Downtown Mesa's future cornerstone???
Inserted here is the entire Castle Coalition report with the references from 12 years ago:
Redevelopment Wrecks: Mesa, Arizona
"City officials are still debating what to do with 30 acres of land that sit vacant thanks to a failed redevelopment project that began in 1992.[1] Known to the City as “Redevelopment Site 17,” the tract once contained 63 homes that the City condemned and purchased at a cost of $6 million. A group of Canadian developers planned to build Mesa Verde, an entertainment village featuring a time-share resort, water park and ice-skating rink.
After the City had already seized the homes, financing for the project fell through.[2]
Now, 14 years later, the City is still considering possible redevelopment plans for the area.[3]
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At the end of the six-month process, City Council will select one master plan concept and use it to guide transformation of the property by a private developer or developers.
The property sits between residential neighborhoods and the historic downtown core at the southwest corner of University Drive and Mesa Drive.
As Downtown's future cornerstone, the transformation of this property will play a key role in achieving Mesa's vision for a vibrant new urban neighborhood a short walk from the heart of Mesa.
HUH> "The Heart of Mesa'?????????????
Your MesaZona blogger has lived downtown for more than five years - it's hard to feel any pulse most of the time.
Hiring a 3rd-party contractor won't fix the problem staging these so-called "community workshops" all rigged ahead of time with pre-determined results.
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Project details and meeting updates are available at www.mesaaz.gov/about-us/city-projects/downtown-transformation/university-mesa.
Here's a link to the workshop six weeks ago where attendees were told to only submit written comments: https://www.mesaaz.gov/about-us/city-projects/downtown-transformation/university-mesa
Slick-and-slippery: The Process
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Results of Community Workshop 1
Nov. 13, 2018
You can access and download this 1.66MB 6-page Summary
Discussion Notes Total Response Sheet Results
Community Workshop 45 Response Sheets
Steering Committee Meeting 35 Response Sheets
Stakeholder Sessions 24 Response Sheets
Online Platform 15 Responses
TOTAL 119 Responses Received
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1Workshop 1 Summary | November 13–14, 2018
The first project milestone and community engagement session was held November 13th and 14th of 2018.
During that period, the consultants presided over a total of 16 meetings with various community groups including the Steering Committee, individual stakeholder groups, and City Officials to discuss opportunities for the site as well as their issues and concerns.
Additionally, a Community Workshop was held to engage the residents and greater community of Mesa. The stakeholder and public issues and concerns identified in these meetings will become the reference point for creating the preliminary master plan concepts.
The Steering Committee and stakeholder meetings were held at the Save the Family conference building on Tuesday November 13, followed by the Community Workshop from 6:00pm to 8:00pm at Eisenhower Innovation Center Elementary.
Subsequent meetings with City Officials took place at the Mesa City Plaza offices at 20 E. Main Street.
The following pages include:
▫ Meeting Purpose & Description
▫ Response Sheet Results
▫ Issues & Concerns Summary
The purpose of the Workshop 1 meetings was to:
▫ Introduce the consultant team and project
▫ Present background information and analysis
▫ Identify key issues, concerns, and needs of the community, and opportunities for the site
Time to take a closer look at one or two selected items for today's regular Mesa City Council meeting where the scheduled study session ahead of time has a review of the items. One of the items from the study session on Thursday of last week deserves some more informed discussion attention: The plans for ASU in downtown have been controversial from the get-go that became public two years ago. Here's the current item for more scrutiny: Implementing the City Council’s prior approvals for the Arizona State University facilities and other improvements in downtown Mesa. How to do that? 
STOP RIGHT THERE! Exactly what actions and the City's excise tax obligations for the financing of the development and construction are up again for review - and the City Manager wants those actions ratified now? Readers of this blog might note that the Arizona State Attorney General is taking legal action now against ASU over questionable financing of real estate deals in Tempe.
Why revisit this now when Jeff McVay, the city's Director of Downtown Transformation, made the case for that (or tried to) back in May of last year. He used a questionable study produced by ASU to support the purported economic benefits of "a presence" of ASU downtown. Totally bogus, but Mesa taxpayers got hood-winked by a slick public relations trick to approve the financing plan foisted in public. 
The Council approved an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with ASU for the new building project in February 2018. The City and ASU subsequently entered into a lease agreement for the building in November 2018. Those actions again were controversial in spite of what City Manager Chris Brady said time-and-time again both in a series of City Council study sessions and regular public meetings. Most of the public were kept-in-the-dark. Only two Councilmembers raised any questions at all. 
Now there are problems questioning the financing. . . asking the City Council today to ratify the actions of the City Council related to the City’s excise tax revenue obligations for the financing of the development and construction.
