NEXUS MESA: Law Firm Gammage & Burnham Take Over Task To Transform Infamous Site 17

There's a long embarrassing history to this huge urban open scar in the city's bewildering urban landscape

Here's an earlier post on this blog site:

18 November 2016

Here We Go Again With That "Downtown Vision Thing"

Who wants to go here to take Mesa to the next level? Is this what works for Mayor John Giles or is there another direction?
At tonight's Mesa City Council Study Session for Monday, Nov 21, 2016,one item stands out on the Final Agenda, but first some background to put things into perspective . . .

 

16 years later fast-forward to this Monday, November 21, 2016 where Director of Downtown Transformation, Jeff McVay, will be making a presentation of the results of months of online surveys and community meetings to a study session of the Mesa City Council. Real estate developers' perspectives are included also.

16 years ago demolition bulldozed the site, with reporter Gary Nelson calling the 30 acres " a vast scar of empty real estate" in an article from 3 years ago. . .

Link to another post 20 Oct 2018 > https://mesazona.blogspot.com/2018/10/infamous-site-17-urban-eminent-domain.html

_________________________________________________________________________
It's the result of bad urban planning when city officials only listened to real estate developer speculation schemes that demolished more than 60 homes to destroy a neighborhood leaving 27 acres vacant, ugly and un-used and it's city-owned. City officials now own the damage done and have hired a group of consultants who tried to transform a part of downtown Gilbert's Heritage Area.

The history here on this infamous site - and all the problems - simply cannot be ignored now. . . Jeff McVay, the city's so-called "Director of Downtown Transformation" failed miserably two years wasting time-and-money on citizen input sessions that got nowhere...

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

Press Release from the City of Mesa Newsroom:

Neighborhood Meetings for Public Input for Transform 17

March 30, 2022 at 11:07 am
Mesa residents will be able to provide input on the proposed plans for Transform 17. The project includes a mixed-use neighborhood of residential, office and community retail at the southwest corner of Mesa Drive and University Drive.

Public engagement will begin on Monday, April 4, with a virtual meeting from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Visit www.gblaw.com/nexusmesa to register to participate.

The second meeting will take place on Thursday, April 7, from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Charles K. Luster Building Community Room, 640 N. Mesa Drive.
The proposal from Miravista Holdings uses a development block approach consisting of eight development blocks. The initial phase includes two development blocks, street realignment, streetscape improvements and construction of a linear park along 2nd Street between Pasadena and Pomeroy.

The master plan calls for at least 800 housing units, including townhomes and apartments; approximately 200,000 square-feet of office space; at least 25,000 square-feet of commercial space and a parking structure.

City Council is expected to consider zoning issues, a purchase agreement and development agreement in late August.

Contact: Kevin Christopher
(480) 644-4699
kevin.christopher@mesaaz.gov

RELATED CONTENT

29 March 2022

STIGMATIZED INFAMOUS SITE 17: A Relic of Downtown Bulldozing + Bad Urban Land-Use Planning

Intro: It was and is a recurring wrecking-ball wreck leaving behind a vacant 27-acre scar all in the name of urban renewal when the city of Mesa seized the properties using Eminent Domain.

It was a futile attempt to "whitewash" segregation in the neighborhood named North Town, next to Rendezvous Park.

However it came to be known as The Mesa Verde Resort Debacle

30 years ago the City of Mesa spent $6,000,000 to demolish a neighborhood that created a "wrecking-ball nightmare.
This public statement made last year:
"The City of Mesa wishes to transform 27 acres of city-owned land at the SWC of University and Mesa Drive into 'a vibrant and cohesive urban mixed-use project' and is requesting a partner to help with that vision . . ."
NICE SPIN ON THAT LIP-SERVICE at the same time city officials were talking with Salt Lake City developers for years.

According to the RFQ, “At 27-acres, this site would be the largest parcel to be developed in the downtown area and could be the largest single development opportunity within downtown for many years to come.”

 

 

Home > Nexus Mesa

https://www.gblaw.com/nexusmesa/

Nexus Mesa

Neighborhood Meetings

Thank you for your interest in the proposed Nexus mixed-use development in Mesa, Arizona. To gather public feedback on the proposal, the development team will be hosting two neighborhood meetings. We welcome you to attend either one of these meetings so that you can learn more about the proposal and provide your input to our development team. The same information will be provided at each meeting. Our hope is that you will select the meeting format you are most comfortable using.

The dates, times, and locations of the neighborhood meetings are as follows:

First Neighborhood Meeting

April 4, 2022
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
This meeting will be hosted virtually via the Zoom conferencing platform. Please click here to register for the virtual meeting. For questions or assistance with meeting registration, please contact Ellie Brundige, Gammage & Burnham Land Use Planner,
at (602) 256-4409 or ebrundige@gblaw.com.

Second Neighborhood Meeting

April 7, 2022
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
This meeting will be hosted in person at the following location:

Charles K. Luster Building – Community Room
640 North Mesa Drive
Mesa, Arizona 85201