The Metro light rail extension into downtown Mesa has helped spur several proposals for new urban housing developments on or near Main Street, involving several hundred apartments.
The proposals include a high-profile lot across from the Mesa Arts Center, while redeveloping two other sites that have been in decline for decades.
Mesa welcomed some of the plans because they could create momentum for redevelopment in some of the city’s older areas. But a proposal for subsidized senior housing by the arts center drew sharp criticism from City Council members who think light rail will justify more upscale development.
One proposal would bring life back to the Escobedo neighborhood, where the city closed 101 apartments in 2007 for low-income seniors. The city-owned apartments housed military personnel in World War II, but Mesa evicted residents after determining it couldn’t afford growing maintenance costs on the aging buildings.
Now, Gorman & Company is proposing to demolish most of the buildings to build a 124-unit, mixed-income development northeast of Center Street and University Drive.
Councilman Christopher Glover represents that area and said neighbors support the plan.
“I think this will be a game changer for the entire neighborhood,” he said.
Gorman would restore a portion of the old buildings while investing $18.2 million on the entire project.
Mesa’s City Council agreed Thursday to support Gorman’s plan to apply for tax credits from the Arizona Department of Housing. Gorman must apply with the state by March 1 to be considered for this year’s round of tax credits. If that plan doesn’t work out, a second developer has another redevelopment plan that it would submit for next year’s tax credits.
A more controversial plan would replace a parking lot next to Mesa City Hall with a five-story apartment building for low-income seniors. The project would remove parking for top city officials — including the City Council. The elected officials said they’d gladly surrender their parking privileges for a quality project but were split on the best use of land across from the arts center.
Councilwoman Dina Higgins said downtown should be the arts Mecca of the West, which should create demand for nicer housing. Downtown needs housing for students and professors at downtown university campuses that are planned, she added. Higgins said she wants a downtown so vibrant that homeowners in the upscale Las Sendas area would be willing to move to urban housing along Main Street.
“Subsidized housing isn’t going to do that,” Higgins said.
Vice Mayor Scott Somers and Mayor Scott Smith agreed, but a narrow majority of the council agreed to let the developer apply for state tax credits.
The council also agreed to move forward with a proposal that would allow the social service agency A New Leaf to redevelop the La Mesita homeless shelter at 2254 W. Main St. The old motel would become a multi-story, 124-unit apartment complex with a 16-bed shelter.
The redevelopment projects would all require some city funds, but the amount isn’t yet known. City Manager Chris Brady cautioned some proposals could die if the state rejects tax credit applications. Also, developers would have to meet city requirements.
“Even after today, there’s a tremendous amount of work that would have to be done on any of these projects,” Brady said.
Contact writer: (480) 898-6548 or ggroff@evtrib.com
ScottyG posted at 9:12 pm on Sat, Feb 25, 2012.
I'm not concerned about the seniors income level. Are they going to add to the city's growing downtown or complain when it's too loud of Friday and Saturday nights?
LinMesa posted at 5:22 pm on Fri, Feb 24, 2012.
It's so nice to know what some of you people think of our low-income seniors. These are the people who raised you and this is the respect you show them. You should be ashamed of yourselves.
renew21 posted at 4:07 pm on Fri, Feb 24, 2012.
Its good to see some movement in downtown, but dont just take anything that wants to build in the area. Help them to select other locations that are not as vital to downtowns success. Have a vision and keep with it.
it makes sense for the mix use and senior housing wanting to come to the area due to location of transit, services and cheap land. If mesa does it right and gets the right players to build, expand and invest into downtown, there is a lot of opportunity. But you have to keep with that vision. Not say it and allow taco bell and Ace to build on strategic corners for a so called "urban environment". the new FBC should help limit bad dev that has been allowed.
Leon Ceniceros posted at 10:44 pm on Thu, Feb 23, 2012.
I will support a "mixed-income" housing development when the City Administrator and the Mayor and City Councilmembers buys one of these units.
Section-8 and other HUD subsidized tenants are single Mom's with children that they can't or won't parent. We have one apartment complex on Main Street and one on Greenfield that the Mesa Cops and Chopper pilots knew by heart. Once, twice, three times a week the Mesa PD Chopper is going round and round these two complexes with the huge spotlight and loudspeaker going...day and night.
I heard some gossip that they even jumped the wall and went into the Mesa PD Sub-Station's employee parking lot and burglarized the cop's personal vehicles. The story was in only one local newspaper for one issue is what the gossip said. If Mesa PD's own Employee Parking Lot isn't safe then tell me how can it be safe to buy one of these "mixed income" units.
AS FOR MOVING FROM LAS SENDAS TO DOWNTOWN MESA........NOW THAT'S A ..........HOOT !!!
DrJCA1 posted at 10:02 pm on Thu, Feb 23, 2012.
"mixed-income" is just a PC way of saying section 8 housing mixed in with those of us who can afford a decent place to live. Not many middle or upper income folks want to live next door to anyone who's rent or mortgage is being paid for by their taxes. This just ticks off more people who ordinarily would not be against many things designed to help others. If someone can afford to live in my neighborhood, then I don't care who it is. If they cannot and the govenment decides to take some of my money and pay for someone else's housing, that is not going to happen. Section 8 housing destroyed the value of my condo in Dayton, Ohio and I'll be d*a*m*n*e*d (censors on this newspaper) if that's going to happen again.