A proposed mixed-use development could bring a hotel and convention center, restaurants and high-end shops to east Mesa. Property owner Nelson Stewart is planning an open-air shopping center and offices on 170 acres at the northeast corner of Elliot and Hawes roads on the Santan Freeway's west side.
Still in its conceptual stages, Stewart's master plan for the land was approved by the city's Planning and Zoning Board on Thursday evening - despite protests from more than a dozen neighbors.
There will be many battles before a specific plan is ultimately approved, said Alex Finter, a planning and zoning board member. But Mesa has struggled for years to get high-end commercial, Finter said.
The upscale development would likely be similar to Kierland Commons, a mixed-use shopping and urban living center near the Scottsdale-Phoenix border, said Harold Decker, a senior economic development specialist with the city.
"Now (shoppers) drive to Scottsdale or Chandler or Tempe to go to these higherend stores," Decker said.
The development, called Gateway Super Regional Center, would bring attention to the south East Valley, he said.
Project plans also include offices, a gourmet grocery store, health club and entertainment venue, city planning documents show.
Situated near U.S. 60 and Loop 202, the site is in a good location to serve a larger, regional market, city Planning Director John Wesley said.
That land is vital to the development of southeast Mesa, said local land use attorney Ralph Pew, representing Stewart.
"It is really an opportunity to bring to the community something new and something different," Pew said.
With roughly 600,000 square feet of planned office space, it would become a major employment hub for the community, he said.
But resident Tom Pielach doesn't see the need for another shopping center in the area.
"We're being inundated by shopping centers," said Pielach, homeowners association president of the nearby Eastridge subdivision.
Many homeowners are also up in arms about the proposed hotel, which would sit on the property's northern edge near homes, he said.
"People are going to be looking down into our yard," Pielach said. "That's a big concern."
At Thursday's meeting, many neighbors also voiced concerns over the loss of open space.
"It just breaks my heart and saddens me," neighbor Merie Kammerer said.
"We just wanted to live where we had a little bit of room." The city's planning department is recommending the hotel be built at the site's southern end, closer to the freeway and away from homes. Stewart is planning to have the project completed within five years, Decker said. With the center still in initial planning stages, the earliest construction work could start would be in six months to a year, he said. The project will be considered by the City Council next month.
