Southeast Valley Development News

[azsunsurfer]

Renderings in the article...sounds like a long time away!

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/...ject/82182790/

[muertecaza]

Originally Posted by azsunsurfer

Renderings in the article...sounds like a long time away!

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/...ject/82182790/

Always happy to see a parking lot bite the dust. It will be very interesting to see how far Mesa, Chandler and Gilbert are able to get in b building up their downtowns.

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by muertecaza

Always happy to see a parking lot bite the dust. It will be very interesting to see how far Mesa, Chandler and Gilbert are able to get in b building up their downtowns.

I really enjoy this dynamic growing across the valley of little town centers with the big player triangle (old town- mill-downtown) in the middle.

Now if only Glendale and Peoria could get their own town centers going.

[CrestedSaguaro]

Originally Posted by Obadno

I really enjoy this dynamic growing across the valley of little town centers with the big player triangle (old town- mill-downtown) in the middle.

Now if only Glendale and Peoria could get their own town centers going.

Glendale will happen probably when they get LTR rolling that way. Peoria...I don't see that happening. They're too focused on development along the 101 and 303.

[vertex]

Originally Posted by azsunsurfer

I am wondering if this is the same corner where another developer was proposing 4 story apartments with the option to do a 10 story tower? I thought it was approved by the City and then hadn't heard anything since. I am wondering if he just flipped the property?

It's not the same. The project you're referring to is the DC Heights mixed-use development, along Boston street, behind the stores on the west side of Arizona ave. That project is still a go; the city just recently wrapped up site work, including upgraded utilities and sewer.

Alta is on the north side of the San Marcos country club, just west of the resort.

[muertecaza]

Mesa Reveals Likely Site for Downtown ASU Campus

[combusean]

^ Their plan is such a buzzkill.

Tho, in the end, I'm happy that this will remain small and useless because I'm tired of ASU sprawl and Site 17 (which was talked about before) at Mesa and University can become something else some day.

[muertecaza]

More info and better renders of ASU in downtown Mesa. I actually like this much better than I thought I would.

[vertex]

Originally Posted by vertex

Apparently from the same folks that brought you Alta Steelyards.

Plans are for 275 4-story townhome-style luxury apartments on the last remaining parcel fronting San Marcos Country Club, southwest corner of Chandler Blvd. and Dakota St. Looks like a 3-floor living area on top of garages.

A follow-up to the Alta San Marcos proposal. The city planning/zoning committee voted 3-2 for approval.

This AZCentral article states that most homeowners on the north side of Chandler Blvd disapprove of the project, while downtown stakeholders approve. I can tell you that San Marcos members are split.

To be honest, the folks on the north side of Chandler Blvd never had a view of the course. There were tall and messy pine trees that blocked all sight lines, and they weren't cut down until January.

[exit2lef]

I noticed the Saint Xavier building for the first time just this past weekend while visiting the Gilbert Farmers Market. Now, it's closing:

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/...lose/85207474/

Like Mesa, Gilbert is facing challenges with satellite campuses of out-of-state universities.

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by exit2lef

I noticed the Saint Xavier building for the first time just this past weekend while visiting the Gilbert Farmers Market. Now, it's closing:

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/...lose/85207474/

Like Mesa, Gilbert is facing challenges with satellite campuses of out-of-state universities.

I had heard this, a coworker of mine just tried to enroll and found out they are closing. I was pretty shocked, I think it mostly has to do with the school mismanagement there is no reason to close it down less than a year after opening and getting a tax funded campus unless its poorly managed.

[exit2lef]

Originally Posted by Obadno

I had heard this, a coworker of mine just tried to enroll and found out they are closing. I was pretty shocked, I think it mostly has to do with the school mismanagement there is no reason to close it down less than a year after opening and getting a tax funded campus unless its poorly managed.

A lot of colleges and universities want to open satellite campuses in other states but have trouble assessing local market demand and managing operations at a distance. Even locally-based Grand Canyon University has put its planned second campus in far southeast Mesa on hold. I completely understand Mesa and Gilbert's desire to cultivate these satellite campuses in an attempt to go beyond "ASU everywhere," but the implementation is often much harder than anticipated.

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by exit2lef

A lot of colleges and universities want to open satellite campuses in other states but have trouble assessing local market demand and managing operations at a distance. Even locally-based Grand Canyon University has put its planned second campus in far southeast Mesa on hold. I completely understand Mesa and Gilbert's desire to cultivate these satellite campuses in an attempt to go beyond "ASU everywhere," but the implementation is often much harder than anticipated.

Even ASU, itself.

Crows grand vision is basically something close to the UC system in Arizona but the satellite campuses haven't really made much movement outside of downtown.

[muertecaza]

"Building 313," a proposal that has been kicking around for Downtown Gilbert/Heritage District/whatever for a couple years, is going to break ground next week.

http://azbigmedia.com/azre-magazine/...l-break-ground

Gilbert’s first women-focused mixed-use building, Building 313, is officially under development and a groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for Tuesday, June 7 at 8:15 a.m.

The $3.3 million project, named Building 313, will be a 15,602 square-foot owner-occupied mixed-use space in the Heritage District of downtown Gilbert. Owner and visionary Lynne King Smith, a Gilbert-based entrepreneur who owns a successful entertainment ticketing company called TicketForce, will move her business’ headquarters to the new building, occupying 4,600 square-feet for its 20 employees.

The project will also feature a 4,300 square-foot restaurant or local brewery with a 775 square-foot patio with greenery facing Gilbert Road; a 2,600 square-foot co-working space for women named Thrive; and a 1,500 square-foot rooftop bar with a west-facing patio...

Older renderings from an older article, but I assume they're still good:





Seems great to take up that vacant land on the east side of the road and bring actual business headquarters from an office park off the freeway right into downtown.

[azsunsurfer]

Yes it's going to be a nice building/ plus Whiskey Row is under construction next door. The redevelopment north of that on the corner is also in the works. It will be nice to fill in the east side.

[exit2lef]

This concerns the shopping center on the southeast corner of Dobson and Main. It's across the street from the old site of Tri-City Mall on one side and Mekong Plaza on another side. It's also right next to the Sycamore / Main light rail station. There was a proposal a few years ago to make the anchor space into a big Hispanic supermarket, but that fell through. Now, it looks like it might become a big Korean supermarket instead. The anchor space has been vacant for most of the past decade except for a brief time when it was a consignment furniture store.

http://www.azcentral.com/story/enter...mesa/85363576/

[muertecaza]

If anyone has a minute, Mesa is calling for public comment on the mixed-use proposed at the Bailey's Brake Shop location at Country Club/Main.

http://mesaaz.gov/about-us/city-proj...ntry-club-main

The page has links to detailed proposals and presentations. I think it would be great, and it can't hurt to for any like-minded people here to add some positive comments.

[muertecaza]

http://m.eastvalleytribune.com/arizo....html?mode=jqm

As Benedictine University readies for its fourth year of classes later this month, it’s finding alternatives to prevent the seams from bursting at its East Main Street locations in Mesa.

Benedictine officials are in the midst of moving out of the building at 51 E. Main St., relocating administrative and athletic offices into the Mesa Higher Education Center a few blocks away on West Second Street. Other offices are moving into Benedictine’s main building down the street at 225 E. Main St...

If a plan to expand Arizona State University into downtown Mesa materializes, the smaller building at 51 E. Main will be torn down and a larger structure built on that lot.

But Benedictine’s move this month is prompted by the lack of space, Gregory said, not the possibility of losing that building.

When Benedictine opened its doors to students in the fall of 2013, 73 students walked through, Gregory said. This fall, the school expects 350 undergraduate students and 125 graduate students on campus.

Benedictine University President Michael Brophy last fall said his goal is to see enrollment in Arizona reach 500 by fall 2017...

“The higher ed center is a solution for us now,” he said. But, university officials still want to build out the third floor at 225 E. Main. That will happen, Mesa Mayor John Giles said. The city owns the building and leases it to Benedictine. No time frame for expansion has been hammered out, Giles said...

“We are working on housing,” Gregory said. College officials are “very, very close” to working out an agreement with a developer in Mesa that would lead to construction of apartments that could be rented to Benedictine students.

“When we came out here four years ago, it was an investment of our resources,” Gregory said. “It was a conscious and deliberate decision. We didn’t come out here looking for numbers...”

Good to see Benedictine is growing and looking to expand ,especially after the sudden failure of Saint Xavier in Gilbert. And if they can get apartments built in downtown Mesa, all the better.

[muertecaza]

This would be an awesome development for Mesa. Dobson/Main has a ton of underutilized space that formerly housed the Tri-City Mall, and more recently has been park/ride for the light rail.

http://azbex.com/mesa-eyes-smart-growth-community-plan/

Once the end of the line for light rail, nearly 21-acres around Mesa’s Sycamore Station are poised to become a signature development area under a Smart Growth Community Plan currently under review by the city.

The proposal by developer Miravista Holdings will create seven parcels in a transit-oriented neighborhood featuring a mix of multifamily, townhomes, retail, commercial, senior living and parking facilities.

Sycamore Station, north of Main Street and Dobson Road, was once the end of the line for the Valley’s light rail system. With the 2015 extension of the system to Mesa Drive, the park and ride and bus transfer functions around the station have changed, and the area has become under-utilized.

The plan intends to create a new community within a pedestrian shed of a quarter-mile radius of the station, with walkways and thoroughfares to promote multi-modal transportation and minimize vehicular traffic. By adding significant density to the area, the plan intends to create a destination local that will increase property values and spur further development.

Nearby Webster Elementary School has come out in favor of the development, since the increased in population will add to enrollment and keep it closer to its desired capacity.

The first component will be the creation of a three-story community parking facility to serve the development and replace the existing park and ride surface spaces. Upon completion, the structure will be given to the city.

The preliminary plan calls for the seven parcels to be arranged as follows:

2 mid-rise multifamily buildings of 300-400 units
A Main Street mixed-use/townhouse building with 35-50 units
A townhouse and courtyard building with 35-50 units
A parking garage
A 3-5 level, 125-200 unit senior living complex, and
An extended care/educational building that may serve as a possible expansion for the Arizona College facility on Dobson.
Phasing has not been finalized for the development.

[muertecaza]

Planned ASU campus in Mesa has been cancelled due to voters rejecting proposed sales tax hike intended to finance expansion.

http://azbex.com/ballot-measures-fai...ls-asu-at-mac/

Personally I think they bungled this one. They packaged ASU funding with funding expanded police/fire operations out in bumfuck east Mesa. I can't be certain but I assume they thought that people that supported police funding would be willing to accept ASU funding, and vice versa. But the funding split was 2/3 to sprawl police out in Eastmark, and and 1/3 to ASU. I would have voted for a lower sales tax increase to fund ASU by itself, but ended up voting no to the package.