Joint venture partners Buzz Gosnell and Niels Kriepke purchased the building and the land around it in 2014 with a vision to redevelop the mid-century building into a mixed-use project that would include restaurants and retailers to serve an area that is truly hitting its stride. The $6 million adaptive reuse project at once folds into the surrounding community and stands out among its peers for the local flavor its restaurants and retailers bring to the space, and the history it holds inside.

For 52 years, the Crown on 7th building was home to Crown Imports, an eclectic retail store frequented by Phoenicians for silk flowers and event and party supplies.

Niels Kreipke is owner of Desert Viking, a real estate development firm with a history in adaptive reuse in downtown Chandler and downtown Phoenix. Since 1998, he has refurbished a half dozen buildings in historic downtown Chandler, as well as other properties across the Valley, including a condominium and retail complex in Phoenix’s Roosevelt District.

Buzz Gosnell, owner of DWG Phoenix, LLC left his previous job to focus on adaptive reuse development, of which Crown on 7th is the first venture in the new company. He was formerly president of Woodbine Southwest Corporation, which developed Kierland Commons, the successful main street shopping and dining district in northeast Phoenix. His goal now is to recreate buildings with character to make the surrounding areas better. You could say he had his eye on the Crown Imports building for years… he has a vivid childhood memory of boxing at Mack’s Boys Gym, which occupied one of the retail spaces years ago. And history becomes new again.

Crown on 7th exemplifies the power and possibility of adaptive reuse projects.