By Connor Van Ligten
Mail

A planned multibillion dollar, 200-acre mixed-use development promises to brings an urban oasis to southeast Mesa near Queen Creek and Gilbert, developer Vestar announced Monday.

Legacy Park is being built through a partnership between Vestar and landowner Pacific Proving LLC.

"Strategically located at the convergence of Mesa, Gilbert and Queen Creek, within the city of Mesa, Legacy Park will introduce a dynamic urban core featuring lifestyle retail, luxury residences, Class A office, lush parks and recreation, and world-class hospitality, redefining sophisticated and high-quality mixed-use developments in Arizona," according to a press release from Vestar.

At full build-out, Legacy Park will include:

• 300,000 square feet of upscale retail and sit-down restaurants with a size and design  comparable to the Scottsdale Quarter.
• 2,500 multifamily residences
• A 600-room resort hotel
• 3.4 million square feet of mid-rise office and corporate campus space
• A more than 20-acre  urban park that will have a large lake

The resort hotel will be managed by The Athens Group, a developer behind properties for Four Seasons, Montage and Marriott, including Ritz-Carlton resorts.

"This development will set a new benchmark for retail, hospitality and mixed-use living in Arizona,” David Larcher, president and CEO of Vestar, stated in the release. 

The project will be built near Mesa Gateway Airport and will be accessible via the new State Route 24 at Williams Field Road.

Vestar claims Legacy Park will become the largest mixed-use development East Valley history.

Over the next 20 years, the project is projected to “generate approximately $56 billion in economic output, create more than 20,000 jobs and contribute significant tax revenues that will support city of Mesa services, including police, fire, parks, airport and other vital quality-of-life infrastructure,” the release continued.

Legacy Park is expected to break ground in 2027.

“It will be a transformative project not just for Mesa but the entire East Valley. It checks so many boxes,” said Mesa Economic Development Director Jaye O’Donnell. “It offers elevated hospitality, restaurants, retail, residential. It really is a true mixed-use integration of entertainment, residential, office and more.”

O’Donnell said the project will also have a great economic impact on the surrounding area, especially with its close vicinity to both Mesa Gateway Airport and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

“Based on where the population growth is happening and where industry is going, this is a premier location right off (State Route) 24 with access to get to the resort, to get to retail, entertainment, even offices,” O’Donnell said. “It will take just minutes to get there from Sky Harbor, central Phoenix and even North Scottsdale. Plus, you have stunning views of the Superstitions and Red Mountains.”

O’Donnell said the project will be built in phases.

“Just having one phase of Legacy Park built out will enable Mesa to catch up not just from an elevated retail and hospitality perspective, but it really ensures that we’re leapfrogging over our neighboring communities,” O’Donnell said. “This will not only be a point of pride for Mesa but for the entire state.”

Janet Perez contributed to this report.