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Northeast Mesa Edition
INSIDE
This Week
NEWS ........................ 3 State yanks Mesa ex-principal’s certificate.
COMMUNITY ........ 15 Mesa needs volunteers for 3 big events.
SPORTS .................... 25 Mesa High soccer has eyes on the prize.
EVENTS ......................29 Hollywood takes notice of big film fest.
COMMUNITY ................15 BUSINESS ...................... 19 OPINION .......................22 SPORTS .........................25 GETOUT.........................29 CLASSIFIED................... 34
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Sunday, January 12, 2020
ASU building making Mesa a hi-tech gateway BY JIM WALSH Tribune Staff Writer
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decade from now, the innovations dreamed up by Arizona State University students in Mesa will probably make Alexa and PlayStation look as arcane as Pong and the video cassette recorder. It’s hard to imagine what technological advances might come from ASU @ Mesa City Center because some of these inventions either don’t exist or are not widely known today. But Jake Pinholster, the founding dean at the downtown Mesa facility, sees many potential real-world examples likely eclipsing today’s on ers in such fiel s as e icine o train ing and urban planning. Pinholster, ASU President Michael Crow
and Mesa Mayor John Giles were all in attendance as ASU and Mesa city officials celebrated Friday at a groundbreaking Jake Pinholster is the founding dean of for the ASU’s new downtown Mesa facility. u n i q u e (Special to the Tribune) building, located on the site of a former parking lot at Pepper Place and Centennial, behind City Hall. “There won’t be controversy at the ground-
breaking. We will be celebrating,’’ said Jeff McVay, Mesa’s downtown transformation anager t ill soli if the pro ect is oving forward.’’ With the ASU groundbreaking and recent progress on t o other re evelop ent pro ects he ri office an apart ent pro ect at the Pomeroy Street Garage and the Residences at Mesa and Main, people will see downtown taking on a different character, he said. o e o pushe over the first o ino That domino thing is starting to fall. It’s great,’’ McVay said. The ASU building is a huge piece aimed at housing even bigger ideas. At 65 feet tall with 110,000 square feet, it
ASU
High-end NE Mesa housing plan wows zoning panel BY JIM WALSH Tribune Staff Writer
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n undulating swath of pristine desert in northeast Mesa will be named The Preserve at Red Rock an eco e ust the sort of resort cali er residential community the city envisioned when it auctioned off the land last year. In return for the $21.1 million land sale, Blandford Homes, one of Mesa’s premier builders, plans to build 296 high-end homes in the gated community, according to plans unveiled last week before the city Planning and Zoning Board. Board members said they were impressed by Blandford’s attempts to maximize views of Red Mountain in the design, building around the property’s natural beauty rather than overwhelming it. Plans call for 90 percent of the lots to
abut open space and two natural desert washes studded with Saguaros left untouched. Despite opposition from neighbors ho ainl voice concern over traffic and losing their views of Red Mountain, the board voted 7-0 to recommend City Council approval of the zoning changes. The council could vote on the zoning changes as early as February. The zoning measures change the area’s character from parks to neighborhood, a point of contention for neighbors who still cite an ol sign i entifing the prop erty as the site of a planned park. A second zoning change allows the construction of single-family homes. “I think this sets a new standard for me moving forward, with the open space
BLANDFORD
Irby Blakesly of Mesa, accompanied by daughter Carol Scarpitto, wait for pilot Scott Nicol to take off in a hot-air balloon ride made possible by Red Mountain High School students. For the story, please turn to page 7. (Chris Mortenson/Tribune Staff Photographer)