Mesa lags in luxury/ P. 4
SE Mesa railroad deals/ P. 6
An edition of the East Valley Tribune
INSIDE
Revitalization projects hitting downtown Mesa BY SCOTT SHUMAKER Tribune Staff Writer
COMMUNITY ...........15 World War II vet closing in on a century.
Sunday, July 10, 2022
FREE ($1 OUTSIDE THE EAST VALLEY) | TheMesaTribune.com
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any people who visit downtown Mesa agree that the historic center of the third largest city in Arizona could be more than it currently is. It has good bones, the prevailing theory goes; it just needs a few missing pieces to bring it fully to life. Beginning this month, a wave of revitalization projects is coming online, testing the city’s current strategy for igniting downtown
development. In a matter of months, downtown Mesa will add an Arizona State University film school, a business incubator, two new co-working spaces, and several new bar and entertainment venues. Will those projects be the secret ingredients downtown Mesa needed to finally wake up? Previous expensive projects like light rail and Mesa Arts Center have brought new life to downtown, but a full transformation remains elusive. Streets in the historic core are still quiet,
easily crossable without the traffic lights. And vacant storefronts persist. City and regional leaders have bet millions in additional city and federal dollars on top of millions already spent that the new projects coming online will help complete downtown’s transformation from decaying urban center into vibrant destination. “I think we’re at a tipping point,” said Vice Mayor Jenn Duff, who represents downtown on City Council. “I want to continue to push
see DOWNTOWN page 11
Falcon Field taking off with $150M expansion
BUSINESS ........... 18 Housing market hurtles toward balance.
GETOUT............... 27 Whimsical group coming to Mesa. COMMUNITY .................................. 15 BUSINESS ........................................ 18 OPINION ......................................... 22 SPORTS .......................................... 25 GETOUT .......................................... 27 CLASSIFIED ................................... 31 Zone 1
BY MARK MORAN Tribune Managing Editor
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evelopers are halfway into a $150-million, 750,000-square-foot expansion at Falcon Field in northeast Mesa, further filling in what precious little open space remains at the city-owned general aviation site. Mesa Hangars LLC Manager Randy Hansen, who has lived in northeast Mesa for 35 years, is the primary investor in the development. He owns and hangars his own plane at Falcon and is especially taken with one of the new tenants … one he never imagined seeing at the one-time WWII pilot training installation. “It’s a start-up rocket venture that’s building components for a rocket company in Tucson,” Hansen chuckled. “We’re buildin’ rockets over here! Who would have ever thought at Falcon Field that we are building rockets to launch satellites?”
see FALCON page 8
Falcon Field Airport Director Corinne Nystrom is overseeing a mammoth expansion of the historic Mesa site, which is quickly becoming a major economic engine for the city. (David Minton/Tribune Staff Photographer)
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