"Our goal would be to have everyone open at the same time," Kell Duncan told WhatNow Phoenix in an Oct. 22 interview about Jefferson House, the shipping-container courtyard at 8310 W. Jefferson St. Duncan built The Churchill in downtown Phoenix. At the time, he put the Peoria project eight to 12 weeks from fully opening. The certificate of occupancy had arrived the week before, and what remained was interior build-out for the bar and its neighbors.
Counting forward from Oct. 22, that estimate lands between mid-December and mid-January, so the window opens just after the city's two biggest downtown nights of the holidays. 2nd Saturdays returns on Nov. 14, and Dec. 12 combines 2nd Saturdays with the Peoria Holiday Festival. Most of this season's downtown events happen within a few blocks of one corner, and the building at the center of that corner is finishing up at the same time.
One corner, a few blocks wide
Visit Peoria describes the downtown visitor area as the blocks from Peoria Avenue to Madison Street, between 83rd and 84th avenues. Nearly everything on the downtown holiday calendar sits inside that box or just past it:
- Driftwood Coffee Co., 8295 W. Jefferson St., which Visit Peoria lists as open daily
- Jefferson House, 8310 W. Jefferson St., at 83rd Avenue and Jefferson Street
- Caldwell County BBQ, 8315 W. Washington St.
- The historic schoolhouse at 83rd Avenue and Madison Street, which the city is restoring as an arts and cultural center
- Peoria Center for the Performing Arts, 10580 N. 83rd Dr., home of the resident company TheaterWorks
The city has spent most of 2026 putting pieces into that grid. In March it unveiled the City Hall front yard, a $2.4 million project with an event lawn and berm, better ADA access and parking. On April 7 it switched on messaging on a new digital water tower, which it describes as a marker of downtown revitalization and of Peoria's railroad and agricultural history. Phoenix New Times reports that the city built both Caldwell County BBQ's smokehouse and the Jefferson House container complex as part of a $15 million revitalization effort.
Two places on the block are already serving
Caldwell County BBQ was the first of the city-built restaurant buildings to open. The city says the smokehouse opened its first West Valley location on April 1, 2026, on Washington Street between 83rd Avenue and 83rd Drive. Its online ordering page offers pickup, so it also works as a place to grab dinner before a festival night.
Driftwood Coffee is the other one, and it ties the block to the courtyard across the street. According to Phoenix New Times, brothers Lance and Gavin Linderman run Driftwood with Micah Bentley, along with Twist Hot Chicken and the Glendale bar Easy Tiger. The same team is Duncan's partner on Jefferson House. "We're just chomping at the bit to get this thing going," Lance Linderman told the paper.
The courtyard has been a long time coming
Jefferson House was announced in April 2024 as a West Valley version of The Churchill. New Times reports that a design change from two stories to one, along with construction delays, pushed the opening back. Duncan told the paper, "With a project of this size and scale, there's just more parts and pieces." The project's own timeline shows the work moving through 2026. The black-steel canopy frame went up in the spring, container shops were stacked into place in June, and the Jefferson House name went up on the corner in July. On July 25, the project announced November 2026 as its opening month.
Duncan told WhatNow the tenant lineup is complete. Here's how it breaks down, based on reporting from Phoenix New Times and WhatNow:
Tenant | What it is |
|---|---|
Stoop Kid | Bagel and smash burger shop from The Churchill; Peoria will be its third location |
Local Hive Pizza Co. | Family-run wood-fired pizzeria, known for hot honey finishes |
Hope's Frybread | West Valley outpost of Hope Peshlakai's Mesa restaurant, sweet and savory stuffed frybread |
Chewk's Cookies | Warm, soft cookies, served à la mode with soft-serve here |
JOOS | Cold-pressed juices, wellness shots, smoothies and fruit cups; started at Arrowhead Farmers Market |
Good Trouble | Courtyard bar with 24 beers on draft, spirits and a limited wine list |
The Book Haul | Fantasy, romance and other fiction |
Lovely Goods | Vintage and secondhand housewares, furniture and clothing curated by photographer Sarah Day |
Fade & Blade Studio | Barbershop and hair salon |
The Nile Theatre | Listed among the tenants |
Good Trouble is the tenant most likely to open ahead of the rest. Duncan told WhatNow its space needs less work than the restaurants. The bar is designed to look like a shipping container but is being built as a separate structure, with three service wells and a rotating selection from local breweries on its taps. Stoop Kid owner Steven McMillen said in the tenant announcement that the team is "stoked to bring burgers and general nonsense west."
Nov. 14 is a regular 2nd Saturdays night
2nd Saturdays is the city's free monthly music and art festival. It runs on the second Saturday of each month from Oct. 10 through April 10, and the city lists the hours as 5 to 9 p.m. Nov. 14 is the second night of the 2026-27 season, and it has the format without any holiday add-ons. The city describes the series as local art, live music, artisan vendors and hands-on activities in the historic district. Peoria Economic Development advertised more than 40 local makers and vendors for the Oct. 10 opener, which was a Somos Peoria collaboration with live mural-making in the Mural Garden. The event map marks free parking.
That makes Nov. 14 a good night to get a feel for the block before December, when the same few streets carry much more.
Dec. 12 puts the whole season on one stretch of 83rd Avenue
The December edition of 2nd Saturdays is the Peoria Holiday Festival night, held Saturday, Dec. 12, from 5 to 9 p.m. in Downtown Peoria. It's free and open to all ages. The city's festival page promises twinkling lights, festive sights and holiday cheer for the whole family.
The city tied the restored schoolhouse to that same night. A July 13 city update said construction was scheduled to wrap up in late October and that the city expected a December grand opening "in time for the Downtown Peoria Holiday Festival."
Two more events overlap with Dec. 12, and both are on or near 83rd Avenue.
Event | Where | When | Admission |
|---|---|---|---|
2nd Saturdays + Peoria Holiday Festival | Downtown Peoria | Dec. 12, 5–9 p.m. | Free |
Candy Cane Lane | Peoria Sports Complex, 16101 N. 83rd Ave. | Dec. 11 and 12, 4–10 p.m. | $5 |
A Christmas Carol, TheaterWorks | Peoria Center for the Performing Arts, 10580 N. 83rd Dr. | Dec. 4–20 | Ticketed |
Candy Cane Lane advertises more than 150 vendors, food trucks and Santa photos. It opens an hour before the downtown festival and runs an hour after it, so families who want both on Saturday have room to do them in either order, or to take Friday, Dec. 11 for the Sports Complex and keep Saturday for downtown. TheaterWorks' run of A Christmas Carol covers both weekends on either side of the festival. Its calendar also lists a city event with the Phoenix Brass Collective on Dec. 16.
What the courtyard adds once it's open
Once Jefferson House opens fully, downtown gains a gathering spot it doesn't have now, one that doesn't depend on a festival date. WhatNow reports the businesses will share a courtyard with more than 300 covered seats, a bar, a live music stage and a splash pad. New Times adds a concert-ready sound system. Today, a regular weeknight on the block means coffee at Driftwood or brisket on Washington Street. When the courtyard opens, the same block will have ten businesses around one shared patio and a stage, across the street from where 2nd Saturdays already sets up each month through April 10, 2027.
For opening news, Jefferson House points readers to its website, and Good Trouble points them to its Instagram.
Elizabeth follows downtown Peoria the same way she follows every West Valley corner she works in, block by block and opening by opening. If you'd like to know how projects like Jefferson House and the schoolhouse fit into the bigger picture for your part of Peoria, Elizabeth Chionchio is happy to talk it through. Get a Free Local Market Consultation.
