FOUR CORNERS STATES EDITION
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April 20 2025 Vol. III • No. 8
“The Nation’s Best Read Construction Newspaper… Founded in 1957.” Your Four Corners Connection • Dennis Hogeboom • 1-877-877-4997 • dennishogeboom@cegltd.com
Work Under Way On First Phase of Mosaic Quarter By Lorie Jewell CEG CORRESPONDENT
A full cadre of construction vehicles — excavators, dozers, scrapers, loaders, and more — is tangible evidence that development of the $425 million Mosaic Quarter sporting and entertainment complex is well under way on Tucson, Ariz.’s southside. California-based subcontractor Granite Construction has a $27 million contract for the first phase of the privately funded project. When complete, it will feature a 175,000-sq.-ft. iceplex with three rinks and an arena seating 3,000; a 131,000-sq.-ft. fieldhouse; a central utility plant; and solar power for the complex. General contractor Hensel Phelps is heading up the construction. Work began in November 2024 with a daily crew of 25 craft and underground workers; during paving operations, there are 12 additional crew members, said Zach Thompson, Granite area manager. Much of the current work is focused on the underground sewer system, he added. The phase is scheduled to be finished in August 2026. “The project is in great shape and running on schedule,” Thompson said. “The challenge is making sure of the safety of the underground crews” while constructing a 30-ft.-deep sewer, setting 96-in. polymer concrete manholes, laying pipes and placing the shoring. Specifically, the project is coming together with 32,000 tons of aggregate base and 20,000 tons of asphalt for roads and parking lots, along with 14,000 tons of sand for utility beds, shading and backfill. The materials come from Granite’s nearby Swan Plant. Crews will install 8-ft. stormwater pretreatment units; C900, HDPE, RCP, and SDR35 piping; Nyloplast drain basins; shoring devices; and 10ft. by 40-ft. steel reinforced HDPE cisterns, Thompson said. All of this is being installed and completed with an extensive lineup of construction equipment, featuring a mulcher, three water trucks, two regular-size excavators and a mini, two loaders, three scrapers, a telehandler, three graders, two dozers, a tractor, backhoe and compactor. Pima County granted a 40-year lease for the 90-acre site last year to Knott Development, in conjunction with Mosaic Quarter Development. Officials project the complex, adjacent to Kino Sports Complex off north Interstate 10, will generate as much as $917.7 million in tax revenue and up to $8.3 billion of new local expenditures. The early stages of the Mosaic Quarter project call for moving plenty of dirt around.
see MOSAIC page 7