Centerline on Glendale’s Community Impact Goes Beyond Affordable Housing
Partnership fosters community and removes barriers for culinary entrepreneurs
At Centerline on Glendale, the city’s newest affordable housing community, residents can take their pups to the dog park, push their kids on the swings at the playground or pursue a culinary dream that, until now, they’ve had to keep on the back burner.
Nadia-Esparza Harper of Malintzin and Corrynne Belyew of Homestead Happiness
The 367-unit Gorman & Company-developed apartment complex includes a commercial kitchen, where Local First will operate their Community Kitchen Incubator Program supporting up to 30 fledgling food businesses at once. Nadia-Esparza Harper of Malintzin and Corrynne Belyew of Homestead Happiness recently passed their permitting inspections with flying colors and will be the first two business owners to work out of the Centerline on Glendale Kitchen.
The Centerline on Glendale Kitchen includes four convection ovens, double stacked, plus four standard ovens, making it ideal for baking and pastry entrepreneurs. The kitchen also features dry, refrigerated and freezer storage, a discounted rental rate compared to the open market, and — most importantly — access to Local First Arizona’s Community Kitchen program. A two-year commitment, the program includes the six-week Good Food Boot Camp and one-on-one professional guidance preparing food businesses to scale and succeed.
Local First Arizona will also host community events at the kitchen, in much the same way it has at El Rancho del Sol in Mesa, an affordable housing community with its own Local First Community Kitchen. At El Rancho, Gardner taught cooking classes for kids and would send each of them home with extras.
“We realized that about 85% of the kids were food insecure,” he said, noting that the kitchen also offered community dinners and a food pantry. “We found that the kitchen was a tool for economic development, but it also created healthier outcomes for the kids and it reduced turnover in the apartment community.”
El Rancho del Sol served as a case study of sorts for Centerline on Glendale as the development process began. Gorman & Company saw the potential for the Centerline community as it became the first developer to make use of Arizona’s state housing tax credit that combined affordable housing with community-based economic growth.
Brian Swanton, Gorman & Company’s president and CEO,
Brian Swanton, Gorman & Company’s president and CEO, said he believes the economic growth potential that the kitchen provides not only benefits the residents and those using the facilities, but it also creates a healthier community at large.
According to Swanton, “Centerline on Glendale is more than just housing — it’s a foundation for stability and opportunity for Glendale residents. By creating safe, affordable homes, we are empowering families to build brighter futures, access better jobs and become active participants in their community. Centerline on Glendale represents the kind of transformative collaborative public-private investment that makes a lasting difference in people’s lives.”
While the kitchen is on the ground floor of the Centerline on Glendale community, availability of the kitchen and the Local First Arizona Community Kitchen program isn’t exclusive to community residents.
Culinary entrepreneurs who are interested in learning more about the kitchen and the Local First Arizona program can find more information here.
Related Information:
Learn more about Local First Arizona’s opportunities for food entrepreneurs
Take a virtual tour of the Glendale Community Kitchen
Interested in starting your own food business? Check out our Good Food Finder Food System Resources