For decades, the northwest corner of Seventh Street and Forest Avenue meant shaded patio dinners at House of Tricks. That corner is now set aside for a 30-story tower with more than 800 apartments and shops on the ground floor, built by Core Spaces and Wexford Developments. The feel of the old place did not disappear with it. It got split up and moved. One of its buildings now sits next to City Hall on Fifth Street. A Sunday farmers market launches on the plaza beside it this month. Two blocks south, the owners of one of Phoenix's best-known Thai restaurants are moving into a house older than Arizona's statehood.
Mayor Corey Woods said it directly when that last project was announced:
"We all loved the warm, authentic experience of sitting on the shaded, scenic patio of House of Tricks. I'm excited to see that feeling return to downtown Tempe."
Here is where each piece stands as of October 10, 2026, and what is actually open this weekend.
The house that moved four blocks
The building next to City Hall is the Harry Walker House, built in 1903. Most coverage calls it the House of Tricks bungalow, but it isn't. The restaurant used two buildings. One was the 1920 Manley bungalow. The other was the Walker House, which served as the wine cellar. In September 2025, Wolfe House & Building Movers lifted the whole structure. They carried it about four blocks to Fifth Street and Mill Avenue, next to Tempe City Hall.
According to the city's facility record, the house was conveyed to the city, rehabilitated, and leased to Novel Ice Cream. On October 1, KTAR reported that Novel expects to open its Tempe shop by the end of the year. The company has also put its planned downtown Peoria location on hold to focus on Tempe. The shop isn't open yet, and Novel's own site still says "Coming Soon."
When it opens, it will be Novel's fourth Valley location. The plan is a walk-up window, about a dozen rotating flavors, flights of five, and the Dough Melt, a warm glazed doughnut stuffed with ice cream and cereal topping. Novel started in Phoenix's Grand Avenue Arts District in 2017.
Sources don't agree on the address. The city lists the house at 25 E. Fifth St., while Novel lists 21 E. Fifth St. Both point to the same spot, on Fifth Street right beside City Hall.
The Walker House isn't the only old building the city chose to keep. The same 2025 announcement said Tempe would preserve First Congregational Church at Sixth Street and Myrtle Avenue, built in 1899, and become its owner.
A Sunday market on the plaza next door
Before Novel arrives, the plaza beside the Walker House gets a regular Sunday crowd. The Tempe City Hall Farmers Market was set to launch Sunday, Oct. 11. On the city's market page, Tempe has since moved the launch to Sunday, Oct. 18. The National Weather Service issued a wind advisory and told city officials conditions would be unsafe for a market on the original date. Several weekend previews published earlier in the week still list Oct. 11.
The organizers explain why this market fits downtown. Jon Przybyl of Proof Bread and Meg Kabotie Adakai, founder of Flagstaff Mountain Town Market, run it in partnership with the city. Proof Bread is a downtown business itself and opened in downtown Tempe in 2025. Before launch, Phoenix New Times named these vendors among the first wave:
- Ransom Farms Microgreens
- Bagelwick
- Mortimer Farms
- Shelter Dog Coffee
- Twisted Bee Honey
- Proof Bread
The same preview mentioned yoga and live music for opening day. Organizers are still recruiting farmers, artisan food makers, pet treat makers, musicians and artists. They post vendor updates on Instagram at @TCHFarmersMarket.
Sunday logistics, per the City of Tempe
| Detail | What the city says |
|---|---|
| Location | City Hall Plaza, 31 E. Fifth St. |
| Hours | 8 a.m. to noon, October through April; 7 to 11 a.m., May through September |
| Schedule | Most Sundays, starting Oct. 18 |
| Street parking | Free downtown on Sundays |
| City Hall garage | 117 E. Fifth St., first hour free |
| Brickyard garage | 98 E. Seventh St., $4 per hour |
| Restrooms | City Hall restrooms open during market hours; more at the Tempe Transportation Center, Fifth Street and Forest Avenue |
| EBT and Double Up Food Bucks | Not yet accepted; organizers are working on it |
When the market was announced, YourValley reported that Mayor Woods described it as "a space where people can shop, spend time together and enjoy downtown Tempe." Put the market and the Walker House together and Fifth Street east of Mill gets a slower, daytime use that the bar blocks of Mill Avenue have never really had.
Seventh Street keeps one historic house in play
The second piece is two blocks south, at 34 E. Seventh St. at the corner of Myrtle Avenue. Cat Bunnag and Dan Robinson, owners of Glai Baan, are opening a new restaurant in the Gov. Benjamin B. Moeur House and Hatton Hall.
The house is named for Benjamin Moeur, a physician who served two terms as Arizona governor from 1933 to 1937 and lived there until 1937. It became offices for the Tempe Community Council in 1993. Hatton Hall was added that year and named for Patricia A. Hatton, the third woman to serve on the Tempe City Council. "This restaurant is an opportunity to invite people into Tempe's history," Tempe historic preservation officer Zachary Lechner said when the project was announced.
The concept still has no public name. Phoenix New Times reported in August that it would be different from Glai Baan in central Phoenix and was aiming for October. Downtown Tempe Authority lists it as coming soon with no date. It's this project the mayor tied to the House of Tricks patio.
What is serving now between Fifth and Seventh
New openings on Mill Avenue are filling in around these historic sites, with Fifth Street at the north end and Seventh at the south. Here is where things stand, based on Downtown Tempe Authority's 2026 tracker and recent local reporting.
Open
- Culinary Gangster, 501 S. Mill Ave., below Varsity Tavern at the southeast corner of Mill and Fifth. This is the third location for the burger spot that started as a Chicago food truck. It opened in August.
- Phantom Fox Beer Co. with Goat & Ram, 525 S. Mill Ave. The Downtown Tempe Authority lists its opening date as Oct. 8. Phantom Fox is owned by Eric Cady and Trent Smith, and Goat & Ram's partners are Dan and Morgan Medlen.
- Russo's New York Pizzeria, 521 S. College Ave. This is the chain's second Valley location, run by local franchisees Kristina and Christian Alvarez. It opened in September.
- Roman God of Fire, at Rio Salado Parkway and Mill, which opened in August. Its hidden cocktail bar, Mea Culpa, has guests go through a "confessional moment" to get in.
Still coming
- Carmen, Julian Wright's coastal-Mexican concept at 640 S. Mill Ave., at the southwest corner of Mill and Sixth. It was delayed several times, missed its late-September target, and is still listed as coming soon.
- Trophy Tempe, at Fifth and Mill, listed for fall 2026. The authority hasn't released any details beyond that.
- Level 1 Arcade Bar, at University and Mill, estimated for November 2026.
The authority's tracker warns that opening dates can move. Carmen shows why.
A long-running table that did not make it
The new arrivals came the same fall that Tempe lost a restaurant many people knew well. Cafe Lalibela served Ethiopian food at 849 W. University Drive for 30 years and closed permanently in late September. Days earlier, it had been named the Valley's best Ethiopian restaurant. In a letter shared with Phoenix New Times, chef and founder Atsade Desta announced the closure. Some staff had worked there for 12 to 27 years.
Downtown, the city has kept the Walker House and the Moeur House standing and found tenants for both. Whether those tenants last will depend on customers, starting with the first Sunday market on Oct. 18 at City Hall Plaza.
At Morales Group Real Estate, we follow how blocks like Fifth and Seventh Street change. Old buildings get new uses, and those changes shape how a neighborhood feels day to day. If you'd like to talk through what's happening around downtown Tempe, contact us. We're always glad to compare notes.
