Fiesta Mall/Mesa
While recent reports have zeroed in on Fiesta Mall as a new possibility, the reality is that the possibility has existed for well over a year. When the Coyotes hired Gutierrez two years ago, he made it clear that his top priority was to find an arena solution. That meant exploring all available options in the Valley.
When the Coyotes decided that a longstanding dump site along the south bank of the Salt River in Tempe was the best choice, they turned all of their focus and messaging to that site, but early in that process, Gutierrez admitted that any sound business plan would also include backup options. The Coyotes kept those options close to the vest with only the upper levels of the organization aware of the possibilities. Gutierrez didn’t want any distractions and he didn’t want the City of Tempe to think that the franchise’s commitment was anything less than 100 percent.
Once one of the Valley’s key retail centers, Fiesta Mall closed in 2018. The entire area near Mesa Community College and the Banner Desert Medical Center
is ripe for redevelopment. Verde Investments owns the land. In what is likely more than a coincidence, the chairman, president and founder of Verde Investments is Carvana CEO and co-founder Ernie Garcia, who also held an option on the land that the Coyotes tried to develop in Tempe.
Critics of this particular site contend that it is no better than the Coyotes’ problematic location in Glendale. Both sites are about 17 to 18 miles from the core of downtown Phoenix. The comparison isn’t entirely fair, however. A
detailed report six years ago found that the vast majority of the Coyotes premium season-ticket and suite holders live on the east side of town, and Gutierrez confirmed that is still the case, with a significant number of those coming from the Southeast Valley communities of Chandler and Gilbert. Fiesta Mall would clearly be much closer to that fan base than Glendale. And while the location would prove challenging for north Scottsdale residents, it is, on average, about 10-15 miles closer than the Glendale arena.
While Fiesta Mall is about 11 miles to the southeast from the proposed Tempe site, there are other privately owned parcels available in Mesa along the Loop 202 Red Mountain freeway, and in other municipalities, which are closer to the original Tempe site.
Mesa Mayor John Giles told
The Arizona Republic that he doesn’t foresee a scenario where a public vote would be necessary on privately owned parcels in Mesa because it would be a private development, but it’s not entirely clear how the deal would have to be structured to avoid that public vote.
Here is what the
Mesa city charter says.
