PEORIA, Ariz. (May
23, 2011) – The City Council tonight unanimously approved an agreement to
lease the former Starbucks locations in Rio Vista Community Park and on Paradise
Lane adjacent to the Peoria Sports Complex to a locally owned company that
focuses on sports training and player development.
The new tenant will be
It’s All in the Game, owned by physician Dana Seltzer, chairman of the
Orthopedic Department and director of Orthopedic Trauma at St. Joseph’s Hospital
and Medical Center in Phoenix. It plans sports-training, medical, restaurant and
related retail facilities for both locations.
The agreement also
includes an option for Seltzer to buy a 4.91-acre parcel south of the Arizona
Broadway Theatre. Seltzer envisions that parcel becoming home to the St.
Joseph’s Hospital Medical Group, which includes more than 200 medical providers
among 12 specialties.
“This a great
opportunity for new business – sports-related business – in our sports and
entertainment district and at Rio Vista Community Park,” says Deputy City
Manager Susan J. Daluddung, who oversees both Economic Development Services and
Community Services. “Dr. Seltzer has a great reputation and a good, solid
business context to grow his company into the future.”
Peoria Economic
Development Services Director Scott Whyte says It’s All in the Game will
energize the Paradise Lane location with an operation that will draw people into
the sports and entertainment district, offering additional traffic and
cross-marketing opportunities for the businesses already there.
Whyte says It’s All in
the Game plans to operate retail bakeries in the former Starbucks cafés. It also
plans to expand and operate the batting cages at Rio Vista and develop the rest
of the Paradise Lane facility.
Peoria leased the two
locations in 2006 to Chili Davis Premier Baseball, which operated a Starbucks,
pro shop and batting cages in Rio Vista and another Starbucks on Paradise Lane.
More was intended for the latter site, but Chili Davis defaulted on its
obligations to its lender, Wells Fargo, and the city. Wells Fargo ultimately
foreclosed on both facilities and is scheduled to sell them later this month to
legal entities controlled by Seltzer and It’s All in the Game.
Seltzer approached the
city in the fall of 2010 with the idea to convert the Paradise Lane location,
which is adjacent to the Peoria Sports Complex, into a baseball academy focusing
on player development and sports training. He has served as medical director for
several professional sports teams, including the Phoenix Coyotes, and has put
together a business team that includes Foothills Physical Therapy and Luis
Gonzalez, a former Arizona Diamondbacks star who also happens to be an honorary
Peoria Police officer.
