The Churchill, Enriching Downtown Phoenix With More Than Just Food.
The Churchill, an outdoor courtyard, restaurant, and retail complex located in the Roosevelt Art’s District of Downtown Phoenix has set out to enrich the downtown area in more ways than just food.
Churchill is made up of shipping containers that are home to ten small local businesses, which include established operations and start-up businesses. The unique mix of tenants are centered around finding ways to benefit each other in order to create a sense of community, instead of creating competition. The containers are not only eco-friendly but they lend an artistic value to a once empty lot. Hartley Rodie and Kell Duncan who created Churchill told the Phoenix New Times that the containers, “are part of the “vibe” of the Churchill. “They’re part of a bigger message,” he explains. “They’re letting people know we’re about more than just local retail and really great food. We’re about community, about giving back, and about putting something ahead of the bottom line.”
The shipping containers encompass a 9,000 square foot courtyard where visitors can enjoy local resturants, bars and shops.
The Founders wanted the project to be more than just another resturant spot in Pheonix. The courtyard has become a place where speakers, art and fitness classes, galliers and other venues pop up. Rodie and Duncan say, “The idea was to build a model that would offer opportunities to local businesses,” whether to launch or grow.” In order for business to be a part of this Churchill they are required to give back to the community by dedicating time to community service projects known as “Social Rent”.
The combination of an eco- friendly building and businesses that give back to the community has created a marketplace that offers variety to one of the fastest growing cities in the United States.
