Over the years, the City of Mesa implemented economic development strategies for every part of the city with a shared theme to create new high-paying jobs by attracting new companies to set up operations in Mesa and existing ones to expand, which will in turn spur housing and multifamily projects that will lead to more retail, hospitality and recreational demand.  

City of Mesa Economic Development Director Bill Jabjiniak says, while the four corners of Mesa — Falcon District, Gateway Area, Fiesta District and the Riverview Area — and Downtown Mesa all have strategic economic development plans, each area’s strategies differ based on its respective strengths, demographics, amenities and needs.  

For instance, he explains, several years ago, the city noticed the Falcon Field District was strictly focused on general aviation, but industry growth sectors were in other areas like technology, medical devices and commercial aerospace. 

So, they began asking themselves, “How do you meet the demands for users in those sectors?” 

This strategy is visible across the city. Overall, Jabjiniak says, “Our economic development strategies are paying off.”  

Falcon District

Located south of the Loop 202 between Greenfield and Power roads, various new speculative developments are priming the area for numerous aerospace, technology and advanced manufacturing opportunities, Jabjiniak says.  

Falcon Tech Center: a 63-acre development anticipated to be a multi-tenant, mini-campus for medical, bio-med, medical device and technology industries. 

Longbow Gateway One: a 150,000 SF speculative industrial facility designed to attract aerospace and defense businesses broke ground in August and is expected to have at least 175 employees once fully leased.  

Falcon Field Business Center: a 96,000 SF speculative industrial facility designed to attract manufacturing and distribution users broke ground in November.  

Falcon Commerce Park: the proposed three building, 125,000 SF industrial park, includes a 73,000 SF multi-tenant industrial building, and two freestanding 26,000 SF industrial buildings. 

Gateway Area

With 14,000 acres of developable land, the area offers numerous build-to-suit options near the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, explains Jabjiniak. 

Elliot Road Technology Corridor: power, land, water, natural gas, fiber, market access, quick entitlement process and a Foreign Trade Zone makes this an ideal fit to meet every high-tech manufacturers’ need.  

Niagara Bottling: The largest, private-label bottled water supplier in the U.S. is building a $76 million, 450,000 SF manufacturing and bottling plant that will create 45-55 new jobs.  

SkyBridge Arizona: a first-of-its-kind, $230 million joint United States-Mexico Customs inspections facility, to be located on 360-acres at the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, which will bring tens of thousands of new jobs.  

Fiesta District

Located in West Mesa, the redevelopment area was designated by the City Council as in need of revitalization and has since been boosted by $400 million in public and private investment over the last few years.  

Fiesta Mall: the 926,000 SF shuttered mall will be transformed into the Fiesta Corporate Campus through an adaptive reuse project to convert its retail space into Class A office space for potentially 2,000 employees.  

Mesa Riverview Area

Located at the intersection of Loop 101 and 202, the 250-acre master-planned, mixed-use project boasts over 1.3-million SF of retail, says Jabjiniak.  

Waypoint: its four Class A office buildings, totaling 425,000 SF, makes it a great location for Class A office space and other back office operations.