Developer ready to channel energy into completing SouthBridge

Luck hasn't always been on Fred Unger's side. Several years ago, the developer envisioned an "urban, pedestrian-friendly village" along the south side of the Arizona Canal in downtown Scottsdale that would "take its place among the world's great destinations to shop, to dine, to live, to be seen" as it then was described on his company's Website. His vision was realized with SouthBridge, a mix of restaurants, retail and offices along Stetson Drive. It was completed in late 2007 "just before the crash of the economy," Unger said. Some setbacks occurred after that. "Virtually every restaurant either failed or never opened, so I had to start over," he said. "I had to re-tenant the property, and I was so determined and so persistent in getting the right mix, living up to my commitment to the city . . . and so over the past year and a half, we have been very fortunate." Unger has slowly repopulated SouthBridge with restaurants such as Marcellino Ristorante, Tapas Papa Fritas and the Herb Box, and new tenants are on their way. This fall, Silvana Salcido Esparza, chef and owner of Barrio Café, will open a restaurant in the space vacated by Metro Brasserie, while Casa Blanca cocktail lounge will replace the Napoleon cigar bar, which closed this summer. Amar Patel, who owns Magnum's Cigars, Wine and Spirits in north Phoenix, will open Casa Blanca.

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