Recker & Thomas
Blandford Homes was the winning bidder in a recent land auction for a parcel of city-owned land at Recker and Thomas. The City originally purchased the land for $4 million in 1998 intending to use it for a regional park that would have included lighted fields and parking lots. Area residents opposed a large park and voters twice rejected bonds to build the park so it was never developed. In the remaining years, in the interest of neighboring Red Mountain Ranch, the City protected the land from industrial use. Developers began showing interest in the land for residential use. An appraisal was ordered that originally included portions of the parcel that were not for sale and that assumed high density residential use (apartments) on the land versus the traditional residential use appropriate for the area. The appraisal was redone and came back at $15 million. Blandford Homes purchased the land for over $21 million, well above the appraisal price and at a $17 million profit for the City. They plan to build an upscale housing development and a portion of the parcel will remain undeveloped as a public nature trail. Additionally, the developer will make improvements to the existing neighborhood park.
Hawes Crossing/Inner Loop
In 2016 dairy farmers near Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport approached the city about annexation so that they could sell their land and relocate the aging dairies. They proposed a master planned community that would compliment the growing tech industry in the area and the equally fast-growing residential needs. https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/mesa/2017/10/21/east-valleys-last-dairy-farmers-look-develop-860-acres-leave-area/773188001/
Over the next four years, the project became a collaboration of 17 family landowners, 52 individual stakeholders and the state land department. The group worked closely with the City staff, airport and City Council on over 29 different iterations of the master plan to come up with a suitable mix of industrial, commercial and residential uses that protected the thriving airport and tech industry in the area. The annexation was approved in April 2020. https://www.eastvalleytribune.com/news/hawes-crossing-finally-passes-mesa-city-council/article_f31a0172-867a-11ea-afcc-b7f6c3135a2d.html