Paradise Valley's Resort Boom Has Two Timelines, and Only One of Them Opened

Ask three people in Paradise Valley what's new on Lincoln Drive and you'll likely hear the same two names tangled together: Miralina and the Ritz-Carlton. Both promise chef-driven restaurants. Both sit between Camelback and Mummy mountains. Both have been described in press releases as reshaping the town's evening options. Only one of them is open to guests today.

That distinction matters more than it sounds like it should, because the confusion is doing real work. One property finished a $42 million transformation, opened its doors, and is now mid-way through phase two. The other has been a long-running project with several shifting opening targets, and its developer has been in Chapter 11 proceedings since November 2025.

The One You Can Actually Book This Weekend

Kimpton Miralina Resort & Villas started taking reservations for stays beginning January 5, 2026, on the 40 acres that used to be the Scottsdale Plaza Resort. The reimagining, led by Trinity Investments and Partners Group, cost $42 million and reworked the property into what IHG called the first branded Kimpton luxury property in the Paradise Valley and Scottsdale market when the brand announced the signing back in October 2025.

Phase one, the part that's open right now, brought 224 redesigned guestrooms and 36 casitas, along with the resort's signature restaurant, Hecho Libre, from Los Angeles chef Wes Avila. Avila's menu leans on Baja and Sonoran flavors, and day-to-day kitchen operations across the property fall to Executive Chef Stephen Jones, a James Beard semifinalist. The poolside bar, Cima, sits at the base of a three-tier Canyon Oasis Pool, one of six pools on the property. Spa Miralina rounds out the amenity list with five treatment rooms, a sauna, and a cold plunge.

Highgate, the management group behind the property, has been direct about what it's trying to build here. As Highgate principal Arash Azarbarzin put it when the second phase was announced, Miralina "introduced a new definition of desert hospitality in Paradise Valley." The calendar supports the claim. The resort opened on schedule in January, then kept building.

What Opens Between Now and January

The second phase of Miralina's transformation is where the next few months get interesting for anyone who already lives nearby. A June 2026 announcement confirmed that phase two starts its rollout in the fourth quarter of 2026, which is now, and wraps in the first quarter of 2027. That phase adds 134 newly renovated Valley Villas and a hotel-within-a-hotel concept called The Enclave, ten residence-style accommodations built around a private pool complex modeled on traditional onsen bathing rituals: warm and hot pools, a cold plunge, a sauna, and dedicated relaxation space.

The bigger local headline is Katsuya, the modern Japanese restaurant concept from lifestyle hospitality group sbe, which will mark its Arizona debut as The Enclave's culinary anchor. The menu, led by sbe Culinary Director Chef Benjamin Dayag, centers on sushi, sashimi, and robata-grilled specialties. Once Katsuya joins Hecho Libre, Miralina becomes one of the only resorts in town running two distinct chef-driven kitchens under one roof. When the full build-out finishes in early 2027, the property will carry 404 total keys, six pools, and 22 indoor and outdoor event venues, according to the June 2026 press release detailing the final phase.

None of this requires waiting. Hecho Libre and Cima are open now, on Lincoln Drive, minutes from Old Town Scottsdale's dining and gallery scene and within reach of Camelback Mountain's trailheads.

The Ritz-Carlton Project Is Still Working Toward an Opening Date

The Ritz-Carlton, Paradise Valley, The Palmeraie is a different story, and it's worth being precise about how different. Developer Five Star Development has been working the site since 2007. Press covering the project as one of the state's most anticipated hotel openings goes back to at least 2018. In March 2024, the project revealed its signature restaurant would be Mott 32, a Hong Kong-born Cantonese concept making its first stop in Arizona and only its second location in the United States, known for a 42-day applewood-roasted Peking duck carved tableside. The announcement said the resort and restaurant were expected to be substantially complete by the end of that year.

That didn't happen. On November 4, 2025, Five Star Development filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, a move the company said was intended to halt a foreclosure attempt from its lender, Madison Realty Capital, tied to a $585 million construction loan the company defaulted on in October 2024. The filing, detailed in the company's own press release, came days before a scheduled foreclosure sale. A Texas state court had separately found that Madison engaged in what the ruling described as manipulation and bad faith in its dealings with Five Star.

The bankruptcy process has produced some forward motion. In early December 2025, a judge ruled that villa sales at the property could proceed without interference from lienholders, and 37 of the planned 80 Ritz-Carlton branded villas had closed as of mid-2026, according to court and industry tracking. In February 2026, the bankruptcy court approved up to $32 million in debtor-in-possession financing for Five Star, with $24.6 million of that earmarked specifically for villa construction, as The Real Deal reported. By July 2026, the developer had reached a term sheet with its lender for additional liquidity during the restructuring.

What hasn't happened is a new opening date for the hotel and Mott 32. The Real Deal's February 2026 reporting noted plainly that the hotel portion, originally expected to open in 2019, still had no announced timeline. Nothing in the months since has changed that. The plan on paper remains a 215-room Ritz-Carlton, 80 branded villas, 32 estate homes, and a 29-acre luxury retail and dining district, all part of a roughly $2 billion, 122-acre development. The timeline for that build-out now depends on the Chapter 11 process, and no new opening date has been announced.

Why Two Different Corners of Town Keep Getting Called "PV"

Part of what fuels the mix-up is that a third project shares the initials without sharing the address. The retail and dining redevelopment known as PV sits on the former Paradise Valley Mall site near Cactus Road and Tatum Boulevard, and it's inside Phoenix city limits, not the Town of Paradise Valley where Miralina and the Ritz-Carlton project actually sit. It's a real and rapidly filling development in its own right. Velvet Taco has opened there, The Vig is bringing its eighth Valley location to a custom-built space with a desert garden patio, and a second location of Cala, the Mediterranean restaurant from Clive Collective, is on the way alongside Too Sweet Cakes and Harry & Izzy's.

The clearest sign of how separate these two "PV" stories are is Life Time. The fitness club opened its Paradise Valley location on April 30, 2026, a 91,000-square-foot facility at 12800 N. Tatum Blvd. with a rooftop pool deck, seven pickleball courts, and a recovery space with cold plunge and compression therapy. An 11-story, 327-unit residential tower called Life Time Living is planned next door, targeted for 2027. That's the Phoenix side of town. If someone mentions a new Life Time or a Vig opening near Cactus and Tatum, they're talking about a different corner of the map than Lincoln Drive.

Paradise Valley's evening options really are widening this quarter, and the widening is concentrated on Lincoln Drive at a resort that opened on schedule and is now building its second act. Hecho Libre is open on Lincoln Drive now, and Katsuya is scheduled to follow in early 2027. Mott 32 and the Ritz-Carlton are part of the town's story too, and both are waiting on an announced opening date.

If you're weighing what any of this means for your own address on Lincoln Drive or nearby, Laura Jewett and the Inspired Living team track these Paradise Valley developments as part of daily work in this market and are glad to talk through what a shifting resort and dining scene might mean for your home's value. Get your instant home valuation to see where things stand.