Old Town – or Ghost Town?
Scottsdale’s historic center is in the midst of its annual summer snooze, though this one feels more like a coma.
“It’s been a bloodbath,” one gallery owner grimaced.
Another Old Town business leader had a haunting description for the current scene:
“The gallows.”
Longtime Old Town business owner Paul Mitchell agrees, calling this “probably my worst summer ever.”
On the second Saturday of August, Old Town seemed to have more closed-up shops and frozen construction sites than live bodies.
A few tourists were wandering around; in contrast to the eager, happy visitors romping through Old Town in the spring, these seemed dazed and confused, hunting for open businesses.
“Want to go down here and see if anything’s open?” a man cautiously offered his wife.
“Weird,” another visitor on Second Street pondered, looking at his phone. “This says it’s open…”
Restaurants in particular are “dropping like flies,” as one business owner put it. Indeed, a few glum social media posts tell the story.
First, at the end of July:
“Old Town Tortilla Factory has decided to close after three decades of serving Scottsdale.”
Then, in early August:
“After 10 wonderful years, it is with heavy hearts that we share that Sel Bistro will be closing its doors permanently.”
The two anchor establishments served up food on Main Street, in the heart of the gallery district.
Not far away, construction workers on the Old Town parking garage had the weekend off, with the site shuttered. These days, again in contrast to October through April, there is plenty of street parking.
A block from the transitioning Parking Corral, fenced off areas hide two former Old Town popular spots in disrepair.
At First and Main streets, the closed Buca di Beppo is undergoing a transition. A liquor license application promises an “Old Hollywood inspired restaurant and supperclub.”
This is not their first rodeo: “Ownership is a restaurant development company out of Texas that owns and operates 27 restaurants.”
Drake’s Hollywood restaurant will make its pitch for a liquor license at the Monday, Aug. 24 Scottsdale City Council meeting.
No such action is happening a block from Drake’s, at Second and Main.
Here, a former tacos-and-tequila hotspot is falling apart, with crumbling concrete and exposed wires.
The Salty Senorita closed at the beginning of summer three years ago, just short of a decade as an Old Town go-to place.
According to therestaurantbrokers.com, this site is “a rare opportunity” for a restaurant “surrounded by world-class dining, upscale nightlife, boutique shopping, and luxury hotels, this high-traffic area draws both locals and tourists year-round.”
Then again …
The building across Scottsdale Road, formerly home to the once-booming RnR Gastropub, is also vacant.
Neighboring businesses closing is no surprise to Old Town gallery owner Bob Pejman.
“People will say, ‘Oh it’s, just anecdotal’ – but the daytime traffic has plummeted,” Pejman said. “Daytime traffic has been really bad for some years.
“This has been the slowest summer I’ve ever seen,” he added. “And I’ve been here since 2010.”
Lisa Borowsky was a councilwoman back then. When she took office as Scottsdale mayor in 2025, Borowsky said one of her top priorities was “revitalize Old Town and downtown.”
Three months ago, Borowsky tapped Pejman and several other business owners for a new task force on Old Town/downtown.
Pejman said his fellow representatives from various Old Town districts “all complained about declining foot traffic.”
Every year, the city of Scottsdale receives millions in tourism-related dollars – a portion of hotel and sales taxes. The city then uses portions of the funds to market its attractions.
Pejman said that advertising strategies for Old Town in recent years were “100% wasted.”
He said he was optimistic about the city soliciting bids for a new ad agency focused on Old Town.
City push
Most years, it seems city leadership seems to take a “gone fishing” attitude regarding Old Town in the summer months.
What can be done, with one 110 degree day after another melting away tourism?
This year, however, the city appeared ready to battle the beast that is summer.
In May, according to a press release, Borowsky enthusiastically launched “the Downtown Scottsdale Task Force,” promoting it as “a collaborative, community-driven advisory body … to help guide the long-term vitality, safety and character of Old Town Scottsdale.”
Pejman was joined on the task force by various restaurant and hotel owners, with Ryan Hibbert of Entertainment District powerhouse Riot Hospitality Group as chairman.
The task force met twice in May, followed by a “walking tour.”
Borowsky’s “scottsdalemayor.com” website has a link to the “Downtown Task Force Document Center,” which in turn has a link titled “2026 Task Force Staff Reports.”
An agenda for a June 22 “walking tour” includes “topics we will be discussing today.”
The four topics include:
“Blight – vacant buildings display sloppiness and disrepair – we would like them ‘reactivated.’ The Pink Pony and Tomes and Treasures are but two examples.”
“Homeless People – They poop and pee in Historic Old Town, they are scary to visitors and children and severely add a ‘third world country’ look and feel to Historic Old Town. We recently found out that churches, and/or non-profit groups, or other entities, (possibly, even the City of Scottsdale’s Homeless Services Division could unwittingly be funding some of these activities) are bussing in homeless people and giving them money for the day. They droр them off in big white vans at sunrise and pick them up at sunset.
“Yesterday, about 30 homeless people were observed sitting at the tables and benches right inside The Main Street Entry into Civic Center, eating breakfast.”
Borowsky did not respond to a request for comment on the description of homeless people in the document.
Old Town marketing
Three weeks before the solstice, Holly Peralta – the city’s director of communications – sent out an energetic mass email.
“Summer is heating up in Scottsdale, and so is the excitement in Old Town,” she proclaimed.
“June Days returns throughout the month of June, offering residents and visitors a chance to explore exclusive events, limited-time promotions and summer-only discounts at local businesses.”
The release trumpeted “more than 30 activities designed to showcase the unique experiences, shops, restaurants and attractions that make Old Town Scottsdale a premier destination year-round,” promoting the likes of Scottsdale Stadium tours, Stories and Sweets, the Tournament of Treats, an Afterglow Sunset Photo Competition and Global Run Day.
Also in June, City Manager Greg Caton sent a bubbly email to Scottsdale City Council.
“The Old Town Marketing Program is focused on driving visitation and spending throughout Old Town by directing approximately $850,000 in advertising toward in-market visitors,” Caton told Scottsdale’s elected leaders.
“Through June 5, we invested $740,793 in marketing, advertising and activations.”
So how are the Old Town task force and marketing program efforts and money working out?
Unlike the weather – not so hot, according to Paul Mitchell, owner of the Old Town Tavern in the Civic Center for two decades.
“This is probably one of the worst summers that I have been through,” Mitchell moaned.
He recently moved the tavern to a bigger location next door.
The space Mitchell vacated remains empty.
How has Mitchell managed to make it through one punishing summer after another?
“The secret is to have a nest egg of cash,” he said.
“However, that is going fast – with the expansion of the new space.”
Janie White seconded that.
“The summers are always tough,” White said. “The businesses have to make all their money during the season to get through the summer.”
White is an Old Town commercial property owner.
“My tenants are having a difficult time,” she said. “There’s not a lot of people down there.”
White, who is a member of Borowsky’s task force, complains that city promotions “are sucking business away” from her neighborhood. She insists the likes of Canal Convergence and Scottsdazzle are pulling customers from Historic Old Town to the waterfront.
She proudly notes her father, the late Malcolm White, was the first mayor of Scottsdale – coining the phrase “The West’s Most Western Town.”
What would Malcolm White think of Old Town in the summer of 2026?
“He would still be proud of it,” Janie White said. “But I think he would want the city to stay out of trying to be restaurant-retail managers.”
As Pejman sees it, Old Town food venues closing “are a canary in the coal mine.
“The restaurants are dropping like flies,” the gallery owner and political activist said.
“That’s devastating, because restaurants are one of the main businesses that activate a downtown area.”