On Saturday, November 14, High Street hosts a Cigars & Cars Festival from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. The same day, Desert Ridge Marketplace hosts the Scottsdale Children's Business Fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. On December 5 it happens again. Cars & Coffee runs on High Street from 7:30 to 10 a.m., and the Makers Hive Holiday Market opens at Desert Ridge Marketplace at 11.
Last holiday season, doing both meant two parking lots. This year a road links them. City North Drive opened to the public on March 2, 2026, connecting CityNorth, High Street and Desert Ridge Marketplace with a 12-foot shaded sidewalk. The three centers near Loop 101 and Tatum have always sat next to each other. Now you can walk between them, and November and December are the first busy season to test that.
A Road That Sat Finished for Six Years
City North Drive was built in 2020. According to the Daily Independent, it stayed closed through CityNorth's major construction phases and opened to the public for the first time this March. The same report says the road gives walking access to more than 50 restaurants, shops and entertainment venues across the two retail hubs on either side of CityNorth. Along with the 12-foot shaded sidewalk, it has pull-outs for ride-share and autonomous shuttles.
Rick Carpinelli of Crown Realty Group, CityNorth's owner and master developer, described the goal to the Daily Independent this way: "This is about creating a place where people can work, live and spend time—all without getting back in their cars."
The road opened alongside two finished buildings. One is the Republic Services corporate headquarters, a six-story, 240,000-square-foot building that the report calls the largest newly built office building in the greater Phoenix market. The other is Sunela Luxury Apartments, CityNorth's first completed apartment community. According to Carpinelli, the projects open or under construction add up to about a third of the full 100-acre plan. The walk you can take this December covers the first third of that plan.
What Opened Along the Walk in 2026
This year's new kitchens are spread across all three centers. Each one gives you a reason to cross from one to the next.
- PRESS Coffee, CityNorth. Locally owned PRESS opened its 20th location inside Sprouts Farmers Market's new corporate headquarters at 20700 N. 56th St. The café is 700 square feet, seats 18 and sits near the building's entrance. Arizona Digital Free Press reported the menu: drip coffee, nitro cold brew, breakfast sandwiches, burritos and empanadas. PRESS's own City North page lists hours of 6:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.
- Sprouts, CityNorth. Across from the café, at 20650 N. 56th St., Sprouts announced a flagship store with a July 24 opening and a 7 a.m. start.
- Kanoki Sushi & Cocktails, High Street. Chef Tyler Baggs, who used to run the kitchen at Alden in the Phoenix Art Museum, opened Kanoki in April in the former Pocha 54 Korean Tapas space. Phoenix New Times noted that sushi options thin out north of Loop 101. In that report, Kanoki joins more than a dozen High Street restaurants, including Hula's Modern Tiki, Humble Bistro and Ocean Prime. High Street's directory lists it at 5415 E. High St., Suite 101.
- Kajiken, Desert Ridge Marketplace. PHOENIX magazine's January roundup listed Kajiken as open at the Marketplace, describing its soup-less ramen as a new-to-Arizona concept.
- Nadu, Desert Ridge Marketplace. Chef Sujan Sarkar's Michelin-starred Chicago restaurant opened its outpost at 21001 N. Tatum Blvd. this summer. PHOENIX magazine included it in its June openings and described its regional Indian cooking in a carefully designed room.
The hours give the district a rough daily rhythm. CityNorth's newest café opens at 6:30 a.m. and closes at 4 p.m., which fits an office campus. The bigger dinner openings this year went to High Street and the Marketplace. Before March, getting from one to the other meant driving.
The Holiday Calendar, Center by Center
Every date below falls after this post's November 12 publish date. They come from the centers' own event pages at Desert Ridge Marketplace and High Street. Event times can change, so check the venue before you head out.
| Date | Center | Event | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| November 14 | Desert Ridge Marketplace | Scottsdale Children's Business Fair | 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. |
| November 14 | High Street | Cigars & Cars Festival | 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. |
| November 23 | Desert Ridge Marketplace | Holiday Tree Lighting at The District | 6 to 9 p.m. |
| November 27 to 29 | Desert Ridge Marketplace | Clay hand-impression ornament appointments | By appointment |
| December 5 | High Street | Cars & Coffee | 7:30 to 10 a.m. |
| December 5 | Desert Ridge Marketplace | Makers Hive Holiday Market | 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. |
| December 6 and December 19 | Desert Ridge Marketplace | Free digital Santa photos | 1 to 3 p.m. |
| All of December | Desert Ridge Marketplace | Giving Machine | During center hours |
The tree lighting is on a Monday. The ceremony itself starts at 7:15 p.m., and Santa photos follow from 7:30 to 9. The ornament appointments fall on the Friday-to-Sunday stretch after Thanksgiving, and the December Santa sessions are inside The District near AMC Theatres.
How the Two Big Saturdays Fit Together
The table shows two days that cross centers, and on both the timing works in your favor.
November 14 starts at the Marketplace, where the Children's Business Fair opens at 10 a.m. and closes at 2. High Street's Cigars & Cars Festival opens at 11 and runs until 9 p.m. That leaves plenty of time to finish the fair, walk over and catch the festival well before it ends. Both Kanoki and Nadu serve dinner within walking distance once the afternoon is done.
December 5 runs in the opposite direction. Cars & Coffee on High Street ends at 10 a.m., and the Makers Hive Holiday Market at the Marketplace opens an hour later. Anyone who wants coffee before the cars can stop at PRESS on the CityNorth side, which opens at 6:30 on Saturdays. That makes one Saturday morning that starts at CityNorth, moves to High Street, ends at the Marketplace and never needs a second parking spot.
The single-center days fit into this too. The Monday tree lighting and the two December Santa afternoons are all at The District inside Desert Ridge Marketplace. On any of those dates, Kajiken and Nadu sit in the same center, and Kanoki is a walk away on High Street.
Still on the Marketplace Directory
A few Desert Ridge names that came up in last year's announcements are still listed as coming soon. In October 2025, Phoenix New Times reported that Terra Gaucha and Globe in the Dark were headed to Desert Ridge Marketplace. Nadu was announced in the same report. Nadu is now open. The Marketplace's dining directory lists Terra Gaucha and Globe in the Dark as coming soon, and Terra Gaucha's Phoenix page describes the location as opening soon. The center's page for Copper Blues lists it as temporarily closed for remodel.
If you live near Desert Ridge or just across the line in Grayhawk, you're already watching CityNorth fill in one building at a time. I follow those changes closely because they shape how the neighborhoods around them feel day to day. If you'd like to talk about what CityNorth's next phase could mean for your home, Desert Living Properties is happy to help. Get Your Home Valuation, and I'll walk you through it.
