Great stuff happening along the McCormick Ranch waterfront at Scottsdale Road
INVITATION TO LEARN MORE: On Thursday, September 24, 2026, Diversified Partners will officially break ground on The Lakefront at Scottsdale, a planned $70 million redevelopment at 7501 E. McCormick Parkway. The project will transform the former Forever Corporate Plaza we have been driving by for many years into a waterfront destination with restaurants, boutique retail, wellness concepts, Class A offices, outdoor gathering spaces and a small marina. This is near Cheney Road entering Paradise Valley and just south of Gainey Village. The Lakefront at Scottsdale It is also walkable to the Paradise Valley Farms neighborhoods in Scottsdale 85258.
The first phase of the Lakefront at Scottsdale could be completed in fall 2027, subject to construction, permitting and individual tenant schedules.
Join Me at the Groundbreaking
The Lakefront at Scottsdale Groundbreaking
Thursday, September 24, 2026
9:30 to 11:00 a.m.
7501 E. McCormick Parkway
Scottsdale, Arizona 85258
Completion Rendering courtesy of Diversified Partners as seen in AZ Big Media, ABC15 and LoopNet
The event offers residents and visitors an early opportunity to learn about the Lakefront at Scottsdale, see the location and mark the beginning of a project that could meaningfully change how this part of Scottsdale experiences its waterfront.
I plan to attend and would enjoy seeing friends, clients and neighbors there. This is such a cool area, many of us have been to the fourth of July fireworks here over the years (as far back as the 1980s for sure) on the expansive lush green lawn surrounding the lake. The Lakefront at Scottsdale, so exciting!
What Is The Lakefront at Scottsdale?
The Lakefront at Scottsdale is an approximately 100,000-square-foot redevelopment of the former Forever Corporate Plaza, originally developed in 1978 visible on the east side of Scottsdale Road.
Diversified Partners acquired the property for a reported $25.5 million and plans to invest approximately $70 million in its redevelopment. The Lakefront at Scottsdale Phase One plans to convert about 60,000 square feet of existing office space into a combination of restaurant, retail and office uses, including Diversified Partners’ new corporate headquarters.
The Lakefront at Scottsdale. Current plans include:
- Signature restaurants with lakefront patios
- Boutique and experiential retail
- Luxury wellness and lifestyle concepts
- Class A office space with waterfront views
- Outdoor gathering areas
- A pedestrian-oriented retail promenade
- A dedicated valet arrival called Forever Lane
- Views across the lake toward Camelback Mountain
- A small marina with planned Duffy boat rentals
Restaurant spaces are expected to occupy the south and west sides of the property, placing patios and dining areas directly along the water. Rather than treating the lake as a distant backdrop, the design is intended to make it part of the experience.
Interior demolition and remodeling begin with the September 24 groundbreaking. A second construction phase is anticipated to begin in early 2027 and continue the redevelopment of the remaining retail and office components.
Which Restaurants Are Coming to The Lakefront at Scottsdale?
The most meaningful update since the project was first announced is that four food and beverage tenants have now been identified.
SUSHISAMBA
SUSHISAMBA is the most internationally recognized restaurant announced for the project. The concept brings together Japanese, Brazilian and Peruvian culinary traditions in a lively, experience-oriented setting.
Its locations are typically designed as social destinations rather than conventional neighborhood sushi restaurants. A waterfront Scottsdale location with patio dining and Camelback Mountain views appears particularly well suited to the concept.
V Modern Italian
V Modern Italian is expected to bring contemporary Italian dining to The Lakefront. Additional details about the Scottsdale menu, restaurant design and anticipated opening have not yet been released.
Its inclusion supports the developer’s stated intention to create a destination for full-service dining rather than a conventional neighborhood shopping center.
La La Land Kind Cafe
La La Land Kind Cafe is known for coffee, matcha, specialty beverages and a highly recognizable, positive brand identity.
The cafe should help create activity earlier in the day, complementing the project’s offices, wellness uses and evening restaurants. That balance matters because a successful mixed-use destination should feel active at more than one time of day.
Frost Gelato
Frost Gelato will provide a more casual reason to visit the waterfront. It could appeal to restaurant guests, families, nearby residents and people who simply want to enjoy a walk and dessert by the lake.
Collectively, the tenant mix begins to reveal the project’s broader strategy: coffee in the morning, office and wellness activity during the day, destination dining in the evening and a reason to remain along the waterfront afterward.
Restaurant opening dates have not yet been formally confirmed. Each tenant will have its own permitting, construction and opening schedule, so the development’s groundbreaking should not be interpreted as an immediate restaurant opening.
Will There Be Boating at The Lakefront at Scottsdale?
Current plans do include a small marina with Duffy boat rentals.
Duffy boats are compact electric boats commonly used for relaxed recreational cruising. If this portion of the plan is completed as proposed, it could give visitors an unusual Scottsdale experience: arriving for a waterfront meal and also spending time on the lake.
The concept is promising, but it is still a planned amenity. Final information concerning the number of boats, operating hours, rental procedures, lake access, safety requirements and public availability has not been announced.
That distinction is important. The Lakefront is proposing a new commercial and hospitality-oriented boating experience. Just a short distance away, however, Scottsdale Ranch has already demonstrated for decades that water can be a meaningful part of everyday residential life in the desert.
The nearby Scottsdale Ranch Proof-point: A Proven Waterfront Story
McCormick Ranch is deservedly recognized for its lakes, mature landscaping, golf courses and extensive network of recreational paths. What many Valley residents do not realize is that neighboring Scottsdale Ranch offers another substantial—and distinctly different—water-oriented lifestyle within the same 85258 ZIP code with the convenience of the 101 loop and Honorhealth's mecca medical campus separating the two developments.
Scottsdale Ranch is not a new concept waiting to be proven. It is an established master-planned community composed of more than 40 individual communities and approximately 4,000 homes. Its residential choices range from patio homes, condominiums and townhomes to single-family residences and waterfront properties. Mature landscaping, parks, neighborhood recreation and Lake Serena give the community an identity that feels notably established within Scottsdale. Not to mention Tennis, Sand Volleyball, Baseball Diamonds, Basketball, Parks and lush green walkways. (Link to More on Scottsdale Ranch).
Lake Serena provides more than a view. Scottsdale Ranch homeowners can enjoy fishing and recreational boating that can include kayaks, canoes, paddle-boats, pontoon boats and approved electric-motor watercraft.
That makes the relationship between the two communities especially interesting.
The Lakefront at Scottsdale is proposing a new public-facing destination where people may dine, gather, shop and potentially rent a Duffy boat. Scottsdale Ranch already offers a residential interpretation of the same fundamental idea: that access to water, recreation and outdoor living can materially change daily life in the desert.
The communities are separate, and their lakes and boating privileges are not interchangeable. Yet together, they strengthen the broader lifestyle story of Scottsdale’s 85258 ZIP code.
For buyers looking for a mature neighborhood with access to watercraft and other recreational amenities but may not know Scottsdale Ranch, here is a lock-and-leave home that provides you a glimpse of what is available there: Scottsdale Ranch Retreat (coming in October 2026 and available fully furnished $785,000).
There are also plans underway at the Former Chart House Site
The former Chart House property, a historic and one of the most familiar waterfront restaurant locations in the area, is nearby, although not a part of the Lakefront project. The Lakefront at Scottsdale is located at the former Forever Corporate Plaza at 7501 E. McCormick Parkway.
Publicly reported plans for the former Chart House location have described a new steakhouse of approximately 12,000 to 14,000 square feet underway with a different development team with a targeted opening in 2027. The Lakefront, the former Chart House redevelopment and other recent restaurant openings suggest that the broader McCormick Ranch lake corridor is receiving renewed investment after years in which the water was often treated more as scenery than as an active destination.
Other New Dining Arriving Around the McCormick Ranch Lakes
Vecina Scottsdale
Vecina opened its larger Scottsdale location at 8300 N. Hayden Road in September 2026. The restaurant brings its modern Latin-inspired, mesquite-fired cooking to a substantially larger space than its original Arcadia location.
The Scottsdale restaurant includes a lakeside patio and gives the culinary team additional room for ceviches, crudos, oysters, private gatherings and chef-led dinners. The original Vecina was recognized as a 2020 James Beard Award semifinalist for Best New Restaurant.
Starfish Scottsdale
Starfish Scottsdale opened at 8390 E. Vía de Ventura, bringing its Asian coastal menu and tropical-influenced atmosphere to McCormick Ranch. The approximately 5,200-square-foot restaurant includes a sizable patio and represents the hospitality group’s first location outside Southern California.
These openings are not all part of a single project, but they collectively point to a shift: restaurants are beginning to engage more intentionally with the lakes and outdoor environment that have always distinguished this part of Scottsdale.
Why This Matters to Area Homeowners
A project of this scale matters for more than the arrival of several new restaurants.
McCormick Ranch and Scottsdale Ranch already possess qualities that cannot easily be recreated: central Scottsdale locations, mature trees, established lakes, parks, recreation and residential neighborhoods developed over decades. The new investment adds another layer to that foundation.
For McCormick Ranch, The Lakefront could provide the dining and gathering destination the lake corridor has long lacked.
I look forward to watching The Lakefront take shape, and I hope to see friends, clients and neighbors at the groundbreaking.
The Lakefront at Scottsdale Groundbreaking
Thursday, September 24, 2026
9:30 to 11:00 a.m.
7501 E. McCormick Parkway, Scottsdale
To learn more McCormick Ranch, visit McCormick Ranch.
