Developers begin demolition of Fiesta Mall in west Mesa
It was the beginning of the end for Fiesta Mall on Monday, as developers began the demolition of the 80-acre site, in preparation for redeveloping the area.
It could take more than a week to fully raze the shuttered mall, said David Leibowitz, a spokesperson for Verde Investments, Inc. The former mall, along Alma School Road and Southern Avenue, has sat vacant since it closed to the public in 2020.
The old Macy's entrance and the two-floor Dillard's parking lot are among the first to be torn down. The sounds of collapsing sheet metal and concrete filled the parking that was the east Valley's go-to destination spot 40 years ago.
Several residents strolled by to watch the demolition from their cars in the record-setting summer heat to get a final glimpse of the mall.
Jim Clark was one. He and his wife have been Mesa residents since 1983 and he remembers the days when the mall was crowded. "When we came here it was really busy. On the weekends, it was elbow-to-elbow inside," Clark said.
When Clark and his wife retired, they would walk every morning inside the mall and even when it was shuttered would wake up at 5 a.m. and walk around the outside to get in their daily exercise. "It's sad to see it go," Clark said.
Verde Investments, the site owner, submitted preliminary plans to the city in March to develop a master plan that could make way for multi-family housing, office space, and commercial and open spaces. The initial plans could bring more than 4,000 housing units.
The developers are working with the architect firm Nelsen Partners, which is working on the redevelopment of Paradise Valley Mall, to design the Fiesta Mall replacement project.
No formal plans have been submitted to the city at this time, a city spokesperson confirmed.
“Though it’s early in terms of what comes next, we know this much for certain: We cannot wait to envision and build a new gem for the Valley, a high quality development that combines multifamily housing and a range of commercial options at one of the best locations in metro Phoenix," Leibowitz said.
Speculation that the site could be a top location for the Arizona Coyotes' new stadium has been floated by city leaders and developers, after Tempe voters rejected the team's plan.
Fiesta Mall through the years
The shopping mall was opened in 1979 and was a retail giant in the east Valley, but as time went on, the shopping center faced difficulties.
Following the economic downturn of the Great Recession, there were 20 vacant spaces in the 1.2-million-square-foot shopping mall in 2009. Over the years with a fractured ownership, several ideas of how to revitalize the mall were pitched, including using it as a health and medical education campus.
Now with one owner, the property is a step closer to seeing new life. “For a long time, Fiesta Mall was a gem in the East Valley, which makes today bittersweet,” said Leibowitz.
Reporter Maritza Dominguez covers Mesa and Gilbert and can be reached at maritza.dominguez@arizonarepublic.com or 480-271-0646. Follow her on Twitter @maritzacdom.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Fiesta Mall demolition begins in Mesa: What we know
