The site of a demolished central Phoenix car wash that closed nearly a decade ago is finally getting new life as a retail and restaurant hub with a downtown feel.

Why it matters: The vacant land on the northwest corner of Third Street and McDowell Road is a prime location in a booming central Phoenix neighborhood.

State of play: The Corner at Midtown, as the planned development is called, will feature restaurants and boutique retail, said developer Jeff Harris of Helix Properties.

• He told Axios that about 6,000 of the roughly 15,000 square feet will be taken up by restaurants, with patio space facing an outdoor breezeway separating the development's two buildings.
• They plan to bring in higher-end retail and have some target tenants in mind, including a med spa, but nothing finalized.

Zoom in: The businesses will be street-facing and developers will widen Third Street alongside the complex to make it more pedestrian-friendly, Harris said.

• He said the Corner at Midtown would be a good fit for the neighborhood, similar to developments on the northeast and southeast corners of Seventh Avenue and McDowell Road.
• The developers originally considered including 150 apartments but decided against it due to the number of new residential units that have come in over the past five to six years.

Between the lines: The development's location in a bustling central Phoenix corridor is a major selling point, per a leasing flyer.

• It's within walking distance from major apartment complexes, has easy access to light rail, is less than a mile from ASU Downtown and Roosevelt Row, and is near the Phoenix Art Museum and Phoenix Theatre Company.

What's next: Helix Properties plans for the Corner at Midtown to open in late 2027.

Flashback: Los Olivos Hand Car Wash occupied that corner for decades but closed at the end of 2017.

• The car wash had operated there under multiple owners since the 1950s, per the Arizona Republic.

At the car wash

The Cardinals suffered their first embarrassment of 2026 last week — four months before the NFL season begins.

The big picture: The league has turned the annual schedule release into a social media opportunity, with each team posting pop culture-y videos about their opponents.

• The Raiders spoofed Step Brothers. The Chargers ran with a "Halo" theme. The Packers produced more than two minutes of claymation.
• And then there was us.

Zoom in: The Cardinals video appeared to be an AI-generated Zoom meeting with the league mascots.

• The video mostly consisted of the mascots sitting in silence, blowing up the Zoom chat with (not very funny) jokes while an animated "Director of Mascot Matchups" (whose mouth did not move) narrated.

The online responses were lethal:

• "How does this team have fans genuinely asking," Youtube football analyst Garret Greenlee posted on X.
• "We just awful at everything aren't we," X user @LockdownWill posted.
• And there were quite a few wisecracks about wasting Arizona's water to make AI slop.

The bottom line: With one of the toughest NFL schedules, we're guessing this won't be the worst loss the Cardinals show us this year.

Commiserate with fellow fans

The Republican primary for the pivotal 1st Congressional District took an ugly turn last week.

The big picture: The two candidates — former state Rep. Joseph Chaplik and former NFL kicker and political newbie Jay Feely — sparred on X in what Feely claims was a direct and racist dig at his close family friends, who are Haitian.

"I've made life better for every citizen in CD1… Jay Feely has only missed field goals to the left…..And imported Haitians," Chaplik wrote on May 7.

Background: Feely spent years doing nonprofit relief work in Haiti after a devastating 2010 earthquake there.

• He told Axios that he's helped two young Haitian men — a translator he worked with and his brother — come to the U.S. and has tried to assist 10 of their relatives in relocating as well.
• Feely considers the two men he assisted to be members of his family, he said.

Feely responded on Wednesday, accusing Chaplik of denigrating his family.

• He said the men came here legally, got education and jobs, and "represent the American dream."

Chaplik countered that his comment was not about Feely's family but his "history of bringing large numbers of Haitian migrants to NGOs in an attempt to get amnesty here," and a congressional proposal to extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian migrants, which President Trump opposes and Chaplik accused Feely of supporting.

• Feely told us he doesn't.

Read more

⚽️ The Turkey Men's National Team will train at Arizona Athletic Grounds in Mesa during the FIFA World Cup this summer. (Phoenix Business Journal)

🚔 Phoenix Police Chief Matthew Giordano last week fired a sergeant who got in a verbal confrontation with high school students at an ICE protest while off duty. (KTAR)

🌕 Look up! Venus and the moon will both be visible tonight in a rare "conjunction" event. (USA Today)

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Welcome to another edition of "Where in the Valley?"

How it works: We show you something cool. You tell us where it is.

• The first reader who names the spot gets a shoutout in the newsletter.

You tell us: Where in the Valley can you find this statue of children playing?

Catch up quick: Congratulations to John Kohl, the first reader to give us the correct location for last week's "Where in the Valley?" photo.

• The large concentric circles are at Phoenix's Solano Park near Christown Spectrum.