How It Works > Deals With The Devils & Commercial Real Estate Developers

Mesa Mayor John Giles, seen broadcasting a big grin cheek-to-cheek from his SOTC16 speech back in January, isn't the only character getting it on with ASU to make deals for commercial real estate development - they're goin' down both here in Mesa and Tempe.
The one proposed "deal with the Devils" here is sketchy on details, and there is one difference between the two cities for the financing - the one here involves TAXPAYER MONEY [million$] while the other bigger development in Tempe does not.* [skip down a couple of paragraphs for details]

Here in Mesa the slick-and-quick bait is a sketchy proposal [shown in black-and-white to the right] for a so-called High Education Initiative plopping down a 200,000 sq ft thing called "a campus" smack dab in the heart of The New Urban DTMesa that would radically transform the city core by inserting three new boxy buildings lacking any architectural merit whatsoever close by and in front of the international design award-winning Mesa Arts Center [cleverly omitted from the bird's-eye view used in the presentation]

Mesa already has a 52,000 sq ft building [mostly vacant or used on a space-needed arrangement with Wilkes University] on 2nd Street called the Mesa Center for Higher Education, but let's forget about that . . . and overlook that fact that there are other vacant or under-utilized city-owned properties that would fit the bill for site selection and site control that weren't even considered.  
The tentative proposal approved by the entire Mesa City Council doesn't appear to be "dead-in-the-water" for the time being, but it could "dead-on-arrival" when it gets put up on a November election ballot asking taxpayers to pay over $100 Million out-of-their pockets for hiking the city's debt service obligations by a whopping 50+%] while the driving motivation appears to benefit commercial real estate interests and developers.

In Tempe it's all about a site on the edge of Tempe Town Lake with the bait being athletics.


On Friday June 3, 2016 this article appeared in The Phoenix Business Journal

ASU, developer going vertical with first phase of athletic facilities district

[updated 8:55 pm MST]

 

Arizona State University and its athletic facilities district developer Catellus are finalizing plans to develop the first phase of the district on the Northwest corner of University Drive and Rural Road.

The 19-acre-plus site will be a mixed-use development with 60,000 square feet of ground-floor retail, three Class A office buildings with 450,000 square feet and a 500-unit multifamily . . .

[to read more, a subscription  to PBJ is necessary]             

The District at Arizona State University Tempe | Arizona

The ASU Athletic Facilities District will transform 330 acres of University-owned property immediately adjacent to beautiful Tempe Town Lake and Arizona State University into a world-class urban community. The redeveloped district will feature a mix of new and renovated state-of-the-art NCAA athletic facilities and mixed-use private development.

Project Summary

• More than 7 million square feet of office, multi-family, hotels and retail space
• Partnership with Arizona State University that facilitates redevelopment of football, track, tennis, intramural and many other facilities
• Pedestrian-friendly, sustainable community 
• Financing structure allows new private development to facilitate the renovation and construction of new athletic facilities without additional cost to private developers or use of taxpayer money
• Significant tangible benefits to the City of Tempe, including job creation, tax revenues and national/international recognition of its vibrant urban center

Source: http://www.catellus.com/projects/the-district-at-arizona-state-university