The stakes are high - and so is the risk - if Mesa Mega-Millionaire and AZ State Senator Bob Worsley is betting his own $20M out-of-pocket money on another new sketchy Pie-In-The-Sky scheme to capitalize on a recent snatch of a package of downtown Mesa commercial real estate to build a new fortune in his own private-pockets on the public dime.
Timing is everything with months and years of Worsley scheming behind-the-scenes in private real estate speculation deals that were undisclosed until last June when he registered a new corporation MACDEVLLC for a proposal quickly approved by the Mesa City Council in a development agreement with the city for a $130M 'above market-rate' project towering 15-stories that required zoning changes. 
The 75-room luxury hotel and 75-apartment complex is slated to get plopped down on less than one acre of land - a non-descript piece of ugly architecture that's way oversized, way-out-of-proportion and way out-of-balance in a one-to-two-story Downtown Historic District atop a parking lot behind charter school Heritage Academy on the west side of Center Street, half-a-block from the Mesa Arts Center, winner of an International Design Award in 2005 with an investment of over $100M by Mesa Taxpayers and Philanthropies.
Blogger Note: As you can see in 'the pretty picture' provided by the architects in this image above - it's way-out-of-scale, deceptive to make it look like a 6-7 story structure behind the historic 2-story Drew Building on the south side of Main Street looking west where we all know the Sun doesn't set . . .
At the same time Worsley came out last week in a rare public appearance in front of the Mesa City Council (with Revolving-Door former Congressman Matt Salmon seen sitting behind him, now sporting a beard who announced at the time of his retirement from public office in 2016 that he was hired as ASU Vice-President for Government Affairs) a public cyber 'affair' erupted in the news at the same time.
This time Worsley got caught in the middle of a CD8 public scandal in the Arizona State House over allegations of Revenge Porn/SexTexting involving his campaign consultant and business partner in the private real estate project by partner Habitat Metro in the Drew Street Parking Lot project, Kent Lyons, seen in the image to the left. . . . together with W. Tim Sprague, known for Habitat Metro's Portlandia Park Condos in Phoenix and the Found: Re Hotel on Central Avenue, Worsley also partnered-up climbing on-board to gain credence as a real estate deal-maker with a reputed successful Phoenix developer wanting to make moves in Mesa. Worsley has gambled and bet that moment has arrived
Any more Super-Goofy underhanded stage stunts by Mesa Mayor John Giles, like this one to the left posed for prime time in the State-of-The-City Speech 2016 captured by photographer Ivan Martinez with ASU mascot 'Sparky' are closely stage-managed and controlled by the mayor's Chief of Staff Ian Linssen. That photo pop, and a privately-financed $500,000+ slush fun donated and contributed to by special interests to create a bogus Public Relations campaign that blew up in their faces, to manipulate public opinion.
MESA MAYOR JOHN GILES 'OWNS THIS ASU STUNT. His political future depends on it
Money was already on the table then with Worsley setting up more bets back in June 2017 after the failed fiasco in the November 2016 General Election of a $120+M Ballot proposal called Yes1Mesa for an ASU 'satellite campus' when 80,000+ Mesa taxpayers simply said NO realizing it would benefit 'special-interests' in real estate holding companies assembling parcels of land in close proximity for commercial exploitation of educational facilities provided by ASU. . . the game of a monopoly to control downtown commercial real estate on Main Street is outlined in yellow on the map you can see to the right. Worsley bought 29-35 W Main Street, a long vacant property.
Those schemes did not pass away for Pie-in-the-Sky plans promoted by the powers-that-be in the generations-old political machine here in Mesa getting 7-0 unanimous approval from the entire Mesa City Council. . . . .This time-around Worsley got inside information that Mayor John Giles had once again gotten the votes on his council to move it forward. It wasn't so easy last week in a robust meeting the vote was 5-2 with a lot of public input.
Back-to-the-future Fast-Forward: Game On for another ASU Public Relations Ploy two years after Mesa taxpayers REJECTED the first. Will the banks go for it this time? _________________________________________________________________________
Looks like 'The Salvation Train' that Mesa Mayor John Giles talked about at the ceremony for the inauguration has arrived, at least for a particular group called 'Caliber' posing on the light rail tracks with the mayor and W. Tim Sprague from Habitat Metro again included last week.
Let's get up-dated to the next stage of the Public Relations Ploy
Here's ANOTHER ONE two days after last week's City Council Meeting on February 26, 2018 - not from the chosen mainstream media Spoon-Fed reporters - from ASU State Press
BLOGGER NOTE: There already appears to be some internal ASU differences
Game On! Let's have some more!
This time from "Today Tells" .....
https://www.todaytells.com/asu-extension-in-downtown-mesa-holds-promising-future-for-gaming-program/
ASU extension in downtown Mesa holds promising future for gaming program
Photo by Madeline LeBarron| The State Press
HEADLINE: “Game development may have a future with ASU in downtown Mesa.”
Illustration published on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2018 by Andrew Thaung |
44 minutes ago
Following the recent announcement ? that ASU will expand to downtown Mesa with a presence focused on the arts and technology, the future looks promising for the University’s ever-growing game design program. Through the extension, the program can bring a more immersive education to students who are interested in entering the niche, competitive market of game design.
Yoshihiro Kobayashi, a lecturer and coordinator for the game certificate program in the School of Computing, Informatics and Decision Systems Engineering, said the new facility should have a clear focus on gaming rather than arts and media. 44 minutes ago
Following the recent announcement ? that ASU will expand to downtown Mesa with a presence focused on the arts and technology, the future looks promising for the University’s ever-growing game design program. Through the extension, the program can bring a more immersive education to students who are interested in entering the niche, competitive market of game design.
According to a proposal for the intergovernmental agreement between the Arizona Board of Regents and the City of Mesa presented earlier in February, the downtown Mesa programs will focus on the intersection of film, media and gaming, with special attention paid to virtual reality and prototyping of new technology.
Kobayashi said the extension of such facilities would be well suited to the populated campuses of Tempe and downtown Phoenix, but noted that downtown Mesa has potential due to the accessibility of the light rail. . .
> Brandon Bayles, a computer science sophomore who is in the game development certificate program, said he is excited that ASU is reevaluating its game design . . .
“As a student in the current game design program, I can tell you that the program is suffering through lack of faculty support,” Bayles said. . .
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Additional notes:
first phase of the project could include a five-story building on the northwest corner of Pepper Place and Centennial Way. That city-owned land is currently a parking lot, next door to Mesa’s City Council chambers.
The project’s cost, its burden on public-safety resources and what potential tax breaks ASU would receive, are unclear.
The university development is the linchpin in Mesa Mayor John Giles’ plan to transform downtown.
“Absent an anchor like ASU, we will continue to tread water in downtown and won’t make any meaningful progress,” Giles told The Arizona Republic.
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