Epicenter at Agritopia is the last piece for 20-year-long development in Gilbert

The Johnston Family, more than 20 years ago, envisioned transforming the family farmland into a development that would pay homage to their agricultural roots while also building a local village feel.

Joe Johnston grew up on the 160-acre farm that his family purchased in the 1960s, and as urbanization crept closer to the land, he started to think about what the future would hold.

Over the next two decades, Agritopia along Higley and Ray roads would turn into a hub for single-family homes, a dining destination and a retail hub. The Epicenter is the final piece of the puzzle.

On Nov. 16, Epicenter will have its grand opening to celebrate the completion of the 23-acre retail and housing development. The Tyler, a luxury apartment complex with 320 units, sits on top of more than 49,000 square feet of retail space that houses more than 20 business tenants.

The mix of business includes dining, health and wellness stores and local retailers.

Since the late 1990s, when Johnston began visualizing what he could build on the former farmland, he knew he had a “huge responsibility” to get it right.

How Agritopia and The Epicenter came together

The Gilbert that Johnston grew up in is vastly different from what is there now. His graduating class was just over 100 students, and the farm at the time was not a part of Gilbert proper but rather an unincorporated community called Higley.

“It was pretty much countrified everywhere once you got out of … the core of Gilbert,” he said. Johnston's entrance into the dining business started with a local chain of coffee shops in the late 1980s which he later sold. After that, he got the idea of turning his childhood home into a restaurant where they’d serve the produce from the farm which became the well-beloved Joe’s Farm Grill.

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From there it took off. He knew the farmland wouldn’t always stay that way, so he, with other land planners and developers, came up with the concept of creating a walkable community. A kind of “village life” vision, Johnston said.

In the center of Agritopia, he preserved about 11 acres of land to continue farming and educating future farmers.

With Epicenter, Johnston and his son William saw it as the “downtown” of Agritopia where people living at The Tyler and the nearly 600 homes in the single-family neighborhood could walk or bike to dine or shop.

William, who took the helm of developing Epicenter nearly 10 years ago, said the goal was to add more uses and high-quality tenants to encourage residents to “remain hyperlocal.”

A dining destination for the East Valley

What residents won’t find at Epicenter are national food chains or shops but rather well-known local restaurants and stores.

“We really wanted to highlight some of our favorites and what we think is best of Arizona in the tenant mix,” William said, “and bring a lot of our favorites throughout the valley into Gilbert for the East Valley market to really enjoy.”

To do that, he looked for business owners who were passionate about their craft and were committed to quality.

That included the well-known pizzeria Spinato’s and brunch destination Matt's Big Breakfast, opening its sixth location.

William was particularly excited to land the seafood restaurant Buck and Rider at Epicenter, which marks its third location in metro Phoenix.

Emily Collins, the restaurant’s chief operating officer, said it was time to step into the East Valley market to bring residents the high-quality dining and lunch they offer.

“It’s more of an elegant fresh lunch place that we felt like was missing from the market,” Collins said.

With a menu focused on seafood, the Buck and Rider team each morning drives out to Phoenix Sky Harbor to pick up the daily catch coming in from either Massachusetts, Florida or even Hawaii for the rotating seasonal menu.

Collins said Epicenter will be a great location for date night or dinner for girl's night that is filling a gap in the market for the area.

Retail a new addition to Agritopia

Now with local boutiques, med spas and fitness centers the mix-use development is rounding out.

Businesses like Vintage Home, Why I Love Where I Live, Wyle Hair Salon, barre3 and The Collective have all opened their doors at Epicenter.

UrbAna is also one of those retail stores that opened its third location. Owner Brian Wells describes the boutique as a “celebrations store” that has all the supplies you’d need to host a sit-down dinner or purchase a gift for a housewarming party. “It’s a lifestyle brand that is centered around all of your entertaining,” he said.

He started the business as a way to honor his grandmother after he found a journal of her written recipes from her dinner parties.

Wells said he hopes the products at urbAna inspire people to bring back formal dinner and cocktail parties people once had. He’s also encouraged that the shop will do well at Epicenter with all residential in the area.

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“Independent retail absolutely needs a lot of people close by,” he said.

Wells had his eye on Gilbert for a while and previously toyed with the idea of opening a location at San Tan Village Mall but ultimately chose to come to Epicenter in part because of the Johnstons' vision.

“Having a landlord that really feels like a partner is really rare,” he said. “Working with a family-run owner that absolutely has a vested interest in making everyone succeed … is really refreshing,” Wells said.

Reporter Maritza Dominguez covers Mesa and Gilbert and can be reached at maritza.dominguez@arizonarepublic.com or 480-271-0646. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @maritzacdom.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Gilbert's Epicenter at Agritopia is 20-year plan in development