In the wake of an election seeing the voters of Tempe rejecting the proposed construction of a $2.1 billion arena and entertainment district for the Arizona Coyotes hockey team, efforts are underway to build another facility in nearby Mesa.
By margins of better than 12%, Tempe voters rejected three separate referendum questions, all of which were related to building a 16,000-seat area and entertainment district that would include the construction of at least two hotels, space for a series of restaurants, a retail center, and medical office campus.
In the wake of the election’s results, Xavier Gutierrez, chief executive officer of the Coyotes, remarked that “what is next for the franchise will be evaluated by our owner and the National Hockey League over the coming weeks.”
But before any final decision is made, John Giles, the Mayor of Mesa, has suggested that the team should think of moving to his city. Giles noted the availability of private land in Mesa, in particular the site of the former 80-acre Fiesta Mall which was shuttered in 2019 and remains vacant.
Opened in 1979, the mall did a thriving business for decades until the establishment of several other regional shopping centers in the late 1990s and 2001, which lead to the eventual exit of a number of tenants at the Fiesta.
In a statement in response to speculation that the Coyotes might build a new facility at the Fiesta Mall site, the City of Mesa said it was looking forward to working on proposals that would “bring diverse uses to the Fiesta Mall site.”
Because the Fiesta Mall property is privately owned, it is thought that it would not require a public vote to approve construction of a new Coyotes arena.
By Garry Boulard
