As Chair of the City of Mesa Economic Development Advisory Board, I am incredibly proud of all that the Mesa Office of Economic Development and the City have accomplished this year.
All these achievements show the incredible changes that are happening in Mesa. This exciting growth will continue to help to attract more businesses, better paying jobs, and more amenities — which in turn will help to raise our property values!
Here were some of Mesa’s high-profile achievements in 2019. We can’t wait to see what 2020 will bring!
JANUARY: The City of Mesa selected the contractor to build ASU @ Mesa City Center, a five-story, 118,000 square-foot academic building, as well as The Plaza @ Mesa City Center, a two to three acre gathering place in Downtown Mesa. Titan Solar, named the nation’s largest rooftop solar contractor by Solar World, opened its 36,000-square-foot corporate headquarters, newly relocated in West Mesa.
MARCH: Waymo announced a large expansion of its driverless car operations with a new 85,000-square-foot Technical Service Center in Mesa. Myndshft, a technology company specializing in blockchain and artificial intelligence in healthcare, announced it plans to quadruple its team from 28 to more than 100 employees and relocate to a new 11,000-square-foot office in the Mesa’s Falcon District. Fujifilm Electronic Materials broke ground on an 85,000-square-foot space, adding 60 new employees and five new buildings, significantly expanding manufacturing, warehousing, R&D laboratory, and office space.
APRIL: Print.Save.Repeat. located two warehouses and manufacturing facilities for a total 65,000 square feet in Mesa’s Gateway area.
MAY: Mesa-grown Aqua-Tots, the world’s largest swim school franchise with 100 locations in 14 countries on three continents, broke ground on its new 12,000-square-foot headquarters facility. CMC Steel opened its 63,000-square-foot expansion at its Mesa micro mill and a new Residence Inn by Marriott opened its doors, both in Southeast Mesa. And, Potato Barn located its 100,000-square-foot store in Mesa’s Gateway area.
JUNE: The Landing at PMG, a 281,000-square-foot Class A industrial subdivision, opened in Mesa’s Gateway area and announced its first three tenants, Collabtech Group, Huesman Brothers Door and Custom Molding, and Russell-Sigler Inc. Nearby, Times Microwave Systems expanded its Mesa manufacturing facility to 62,000 square feet, an increase of more than five times its original size.
JULY: Google announced its intention to acquire 187 acres to build a future data center campus in Mesa’s Elliot Road Technology Corridor. AT&T opened a new 97,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art customer call center that will employ more than 500 people in West Mesa.
AUGUST: CAVU Aerospace announced it will locate an 80,000-square-foot maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) at the Landing at PMG, hiring 75 employees, again in Mesa’s Gateway area.
SEPTEMBER: CenturyLink announced a major expansion of its network infrastructure in Mesa’s Gateway area to support the growing commercial, industrial, and residential development. The Mesa Office of Economic Development launched efforts to develop a brand for Mesa’s growing Asian district. Marwest Enterprises announced Landing 202, a 605,000-square-foot Class A industrial development, on 45 acres just north of Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport.
Able Aerospace, a Textron company, celebrated the opening of a $9 million, 60,000-square-foot expansion of its existing 200,000-square-foot headquarters and MRO campus at the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. The expansion will create 100 new jobs.
OCTOBER: SkyBridge Arizona, the nation’s first and only joint U.S. and Mexican customs hub, broke ground on the first two buildings in its 360-acre, master-planned industrial development located at the southwest end of the runway at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. Home2 Suites by Hilton broke ground on a four-story, 111-room hotel in the Falcon District. Ground was broken on the first building of the 1.35 million-square-foot Union, a Class A office campus located in Mesa’s Riverview District next to the Chicago Cubs spring training facility. Raging Wire received City planning and zoning approval to construct a 1.5-million-square-foot, seven-building data center campus in Mesa’s Elliot Road Technology Corridor.
North Carolina-based insulation manufacturer Greenfiber announced it will be locating a 74,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in Mesa’s Gateway area. And, Nammo, an international aerospace and defense company headquartered in Norway, announced it will replace its current U.S. organization of several smaller units with a new, consolidated defense manufacturing company called Nammo Defense Systems, which will be based in Mesa’s Falcon District. Nammo will invest nearly $20 million into the Mesa facilities.
NOVEMBER: Urbix Resources, a graduate of our LaunchPoint accelerator program, opened a 31,000-square-foot headquarters and state-of-the-art graphite processing facility in Mesa’s Falcon District, with the expectations of creating as many as 100 jobs. FatCats opened its new 64,000-square-foot entertainment complex in the Falcon District.
ADDITIONAL ACCOLADES MESA RECEIVED IN 2019
- Mesa received the national award for Digital Government Excellence from The Center for Digital Government.
- Mesa was ranked one of the Best-Run Cities in America by Wallethub.
- Mesa was ranked a Top 10 Mid-Sized American City of the Future for Connectivity by fDi Intelligence.
- Mesa was named one of the Best Large U.S. Cities to Live in by Wallethub.
- Mesa was ranked number five in Job Growth by CityLab, a digital magazine that focuses on innovation and pressing issues facing today’s global cities and neighborhoods.
- Niche ranked Mesa number seven among the Best Suburbs for Millennials in Arizona.
- Mesa was named a Top 10 City for Startups by Commercial Café.
- Mesa won the Diversity Award from the National League of Cities.
- Mesa’s Gateway Airport was named Airport of the Year by the Arizona Department of Transportation.
- Mesa became the first-ever Autism Certified City in the U.S.
Natascha is a graduate of Princeton University and the Chairwoman of the City of Mesa Economic Development Advisory Board. You can reach her at (602) 909-4995, or visit www.KORproperties.com.
KOR Properties is a boutique real estate brokerage serving the Valley of the Sun, and the creator and founding sponsor of Mesa Food Truck Fridays.