Steps are now being taken to redevelop the shuttered Fiesta Mall in Mesa.
Developer Verde Investments filed pre-submittal documents to the city of Mesa earlier this month to redevelop the site into new retail, up to 4,000 multifamily units, flex office and open green space. Plans submitted so far don't include exact square footages of the new development.
Bill Jabjiniak, Mesa's director of economic development, said there's a long road ahead before anything happens in redeveloping the 80-acre site at the southeast corner of Alma School Road and Southern Avenue.
Next city officials will meet with Verde and its attorney Berry Riddell LLC to have the first conversation and give initial feedback for Verde to refine its plan based on what the city is looking for before it will formally submit a proposal.
Nelsen Partners has been chosen as the architect of the redevelopment.
"We're anxious for the mall to redevelop as well. We're grateful for the folks at Verde who are creating a vision. We just want to be able to do it together," Jabjiniak said. "The No. 1 question I get about southwest Mesa is 'what's going on with the Fiesta Mall?'... Any time we can improve upon a part of the city, it sets the tone for future investment."
Fiesta Mall is just one of several mall redevelopment projects that developers hope to reignite in the coming years. Ownership has changed hands at Paradise Valley Mall and Metrocenter Mall while Jericho, New York-based Kimco Realty Corp. just submitted plans to redevelop Christown Spectrum within the city of Phoenix. Park Central Mall in midtown Phoenix has become a sought-after location for creative office space and also includes hotels and a 278-unit multifamily housing structure.