在过去的几年中，熙熙phoenix的梅萨郊区吸引了各种各样的新建筑项目，将这座以前的卧室社区变成了一个蓬勃发展的就业奇迹，拥有数十家大牌公司搬到城镇。新利18备用网址大部分增长是由于梅萨经济发展办公室（OED）经常进行的幕后计划和协调，该办公室在战略上致力于使关键要素保持一致，从而为开发带来有吸引力的环境。

Although not a traditional developer, the Mesa OED does what most municipal economic development organizations do: It works to stimulate business in the area; brings in new projects, companies and jobs; and targets diverse industries.

Last year the OED far surpassed even its own ambitious goals for new initiatives. The organization aimed to bring 32 new companies into the area and attracted 46; its capital investment goal was $400 million, it achieved $1.25 billion; and while the organization’s new business square footage goal was 400,000 sq ft, the actual amount produced was 3.7 million sq ft, according to the OED’s annual report.

A few of the Mesa projects that made news in 2020-21 include the Facebook (Meta) data center ($800 million); CMC Steel Micro Mill, a “green steel” production facility ($300 million); Legacy Sports Complex ($250 million); Google data center ($250 million); Banner Health Medical Center Women’s Health Tower ($75 million); NTT data center ($70 million); Mesa Gateway Spec Warehouse ($70 million); and the Comarch data center ($20 million). While these projects have different owners, contractors and design teams, all of them were brought to the area by the team at Mesa OED.

明确的设计指南和简化的分区过程使整个城市的主要就业走廊都可以进行开发友好的条件。
Map courtesy of City of Mesa
*Click on the map for greater detail

Planning Prowess

“Mesa is a hotbed for development,” says Bill Jabjiniak, OED director. He says that ample power, water, natural gas, fiber-optic and market access, along with a talented and well-educated workforce, all have played a role in bringing new companies to the city. Mesa’s proximity to two airports—Phoenix Sky Harbor and Phoenix-Mesa Gateway—also make it easily accessible.

Jabjiniak credits Mesa’s development-friendly environment to the city’s founders, “whose foresight for infrastructure development has made the area extremely attractive today,” he says.

“Without [the infrastructure in place], companies can’t afford to build,” says Kevin Thompson, council member for District 6. “If they also have to put in millions of dollars of infrastructure, it makes it hard on them.”

Mesa has established clear design guidelines to make the development process easier. “The city has been very proactive in trying to cut entitlement risk, and a zoning overlay creates a streamlined process. Instead of six months, we’re doing zoning approvals in six weeks,” Jabjiniak says.

“Instead of having to go through council to get approvals, the OED gave the planning and zoning services director the ability to give approval, shortening the timeframe. Time is money, so the longer it takes a company to go vertical, the more it’s costing them,” Thompson adds. “Prior to that, it was a soup du jour for what was approved, and developers were unsure of what that was. This [streamlining] gives the developers confidence to come to Mesa.”

“Every project coming in wants to be approved tomorrow,” adds Nana Appiah, Mesa development services director. “We are doing everything possible to meet timelines, and [this takes] good coordination between our development services department and [the OED]. We team up quickly to provide a response.”

In the three years Appiah has been in his current position (he was previously the city’s planning director), he has identified ways for the city to streamline meetings and restructure many processes, including, for example, moving the application intake from once a month to twice a month.

“A great working relationship with city council also provides a unified front that removes ambiguity and confusion,” Appiah says.

“The OED office is a phenomenal group. We could not do the things we’re doing as a city without them—they are the forward-facing marketing arm that brings these businesses to fruition,” Thompson says.

电麦卡纳的装配设施and state-of-the-art engineering technical center is expected to create up to 500 high-tech, high-wage jobs.
图片由电气机是

Gateway District

贾比尼亚克说：“我们的每个就业走廊都会创造机会。”例如，位于Mesa Gateway地区东北部的Elliot Road Technology走廊由Google，Facebook和Apple的200亿美元全球指挥中心锚定。它还设有1000多英亩的铲子就绪地点，位于苹果校园对面的水处理厂附近，而不是巧合的是。

“Gateway is probably the biggest story in Mesa,” notes Mayor John Giles. “We’ve been told this is the most successful example of adapting a closed military base in the country. It has been a rewarding, overnight sensation decades in the making.”

Giles served as a member of the Mesa City Council just after the Air Force handed the keys for its closed base to the city. “When we inherited the land from the Air Force 25 years ago, it was in the middle of nowhere, just cactus, rattlesnakes. Since then, we have extended a lot of city infrastructure—bringing roads, water treatment plants and massive electricity to those facilities. Our role is to accommodate the transportation and utility infrastructure. If we build it, they will come,” Giles says.

The addition of a rail spur will provide access for the area’s heavy industrial firms as well as supply-chain providers for the chip manufacturers.

其他备受瞩目新利18备用网址设施和工程技术中心预计将创造多达500个高科技高薪工作。

ASU @ Mesa City Center will anchor Mesa’s re-imagined downtown area.
Image courtesy of City of Mesa

Downtown Renaissance

Downtown Mesa also is experiencing a transformation. With the introduction of light rail service within the last six years and redevelopment of its historic core, the area is being reimagined as a regional district for education, culture and innovation.

Arizona State University, in partnership with the city, is building the ASU @ Mesa City Center, a 118,000-sq-ft, state-of-the-art academic building seven miles from the school’s main campus in Tempe.

“This was absolutely one of the key puzzle pieces—innovation districts need to be anchored by an institution, corporate headquarters or research hospital—and we’re happy ASU is playing that role in our downtown,” Giles says.

The ASU center will house programs offered by the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts related to digital and sensory technology, experiential design, gaming, media arts, film production and entrepreneurial development and support. The city also is contributing $65 million to what will be the home of the Sidney Poitier New American Film School located next to the light rail station.

“Downtown Mesa still has a lot left to do,” Giles adds. “You’ll see more urban-style housing along the light rail corridor, and that will add to the vibrancy of downtown as well.”

Other new downtown projects include the Mesa Arts District Lofts, a 10-acre, four-story development that features 335 residential units and retail; ECO Mesa, with 102 apartment units and 4,000 sq ft of retail; and The Grove on Main, which includes 259 apartments and 42 townhomes.

在城市的其他地区，猎鹰区的波音155,000平方英尺的制造中心几乎完整了，横幅沙漠医疗中心的扩张提供了148,000平方英尺的新空间和102,000平方英尺的装修空间。

Full Steam Ahead

“Our forecast for the next couple of years is full steam ahead,” Jabjiniak says. “The west side of the city is positioned for redevelopment, while the east side is wide open, having never been developed before. The industrial market will keep growing and the office market will make a comeback—we’re already starting to see the signs of it coming back to life—and you will see more development opportunities coming along.”

“From Mayor Giles to the current council, they’re all in alignment and have a development services group that rises to the occasion,” says James Murphy, CEO of Willmeng Construction Inc., the contractor building ElectraMeccanica and several other Mesa projects.

墨菲说：“在获得正确使用项目的支持和致力于项目速度之间，梅萨在十年的大部分时间里一直是一个积新利18备用网址极的异常值。”“这一市长和市议会的一致性导致实现了过去三年来一直表现出来的伟大事物。”