Scottsdale Apartment Project Proposed to Replace Old Barcelona Nightclub

A Scottsdale developer has proposed a new plan which would entail tearing down the once-popular Scottsdale hot spot, Barcelona nightclub,  and build apartments on a site north of the Scottsdale Quarter.

Scottsdale Place LLC submitted a rezoning request in Scottsdale last week that would allow construction of a four-story, 240-unit apartment complex at 73rd Street and Greenway-Hayden Loop.

The proposal would call replace the Barcelona site and the nearby office with The Residences at Zocallo Plaza.

Recently there has been a demand for high-end apartments, said zoning attorney John Berry, who is representing Scottsdale Place and Jeffrey Newburg, one of its principals.

The Zocallo apartments,  would be among the first apartments built within the original Scottsdale Airpark area. Development surrounding the Scottsdale Airport is heavy with office-warehouse and has recently expanded in the past two decades to include office complexes, design centers, hotels, car dealers, retail, restaurants and entertainment.

Car-wash owner Danny Hendon, who built Barcelona, a 19,000-square-foot restaurant and nightclub, opened in late 2001 and had a strong run before closing its doors in 2009,  filed for bankruptcy protection last year.

Scottsdale Place is asking for a zoning change to allow residential units within an airpark mixed-use development. The apartment complex would include four 48-foot-high buildings with interior corridors and half the parking underground. The apartments would be outside of an area surrounding the airport where noise-sensitive uses are not recommended.

It is likely the zoning issues will be decided by the end of this year. If approved, construction of the apartments would likely start toward the end of 2012 and take about 18 months to complete.