Vestar Development is halfway through construction on the $270 million Tempe Marketplace shopping Center. It has leased about 95 percent of the property.

With landmovers and cranes kicking up dust along Rio Salado Parkway, construction is well under way at Tempe Marketplace.

With landmovers and cranes kicking up dust along Rio Salado Parkway, construction is well under way at Tempe Marketplace. After months of tearing down old buildings and removing debris, new building frames should soon be coming out of the ground.

If you’re staying in town this weekend and are looking for an activity that requires less cash than your July power bill, head to Tempe Marketplace where you can take your pick of restaurants, pubs and sweet shops, enjoy free live music while the kids cool off in the splash pad, paint a gnome or catch a movie.

Jinx the Tragedy, the alt-rock band made up of Gilbert teens, performs 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday at The District Stage at Tempe Marketplace, 2000 E. Rio Salado Parkway. Free. (480) 966-9338 or jinxthetragedy.com.

Mechanical bulls are stampeding into the East Valley. A month after Saddle Ranch opened in Scottsdale, Cadillac Ranch opened last weekend at Tempe Marketplace.

Police caught a suspected teen car burglar targeting cars in Tempe Marketplace Monday and also nabbed the boy suspected of buying the stolen goods.

Students from all over the Valley are working on “green” sculptures made out of recyclable materials to display at Tempe Marketplace’s Art One Gallery.

We knew Tempe could do it all along. Last week, Vestar Development announced the company had made deals with enough of the hold-out land owners to start work in January on the $250 million Tempe Marketplace near loops 101 and 202.

Tempe Marketplace, which started construction on the southwest corner of the loops 101 and 202 northern intersection this week, has already signed up 60 retailers with dozens more negotiating for space.

With the boom of a 30-ton ground pounder crashing into the desert dirt Tuesday, Tempe Marketplace, the $250 million shopping center at the southwest corner of loops 101 and 202, started construction.

With the boom of a 30-ton ground pounder crashing into the desert dirt Tuesday, Tempe Marketplace, the $250 million shopping center at the southwest corner of loops 101 and 202, started construction.

May 13, 2005

May 13, 2005

December 13, 2004

Ongoing real estate negotiations and a lawsuit have forced developers of the proposed Tempe Marketplace to push back the start of the mall’s construction from January to late spring.