Fiesta Mall in Mesa Sold for $30 Million Rehab

MESA, Arizona — The beleaguered Fiesta Mall located at 1445 W Southern Ave, Mesa, AZ at U.S. 60 and Alma School Road changed hands to a local Developer with plans to immediately design the Mall into a “Campus”.

According to public records, the property had an $83 million CMBS loan, that has been in the hands of special servicer LNR Partners Inc. for the past four years. The buyer paid $6.72 million ($21 PSF) and plans to invest up to an additional $30 million in the project.

The sale includes only the enclosed mall, surrounding parking areas and three nearby leased retail pads, totaling 318,495-square-feet. The property is currently less than 10 percent occupied.

Originally developed by the Homart Development Company in 1979, Fiesta Mall was previously anchored by four department stores. A Dillard’s clearance center and Sears remain as the mall’s only major tenants but were not part of the current sale.

The new Owners, Dimension Financial & Realty Investments, Inc. (“DFRI”) and its Principals, Jerry Tokoph and Wayne Howard, have developed many substantial projects throughout Metropolitan Phoenix.  These include the redevelopment of the Honeywell/Bull 160-acre mixed-use facility at I-17 and Thunderbird which now houses Fry’s Electronics, Best Buy and Lowe’s Home Improvement along with hundreds of residences and over a million square feet of offices leased to diversified national and local tenants.  Additionally, Mr. Tokoph acquired the former Revlon manufacturing facility with over 75 acres of land and redeveloped 700,000 square feet of flex/office and mixed industrial facilities.  Mesa Mayor, John Giles, said, “Fiesta Mall is the in the heart of the Fiesta District and I am excited to welcome DFRI to the team of developers working to revitalize one of Mesa’s greatest assets”.

Glenn Smigiel, Bob Young, Steve Brabant and Rick Abraham with CBRE’s Phoenix office and George Good with CBRE’s Chicago office represented the seller in the transaction.

Cashen Realty Advisors represented DFRI and Ray Cashen will spearhead marketing of the “Campus”.  He indicated the Property is ideally located in the epicenter of the Phoenix Metropolitan Area.  It is 15 minutes from Sky Harbor Airport, has over one million residents within a 10-mile radius, 10 minutes from Arizona State University, served by all transportation modes including light rail, bus and minutes from the 101 and 202 Freeways which connect to all the neighboring communities.  The Property is in close proximity to the Mesa technology boom area with firms like Apple, Intel, Boeing and Fujifilm minutes away.  The “Campus” contains over 1.2 million square feet including the Mesa Fiesta Corporate Center situated immediately to the east of the Mall, and currently owned by the Principals, which will be bridged into the Mall and become part of the main “Campus”.

Brad Smidt, Senior Vice President of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council said, “This will be an exciting adaptive reuse development and of great interest to corporate users looking to locate in Greater Phoenix.  We look forward to working with the Owners and the City of Mesa on this development”.  The “Campus” will showplace an innovative facility for those who desire a state-of-the-art environment to commingle with their peers.  The “Campus” will be a vibrant community within itself, day and night, with all the amenities one would ever need.  The primary focus will be on health and education with numerous areas designed for medical learning centers and colleges specializing in business, economics, engineering, global communications, law, nursing and liberal arts.

It is anticipated the “Campus” may build specially designed housing and provide eating and entertainment venues located in key areas.  These will also serve the offices, health club and a futuristic sanctuary that will cater to the entire community along with relaxing coffee, yogurt and specialty shops in internet-friendly gathering spaces and a German-style beer garden/sports venue for all to enjoy.

For additional information, contact Ray Cashen at 602-393-4447 or by email at raycashen@gmail.com.