Tempe residents will vote in May on the Tempe Entertainment District project now that petition signatures have been verified for each of three referendum items.

The vote is set for Tuesday, May 16, after the Maricopa County Recorder and Tempe City Clerk gave the OK.

Bluebird Development, the affiliate for the Merulo Group and Arizona Coyotes, collected more than the needed minimum of 2,134 petition signatures for each of three questions to refer the project to the ballot, Tempe officials said Tuesday, Dec. 27.

If voters approve, the 46-acre project would be built with a planned Arizona Coyotes hockey arena, hotels, multi-family residential, retail and more.

The developer will use largely private funding to build the 4-million-square-foot development and, according to the agreement, will pay Tempe $50.3 million for the land.

That includes $40 million in non-refundable cash upfront before environmental remediation of the land, Tempe officials said.

Project details are available at tempe.gov/TempeEntertainmentDistrict.
 
Pro/con arguments for inclusion in the publicity pamphlet mailed to Tempe voters will be accepted beginning Friday, Jan. 13, and they must be submitted to the Tempe City Clerk by 5 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 15.

Details will be posted to tempe.gov/election.

Tempe residents who want to vote on the issue must be registered to do so by Monday, April 17.