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But when he opened its fine-dining sister restaurant in 2015, Ares envisioned a single location at 6960 E. Sunrise Drive in the foothills.

Now that he’s moving his Ares Collective Restaurant Group to Gilbert, he’s taking Commoner & Co. with him.

“With me eyeing Phoenix a lot more, it just made sense� to move the restaurant, he said. “It was a perfect opportunity in Gilbert to be in an up-and-coming area.�

Commoner will close at the end of business Saturday and could reopen late this year or early next in Gilbert’s hip-and-happening Cooley Station area, Ares said.

The Commoner move is part of a bigger picture plan that has been developing over the last six months or so to headquarter Ares Collective in Gilbert. Ares said his key management team is already based in the Phoenix East Valley.

“That’s where the growth is,� Ares said. “Our roots are here in Tucson, but our expansion is definitely focused on the Gilbert-Phoenix area.�

Ares made inroads into the East Valley market in 2019, opening his first Prep & Pastry location outside of Tucson in the Scottsdale Waterfront. He opened a second in Gilbert’s downtown Heritage District four years later.

That restaurant on North Gilbert Road temporarily closed in mid-June as Ares works on relocating it to a more residential-driven area.

“We were downtown, which is a really heavy drinking, nighttime location,� he said.

Ares plans to incorporate the space into his ambitious Clare House Social at the 106-year-old Clare House next door. The 14,000-square-foot project will include a beer garden, indoor and outdoor spaces and multiple restaurant operators.

“You can walk up and get Mexican food. You can get a slice of pizza,� Ares said. “The Clare House Kitchen is gonna be American cuisine, nicer pub food.�

The historic Clare House, built as a family home in 1918, was once a sheet metal shop and a popular coffee shop before it was sold to a developer who planned to demolish the building and replace it with a night club. The building was back on the market this summer after the developer was indicted for fraud and the sale fell through.

“It was literally connected to our patio,� said Ares, whose company bought the property for $2.9 million. “It fell in our lap. It should have never been available and we got lucky.�

Ares said he hopes to open Clare House Social in November or December. He also is looking at a couple of locations in Gilbert and Scottsdale to expand the Prep & Pastry brand.

Commoner & Co. is open from 4 to 9 p.m. daily.