' wear / Dave Roark's Lounge / E.F. Hutton & Company / Hanny's apparel / Lee Optical / Lillie Rubin ladies' wear / Paul Johnson Jewelers / Patti's Pinafore Patch children's wear / Robert French portrait studio / Scottsdale Artists' League Gallery / The Arizona Bank / The Magic Pan Creperie / Unicorn Oriental Gallery / Vidal Sassoon Salon / Waldenbooks
East Camelback Road and North 68th Street
Scottsdale, Arizona
In June 1970, plans for a second East Camelback Road mall were announced. The fully-enclosed complex would be developed by Chicago's John F. Cuneo, under the auspices of Business Realty of Arizona, Incorporated. Chicago's Belli & Belli architects would design the structure, which would occupy a 26.9-acre parcel directly west of -and next door to- SCOTTSDALE FASHION SQUARE.
CAMELVIEW PLAZA would include the 10-story Bank of Arizona office tower. This (100,000 square foot) structure was completed in June 1972. It was followed by the Harkins Cinema Seven Twin, a northeast parking area outparcel, which showed its first features on June 17, 1973.
The retail mall was the final segment of the project to be completed. It included a 2-level shopping concourse and 2-level, subterranean parking garage. Anchoring CAMELVIEW PLAZA was a 2-level (110,000 square foot), Houston-based Sakowitz, which was the chain's first foray outside of Texas. This store held its grand opening, as part of a Gala of the Yellow Roses charity ball, on February 11, 1974. Charter inline tenants included Margo's la Mode ladies' wear, Lillie Rubin ladies' wear, Dave Roark's Lounge and Waldenbooks.
A multilevel parking garage and second anchor store were added to the complex. Los Angeles-based Bullock's opened its 2-level (160,000 square foot) store on January 31, 1977. CAMELVIEW PLAZA now encompassed approximately 521,000 leasable square feet and housed twenty retail tenants.
