employees our biggest asset; our company culture is based on that.” Upward Projects engrains its restaurants
in their respective communities by retrofit- ting existing buildings that have historical relevance to the area, sourcing homegrown ingredients for food and supporting local charitable organizations. For example, the firm’s first restaurant, Postino Arcadia, was established in 2001 inside the historic Arca- dia, Ariz., post office. The wine café serves Italian food and its name was inspired by its notable space; postino is Italian for post- man. Postino Arcadia’s success led to the opening of Postino Central in north central Phoenix in 2009. Postino Central is housed inside a mid-century 1950s building, which had been a neighborhood deli for 30 years. Gilbert’s Heritage District was a logical choice for a Postino location on Phoenix’s east side. “There is such great energy and a real
sense of community in Gilbert’s Heritage District, and we loved the other businesses that were there,” Bailey says. “However, all the really historic buildings were already taken.” What was left was a 7,000-square-foot
territorial-style structure that had been built in 1998 and had hosted several failed restaurants before becoming vacant in 2008. However, Upward Projects was not deterred and contacted the building’s new owner, Michael Bennan of Scottsdale, Ariz.- based Oakmark Properties LLC. “We learned he was as committed as we were to getting it right,” Bailey says. “He wasn’t trying to cut corners or just put a coat of paint on it. He really wanted to invest to make this a place where we would be for a long time.”
Gutting the Old Some folks in Gilbert said the territorial-
style building was cursed; others noted its physical appearance didn’t lure custom- ers inside. The 1-story structure had few windows and even fewer embellishments, making the building appear somewhat like a fortress.