Fiesta Mall developers request rezoning of 80-acre site in Mesa
Plans for the 80-acre site of the former Fiesta Mall site are coming together after developers filed a formal rezoning application to the city on Monday.
What once was a shopping mecca for people in the East Valley turned into the city’s largest abandoned parcel of land.
The Fiesta Mall site, along Alma School Road and Southern Avenue, is one of the city's largest privately owned parcels of land.
Developers want the site to be “a 21st century gem to make Mesa, its leaders and residents proud.”
The redevelopment plan is spearheaded by the Tempe-based development firm Verde Investments Inc., owned by Ernie Garcia II, the founder of DriveTime. Since 2015, the firm has worked to acquire the full Fiesta Mall property which was once owned by five different landlords.
Verde Investments started demolition of the mall in July and could wrap up by the end of the year.
Fiesta Redefined is the project's working name that reflects the efforts to redevelop and re-envision the area, according to the website set up for the project.
Long-term plans
The heart of Mesa’s Fiesta District was the 1.2 million-square-foot building. In city documents, developers wish to continue to keep that site as the district's focal point.
Verde Investments tapped Nelsen Partners, the architecture firm responsible for designing Scottsdale Quarter and the redevelopment of Paradise Valley Mall.
Developers are proposing to rezone the site from limited commercial zoning to an infill development district, which could come with those alternative fees and a streamlined review process the developers are seeking.
Fiesta Redefined seeks to use the land in the following ways:
Multi-family residential: 4,000 dwelling units.
Office: 750,000 square feet.
Commercial: 1,100,000 square feet.
Open space: 520,506 square feet.
The housing, commercial and office space will be intermingled based on the land use map submitted to the city. The frontage along Alma School Road will be reserved for commercial development.
Making the development a pedestrian and cycling friendly area is a key goal of Nelsen, according to project details. They plan to build paseos that are separated from vehicle traffic to connect the residential housing and commercial space, as well as clustering the commercial budlings to “create an easily walkable environment.”
With the requested zoning changed, buildings will be able to reach 120 feet building a skyline for west Mesa.
The proposed development could generate 54,440 weekday car trips, according to a traffic study submitted to the city.
The plan also calls for incorporating artwork such as murals and temporary art installations and preserving the metal flower artwork that is original to the mall.
A project this size and with the type of zoning requested will likely go through a lengthy revision. Developers wrote on the project website it estimates construction could commence within 18 to 24 months.
Buildout of the entire development could take a decade to complete, according to the project's website.
For now, the mall continues to be demolished. About 4,000 truckloads of debris from the demolition of Fiesta Mall will be removed from the site. About 500 loads of assorted metals will be sent to a recycling facility, according to the developers.
Neighborhood meetings to discuss the master plan of the project will come later this year, said David Leibowitz, a spokesperson for Verde Investments.
Reporter Maritza Dominguez covers Mesa and Gilbert and can be reached at [email protected] or 480-271-0646. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @maritzacdom.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Developers of Mesa's Fiesta Mall file planning documents to city