Struggling Fiesta District, Mall to experience revival
Cameron Abbott
Mesa Legend
Times are changing, and the flow of time only works one way. That, however, doesn’t mean that something only has one life to live. A second coming seems to be occurring for the once dilapidated district of the city of Mesa. Images of the fenced off corner of Alma School and Southern avenue have felt like a permanent fixture for over a decade. Recent changes may see a change of surety, as can be seen in the slight improvement of the quality of life. “What we’re seeing today, at the current time, is the culmination of work that’s been going on for almost a dozen years,” said Dennis Kavanaugh, vice mayor of Mesa. “So to some people in the public this seems like, wow, this is happening all at one time.”
Tania Ritko/Mesa Legend
While physical evidence is apparent, the economic shift into the area has been nothing short of huge. With a shift from retail to commercial office spaces, a change can be seen in the Centrica project, a new office space located in the once vacant area that housed the now-bankrupt Circuit City. Even more than just its construction, is the fact that the city of Mesa has already found a single company to occupy the facility. “Santander Consumer USA is new to the Phoenix market and will lease the entire 117,000 square foot Centrica project. Santander will employ more than 970 people over three years with an average wage of approximately $51,000,” a press statement from the city’s Office of Economic Development announced.
“Santander Consumer USA looks forward to bringing new jobs to the area, and earning the trust and respect of the community,” said Brad Martin, Santander’s chief operating officer in the joint statement. Yet this is just the beginning according to Kavanaugh. “We’re continuing to work really hard with property owners and a lot of the vacant or underused retail properties,” he said. “We’re trying to find buyers for those properties, and working with developers on bringing different uses to those sites.” A prime example, Kavanaugh said, is Fiesta Mall. “In the old Macy’s store, new developers started the interior demolition within that store, because that will be converting into corporate offices,” he said.
Kavanaugh continued by describing some of the other improvements they have planned for early next summer. He also commented on some of the partnerships that they are developing to continue tackling the redevelopment of the property, explaining that old existing interior buildings will likely be torn down. “I think you’re going to continue to see new entertainment and restaurant type venues moving into the district,” Kavanaugh said. “We’ve seen quite a few of them open this past year, with things like Chipotle, and Smashburger, Boulder Draft House.” He also noted that Chandler and Mesa have come together with Valley Metro to look at the possibility of a high transit corridor that utilizes Dobson and Southern.
“Chandler is very interested in the future to have light rail come through its downtown,” he said. “If we have either a street car line, or a light rail line going there, that also will provide great sustainability for both jobs and the college, as well as housing in the area.” “That I think will be very critical to sustaining the viability and health of the Fiesta District and will be very exciting,” Kavanaugh added. With sustainable economic influx, the revival of the Fiesta District seems to really only have just begun.
