After a soft opening in July, Tlaquepaque North is set to celebrate its grand opening Saturday, Sept. 24.

“We spent a lot of funds on details trying to make it feel like Tlaquepaque ‘South,’ adding gorgeous handmade Canterra Arches sourced from Mexico on entry doors, tiling and special fountains in the property,” said Wendy Lippman, general manager and resident partner of Tlaquepaque and Tlaquepaque North.

“It isn’t as large as the main property, but we do think it’s a nice place to relax and meander.”

Creating a “1.04-acre mini village,” the property for which took nearly six years to acquire, presented a number of challenges, especially regarding utilities, Lippman added. To get the building foundations up to a reasonable grade with good drainage required approximately four feet of fill.

“As far as hurdles, we’ve had hurdles since day one,” Lippman said. “It’s a miracle we were able to produce and achieve what we did on a one-acre parcel: Parking, utilities and the structures themselves. It’s a lot of engineering and creative thinking that goes into all of this.”

Despite challenges, however, Lippman and her staff were able to reproduce one of Tlaquepaque’s biggest claims to fame: “We preserved all the sycamore trees, and spent quite a bit of money trying to preserve [them], creating extensive tree wells around them.”

According to Lippman, the benefits of the development to Sedona are numerous, far beyond employment and sales tax generation.

“We’ve created a beautiful gateway into and out of the gallery district,” she said. “It now all makes sense. Before, when you walked down the hill and saw the parcel it wasn’t enough to make people continue walk further — it didn’t provide enough eye candy to the visitor.

“Now, we believe we’re encouraging pedestrians to walk and meander from Uptown through the gallery district. Park your car; get it off the road and enjoy all Sedona has to offer on foot.”
Tlaquepaque North is 100 percent occupied, featuring the Pumphouse Station and Urban Eatery, Caravana Clothing, Renee Taylor Jewelry and the Artist’s Kitchen Shop.

“I have no idea what the future holds for further development,” Lippman said. “There are always ideas to be considered and opportunities, but at this time we’re focused on the blending of the North and South and making it one entity …. It’s all a work in progress.”