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BUSINESS
SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | APRIL 24, 2022
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Realty firm making old firehouse home BY ALEX GALLAGHER Progress Staff Writer
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alt Brown Jr. has built his business with an eye for exciting real estate around the state. He also has always wanted a unique place that his company could call home. “We’ve been at our current office for over 10 years and we’ve always wanted a unique and special type of environment,” the Diversified Partners CEO and founder said. “We looked at churches that we thought would be cool to have an office in along with places along Scottsdale Road that we thought was too standard for us.” Then came the news in 2018 that the Scottsdale Fire Department was relocating from a 51-year-old firehouse on McDonald Drive and Scottsdale Road to a new station
Diversified Partners acquired the former home of Scottsdale Fire for just over $2 million with plans of converting the space into its home base. (Special to the Progress)
on Indian Bend and Hayden roads. “We knew that there was a new fire sta-
tion being built at Indian Bend and Hayden and we thought ‘what’s going on?’” Brown
recalled. Scottsdale Fire moved Fire Station 603 in late 2020, leaving the once-bustling building vacant. That was when Brown began to seriously consider moving his business a block up the road to the iconic building. He reached out to the City to inquire about purchasing it and found out that the city had plans to auction the site. But Brown was determined to make it his own. He toured the facility and liked its high ceilings, unique history and the flagpole outside the main entrance. “We knew we wanted to make the move after we evaluated it,” Brown said. Then came January when the building
see DIVERSIFIED page 25
Salon helps clients find comfort in their skin BY ALEX GALLAGHER Progress Staff Writer
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abriella Iafrate remembers what it was like to struggle with acne. She tried for years to use drug store products to cure it herself but it was not until she heard about taking classes at Penrose Academy in Scottsdale that she discovered her passion for skincare. “Thorough product knowledge, knowing what formulation to put on to my skin and what ingredients to put on my skin helped,” Iafrate said. She was able to cure her acne and felt radiant for the first time in years. Her light then beamed onto models at Penrose who would allow students to get hands-on experience. “When I was going through school, we had models who would come to the spa on campus and after seeing everybody’s confidence made me feel good about my-
Gabriella Iafrate is delighted with the new space she secured for her growing salon, Skin Deep Beauty. (David Minton/Progress Photographer)
self,” Iafrate said. “That was when I fell in love with helping people and treating
their skin.” After graduating from Penrose Acad-
emy, Iafrate took a job working at a medical spa where she worked for about five months when she found herself jobless when the pandemic was declared. As scary as this time was, it gave Iafrate time to devise a plan to start her own business. “I always wanted to go out on my own, but I never knew when and how,” she said. “After being in quarantine, I was able to think about it and make a set plan.” Iafrate began looking into the ins and outs of business and discovered that it would be a challenge. “I had to learn which LLC to get, the right taxes, I had to get certified in skincare and it was a lot from the business aspect,” she said. However, she knew that if she were going to achieve her goal of making more
see SKIN page 25
