The first question is did they get "punked" by the build-up of all the hype and suspense created by all the write-ups from the Times Media Group-owned East Valley Tribune staff writer Jim Walsh? The City of Mesa's coffers were enriched by a 20% premium of about $5M more than the degraded land-value appraisal for $15.6M at the same time rabble-rousing Red Mountain residents want a promised park per the original intentions. . . or is it restricted to industrial use?
Like they say in real estate lingo "Let the buyer beware". Or might it be that at some point-in-time there could be that buyer's remorse after the property transfer is a done deal
What strikes your MesaZona blogger the most in all the lines in Walsh's reporting for more than a now are the direct quotes from Mesa Mayor John Giles - an "ambulance-chaser" in a private law practice - stating his views and preferences on real estate development for luxury housing.
There might just a little something suspicious about that other than the fact that he could be "the mouthpiece" made available to East Valley Tribune writer Jim Walsh, stating time-and-time again that the mayor has made it clear [using a fancy word not in his usual vocabulary] the he expects a "Las Sendas-esque" development. Giles is opposed on that matter not only by Red Mountain residents but by two other high-powered city officials, one the city's own Director of Economic Development.*
Simply put, Mayor John Giles has veered off his track to take the public risk to step into "a pile of dirt" way beyond either his professional qualifications as a personal accident attorney in private practice or his duties and responsibilities while holding public office - taking the side of private real estate developers over nearby residents.
Can he come out "clean"????
The 132-acre "pristine" parcel can be located in northeast Mesa at the center top of this image from the City of Mesa.
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Let's get back to that $5M windfall into the City of Mesa's coffers from the bidding-up of the winning proffer from Blandford Homes in a 'dueling" contest with Toll Brothers at the auction
Blandford bid exceeds Mesa’s hopes for desert tract
Like they say in real estate lingo "Let the buyer beware". Or might it be that at some point-in-time there could be that buyer's remorse after the property transfer is a done deal
What strikes your MesaZona blogger the most in all the lines in Walsh's reporting for more than a now are the direct quotes from Mesa Mayor John Giles - an "ambulance-chaser" in a private law practice - stating his views and preferences on real estate development for luxury housing.
There might just a little something suspicious about that other than the fact that he could be "the mouthpiece" made available to East Valley Tribune writer Jim Walsh, stating time-and-time again that the mayor has made it clear [using a fancy word not in his usual vocabulary] the he expects a "Las Sendas-esque" development. Giles is opposed on that matter not only by Red Mountain residents but by two other high-powered city officials, one the city's own Director of Economic Development.*
Simply put, Mayor John Giles has veered off his track to take the public risk to step into "a pile of dirt" way beyond either his professional qualifications as a personal accident attorney in private practice or his duties and responsibilities while holding public office - taking the side of private real estate developers over nearby residents.
Can he come out "clean"????
The 132-acre "pristine" parcel can be located in northeast Mesa at the center top of this image from the City of Mesa.
_________________________________________________________________________
Let's get back to that $5M windfall into the City of Mesa's coffers from the bidding-up of the winning proffer from Blandford Homes in a 'dueling" contest with Toll Brothers at the auction
Blandford bid exceeds Mesa’s hopes for desert tract
By Jim Walsh, Tribune Staff Writer | East Valley Tribune 25 March 2019
"The suspense built while the price tag soared for a controversial but beautiful tract of pristine land in northeast Mesa as two dueling developers raised their [bid] boards repeatedly in $50,000 increments to up the ante . . . "
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Here's a link to an uploaded stream of the action at the land auction from a story in https://www.azcentral.com
AZCentral.com-Mar 22, 2019
Land once set aside for Mesa regional park auctioned to luxury homebuilder for .... "This is beautiful pristine desert," Giles recently told The Arizona Republic
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*Giles is also opposed by former District 3 Mesa City Councilmember Dennis Kavanaugh when the city made a promise in 1998 for a park on the 132-acre parcel. He texted this message to EVT writer Jim Walsh
"I believe for elected officials to maintain credibility with the public, that promises made need to be promises kept"