PROVING GROUNDS: A New Net-Zero Community is A Test Bed for Climate and Economic Policies

Intro: Let's make this 'a teachable-moment' + a tale of two very different cities: Mesa, Arizona and New York City -- and a difference in time of 18 years --- for land-use planning.

Background from earlier archived posts on this blog:

GM ends its operations at Mesa test track 

by Gary Nelson - Jun. 12, 2009 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

. . . there was an eastward-rolling tsunami of suburban sprawl. As early as the mid-'90s, developers were coveting GM's land and surrounding areas near the former Williams Air Force Base, now Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, for new housing projects. . . In 2004, GM sold the southern portion to Phoenix businessman William Levine. Two years later, the northern 5 square miles was sold to Scottsdale-based DMB Associates for $265 million.Featured in the article: Roc Arnett and Jack Sellers, a Chandler councilman at that time

Read more >>  AZ Central Archives

 
DMB pursues Mesa subdivision projectJanuary 11, 2012
Article by Gary Nelson
. . . A zoning plan approved by Mesa for the property in 2008 allows up to 15,000 dwelling units of various kinds. Dea McDonald, DMB’s vice president for development, said the time had arrived to start building them. . . Eastmark is expected to evolve over the next three or four decades into a dense urban center closely tied to the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. Eventually, there could be high-rise business districts fronting the airport along Ellsworth Road. . . Macdonald says he expects DMB and “multiple” developers to close escrow in June, and that Mesa also will approve plans for their subdivisions about that time. McDonald said he cannot reveal the builders’ names until deals are finalized.
Mesa to Annex Two Chunks of Former GM Desert Proving Ground

Two items - 5-d with 52 acres - and (Item 5-e) are not getting a lot of attention:
ITEM 5-e PRELIMINARY PLAT 130-acre 
Applicant: Eric Tune, Brookfield DMB
Owners:
DMB Mesa Proving Grounds, LLC
Queen Creek Unified School District
Eastmark Multi-Family, LLC
Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints   

=================

21 March 2021

WORK PLAN + A LIST: MAJOR LAND-USE PLANNING + STRATEGIC PLANNING GOALS FOR 2021 AND INTO THE FUTURE

What do we have in front of us for this week >

City of Mesa Planning & Zoning Board @ 3:00

Allotted time = one hour before a Public Hearing

 

Meeting Details and Attachment

 

CityLab

Environment

NYC’s First Net Zero Community Brings Housing to Storm-Ravaged Neighborhood

(A rendering of the Arverne East development, which will be lined by a boardwalk on the south side. Credit: Bernheimer Architecture/Local Office Landscape & Urban Design

 

A swath of oceanfront land in the Rockaways will become a test bed for climate and economic policies, promising affordable housing and other amenities to a region hard-hit by Hurricane Sandy. 

By Aysha Diallo

March 4, 2022, 12:00 PM UTC

"Along 116 acres of vacant oceanfront land, development has begun on what could become New York City’s first and largest community to reach a goal of net zero carbon emissions.

The roughly $1 billion project on the Rockaway peninsula in Queens could be a proving ground for a host of climate and economic policies. The development will incorporate geothermal heating, passive house design to optimize energy efficiency, and a plan to raise the storm surge elevation, given the land’s vulnerability to flooding. . ."