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 was 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 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 (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 first features on June 17, 1973.
The retail mall was the final segment of the project. 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; the chain's first store outside of Texas. It held a 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.
