Heritage Park Names Its First Tenants as the 288-Unit NOVEL Heritage Park Rises in Downtown Gilbert

Downtown Gilbert’s largest new block is filling in. On September 8, Creation and Crescent Communities announced the first five tenants for Heritage Park, the 10-acre mixed-use development that takes up a full city block at Gilbert Road and Juniper Avenue, the northern gateway of Gilbert’s Heritage District. The residential piece of the project, NOVEL Heritage Park, is a 288-unit luxury apartment community that is on track to open in spring 2027.

The initial phase pairs those residences with roughly 47,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space and more than 300 surface parking spaces around a public square. The first tenants give the block an East Valley-first flavor: Popup Bagels (1,994 square feet, the brand’s first Arizona location), La La Land Cafe (2,372 square feet, its first East Valley outpost), Hudson House (7,882 square feet), Salt & Straw (1,215 square feet), and the fitness studio [solidcore] (2,483 square feet, also its first in the East Valley). The first businesses are expected to open in early second quarter 2027. Future phases call for a 125-room hotel, office space, and additional parking.

Creation COO Alex Bez said downtown Gilbert already has a strong base of restaurants and retail, and that this lineup is about layering in something the East Valley has not seen yet. LGE Design Build is the design-build contractor on the commercial buildings. When Crescent announced the groundbreaking in May 2025, it listed AO Architects, ESG Design, and Norris Design on the multifamily design team, AV3 Design Studio on the commercial architecture, and CSI Contractors as general contractor for the residences.

Why it matters to JFN

A mixed-use city block is a different plumbing and mechanical problem than a standalone apartment community. The 288 residences at NOVEL Heritage Park carry the familiar stacked wet walls, water heaters, and mechanical closets that our crews build across the Valley, but the ground floor is where the coordination gets interesting: restaurant grease waste and interceptors, commercial kitchen gas and ventilation, and a fitness studio with heavy shower demand, all sharing utility corridors, roof space, and a construction schedule with the homes beside them. With both the residences and the first retail slated for 2027, the trades on this block will be finishing in parallel, which rewards subcontractors who plan the rough-in for the entire site rather than one building at a time. We have built multifamily in the East Valley for years, and a block that blends housing, dining, and wellness in the heart of downtown Gilbert is exactly the kind of project we like to see taking shape.

Sources: In Business Magazine, September 8, 2026; Metro Phoenix Alliance, September 8, 2026; Crescent Communities, May 22, 2025