Southeast Valley Development News

[JAHOPL]

Like its alternate name implies - Mesa Financial Plaza - originally there were going to be several similar-height buildings in that block to the east of Fiesta Mall. I've seen the drawings years ago and maybe they're available somewhere. The bank building was built, and then no one else followed through.

[vertex]

Fiesta Mall, Dobson Ranch to the south, Desert Sam/Banner hospital and everything in the area (the exception being Mesa Community College), was all developed starting in the late '70's. The Superstition freeway terminated at Alma School road at the time; until then everything was dairies or cotton fields.

Western Savings and Loan, infamous in the S&L crisis, built their signature headquarters there; all of the land to the south and west of Alma School and Southern was rezoned for higher-density commercial. Unfortunately, the Driggs brothers went bankrupt after Western was acquired by the Resolution Trust; nothing would be developed in the area, except for the Hilton hotel to the east. The strip mall there now wasn't developed until the late '90s.

All of the now infamous S&L figures had a big role in developing SW Mesa; the Driggs bros, Conley Wolfswinkle co-developed Fiesta Mall along with Homart, Charlie Keating developed Dobson Ranch...

[combusean]

The NIMBYs that somehow allowed it to be built were unanimous in there support for the residential complex that was proposed in the boom. I can't find my renderings of it, but it was called Fiesta Towers and even taller than the bank building.

[mwadswor]

Some pictures of the new Diamondback's spring training stadium at Via de Ventura and the 101. Taken with a cell camera from a moving car, so not the best.

[HooverDam]

^Im excited for the new ballpark, though it seems odd to me that its on the other side of a big freeway from the new Talking Stick resort. It seems to me that better planning would've been to put it directly adjacent to the resort so people could walk right to it. Though I suppose they'll have a shuttle bus from the hotel to the stadium.

[mwadswor]

Originally Posted by HooverDam

^Im excited for the new ballpark, though it seems odd to me that its on the other side of a big freeway from the new Talking Stick resort. It seems to me that better planning would've been to put it directly adjacent to the resort so people could walk right to it. Though I suppose they'll have a shuttle bus from the hotel to the stadium.

It does and it doesn't make sense. Thinking of the stadium and resort in a vacuum, it probably would have made more sense to put it directly next to the hotel. Realistically though, unless you make the lobby open directly into the stadium, you'd probably still need a shuttle bus for the elderly, disabled, and lazy (aka half of the out-of-towners that come to spring training ), and having the stadium that close to the hotel has the potential to create other issues such as the noise right next to the rooms, the lights right next to the room at night, and people choosing to not buy tickets and just watch the game out the window if you put it too close

On the other hand, across the freeway isn't really far enough to discourage out-of-towners staying in the resort, especially the 90% of them who won't bother to actually look at how far away the stadium is before they buy their tickets, especially if their is an efficient shuttle bus system. Being on the west side of the freeway puts the stadium right next to an existing shopping center and more developable land (still on the reservation so taxes still go to the tribe just like hotel/casino profits do), and it makes the stadium much more accessible for the neighborhoods and anyone wanting to bike to the stadium from in town. I would bike to the stadium in its current location since the Scottsdale greenbelt bikeway runs right up Pima. I would think twice about biking to the other side of the freeway since Via de Ventura has no sidewalks or bike lanes and Indian Bend has no bike lanes and the sidewalks are very much an afterthought, especially under the 101.

What they need is some sort of signature way to move people from the resort to the ballpark. At the Wild Horse Pass resort on the Gila reservation the casino is a good distance from the resort, so they have a canal with boats to move people back and forth between the casino and resort. They just need something similar for the Talking Sticks resort. My vote is an aerial tramway, but that's just wishful thinking probably

[mwadswor]

Actually, speaking of moving people to the casino, does anyone know if there will be any gambling in the ball park? Maybe just some slot machines, if not some sort of full-blown mini casino. It will be on the reservation, so it should be legal.

[HooverDam]

Downtown might emerge as Cubs spring complex compromise

Council seems at ease if Cubs play downtown

8 comments by Jim Walsh - Aug. 7, 2010 07:35 AM
The Arizona Republic

Mesa City Council members each have a pet site as their ideal location for the new Chicago Cubs spring training complex, but most seem comfortable with downtown as a compromise.

"It's one site that is everybody's first or second choice," said council member Dennis Kavanaugh, who represents southwest Mesa. "Long-term, I think that the downtown site has the most potential not only for the Cubs, but for redevelopment."


A compromise selection of a downtown site would help city officials as the deadline for at least firming up one or two likely locations for the complex is coming fast.

Mayor Scott Smith hopes to identify no more than two sites by mid-September at the latest so that the city can present a sufficiently clear proposal to voters, who will be asked Nov. 2 to authorize the city to spend more public funds on the new complex.

The Cubs would buy the site and deed it to the city, which would then lease it back to the team. The city would provide the land for practice fields and other training facilities.

Although the city is committing up to $84 million in a new stadium and practice facilities, the Cubs are committed to investing millions in Wrigleyville West, a privately financed Chicago-oriented entertainment district that would replicate the experience of attending games at storied Wrigley Field.

Wrigleyville West would be adjacent to the new complex and is expected to include a hotel, restaurants and nightlife. Consultants hired by the Cubs and city are studying sites with an eye toward finding the best opportunity for such a development to succeed.

Although Kavanaugh has reservations about the Riverview Golf Course site, near Dobson Road and Eighth Street, he said it probably offers the Cubs the lowest risk, the best access near the Loop 101 and 202 and the highest profile. The site originally was earmarked for the stalled Waveyard aquatic resort project.

Besides Riverview and a downtown site at University and Mesa drives, other publicly disclosed sites include privately-owned land at Thomas and Recker roads in northeast Mesa and along Longbow Parkway, near Longbow Golf Course in northeast Mesa.

All four potential sites have unique issues that city staff is analyzing before the council and the Cubs make a joint decision on the best location for the new complex.

Council members described conceptual drawings showing a downtown site's layout.

They include a parkway running through a large city maintenance yard that would link Fitch Park with the shuttered Escobedo housing project and Site 17, a long dormant redevelopment site at University and Mesa drives.

"Site 17 is a ghost of past broken promises," southeast Mesa council member Scott Somers said. "No matter what you do there, it's more of a success than we have today. It almost can't fail."

But City Manager Chris Brady said that incorporating Fitch Park into the complex would doom efforts to attract another major-league team to Hohokam Stadium, leaving no practice fields available for a new team.

"There's no site that is an easy slam dunk," he said.

Mike Lufrano, the Cubs' senior vice president for community affairs and general counsel, met this week in Mesa with individual City Council members. Lufrano explained the team's considerations in selecting a site but did not express a preference, saying each site has unique issues that must be resolved.

Brady said the Cubs and the city are negotiating the final agreement and hope to bring it before the council for approval sometime before the election. Early balloting would likely begin in early October.

"I think the hope is that we will have it as soon as possible," Brady said. "You don't want to rush a critical agreement that will be in place for 30 years and make a mistake."

Because the agreement covers far more than the construction of a stadium, "I'm going to be far less prescriptive on where a stadium goes," said northwest Mesa council member Dave Richins.

"I need the Cubs to be in the driver's seat on site selection," he said, noting the Cubs also will operate the new stadium, saving the city millions of dollars on maintenance and operation costs.

But because Mesa has agreed to finance the full cost of the complex, some council members are saying they want to make sure the stadium's location helps Mesa recoup the most money it can in Cactus League revenues.

That means reversing a long-standing trend where an estimated two out of three out-of-state fans stay in Scottsdale or some other Valley city during March and the majority of Mesa's Cactus League revenues are game-related.

The issue of which site would encourage more fans to stay in Mesa has set off a debate among council members.

Kavanaugh and council members Dina Higgins and Scott Somers are concerned the Riverview site would make it easy for fans to stay in Scottsdale, blocking Mesa from recouping more Cactus League revenues.

"The way I see it, the Riverview site has the highest hurdle to jump in order to prove it's going to be a benefit to the city," Somers said.

Richins and Smith disagree, saying that Wrigleyville West will become a unique national destination, attracting the typical middle-class fan.



Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/community/m...#ixzz0vxhlmx7T

I really hope the Downtown Mesa site is the one selected. It means once the Mesa LRT extension happens you could take the train to the game easily, it would be the only Spring Training park right along LRT (Phx Muni is close but probably out of walking distance from station to park for most folks).

PLus the "Wrigleyville West" thing would mean a lot more retail and hotel space for Downtown Mesa which would be terrific. My only worry is the development only being used much during one time of the year, hopefully the plan will include some residential to keep things continually active.

[glynnjamin]

What happened to the Gateway location? I thought that idea was the best one. Plenty of land and space, an airport that already has flights to the Chicago area, and a space that would allow you to fully develop the concept of Wrigleyville West while encouraging people to stay there. Almost any other location just begs for your money to go to Scottsdale, Tempe, or Phx.

That being said, razing a bunch of those old car lots along main would go a long way to converting Main into something cool. Plus, having the lightrail would be somewhat like taking the "L" in Chicago. Creating a massive urban housing centered around a ballpark where commuters could live & still have access to the LRT plus bars and restaurants would be a pretty awesome thing - especially if you're from Chicago.

[HooverDam]

^There's no need for them to raze carlots in order to put it in Downtown Mesa. Look at the corner of University and Mesa Dr on Google Maps, its already a huge swath of dirt lots, thats where the stadium would go.

As far as the practice fields Id assume they'd continue to use Fitch Park. The current HoHoKam park could also be demolished and more fields built out there.

That would leave enough room to just put the stadium and Wrigleyville concept on the lots currently available in Downtown Mesa. If its done right the new hotels, bars, residential, etc of Wrigleyville combined with what already exists in Downtown Mesa could turn out to be something pretty awesome.

As far as the Gateway location, its quite far out. Not that the Goodyear and Surprise stadiums aren't either. I think though since the Cubs are such a huge draw, Mesa is wise to want to use them as a downtown redevelopment tool.

Down the line Id love to see Mesa/the Cactus League try to land 2 of the remaining 3 Western US teams to the Gateway area. The Cardinals, Twins and Astros all still go to Florida and I think they'd all be good fits here. The Cardinals-Cubs rivalry is probably the best in the NL and having them both here would mean huge crowds. Arizona already attracts tons of visitors and immigrants from Minnesota, so the Twins seem like a fit too. If you could get those two on a complex right near ASU Poly/the airport, it would be terrific.

[HooverDam]

Opinion: General Plan would bolster Gilbert's pedestrian connectivity

Aug. 12, 2010 12:43 PM
Southeast Valley Republic editorial staff

Our Turn

A car is not optional to reach most places in Gilbert.

Transit is mostly non-existent, and many shopping centers, schools and office buildings are designed with vehicles, not pedestrians, in mind.


What does plan say about job growth?

But the architects of the town's revised General Plan want to change that.

One of the document's major goals is to foster connectivity as the town develops its last large, vacant parcels. And this time, the scale is all pedestrian.

Should town leaders - and ultimately, voters - approve the plan, Gilbert would place a much larger focus on:

• Transit. The plan calls for more local and regional bus routes, two additional park-and-ride lots and commuter rail on the railroad tracks that bisect Gilbert, with possible stops downtown and near Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. These routes could alleviate some street traffic and help ferry workers to Gilbert's planned employment areas, making them more attractive to businesses.

• Open space. The town has built nationally lauded recreation spaces, including Cosmo Dog Park and the Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch. But more open space is needed, particularly as alfalfa fields give way to master-planned developments. Goals include preserving agriculture in rural areas and constructing pocket parks in mixed-use, commercial and industrial areas - both of which would bolster the town's unique sense of place.

• Arts and culture. For the first time, the plan acknowledges that arts and culture are necessary to connect residents and maintain the town's high quality of life. It suggests creating a master plan to develop cultural offerings and possibly adopting a public-art policy similar to those in Tempe and Chandler, which require developers to offer art in their projects.

• A trail network. Gilbert has attractive, well-used walking, biking and equestrian trails along its canals and in many neighborhoods. But it needs more connections between those paths, as well as new paths to and around commercial and industrial areas. A trail system that connects homes, schools, parks, shopping and offices would make commuting or doing errands without a car more viable.

Gilbert has spent the last two decades widening roads and paving parking lots to accommodate traffic, and particularly in the southeastern corner of town, work remains to alleviate gridlock.

But it's good to see recognition that alternate modes of transportation are just as important to the town's long-term sustainability and vibrancy.



Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/community/g...#ixzz0wSmUDOs2

Well nice to hear about Gilbert at least talking about being more pedestrian friendly. If they follow through on it or not is yet to be seen (I kinda doubt it). But if Gilbert was smart it would work hard on becoming a more pedestrian friendly place, it needs something to set it apart from so many other Valley burbs.

[HooverDam]

Cubs prefer Riverview facility over downtown, East Mesa sites

8 comments by Jim Walsh - Aug. 26, 2010 05:20 PM
The Arizona Republic

Chicago Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts said Thursday that the Riverview site in northwest Mesa would be the team's first preference for its new spring training complex, but that no specific site has been chosen.

"Honestly, I think that's the site that would fit our needs the best," Ricketts told The Arizona Republic's editorial board as the team kicked off the drive to pass Proposition 420, which will ask Mesa voters to approve the financing package for a new stadium and trianing facilities.


The team, the top spring training draw in the Cactus League, has said its current facilities at Fitch Park and Hohokam Stadium are obsolete.

Ricketts said the Riverview site gives Wrigleyville West, the team's plans for a privately financed hotel and restaurant complex, the best chance for success. He said he is not certain if there is enough room at a downtown site to accommodate the team's plans. He also said the team is not focusing on two potential northeast Mesa sites.

Proposition 420 would go before voters Nov. 2. with early voting starting Oct. 7.

The city charter requires voter approval for any sports facility expenditure of more than $1.5 million.

Public financing on the new complex would be capped at $84 million, with the Cubs required to buy the land for the stadium and deed it to the city.

The city proposes financing the stadium with utility and golf course revenues and would also sell off unused land in Pinal County to raise money for the project.

The Riverview site includes the present Riverview nine-hole municipal golf course. It had been reserved for Waveyard, a water-themed resort planned three years ago that has struggled to obtain financing.



Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/community/m...#ixzz0xmBcWH9F

Bleck. Riverview is the worst site as far as the City of Mesa is concerned. Its just too likely that the hotel there wouldn't get a lot of guests and they'd end up staying in Scottsdale or Downtown Tempe. Additionally I worry if they have a huge swath of land to develop, Wrigleyville West will really be a lot more like Westgate East.

If they're forced to put it Downtown with limited space one would think they'd have to get creative and....gasp, urban. Lets hope Mesa's desire to put it near rail, help their downtown and keep all their council members happy leads to a downtown site.

[Vicelord John]

Ricketts is a nice guy, but he isnt going to have his team play downtown mesa just to be nice.

[HooverDam]

Originally Posted by Vicelord John

Ricketts is a nice guy, but he isnt going to have his team play downtown mesa just to be nice.

Downtown Mesa the most sense for all parties involved, its just a matter of getting someone whos developing something in the Valley to see the value of an urban location over a suburban one.

[Leo the Dog]

Riverview isn't that bad of a location, freeway access to 101 and 202, restaurants and entertainment close by, resorts are closer. Everyone drives to Spring Training games anyways. A ballpark used for 1 month/year isn't going to spur urban development and growth in DT Mesa. For DT Mesa (or any urban center) to develop that ultimately comes from the residents of the city. They have to change their mentality and embrace the urban atmosphere, lifestyle and social interactions amongst one another.

[Vicelord John]

Hoover, riverviw is more urban than downtown mesa. Tucumcari, nm is more urban than downtown mesa.

Easier to get to riverview too.

[HooverDam]

Originally Posted by Leo the Dog

Riverview isn't that bad of a location, freeway access to 101 and 202, restaurants and entertainment close by, resorts are closer. Everyone drives to Spring Training games anyways. A ballpark used for 1 month/year isn't going to spur urban development and growth in DT Mesa. For DT Mesa (or any urban center) to develop that ultimately comes from the residents of the city. They have to change their mentality and embrace the urban atmosphere, lifestyle and social interactions amongst one another.

Except you're missing the whole point. This stadium isn't just a ballpark. Its shops, its residential, its a hotel. Its things that will help fill out Downtown Mesa and be used year round.

Originally Posted by Vicelord John

Hoover, riverviw is more urban than downtown mesa. Tucumcari, nm is more urban than downtown mesa.

Easier to get to riverview too.

Thats a moronic statement and you're being a troll.

[Vicelord John]

No. Im being realistic. If i were running a baseball team i would want my stadium close to hotels, freeways, entertainment, shopping, dining, and nightlife. Downtiwn mesa has none of those. It has poverty and crime though. Does that count?

[HooverDam]

Originally Posted by Vicelord John

No. Im being realistic. If i were running a baseball team i would want my stadium close to hotels, freeways, entertainment, shopping, dining, and nightlife. Downtiwn mesa has none of those. It has poverty and crime though. Does that count?

What poverty and crime? Have you actually BEEN to Downtown Mesa, like...ever?

Downtown has a Marriott right there and the Minnezona in not far off, and part of Wrigleyville will be a new hotel. If you had a baseball team and were going to own/operate a hotel adjacent to the stadium, do you really want to be super close to established resort style hotels in Scottsdale and Tempe? Of course not. If you are building lots of restaurants and other attractions to you want to have to worry about people not going to them and instead opting for Mill Ave or Old Town?

To say Downtown Mesa doesn't have dining and shopping just shows how ignorant you are on the matter. Again, when exactly was the last time you were down there? There's restaurants and shops all up and down Main Street. There's more than 30 places to eat in Downtown, certainly more than Riverview which you moronically said was more urban than Downtown. There are lots of unique shops, including Milano Music, probably the best place to buy instruments in the Valley. There are a handful of art galleries, clothing stores, boutiques, florists, etc. Downtown Mesa has a long way to go, but its really one of the better Urban Downtowns in the Valley, I don't understand why you shit on it.

Downtown Mesa is still plenty close to Freeways. Plus by the time this stadium would be up and running it would be very near Light Rail, and that would be a huge advantage that no other stadium has (Phx Muni is the closest but thats a bit of a walk).

If you want to pull up a chair and have a discussion at the adult table, you're welcome to. But quit talking nonsense about things you know nothing about, you make yourself look foolish.

[Vicelord John]

you're obviously biased to Downtown Mesa for some reason. You're stooping to personal insults and mud slinging to try to defend it. I'm not going to converse at the "adult table" with someone who can't speak like an adult. I will have a conversation at the children's table, which you're acting like you're sitting at the head of.

I've been to Downtown Mesa as recently as a month ago, and have been there literally dozens of times in the past few years. I play flag football in the park across from the temple, and have been involved in consulting with a now defunct restaurant which was in Downtown Mesa, who couldn't get people to come in the doors no matter what they did, where they advertised, or what specials they offered.

Not sure why you are so defensive and angry. I've constantly gone out of my way to show you respect and you're coming at me with a whirlwind of anger. Everytime I read on the news about crappy stuff happening, it's either south phoenix, maryvale, or near downtown Mesa. Main street is deader than a doornail everytime I've been up and down it downtown, with the exception of when there is an event at MAC or the temple. Riverview has what the general population wants when they go out to a baseball game. It has the familiar faces of restaurants, movie theater, bars, etc. The honest truth is the wrigleyville west thing is most likely a pipe dream which is again why it would make more sense to put the stadium close to an already established activity center.

You're still ignoring the fact that Tom and I have talked about the stadium move, and he seemed pretty dead set on moving to a place with lots of stuff going on and good freeway access. You're blind if you think there is more going on in downtown mesa then there is at riverview. I was obviously not serious when I said Riverview and Tucumcari are more urban than downtown mesa... I was merely over doing it to make a point. My point is downtown mesa sucks. One of the more urban downtowns in the area? bullshit. Tempe, Scottsdale, Phoenix, Glendale, Gilbert, Chandler, etc. all have more than one street of closed up restaurants and shops, which is what Mesa is. There are many suburban shopping centers which make it look awful as well, like Market Street, CityNorth (as bad as it is,) Kierland, etc. which are all built from scratch downtown in the suburbs.

Will, like I said, I've always showed you a great amount of respect (especially in contrast to what I show most people) so I feel as if you're being a little rude and overly protective of one of the worst neighborhoods in this state. This is my opinion that Mesa sucks, and Tom Ricketts, being a nice guy that I've met many times, doesn't seem to disagree with me, though he has never come out and said it.