Dec. 31—Headlines from Mesa over the past year show a city emerging from the pandemic with a vengeance as it attracted new businesses, broke ground on bold projects and saw long-planned initiatives bear fruit.
While there was plenty of progress, setbacks and stubborn problems also reared their ugly heads, including still-high construction costs, rising homelessness and poverty and extreme weather.
Along with the robust economic growth, there were also growing pains and periodic reminders that not everybody here shares a single vision for Mesa's future.
Time and again reality — and residents — told city leaders, "not so fast."
But there were many wins for the city and 2023 likely will be seen as a time when many dreams made strides toward becoming reality, even though they sometimes looked different in real life.
Fiesta Mall metamorphosis
The vacant and once-beloved Fiesta Mall in southwest Mesa began a new chapter this year. Billionaire Ernie Garcia consolidated ownership of the 80-acre mall site and submitted preliminary plans to tear down the mall to make way for a mixed-use development with up to 4,000 apartments.
In July, Garcia's Verde Investments began tearing down the mall. The demolition crew expected to haul 40 Olympic swimming pools-worth of rubble. By October, workers had torn down about 60% of the 1-million-square-foot mall.
After Tempe voters rejected a plan for an Arizona Coyotes arena complex, reports emerged that the team had expressed interest in Fiesta Mall as a potential site for a hockey arena. But the flirtation was fleeting, as other sites, most recently in North Phoenix, have captivated the team's ownership.
Data centers surge
This was the year Mesa solidified its status as a data center hub — to the consternation of some residents and city leaders who fear the industry will suck up a disproportionate quantity of industrial land and utilities.
After Google broke ground on a long-anticipated 187-acre data center campus on Elliot Road in September, a half-dozen companies submitted preliminary plans for data center campuses.
The proposals included a 178-acre campus on land owned by Pacific Proving LLC, two campuses from Amazon Web Services totaling 110 acres, and a 165-acre campus from Novva Holdings.
It's likely no coincidence that in the spring, the Salt River Project completed the first phase of the Southeast Power Link, a 7-mile high-voltage line running through southeast Mesa. The second phase will connect high voltage lines in Mesa and Queen Creek, increasing the reliability of the local grid — catnip for data center operators.
Legacy Park bankruptcy
Southeast Mesa's giant multisport complex went from bankrupt to new owner in one head-spinning year.
The park opened in early 2022 to great expectations, but by the start of 2023, it was on shaky financial ground, in default on the terms of its $284 million loan from bond investors.
The situation deteriorated quickly in the spring, when sponsor Bell Bank ended its naming agreement and owner Legacy Cares terminated its management company. Two weeks later, Legacy Cares filed for bankruptcy, leaving many wondering how the park burned through the money so quickly.
Legacy Cares put the facility up for sale during bankruptcy, but no bids were received by an October deadline. Eventually private equity firms Burke Operating Partners and Rocky Mountain Resources reached a deal to buy it for $25.5 million in December.
Environment
Record snowfall in the Rockies meant Mesa didn't have to worry about big cuts to its share of Colorado River water in 2023, keeping the city in Stage One of its water shortage management plan.
But while the wet winter gave Arizona some breathing room, a record dry and hot summer reminded many that climate change could pose a challenge in the future.
The Valley notched the driest monsoon ever recorded and Arizona tallied a record 54 days with highs above 110 degrees.
Powerful monsoon winds caused major property damage in Mesa, including to Falcon Field, Zaharis Elementary and manufactured homes in north Mesa.
The scorching summer showed the potential value of the city's Trees are Cool initiative. Announced in January, it set a goal of planting a million trees in Mesa by 2050 — in part to help with heat mitigation.
Big water projects
Drought and record heat in 2023 provided another reason to press ahead with major water infrastructure in spite of ballooning construction costs.
In July, workers started installing the 10-mile, $171 million Central Mesa Reuse Pipeline to the Gila River Indian Community to boost Mesa's supply of Colorado river water. The work, slated to run until March 2025, could slow traffic along Val Vista and Greenfield roads all next year.
The pipeline was originally expected to cost $72 million.
The city also began drilling two new wells in southeast Mesa and started the first phase of the Signal Butte water treatment plant expansion.
Homeless hotel
The city stepped up its efforts to battle homelessness with the controversial purchase of a 70-room hotel in East Mesa to support the Off the Streets shelter program.
The $7.4 million price tag for the Grand Hotel was paid for with federal American Rescue Plan Act money from Mesa and Maricopa County.
Nearby residents expressed vehement opposition, calling it a setback for their efforts to tamp down crime.
The city said the move was needed to fight the homelessness crisis and pledged to put extra resources into the area and be a good neighbor.
In November, City Council signed off on converting the hotel to a shelter by a 4-3 vote.
Suing tech giants
Mesans participated in a national wave of lawsuits seeking to hold social media companies accountable for alleged harm to young people
Parents Roy and Wendy Plunk sued Snapchat, alleging that features of the app contributed to their 17-year-old son Zach's 2020 fentanyl overdose.
Zach died outside the family home early in the morning after ordering a pill on the app, which is favored by younger users. The suit alleges that Snapchat was designed in a way that allows children to connect with drug dealers and evade parental oversight.
Not long after, the Mesa Public Schools Governing Board voted unanimously to join a class action lawsuit against the parent companies of Tik Tok, Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
Board members agreed with an outside attorney's claim they have contributed to unprecedented rates of anxiety, depression, body image issues and thoughts of self-harm among district students.
Roller coaster for MPS
Mesa Public Schools' graduation rates and K-8 test scores improved during the 2022-23 school year. But lower ACT scores from high schoolers meant the district's overall proficiency rate stayed flat at 32%.
Driven by the gains in K-8 test scores, however, the total number of "excellent" and "highly performing" MPS schools rose by 11 from last year.
The 2023-24 school year started strong with an unusually low number of teacher vacancies — 60 compared to 170 the same time last year.
School safety was a focus in 2023. The governing board expanded full-time police officers to all high schools and junior highs. The district also approved weapons detectors at all high schools.
The issue of bathroom and locker room accommodations for transgender students generated significant public debate.
In November, board member Rachel Walden sued the district to try to force MPS to stop allowing transgender students to use accommodations that match their gender identity. The suit also demands parental notification whenever a student seeks an accommodation such as name change.
MPS was among nine districts sued by State Superintendent Tom Horne over their 50/50 dual language programs. Horne says teaching English learners in any language other than English violates Proposition 203, a 2000 voter-approved measure.
In November, voters denied the district's request for $500 million in bonds but approved a 15% budget override — both on close votes.
History lost and preserved
In February, the 58-year-old Mesa General Hospital was demolished to make way for 180 apartments.
In October, nonprofit Chicanos Por Las Causa demolished the 90-year-old Kiva Lodge to make way for 90 units of affordable housing.
Both demolitions reminded preservationists how easy it is to remove a building that doesn't have historic zoning.
Preservation notched two wins: In August, the city council approved a historic overlay for 99-year-old Nile Theater in downtown, and in November, the city unveiled a renovated downtown Federal Building, now an event space.
The Lehi neighborhood also collected enough signatures to become an officially designated Heritage Neighborhood.
Drive-thru battle
Residents frustrated by the impact of drive-thrus and a lack of sit-down dining in Mesa, backed an effort to make local zoning rules less favorable to drive-thrus.
Initial proposals to set limits on the number of drive-thrus in commercial developments ran into a buzz saw of opposition from business organizations and developers.
In 2023, city planners staff brought forward more modest changes focused on requiring council use permits in more zones and aesthetics, but these still encountered opposition from developers worried the new rules would hinder redevelopment and doom struggling shopping centers.
In October, City Council overruled the Planning and Zoning Board and approved the updates in a 5-2 vote.
