"It's kind of been this crown jewel that no one had access to because it was a corporate office."
Walt Brown Jr. said that on September 24, 2026, at the groundbreaking for the Lakefront at Scottsdale. He is CEO of Diversified Partners, the developer behind the project. The building at 7501 E. McCormick Parkway has stood in McCormick Ranch since 1978. Its view of the lake and Camelback Mountain mostly belonged to the people who worked inside it.
He was describing one building. The same thing is happening on the other side of the neighborhood, at Hayden Road and Via de Ventura. Two restaurant spaces on that corner changed hands in 2026, and both new tenants are making their patios the point. McCormick Ranch is getting public tables on the water at both ends of the neighborhood at the same time. One end is already open and the other is about a year out.
The Hayden Corner Turned Over First
The northwest corner of Hayden and Via de Ventura has held lakeside restaurants for years. This spring and summer, both of its main spaces got new occupants.
Starfish Scottsdale went first. It opened May 5, 2026, after soft-opening reservations May 1 through 4. It took the space that was home to Agave del Scottsdale and then, for a short time, Okay Maguey. This is the first Arizona location for Starfish Hospitality Group, which Gretchen and Archie McConnell founded in 2011 in Orange County, California. The group also runs restaurants in Laguna Beach and Newport Beach. The menu is coastal Asian, with more than 70 shareable plates drawing on Thailand, Korea, Vietnam, China and Japan. The Lobster Macadamia Roll and the Candy Dragon Prawns are two of the dishes the restaurant highlights. The 5,200-square-foot space seats 90 on a tropical-themed patio.
Vecina followed on Friday, September 18. It moved into the former Z'Tejas building on the same corner. Raenee and James Fox own the original Vecina in Arcadia, which was nominated for a James Beard award for Best New Restaurant in 2020. The Scottsdale building is about three times the size of the Arcadia room. It has a larger kitchen built for catering and new menu items, plus private dining, a mezzanine and a lakeside patio. A mural by Tato Caraveo frames the cocktail bar.
James Fox describes the move as a chance to do things the smaller original never had room for, with more seats, a wider menu and a space designed for Vecina from the start. The Arcadia dishes made the move. The karaage is carne asada-marinated chicken served over aji amarillo sauce for $17. The Faroe Island salmon tacos with yuzu kosho aioli and Cara Cara oranges are $24. Beverage director Sloane Van Zanen brought the Spicy Margarita and the grapefruit-rosemary Paloma with her.
As of late September 2026, Vecina is open 4 to 9 p.m. daily. Happy hour runs 4 to 6 p.m. and takes $2 off the karaage. Phoenix New Times reported that lunch is planned in the coming months, with no start date. For now, a weekday visit means dinner or a late-afternoon drink on the patio.
The opening coverage calls the patio lakeside without naming the lake. Vecina's announcement describes the patio as overlooking it.
The Other End Was Closed to the Public for Decades
The Hayden corner always had restaurants. The new tenants simply arrived at the same time. The McCormick Parkway site is a bigger change, because until this year the waterfront there sat behind an office lobby.
The Arizona Republic reported on June 5, 2026, that Diversified Partners bought the building near Scottsdale Road and McCormick Parkway for $25.5 million from Forever Living Products, which had used it as its headquarters. The plan turns the single-tenant office into a phased, mixed-use property of about 100,000 square feet. It includes restaurants with outdoor dining, boutique retail, Class A office space and public gathering areas. Two less typical features are part of the plan as well. One is a small marina with Duffy boat rentals. The other is Forever Lane, a dedicated valet arrival. An earlier project update from the developer put the restaurant spaces along the building's south and west sides, with patios facing the lake.
The groundbreaking named three tenants:
- SUSHISAMBA has signed a letter of intent for about 12,000 square feet. The menu combines Japanese, Brazilian and Peruvian cooking. Co-CEO Omar Gutierrez called Scottsdale "one of the most compelling hospitality markets in the country."
- V Modern Italian will take about 7,000 square feet and is expected to open in 2027. The brand already operates in Nashville and Charleston, and Tampa and Kansas City are in the works. The Scottsdale menu was developed with Michelin-starred chef Stefano Ciotti and features house-made pastas, antipasti and Italian aperitifs.
- La La Land, a specialty coffee and matcha café, is planned for a freestanding corner spot.
Scottsdale Mayor Lisa Borowsky, Vice Mayor Maryann McAllen, Councilwoman Jan Dubauskas and Councilman Barry Graham all attended, along with a delegation from the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce. The ceremony finished with partial demolition of the 1970s interior. ABC15 talked with Sherri Mayhew, who lives across the street. "It's going to be so exciting to just walk across the street and have coffee, restaurants and then look at the view to Camelback Mountain," she said. The developer told ABC15 he is working with residents and the homeowners' association on the final design.
Two Corners, Side by Side
| Hayden and Via de Ventura | 7501 E. McCormick Parkway | |
|---|---|---|
| What was there | Z'Tejas; Agave del Scottsdale, then Okay Maguey | Forever Living Products headquarters, in a building from 1978 |
| What's there now | Vecina, open since Sept. 18, 2026; Starfish Scottsdale, opened May 5, 2026 | Active construction site |
| What's coming | Lunch service at Vecina, date not announced | SUSHISAMBA, V Modern Italian, La La Land, Duffy boat marina |
| Public lake access | Lakeside patio at Vecina; 90-seat patio at Starfish | Lake-facing patios planned on the south and west sides |
| Timing | Open now | First restaurants targeted for Nov. 1, 2027 |
The Calendar From Here
The Lakefront dates are the developer's targets, and the larger construction phase depends on permitting. Here is how 2026 has gone so far and what the schedule shows next:
- May 5, 2026. Starfish Scottsdale opens at Hayden and Via de Ventura.
- June 5, 2026. The Arizona Republic reports the $25.5 million sale of the Forever Living building.
- September 18, 2026. Vecina opens in the former Z'Tejas building.
- September 24, 2026. The Lakefront at Scottsdale breaks ground.
- Early October 2026. Demolition begins at the Lakefront, according to general contractor A.R. Mays Construction's schedule.
- Early 2027. A much larger construction phase starts once drawings and permits are complete.
- November 1, 2027. Diversified Partners' target for opening the first restaurants.
That means construction on McCormick Parkway will run through roughly a full winter season and the following summer before the first patio opens. The Arizona Republic's coverage of the groundbreaking described a construction process of about a year. SUSHISAMBA is still at the letter-of-intent stage, and neither it nor La La Land has announced an opening date. V Modern Italian is the only one of the three with a stated opening year.
Hayden Road Is Filling In Too
The lakeside openings fit into a broader run of new restaurants along Hayden. Bombay House opened at 8140 N. Hayden Road in July 2026, a short way south of the Via de Ventura corner. Farther north, at 9619 N. Hayden Road, chef Matt Carter and Brian Raab plan to open Dash in November. Dash is an all-day restaurant and market. Its menu covers coffee and pastries, sandwiches, Roman-style pizza, charcoal-roasted chicken and soft-serve, with a market alongside. No specific opening day has been announced.
The Piñon Grill at the McCormick Scottsdale already offers a lakeside terrace overlooking Camelback Lake. Add Vecina and Starfish at the Hayden corner, plus the Lakefront's planned patios on the south and west sides of the old headquarters, and if the developer's schedule holds, by late 2027 there will be restaurants on the water at several points along the neighborhood's lakes.
Turning a single-tenant office into a multi-tenant restaurant property is mostly a question of sequencing, and the Lakefront's schedule shows that clearly. Demolition comes first, then design sign-off with the homeowners' association, then permits, then a construction phase large enough that the contractor has already spent months in preconstruction. If you own near either corner and want to know how projects like this tend to move from groundbreaking to opening, or how lakefront activity affects the homes around it, Templeton Walker can explain how it works. Request a Private Consultation.
