It's August 28th.

We're just a few days away from September.

My gosh, it's uh gone pretty quick.

All of our counselors present, Mr.

Adams is unable to attend and excuse.

We'll start out this morning for a presentation on 1A about the proposed agreements for the Cul de Sac development for the city owned property on the Southwest Corner of University of Mesa Drive.

This has been many years in the coming.

Are we using decades?

Almost half a century.

I don't remember the history about when it started, but it's been quite an uh evolution and iteration about what's been happening there.

So that we have uh Jeff, Jimmy, and Ryan.

Good morning, Mayor and Council.

We are pleased to be here today to be able to present to you the final agreements with Cal de Sac.

Um again, Jeff McVay, manager of urban transformation.

With me is Jimmy Tracchio, Dante Transformation Project Manager, and Ryan Johnson, the cul-de-sac CEO and co-founder.

You'll hear some more from Ryan pretty soon, and he can introduce his team as well.

Um you were mentioning the there's a long history here.

Um, and I will only um remind you of the background as it relates to our current arrangement with Cal de Sac versus the full history of the site.

But this started about October 2023 when we did a request for proposals and we selected Cal de Sac from that process.

Um our goal has always been to create a new vibrant neighborhood that supports our downtown, but also supports and is complementary to the neighborhood of surrounding it.

Both the city and cul-de-sac have completed appraisals uh about a year ago.

Um, those are there for reference.

We will talk about purchase price later in the in the agreement or in the presentation.

Um as a reminder, council did approve uh an MOU with Cul-de-Sec back in April 2024, and that is currently still in effect until September 15th.

And we think that uh with the council agenda September 8th, we we're gonna make it just in time.

Um, and then so with that, I'm gonna hand it over to Ryan, and Ryan's gonna give you an overview of Cal de Sac and their proposal for the for the site.

All right, do I use these buttons?

Yeah.

All right.

Uh greetings, Mayor and Council.

Let's jump in.

So the our slides haven't changed much.

One thing that's changed since we met in March is that the number of Waymo rides has doubled.

And so the transportation trends are moving quickly.

Uh it's the real estate that typically moves more slowly, and we're so excited to build something wonderful here in Mesa.

At Cul-de-Sac, for those I'll present it as if it's brand new.

At Cul-de-Sac, we build walkable mixed-use neighborhoods designed for a culture of belonging, transportation freedom, and thriving local retail.

And we've got a team with decades of experience.

I've got James and Aaron with me today in the back.

And uh we've our first project is Cul-de-sac Tempe.

That's our flagship project.

We also have a couple pocket neighborhoods that are for sale in Atlanta.

We'll actually have the model homes done on those next month, so that's an exciting time for us.

Um, and then our next our next neighborhood, as we say, is Cul-de-sac Mesa.

And we're really excited for this, and we could bring something wonderful to downtown as we grow it together.

Uh, here's us getting in the Waymo in this metaphorical new chapter from here from Tempe.

Uh, this is uh a key node in Greater Phoenix uh along the light rail corridor.

And we've developed it hand in hand with the city and the community.

Uh it's also exciting to have City Manager Butler in his seat now.

And the key details of the project, it's gonna have uh a thousand residential units across the site, 25 to 50,000 retail feet of square retail square footage, and 25 to 50,000 square feet of amenity square footage.

And we've heard so much about people want a bold energetic vision that being that brings quality homeownership opportunities, uh that rights has right sized parking, uh, and that's small business support.

Uh it's it's steps away from downtown Mesa, and this is an opportunity to transform into a remarkable car light hub that's gonna have the homeownership opportunities that push sustainability, grow talent, and sets the standard as a leading neighborhood in Arizona.

Uh there's a number of things that are are this is gonna bring to the city.

Uh it'll offer strong ties enabled by homeownership.

It's gonna have quality design and great art, which Mesa already has so much of, and we can build on that.

A sustainable lifestyle style and vibrant retail that creates opportunities for new businesses to emerge.

We'll have the first phase, which will have first sale two and three bedroom townhomes that are fee simple.

They'll have a dedicated parking spot, the flexible commercial spaces that foster a sense of community, like you've seen us have a cul-de-sac tempe.

And in future phases, we'll have additional unit types and varying structures, and also phase three in particular, we'll have more time to see how the market evolves.

This is some of our influences, including desert modern and historical Spanish influences.

And this prioritizes sustainable lifestyle that creates a more comfortable and healthy neighborhood.

This is some of the retail that we have in Tempe.

We also say that we have a ladder of entrepreneurship where one retailer started with a table at all our local night market, and when that went well, they signed their first brick and mortar lease in one of our live work spaces.

And when that went well, they signed a lease in a full traditional commercial lease in a bigger space.

And they're still growing today.

This is and collectively, this this program will be built in three phases.

And then that third phase is the one in particular where we'll have where we'll have more time to see how the market evolves, might even be able to have office.

Ryan, before we get off that slide, um, the university collaboration is student housing.

Is that what it is?

Uh potentially, yeah.

Okay.

Thanks.

That was actually the end, so you called it perfectly.

All right.

So uh Mayor and Council, uh, thank you for having us here.

Um I'm gonna jump right into the deal points of uh what we've been working on.

Um since we've last met, we uh decided to move to a lease structure uh for the site with the options to purchase uh and then development agreements based on that.

Um we chose to go to a lease to give uh greater flexibility for the project, but also to give the city a level of control up until the point of sale of each each phase of the project.

Um the uh lease is gonna be for the entire 19.14 acres of the site all at one time.

It's a uh 50-year term total uh for that.

However, there will be uh the it'll be phased and uh uh three-year increments where they're able to uh purchase at that point, so it'll most likely never hit the 50 years.

Um there's for the first uh two years, there's a $15,000 flat rent on the uh the uh total site.

Um cul-de-sac will be responsible for maintaining the site at that point, so that's all weed removal, trash removal, anything else that needs to happen there.

And then uh once construction starts, it goes to a $5,000 uh annual rent as long as construction is going.

Uh if for any reason they fail to meet uh the uh uh terms of the lease, the uh rent will go to a market rate, which will be determined by an arbitrator uh slash appraisal uh for the site.

Uh also we uh do have a provision in there for before construction starts to make sure that fireworks can still be done at the site too.

So uh Jimmy, just a minute.

Mr.

Smith legal options on this, or we squared away on the legal uh components of this lease.

Yes, we've been involved in the case.

In your opinion, I mean you've been working with your staff, obviously.

Through the whole process.

No, it's um and it's a structure that we've seen in other deals, and um it's it's well it's a 50-year lease.

The reality is it's it's a much shorter lease, but you have to do a 50-year lease in order for them to finance for them to do to do the takedowns on each of the takedowns.

So don't look at sort of the 50-year lease, really look at the options to purchase and how they take it down.

It's just the lease is a vehicle for the purchase.

Got it.

Thank you.

Okay, for the uh uh the time frame, the commencement of construction.

Uh phase one will have a 24-month window.

These are outside dates too, so this is the max amount of months that they can go.

Uh 24 months to uh start the uh the public improvements for that, phase two will be 48 months, and then phase three, 72 months.

Um they will need to uh close or to begin the private improvements at least, the vertical improvements to close on each phase.

For uh completion of construction, there's also 24 month windows.

Um we have two separate days because of the way the deal's structured, but they have the public improvements which will have 24 months, and then the private improvements once those have begun also have 24 months uh to complete.

Um, with this, the city manager has the ability to extend that up to 4.5 months.

And here's a visual of kind of the the timeline of what those outside compliant dates look like.

Um remember they can move sooner uh on any phase uh as long as they meet the criteria that's laid in front of them.

Uh they've also uh have the ability to do phase two and three simultaneously as long as they can prove their financial ability and and and ability to move forward.

Jimmy, I just have one request on the second arrow that um we change that to December 26 or before uh I term out in early January.

Um anyway, just a simple request.

Just saying.

Mayor Mayor Consulate.

The site 17 development.

I'm like, no problem, we'll get it done.

And so eight years later, by the end of next year.

I just feel like a sense of accomplishment.

If I that that no problem ended up being something we're on board with that.

Okay.

Thank you.

I feel her pay.

Mayor.

Yeah, yeah.

We have our milestones.

Like this is my only one, please.

Okay.

Uh Mayor, Councilmember Duff.

Uh I I want to reiterate, these are um the outside dates um for accomplishing each of the our goals here.

Um we do know that there's gonna be probably uh close to a year just in entitlements.

Um design design to be for call this act to go into to final design, go through planning zoning entitlements and building permits.

But if there's nothing that would prevent call de sack from being able to move forward um faster than these the schedule shows, but I also kind of want to note that the the overall schedule is looking at a nine-year build out.

Uh, I think when we have come and presented to you in the past, we've talked about 10 to 15 years.

So from overall total time frame, uh we are looking at a more accelerated build out of the entire site, which I think is a positive as well.

I might still be alive by then, so that's gonna be awesome.

Are they a question there?

Um, how long has your temp be called a sack taken to build out?

You guys are in your last phase, aren't you now?

We uh yes.

Uh we also had COVID and the supply chain crisis in there.

That's awesome.

Uh but we went vertical in 2021.

We had our first residence 2023.

Okay.

And you are in phase.

There's there are three phases in that one.

Uh there we're we're about to enter the third phase.

Okay.

Yeah.

Okay.

All right.

All right.

The uh purchase options within the ground lease.

Um, in order to purchase land, they must must meet this criteria.

Um the sales depending on the zoning entitlements and subdivision plat, building permits and construction permits obtained.

Um the development agreement needs to be executed on each phase in order to sell, and then um any access and park agreements need to be executed.

Uh in addition to that, um uh the uh completed construction needs to be uh greater than the phase purchase price uh for the uh minimum improvements they're doing.

Um public improvements uh need to be accepted by the city, and uh they need to have commenced vertical construction in order to move forward with that.

Uh on option terms for phase one, uh there will be a hundred thousand dollar option payment that will go be applied towards the purchase of the land.

Um that option expires after 36 months, so they have three years to move on that.

That's from the signing of the lease.

Uh, and then uh the city manager will have the ability to extend that for up to six months if necessary.

So it's all here for just to provide a little bit of context, council as well.

Uh on an earlier slide, you saw that um that we had completely completion of construction dates for public improvements and completion of construction for private improvements.

Those are purposeful, um, and that the the sale of each fail phase is eligible to be sold once um call the sack has completed the public improvements.

So that's all their infrastructure streets, things like that.

And that would then once we sell the property, that will then allow the city to reimburse the from the land sale proceeds, and call the sack would then be able to move on to the next phase where which is the vertical construct vertical construction of the actual town home units themselves.

We we've got this structured in such a way that they are not able to close on the land until those public improvements have been completed, as well as the start of construction on the private improvements has happened.

We'll talk a little bit more about how the reimbursement happens in another slide, but I just wanted to give that context to how the the lease is structured, as Jim had said that it's really a vehicle to get to the sale of the property.

And these are the conditions so that once we once we meet those conditions, we can sell each phase.

What did you say, Jimmy?

Was another one of the the the purchase price has to be more than the other.

Oh, uh the uh the completed improvements, uh the the price of those completed improvements should be uh greater than the purchase price for that phase.

So before we'll sell the land.

Okay.

And I I'm sorry, I had a question back in about the the lease that goes to market rate, goes back up to market rate.

If that what is market rate?

Well, that'll be determined by an appraisal at that time.

Okay.

Um we'll work with an arbitrate uh arbitrator is what to do the appraisal and determine it between the two groups.

So all right, we'll continue.

Uh phase two and three, uh again, very similar terms, pretty much the same terms uh as the other, except that these ones expire 24 months uh after the closing of the previous phase.

Uh and again, they do have that ability to uh do both at the same time.

Um the uh purchase price for these phases will be adjusted based on the CPI as well.

Uh city obligations that are uh in the uh the the ground lease.

Um for phase one, uh we've agreed to reimburse 100% of the land sale proceeds towards those public improvements.

Uh when we go to phase two, it drops to 50% of the proceeds go to public improvements, and then phase three will be 35%.

And other obligations.

Uh the city will consent to re the replatting and entitlements, uh, abandonment of Wilbur Road, any other portions of right-away that need to be done to complete the project.

Um concierge service for zoning improvement entitlements.

We've already talked about this with planning and have a uh kind of timeline set up.

Um provision of impact fee offsets, uh, which we know uh we're expecting the impact fees to be finished at that point.

However, we do know council's talking about a uh connection fee um that will take previous development consideration.

So uh we are thinking about that as well.

And then um any kind of support or co-sponsoring of any applications that might support any additional uh multimobility goals that cul-de-sac has all right.

Uh so purchase price, we had uh done three appraisals or two appraisals, sorry, and uh and then uh came up with a uh combined uh average price as well.

That's how we settled on this.

For phase one, we just decided to use the city's appraisal price uh for that.

That's at 1344 uh per square foot.

Um for phase two, we took that average price, and then for phase three, we're using the cul-de-sac appraisal price uh for the purchase.

So tying it back to the the lease and the and the options.

I'm sorry to interrupt.

I'm trying to do some math, but approximately how many acres is it for the phases one, two, and three?

Phase one is uh five point five acres.

Okay, phase two and three, they haven't determined yet.

Um however, uh but what we did for this is we split uh split it in half basically so we can have an idea of what they're working with, um just kind of eyeballing it.

Um and and also adjusted it with that three percent CPI.

The CPI we're gonna use can go anywhere from two to five percent uh within that uh the the that term, but we chose three percent for this just for now.

Uh we're at yeah, and have we done this, Jim, before where uh you know what where we sell city land and a hundred percent of those proceeds go back to reimburse for um public improvements?

So I don't know if we've done it exactly like this.

Um and and the structure also was um you know we'd looked at other aspects of like construction sales tax, um, and and so frequently what you'll see is a construction sales tax or sales tax rebate.

By doing it this way, it's just simpler.

And so you um uh using the sales price and realize many times we don't own the property, so we're doing a development agreement, and we're using construction sales tax or other sales tax for for an infrastructure for for reimbursement of infrastructure.

So this allowed us some flexibility, and so we we utilize that flexibility that created simplicity within the documents and also for other legal reasons.

So uh have we ever done it?

I don't know if we've ever done it with 100%, but I believe we've done it on different percentages.

What did we do on the issue, the newest phase of construction in district six or issue?

Wasn't it something like this?

Um well a lot of you mean down a gateway, yeah.

So a lot of the infrastructure we've put and you'll see this.

A lot of times we just put the infrastructure in, and so down a gateway we've put a lot of infrastructure in.

Um, but um I know we're also working on another development agreement with them.

So uh and you see that other places too, uh, where we've just put the infrastructure in ahead of time.

Do you have any?

Yeah, and mayor council.

I just wanted to tie this back to the the prerequisites to close on a phase when Jimmy mentioned that one of them is that the the public utilities, the infrastructure improvements up to the value of the land cost had to be a prerequisite.

This is where we're tying it in.

So for phase one, um call this act would need to complete at least $3.2 million worth of public improvements, and we're talking about true public and public and um infrastructure, sewer, water, streets, things along that line, and that would be the trigger at which point then they could exercise their option and purchase the phase.

For phase two, it'd be about one point.

No fun.

We have one and three quarter million dollars to be able to be able to get to that 50% threshold.

And similarly on my down the line for phase three for 35% of that $3.46 million sale price.

I Jim, you know, I uh I'm always cautious because of the grid when we have the grid issue, and make sure legally that our city properties protected appropriately legally to make sure that if there's anything that happens, uh that you know that we have the right to uh you know take that land back and move forward in different directions if we need to.

But question for Ryan.

You haven't finished phase three in Tempe.

Have you even started it?

Uh with that, we did a replot of the land that we just uh just just completed earlier this year.

And uh we'll be moving forward with the next phase of construction.

Uh we have designs for it and hoping to break ground next year.

Well, my question is you have the capacity to do both at the same time.

Oh, yeah, absolutely.

All right.

Yeah.

Well, that's that's my concern, whether you haven't start finished uh or started phase three and temp E.

Yeah, you want to start in Mesa.

So that's where I have some personal concern on that.

And that's why I want the legal stuff to make sure that the city assets are protected.

And mayor, to that point, the it's one of the even though we we we we pivoted and went to a lease structure for for other reasons.

One of the real benefits of having the lease structure is the city will have no obligation to sell this land to call this act until they are actually performing.

They've uh you know, they've spent 3.2 million dollars already on public utilities before we will even have the obligation to sell the land.

And that'll carry forward for phase two and three as well, so that we have we we have this essentially this check-in point to ensure that they're able to move forward with the actual vertical improvements before before we are obligated to sell the land.

Okay, thank you.

And also, Mayor and Council, if I can add, is if they don't make these dates, um, and so if they do phase whatever one or two, and then they they stall out if that's the concern is we can terminate, we have the right to terminate the lease, so then we'll just keep the land.

So we we built in the ability to terminate um uh throughout throughout each phase.

So uh and really the idea of the lease is it's a vehicle for the sale.

It also allows them to be to begin construction on you know the or the public improvements without having yet purchased the property so that it facilitated facilitates the construction, otherwise they uh they have to they'll wait until they sort of that a what wait until they actually close on the purchase of the property, so it facilitates that also.

All right, thank you.

Continue on uh for the development agreements, these will go into place once the uh the land is purchased.

Uh they go into effect at closing.

Each phase will have its own DA as part of it.

Um these are uh basically to establish the commitment between the developer and the city, uh, move forward.

Um it carries forwards all the minimum improvements and compliance dates from the lease uh and includes uh uh the maintenance provisions as well.

Start looking at that uh the development agreements by phase uh for phase one.

This is the uh minimum of 140 for sale townhomes.

Um they're uh gonna be a mixture of two to three bedroom units, two and three stories, uh, with um some possible live work units in there.

Um this also includes the uh the open spaces uh for the public as well as the uh mobility hubs uh that they will have throughout the uh project uh and a minimum minimum of 140 off-street parking spaces for phase two.

Uh they start moving up in density.

This is a minimum of 250 units, uh looking at a variety of studio, variety of unit types from studios, one, two, and three bedrooms.

Um it'll be primarily rental, although if phase one, the the sales of phase one are going well, they want the ability to uh explore possibly doing more homeownership with phase two.

Um, and again, some live work units and also possible that student housing component.

Um there'll be a minimum of 10,000 square feet of commercial space as part of this one, uh, with 250 parking spaces to service the units.

And again, that public space and that mobility hub will be part of this as well.

For phase three.

Oh, sorry.

Can we um go into a little bit more depth on mobile mobility amenities?

What that's what that looks like.

Sure.

Um, my understanding of the mobility hub is it's the they have easy connections for pedestrians, biking, um, you know, uh scooters, things like that, but also uh the autonomous vehicle connection points where people can easily pick up those uh uh Waymo's or whatever they're gonna be taking, as well as drop-off, you know, food deliveries, things like that.

Um we getting pretty much all the points for that so yeah, and it'll be throughout the project as well as around it.

So all right.

And then phase three, uh, this is the densest portion of the project.

Um they're looking at 610 market rate rental units, uh, 40,000 square feet of commercial space.

So this will be the bulk of any kind of retail and uh uh amenities for residents uh will be in this this phase.

Um and then 425 parking spaces, uh a minimum of 425 for this one, and again the uh the open space and mobility hub aspects there.

Uh the overall total uh obligations, this equals the 1,000 residential units.

Uh the buildings will be a mix of two to five stories uh uh throughout the project.

Um, and then they have their minimum to the 25,000 square feet of uh commercial retail space and then 25,000 uh for the residential amenities, uh the the green spaces and open spaces and the 800 parking spaces.

Uh for public improvements, uh there will be uh park and open space available to uh the public.

The park will there will be an easement granted to the city uh for that.

Um streetscape improvements to public rights of way, um, the mobility improvements, and then uh maintenance of any enhanced right-of-way improvements they do um uh through the project, unless the they reach an agreement with the city to maintain those uh city obligations through the development agreements.

Uh for all three phases, we'll have the uh maintenance of any standard right-of-way improvements.

Uh, but then in phases two and three, uh, we'll look at reinvestment, uh, the remainder of the land sale.

So for phase two, we'll look at the 50 percent uh of the proceeds and phase three, sixty-five percent, those will go to off-site improvements.

So this would be connections into the adjacent neighborhoods, connecting to main street and the light rail uh stop, anything that could help uh get people to the project from the project and shady pathways, bike trails, things like that.

We also want to reiterate that those public off-site public improvements, so they're they have a broader um, they have a broader benefit to all of downtown rather than just to call the sack.

So this will be help improve connections from from a from just the general mobility perspective for all of downtown, not only just to call the second no questions?

But I saw some of the ones in actual all right, and our next steps.

Uh this will be for uh uh in front of the council on September 8th for the uh the vote to approve the documents.

Um if council does approve it, uh then we're ready to uh enter into the ground lease right away and uh get moving with the planning and zoning entitlements.

As soon as we sign uh as soon as we enter the ground lease, that would start the clock ticking on any option period.

So for the first phase, that means the first option period is 36 months.

Uh so they would have 36 months to be through all of the public improvements and well into construction on vertical improvements before we close on that first phase.

Okay, council questions.

Thank you, Mayor.

I was just doing some of the math on this.

Unfortunately, it's separated.

So uh slide 34 and slide's 26.

I think it's starting to add up a little bit.

So the 26 phase one, 100% of land proceeds are available to re reimburse public improvements, then 50, then 35.

If I look correctly at the slide you just showed.

Phase two is 50 percent proceeds, design construction of off-site public mobility improvements, right?

So this is where that math all comes together.

Do we do we know have an estimate with the city manager's office of what these public improvements are gonna actually cost?

Because I didn't see that in here.

Um mayor, um, councilmember, um, vice mayor uh summers.

We have we have an exhibit included in the development agreements of a list of public improvements by priority.

They include uh things like uh improvements to HIBRET between second street and main street.

We have not done cost estimating on those uh those projects yet.

That it would take some initial design before we could do that.

Our sense is that um given current current construction cost, it's not gonna go too far down that list before we have used up um uh all of the remaining land sale proceeds that is not being re reimbursed for public.

So once you once you go down that list and you hit that line, then whatever's below it is not gonna be able to be installed.

Correct.

And and and we have included a uh essentially uh a term in the development agreement that the city has no obligation to do off sites beyond what the land sale proceeds could cover from a cost perspective.

All right, and we don't have that agreement yet.

I at least I don't have it in here.

No, we're very close.

Um vice mayor, we're very close.

Uh we believe that we'll have the documents completed.

We're just finalizing the we we met with attorneys last just on Monday.

We're just finalizing the last last language of the agreements, and we should have it by next week.

Right.

So, Scott, or maybe Mike, how are we looking on because it sounds like we're a little a little fuzzy on what the math's gonna look like on the off-site improvement or the the public improvements, how are we looking from your office's perspective on their do we have those numbers?

How are we doing?

Yeah, yeah, it's not it's it's been it's an early order.

No, um mayor and vice mayor.

I I don't know if I would classify it as fuzzy.

I I would just say those that's still a work in progress that that will be, you know.

I mean, the costs are going to be what the cost are, right?

Ultimately on this, and as we're as we're working through that, we've uh we know what they can be reimbursed up to as part of this agreement and whose responsibility it is for um those improvements.

And so um that that development agreement, and Jim, please correct me if I'm missing any of that, but but that's what the development agreement will memorialize and and clarify on on that point.

So and mayor and vice mayor, if I could add, uh just to sort of talk about it on a conceptual level.

The idea is this is we're taking the money from this property and we're reinvesting it in this area.

That's the concept.

And so there's a list of certain things that we could do, um, but the idea is that we're gonna reinvest that money from this property in in this area in city uh the city uh improvements.

Um and and as far as the uh the reimbursement on the public infrastructure on the first and second, third phase.

I think it's also important to remember, although I know many of the council members remember this, and Jeff can correct me.

There's a long history with this particular piece of property.

Um but Jeff did charettes many, many years ago and work with a neighborhood and what the neighborhood wanted.

And that first phase, um if this wasn't city-owned property, that would that would come in at the um apartments and a multi-story apartment.

So the neighborhood didn't want that.

The the neighborhood wanted for sale town homes, lower density.

And that's why that that is why that's the first phase.

That is why it is town homes, is because the city owns the property and is controlling what is being built.

That's also why we're going to reimburse for public infrastructure at 100% to to incentivize uh a construction of a style and a development that is um what the adjacent neighborhood wanted of, or at least that they came out for.

And similarly, uh, this other money, the idea is to reimburse in this neighborhood for property.

That's obviously the uh the history of this, and we avoided the history of this property is the city condemned this property, and it's looked like that for that many years.

And so the city is reinvesting all this money to try to really improve this neighborhood in this area.

I'd like to add also that that it was very important to the public that um this development was also a public area.

This wasn't just a private housing where you know only if you live there you would enter.

So uh there's a lot of open space here that is publicly available, and then Col de Saka is famous for their um activation, their markets, their you know, public uh gatherings and stuff like that.

So we're gonna have a public space that is open to everybody within this development as well.

So this is really activating it and making it part of the downtown and extended part of the downtown is not like a separate development, and only if you live there you're going to be um interacting there.

So I I just want to know that that the streetscapes and the open space is part of the agreement that we made with the public that they be part of, and thus us investing in those public spaces, um, it makes sense.

No, I uh I like the project.

I like the fact that it's for sale, right?

That's that's the missing piece of when we look at our balanced housing plan to date where we're underwater is for sale, sing single family for sale project.

A lot of rental units.

I'd love to see the uh and the project you did in Tempe is fantastic.

I just want to make sure that the numbers work and we're not going into anything too fuzzy, because again, I don't have that development agreement quite yet.

We're gonna have it soon.

The public improvement reimbursements phase one is 100 percent.

So is it is it the cost of the infrastructure 100 percent or 100% of the sales proceeds?

That makes sense.

Mayor, vice mayor, uh we are the city is only obligated up to those sale proceeds.

Call Sat could spend four and a half million dollars on public infrastructure, and that that's their cost.

The city will only be obligated up to 100%.

Whatever whatever we receive back.

Yeah, feel free to do that.

That'd be great.

Okay.

I think you can think of it, Scott.

Uh correct me if I'm wrong in Jen too.

It's it's more about protecting these dollars and and their use really than um obligating us to something that um maybe more than we anticipate, really.

So essentially, we can't go and use the the these proceeds in your district.

Right, what you know what I mean.

Uh for other other uses.

So I I think it's really about protecting that's a way I don't know, Jen.

Exactly.

Yeah.

Exactly.

Just to add uh I think do in the calculations, Scott, and uh do you also analyze you know, this has been a vacant lot for years.

You know, this is gonna be under Mesa utility as well, right?

Electric and and others, so is that part of the cock calculations that we are gonna add um that those resources back into the city over time, right?

So I I think that's also helpful to look at uh as how we look at these types of developments um where there's been of course this stress and not providing any resources to the city now having this type of development uh in in downtown where we do have Mesa utilities including electric.

Um it's it's something that we also have to play look into as far as what that benefit for the city is on uh on this work that's gonna happen, so maybe that was a question or or just a comment.

No, I mean it mayor and council member Heredia, absolutely, right?

Um I mean this this land has not been activated for 40 years, you know, 40 years when you're you know, think of that perspective of this land sitting empty and being the ISOR that it has been.

And so to to have an opportunity to activate this land in a mix of uses, like you said, that um will generate activity that the city of Mesa will benefit from whether it's through sales tax, through some of their commercial and retail components of this, whether it's through the selling of utilities to um residents that will be doing that, that's that's all activity that's not happening today.

And so um, and I'd and I would just say, I mean, I think building on that point, the the opportunity, you know, we've over my 21 years here, there's been all kinds of ideas and and um perspectives on how this land should be uh developed and partnered with and everything from just putting up a for sale sign uh down you know, down to other developments that many of you have been involved in too.

And so the the idea though, as as uh the vice mayor said to activate this in a way that is intentional with the needs of the community, with um with the housing stock that we need with a great partner, uh Ryan and his team have been wonderful to work with.

This is exactly the type of vibrancy I think that we need to bring to this area, and it it really shows that you know Mesa's serious about these types of communities, this type of housing, this type of development, and being a place that helps build not just downtown, but what we're looking to see throughout um throughout the community.

So um appreciate Jim and his team working closely with Jeff and Jimmy and and everyone and Ryan and his team.

Um I I have no doubt that this is going to end well.

Jim Jim made the comment as we were starting, he said this may be the last day we ever say site 17, and so that would be a good day for Mesa if if that's if that's the case.

So I know from our standpoint we're very bullish and excited on the partnership with Cul-de-Saq on this.

Very good.

Counsel any more?

Miss Spielsbury, I haven't heard anything on parking.

And just when I thought we did discuss it, too.

Yeah, my blood pressure has been really good and now okay, go ahead.

This is I mean, obviously it's carlight.

I did the math.

I mean, you know, I I'm looking at it, don't worry, but I mean, the whole the whole point of this is to not have enough spaces for cars that we don't want there.

So yeah, anyways, I I'm okay with it on this one.

We'll see.

We'll see as it moves forward if I stay okay with it.

I think council have ever done this.

Well, I I think it shows just uh one parking space per town home.

Is that what you're assuming?

Yes.

So what if we have a problem with uh on street parking in the future for the town homes?

And I didn't hear about integration between the Wheelbury Historic Neighborhood, landscaping, you know, street widths and things uh from south to north.

Can you explain a little bit about how architecture would be important for that because the neighborhood historic, you know, they kind of enjoy where they live there.

Sure.

I have some more questions.

I'll just leave it at that.

Sure.

And I'm I'll give I'll give Ryan a chance to talk as well.

Um but mayor, we have throughout from from day one when we started the conceptual planning and design that that led to where we are today with Cal de Sac, it's always included a set of guiding principles.

And one of those major the most important of those guiding principles is how the project would transition from the Wilbur historic neighborhood.

Knowing that that is a that is a you know uh it's been there since the the early 1900s and go on.

This is a a solid neighborhood that we want to protect.

They've been a vocal, they've been vocal um and participants in our outreach.

So we've always assumed that we would have lower scale um developments similar to townhomes with a with a nice green, you know, a green buffer along second street that would provide that transition to the Wilbur Historic Neighborhood.

Those guiding principles are well uh sorry, Vice Mayor, I'm gonna say it again.

Those guiding principles are in the documents as an exhibit, and you will be able to see that.

Um but that has been um you know one of our founding uh um principles throughout and and and Cal de Sac has uh as you can see from the the initial concept that they included with their um RFP.

They've they've they've kept that in their vision as well.

It includes green space along Second Street, includes those mobility hubs, which also is a small park space.

And I think that the uh the that that is something that they want to help uh us achieve as well.

And I will just one last point on this is that as part of the offsite public improvements that the city would fund through the land sale proceeds, second street, additional improvements, pedestrian and mobility improvements on 2nd Street is on that list as well.

Yeah, it's uh key part of this is is we've heard a lot about a gradual transition of density, and most importantly is people nearby, they want great amenities and they don't want more traffic, and so that's one of the core things, and that's one of the aspects of Tempe is that neighbors love it because it adds amenities and they come to shop or to relax.

Now, when you have housing around us, it advertises that it's next to the cul-de-sac shopping district.

There's a home for sale recently that said the first thing it said is next to Cul-de-sac.

Uh, this is something that people are gonna love having near them.

Well, I think this is a little different than Tempe.

I mean, Tempe, you have just Main Street, I mean, as far as um commuter access, but here you have Mesa Drive, Second Street, Wilbur, and University.

You have a lot of uh street there and a lot of vehicle traffic.

And I I don't think people are driving less today.

I mean, I get on the freeways and things.

I think more people are driving today than ever before.

And I think some of us can attest to that as you get on our streetscapes and and things.

So I'm still concerned about the parking about the 140.

I'm very skeptical about that.

That's gonna work for you, and I hope that we don't have future problems.

Uh again, I haven't heard the landscape a little bit.

I I'm excited about the townhomes, and here's why.

Because according to our City of Mesa data summary, housing entitlements based in July 2025.

We're under four single family residences.

I don't know if Nana can come up and speak on that, but we are over on multifamily units as far as approval.

So we continue to approve multifamily projects, but not single family home projects.

So we're under that.

And the data here shows that.

So uh I don't know if Nan.

You want to just address that while we're we're having this conversation.

This doesn't uh pertain to the single family home, just I'm just setting the stage for the future on multifamily, how that's going to play out.

Hi, Mayor Council.

So with the balance housing plan, we are supposed to be adding eight hundred and six single family unit, um, sorry, multi-family units to uh announce need and one thousand two hundred three hundred and fifty-nine single family units yearly to be able to meet our housing needs.

Right.

As of this um July this year, we have approved 418 single family units and nine hundred and thirty-five multifamily units.

So we've not this year we've not met so far, having met our single family housing needs to meet the coming demand.

Having said that, this is the planning entitlement.

So what we are discussing here right now with CODISAC is going to be the planning entitlement.

There is also the building certificate of occupancy, and that is the actual inventory that we have.

So with that, last year, um we did uh approve 1,800 units of single family.

So those were actually actual numbers that were added to our housing inventory.

And then we added 2,005 multi-families.

So in terms of comparison, we are way ahead with multi-family and still need to catch up with our single family.

So the townhomes align absolutely with our balance housing plan needs.

Yeah, but unfortunately, the 140 probably won't count this year.

Yeah, and so that's why we we want to disagree with the.

I'm just saying for future, we're looking at growth on single family residents as well as multifamily, we're a little bit over, Mr.

Those are just numbers approved, not completed, because we know a lot of these projects don't end up happening, right?

So that that's what's always hard with these numbers, I think.

Mayo council, that's why we give in two information.

One is a planning entitlement.

Those are the ones that are approved, and then we have the certificate of occupancy, those are actual um units that were added to our housing stock.

And you just read the number of the so two numbers.

So the planning entitlement, which is those that have has been entitled, but may or hasn't been built yet.

Those last year, 2024, we did approve 547, and the housing well, the need for um single family was supposed to be 1,359.

But those it um 547 were entitled, it hasn't been built yet, or it may not have been built yet.

We don't really have a tracking mechanism for those.

However, if you go to the building information, the certificate of occupancy, we did approve or issued 1800 certificate of occupancy for single family units.

Um those actually were actually added to our housing stock of what we have.

And those might have been approved years.

Five six, seven years ago.

So we we keep tracking both our certificate of occupancy issuance and then our planning entitlement because we also want to make sure that we don't entitle so much beyond basically when because it may all be built or it may not.

So we always look at those balance when we make a housing considerations.

Oh yeah, I just have a comment on the parking.

Um I just want to make sure, so most every development that we approve, we we're we're we make sure there's parking for every vehicle.

But I think I think it's important for us to realize there are lots of people that want to be a zero-to-one car.

Not everybody wants to drive everywhere.

Um, and so I think having having options in our city is the best thing that we can do, right?

So having a car light gives the rest of the people that live in our city, which is a large group of people that maybe don't want to drive another option.

We shouldn't only give one option, which is kind of what we've we've tended to has been the his the history of Mesa.

I think we just have to look at it as we're giving um options to to folks who maybe not don't want to drive their own cars as much.

And um, and I and I I think that that's the right thing to do.

I don't think that we should only concentrate on the folks that do like to drive.

That's only supporting one um part of our our community.

So that's my point.

Thank you for your comments.

Yeah, I agree with that.

Because when you choose to live in downtown, you choose to be in an environment that has density and walkability and amenities within a short distance, and it's important to build the community.

Our problem in downtown as far as why it's been depressed for so long, and it's not now, you know, it's coming back, but we're still not at a healthy realm, is we have not had enough people living here for a downtown.

When you think of downtowns across the United States, they're not gonna be filled with single family housing.

Um, it's going to have every option.

It's going to have, you know, some single family apartments, townhomes, everything, and but the density is very, very important.

By cul-de-sac eliminating vast parts of land for parking, it allows more area to be built, which is more affordable because if you need to have parking area around every every unit, each parking space is equivalent to a hundred, two, a couple hundred dollars on rent or whatever.

So you pay for the land, and by the way, for the city, it's not productive land.

We don't like sales tax, property tax, what all these things.

It's unproductive land.

Also, a benefit is in the way this is designed and why it's so popular is you know, in creating community.

But I was reading an article by BBC.

This is how much attention cul-de-sac is getting it's international, is that the study by Harvard measured the surface temperature on a typical asphalt parking lot and inside cul-de-sac's surface areas, and there's 30 to 40 degrees difference.

30 to 40 degrees is huge on the surface temperature.

And um, with our sustainability plans, you know, reducing that heat island.

Before I was on council, I my husband and I were on a one car family, and now with darting around and not having a lot of mobility options here.

If we don't have car share and stuff like that, we have, but when I conclude my term, I I will go back to one car because we are committed to a lifestyle that isn't dependent on having a car sitting there most of the day, and we're not using it.

We want to get into the lifestyle of just renting or the car share or Waymo or coordinating just for the few hours.

Because the car it costs like up to a thousand dollars a month when you think of the value of the car if you're making a payment, your insurance, your maintenance, um, fuel or electricity.

That's huge.

That's huge.

Um and cars just sitting for the duration for most people.

Cars are sitting, I would say, you know, 80% of the time of uh, and and they're used to maybe 20%.

So anyway, this is a downtown, we need downtown to be a downtown, which is focused on people and not cars.

Um, we have cars, but it can't be our land will be more valuable and more important in how we use it and using it for free housing for our cars instead of reducing the cost of living here and the temperatures and building community and walking down a street without constantly darting to the right and to the left of cars through a driveway or through the street or whatever thing, and calm it down and have this beautiful walkable, having options to get around downtown, have an autonomous shuttle, have biking, walking.

Um, there will be more and more.

Our decisions today, we have to be careful uh of thinking about our downtown.

We're thinking, this is gonna be, I'm worried about being alive before it's done.

So it's just like we are building for like 50 years out, and we know that mobility is especially in dense urban areas, cars are gonna be less are not gonna be part of it.

Now, people can have their sprawl and they can have their areas and they have their big trucks or whatever.

We have all options in Mesa.

I'm not talking to anybody in particular, but I'm just saying.

We voted against the project because the garage wasn't long enough.

But anyway, not we anyway.

Um we have all options for everybody, whatever your lifestyle is.

There is a lifestyle in which 30% of our population doesn't drive, whether they choose to, or they have mobility options, or you know.

I wish I had an option for my father, let me tell you.

Um so let a downtown be a downtown.

Let it be walkable, let it be people oriented.

I am so glad that Cul-de-sac is being choosing to be part of Mesa.

There's so many communities are lined up, so many cities say, how do I get a cul-de-sac?

I'm so glad that you chose to be with Mesa.

We regard the work that you do and the philosophy.

I believe this property is going to pull in that corner that is considered not part of downtown to be part of downtown.

We have activation problems with our convention center and Mesa Amphitheater and the the Delta Hotel and the Sarine House is soon going to be to have that an expansive area in which people connect to our downtown.

Washington Escobado neighborhood is excited to have this developed into a public access area.

So they feel that they're part of downtown because they feel like because it's just vast open vacant land, and no one would ever walk that to downtown.

So I think this is um Wilbur District.

They were excited during the community outreach that it why we have the townhomes.

You're like, oh, there she goes again.

Um why we have the single family, the townhomes along the the streets is something they wanted to blend with the neighborhood.

But they are excited to have the activation for their neighbor because there's a lot of issues in having empty land.

They don't want an apartments facing them.

They and they want the green streets like second street is throughout downtown.

So they're supportive of this being the townhomes and the street improvements.

Um I think that's enough for me right now, but you can tell that I'm very excited, and I believe that it's a development that is perfect for a downtown and not to take the land as though it was in, you know, Lehigh or Eastmark or whatever.

This is a downtown, and this is a gem and a perfect project to you know activate our downtown and be part of the community.

Thank you, Mr.

Reddy.

Um I think just curious, Jeff, on uh, you know, when we see these types of developments come in, uh, we also have some the surrounding maybe lots, parcels that folks also own, maybe thinking about redeveloping.

Have have we had any particularly like on that corner?

I know Circle K owns that, right?

I have we talked to Circle K, maybe improving or what's happening there, you know, the office buildings on Centennial, uh, no, MCC had some offices where there's those I I think that's also something to think about how to how these types of developments leverage other economic kind of opportunities to improve upon uh uh in these spaces, right?

So yeah, um Mayor, Councilmember Hurdy, the yes, uh the this development uh we we fully anticipate that the investment in this development, call the sacks investment is going to bring more investment.

Um the the ownership of the Delta Hotel has made it very clear that they're very excited for this project because they think that they can reposition the hotel in a way that will benefit from having those residents next door.

That that hotel right now, if you look at it, it's very inward looking.

Everything faces towards its courtyard and inside.

They talked about making it more outward facing and reinvesting so that along their eastern edge that there could be a potentially you know some commercial development then that could help support that neighborhood.

Um, you know, as the city is finalizing our negotiations with that with MCC for that building, that's a great opportunity.

Then the city will have control to be able to look at what complementary developments could potentially go in replacement of the of the commercial uh component that's uh already there.

Um the the small office building and those and those and those condos, those are those are a little tougher.

Those are you know, individual owners and those condos on Long Mesa Drive.

There's multiple owners in there.

Um the in the past we actually have tried to to see whether or not there could be a possibility of assembling them, but just the nature of the uh the land ownership made it difficult.

We did have specific conversations a few years ago actually with the Circle K.

Um and and surprisingly, Circle K had no desire to close the store, but they would have been very happy for the city to give them more land so they could build a new one there.

Um so that's always an option if Call de Sac wants to have a uh a new super K, they could always uh partner with Circle.

No diet.

So, yes, I I mean this is this is this is a significant investment um from not only from the city and reinvesting in the infrastructure and and other public improvements, but from Cal de Sac as well, that I think will will benefit the broader neighborhood.

I uh the even Wilbur, the Wilbur Historic Neighborhood, yeah, you've seen in the last couple of years that new houses have been built.

The duplex was just finished uh you know a few months ago.

I think that you will see reinvestment in the neighborhoods surrounding it as well.

Um and Mayor, uh uh you know I love to talk about parking as much as everybody else.

So it I'd be I'd be remiss if I didn't uh give or just remind everybody.

The the agreement is uh the 104 the first townhome for the townhomes.

There is one unit per or one car per unit that's off-street parking.

So that will be dedicated space to the town home.

There will still be, you know, to your question, Mayor, we will still have all the on-street parking within site what is site 17 today that would be available for additional if if there's a two-car family, they would still have the ability to park on street before long before it would ever impact surrounding neighborhoods.

There's a lot of on-street parking that will be created as part of this project as well.

Will uh 2nd Street remain the width that it is for on-street parking?

Um Second Street right now, Mayor, as you well, you know better than anybody who we could probably land a Cessna on 2nd Street right now, so we could probably um reduce the width and still keep the two lanes of of of traffic and quite a bit of parking on street.

So we could probably um reduce the width and still keep the two lanes of of traffic and quite a bit of parking on street.

Yes.

The intent is for 2nd Street to be able to be parked as well.

Just like we have options.

Yes.

Second street is part of the mobility plan that we put together.

So to hide have bike paths and on street parking, angled parking, and you know, using the width.

So we get uh achieving more parking by angle and uh having protective bike lanes against the sidewalk, right?

Um Jimmy may have a better memory than me.

I can't remember the specific cross section for 2nd Street right now.

We are we that we are finalizing the micromobility plan intend to come to council in October with that, and it will we will include with that will include all this cross sections that we intend to hopefully implement for all the streets.

I believe that that is correct that we the plan was to go to angled parking on 2nd Street and put in the pathways.

Um we know that uh during the study, uh while they were doing all the work, they talked to Cul-de-Sac as well about their plans.

So it's all kind of coordinated.

All right.

Any more discussion on 1A?

Sounds like driving and parking and is quite the topic.

So uh all right, we'll move over to one B, a presentation on the 2024 uh bond funded improvements to the historic Sarine House.

Jeff and Jeff.

Just uh just a little change in cast of characters, Mayor.

Okay.

Do you want us to wait?

Do we sort of wait a couple minutes?

All right, Mayor and Council.

Um again, Jeff McVay, manager of transformation.

Today, though, uh this for our next presentation.

I have Jeff Robbins, our redevelopment program administrator.

Um we are here again to talk about another project that has been long in the making, but one that we're very excited to be able to present to you.

Uh the final concept for this Ryan House, which we we uh are pleased to be um ready to see start construction here in the next uh uh several months.

And Jeff will take you through an overview of the design.

Uh Mayor Council, it is great to be with you today.

Uh, this is a project we've been working on for uh about eight years, and at first I was a little self-conscious about that, and then I heard we were presenting with site 17.

So 11 is beginning.

Um anyway, very little.

Um this is a very special site.

Um, and it's one that has seen three different centuries.

It existed in the 19th, 20th, and the 21st century, amazingly.

It's still in great uh condition because of a lot of love and care by many stewards over the years.

Uh, this site is on the National Historic Register.

It's also the oldest example of Victorian area era uh architecture in the city.

The city took control of the site in 1980, and we completed the restoration of the of the site in uh 1986.

So next year is going to be a very special milestone.

This is 40 years since the city completed the restoration, and the uh site will be turning 130 years old.

So it'll be a new chapter, and I'm here today to walk you through what that new chapter will look like.

Um Jeff, um this isn't the original site of the home, right?

Was it moved there?

I I don't know.

It was moved there.

It was moved there.

Oh, okay.

Interesting.

Okay, thanks.

Um, our uh our philosophy from the beginning of this project is the very best way to activate and to preserve the home is to activate the entire site.

And so we have several different activity areas areas that are um specifically designed to activate the site in different ways and that are going to uh be attractive for different residents in the city.

So this is an aerial of all of the new additions we're looking to the southwest from the northeast at the house, the Serein House or exists, as well as the carriage house in the back, which is made of adobe.

It's a it's a very interesting um uh building to look into.

Going from left to right on the screen, we have dining and farms down stands that'll be added.

We have farm lands for in ground agriculture, farm buildings to assist in the agriculture as well as education on the site.

There's a gathering area era area, excuse me, up along center and west second, an education pavilion, restrooms, and then there'll be a tuck-in parking for um food trucks.

So I'm gonna walk through each of those one by one.

In the southeast corner of the site, we are adding um three modified containers, which will be able to be points of distribution for fresh food that is grown on the site.

Um there'll be uh a restaurant concept, which I'll talk about a little bit later in the presentation, um, as well as retail options.

There'll be chairs and shade pavilions in that corner.

This is a ground plain view looking north along what we call the Sarine Promenade.

And it has the shade we talked about.

You can see the container off to the left, a little bit of that.

One thing that's not shown in this image is that we will also have misters and we will have fans to help us to activate and keep the site comfortable for more of the year.

This is another angle looking south along the promenade into the dining and farm stand area.

Moving right along, we have gathering areas.

This includes the area we just discussed, as well as the northeast corner of the site.

This northeast corner is for passive recreation.

We do have a small stand there in case we want to have live music.

Not enough for an entire band, but maybe a solo artist with a guitar will fit in that space.

This is a view looking south into the property into that gathering area.

We have a nice arched trellis there with uh Ladybank's rows growing over it, so that'll be a nice photographable moment for our visitors and tourists, as well as our residents.

And then this is within the site at night, looking to the south.

Uh, we've really put a lot of thought into as a design team uh that the lighting at night and how this would function.

One of the best times to be out in Arizona is uh winter time.

Of course, it gets dark earlier, and so there's a lot of uh night lighting and ambiance to allow for activation in the evenings.

The next is the farmland.

Uh, this is strategically placed uh towards the western side of the property, and that was intended to be a buffer from all the activity that's happening on the street, and also to intentionally put that activity on the street so that cars and people coming out of the amphitheater are going to see what's going on and hopefully come over and get something to drink and eat.

Um this area, um, these two areas are going to be supported.

I'll jump you know to do a visual.

There's what our in-ground growing looks like to the southwest and the northwest of the site.

And then in the middle, we have an urban um education pavilion uh for farming.

And we one of the key components of this project was to um, I feel odd telling the mayor this of all people, but reconnecting people to the land.

Uh, we love urban living, it's great as many perks, but we do sometimes become disconnected from where our food comes from.

And so being able to offer classes to community members, um, and hopefully not just to learn about agriculture on the site, but to be able to take those skills home, and whether that's uh doing in-ground at home or if it's a container or maybe hydroponics, they're able to grow fresh fruit themselves.

So we we see this as being a catalyst for urban farming throughout the city and for our uh our residents.

This is a view looking on the education pavilion.

This is situated right behind the Sarine House between the Adobe Building and the Sarine House, and then here's a ground plane view looking at what that education space could look like.

So we've talked about the design and and how it's laid out, but it's very important about how we actually operating all of these areas.

Back in 2023, we released an RFQ request for uh qualifications for an urban farmer.

We were released that very early on purpose.

We wanted the uh urban farmer to be part of the design process so that we as non-farmers don't get it wrong.

We wanted to be to be useful and uh designed correctly for urban farming.

And so there we received five proposals from that process, and through that competitive process, we selected Steadfast Farm, which uh we are proudly farming already here in Mesa.

Um this is out in District 6 at Eastmark.

They um they operate a two-acre farm, uh said fast farm, as well as uh a number of other um amenities.

They have Steadfast Diner now, which is new, they have their own um coffee product, which was created here at Mesa, and they have a stand which allows people to come and pick up and pay for food throughout the day.

So it's uh very well is uh it's a very good model for what we want to try to replicate in a different way here on the Sarine House site.

Thank you.

Thank you.

That was for you, uh Vice Mayor.

Um other thing about the that's important to know about the the Schultzes here.

I think I actually jump back real quick.

I want to introduce.

We actually have with us today Chef Derek Christensen, um, he's in the back.

We have Eric Schultz and Yvonne Schultz.

The Schultz has began farming about over 10 years ago.

They started at the Agritopia site, the 11-acre site down in Gilbert, and then they have another two-acre farm now.

Um, but they they really do focus on getting the maximum production out of a very small area.

It's a it's a it's a very niche skill to be able to take a small site and to farm it in a way that uh doesn't require a large rows and wasted space, so they're very efficient.

Um so there the way we're operating the site pairs very well with all of our areas uh that we've tried to activate.

The education components, the Schultz's will be providing and administering uh classes to the community.

They will be having uh retail fresh produce distribution on site.

Um this area was identified by the USDA as a food desert, so this is a great solution to being able to grab um direct fresh food locally and seasonal here in downtown.

Uh, we also are anticipating that the Schultzes will be able to manage uh events on the site to help activate the site and create special experiences.

And um very excited to announce that we will be bringing destination dining to the site as well.

Um Chef Derek Christensen a little bit about him.

He's a uh James Beard nominated um award um uh recipient as a sorry, he he's a he's he was nominated for a James Beard Award for his work at Bacchanora, and um he's been doing creative and innovative cooking um ever since.

If you like the food channel, he's won chopped, he won Cutthroat Kitchen, so you can go back and find his episodes where he won.

And we're excited to see that he'll be bringing a barbecue concept to downtown, and this will be the very very first barbecue concept in downtown.

Uh everything will be cooked on site and and served um on uh on location.

So to give a quick summary of what our anticipated agreement, again, we are working on an agreement with them.

We don't have that completed yet, but we um do anticipate that there'll be a services contract to manage the site.

Um there will be public access during regular business hours.

This is a a city site.

Um we we don't want necessarily access off hours.

Um we don't want people traipsing through the pumpkins and and causing damage.

But um during public hours, people can access the site, go sit down and hang out and enjoy the the beautiful ambiance of this farm venue.

There will be uh free arbit free urban agriculture classes for Mesa residents.

We're negotiating the number of those, but um they'll be paid as well.

But we want to have a minimum number of free classes that will be um offered to the community.

And um, we also are anticipating reasonable efforts to engage community partners.

What this could look like is uh, for example, the Sarine House itself has only been open at best one day a year uh for the home tour.

And we see this as an opportunity working with Mesa um Mesa Historic Museum to activate the inside of the house.

Um, this would not be something that we would just open up and anybody could walk in.

We want to protect the items and the interior of the house, but having a volunteer from Mesa Historic Museum to be there to facilitate the uh the tours and talk about the architecture is a great way to uh add value to that site and to continue to grow the appreciation for this historic asset.

Um and then finally, as a typical landlord um relationship, we would be maintaining as a city the major systems, so electrical plumbing, the uh smaller items we would anticipate just kind of maintenance and care for the equipment on site and you know light bulb goes out, that type of stuff.

We anticipate that would be the responsibility of Steadfast.

Um so now that I've mentioned barbecue, you're you're all wondering when you can get some barbecue, so I'll jump right into the budget and schedule.

Um as a reminder, this was a uh voter-approved bond item in the 2024 bond election.

The capacity that was approved was five million dollars.

However, we believe we can construct this project for um 4 million.

So there'll be less less capacity use than we anticipated.

Um, along with the estimated design of 310 um thousand about that, we we anticipate the total cost for the project is 4.3 million dollars.

And then for schedule, we are just wrapping up the final design, which will lead into a can uh commencement of construction later this year.

Completion of construction, I I I want to say it's actually fall 2026.

Um, and then we will be um anticipating a ribbon cutting at the end of 2026.

So a year from now, you'll be able to get um Chef Derek's barbecue.

So uh Mayor and Council, this is uh you know uh presentation to to highlight the the design.

Um you will see this item come back as part of the engineering contract.

They are um out for bid right now, um, and we anticipate that you will see that on your job order contract listing here and then in the near future.

Good.

Thank you.

Uh I know there's been work done on the Saroin House.

What's been done, and we used how much of the is a total of five million dollars for the restoration of the whole Sarine House.

Uh mayor counsel, this is a question we might invite engineering to come up to, but the um there's been two pieces of the construction.

There is the project for all of the items that you've seen, and then there was some mandatory maintenance that just had to be done, and that was done separately.

It would have happened um regardless of this project.

Um we worked on restoring the wraparound deck uh reporting.

The party always uh falling apart, and so correct.

If you stood on that, you can hear it kind of bounce like a trampoline a little bit.

That was not um what we wanted, and and it's been restored now to a restaurant grade, so people will be able to actually get up and move around on that safely.

Um the other thing with this building is that we we've had a lot of erosion because of puddling and and and poor drainage.

The improvements to the site are actually going to slope that water away so that it slows down the deterioration to the original Lehigh brick.

And this will allow historic tours to happen inside the Sarine House.

With this part of the restoration.

Correct.

Okay.

You brought Lance up.

What's he gonna tell us?

Did I get it right, Lance?

Yeah, I don't think any of that ad here if if there's any other questions.

Um I'm available, mayor.

So well, I have some more about the agricultural part.

I I'm kind of involved in that, but uh, you know, I I appreciate uh steadfast and you know, come in over and be a part of this, but I'd also invite you to engage with uh University of Arizona Extension Office because I host uh education classes at my farm just on Center Street.

So it'd be nice to have a downtown urban because they'll talk about all urban arch uh agriculture, trees, you know, lawn maintenance and things that allows uh a great community asset here.

So that the USDA does have dollars available because we are in a food desert.

You can apply for grant funding for some of these projects, and that's something I think we should start working on, maybe with our grant writer and looking at options there to help offset some of our costs and improve that.

And then I was just looking at the bond dollars just to make sure we've we're utilizing those bond dollars uh appropriately for the concept and and I like having an urban type uh agricultural setting with a historic house.

And then the visit Mesa, they also have an agritopia tour that they I've done at my farm as well.

So forming a co-op with them, and and they have people come fly in from all over the United States for, and I've hosted them at my farm as well.

So there's a lot of options out there, and maybe council member Duff, she would like to explore that with me, and we get some uh more programming to it and become more uh just uh just showcase it more in our downtown area.

Mayor uh and council uh we we we echo uh your your comments.

Uh we we uh make sure that's part of our discussions with the Schultz is that we've we've talked about those community partnerships.

Uh we've we've met with you a few times on this, and we've always been um sure to share that there's a lot of opportunity here to to really engage the public in the community in other ways, and not uh not only through um you know the university extension or USDA, but we also have you know the the Westwood Westwood High School and Yes, we do and and I I can't remember the name of the elementary school that has the agricultural program, but there's a great opportunity.

Thank you.

Um there's great opportunities to to engage our own residents in this um um and and farming and really and we we we're excited about that opportunity.

Okay, great.

Yeah, we can engage with Mesa Public Schools and with the Kerr Agricultural it's uh pipeline from Kerr Elementary to Westwood High School and their FFA programming works out really well.

Of course, Red Mountain and Dobson have them as well.

So there's a lot there.

Um anyway, questions uh yeah, I I just want to express how excited I am to have um this amenity.

Uh of course that property being improved is been a wish of downtowners for a long time.

Um but also it just brings like you said, we are in a food desert, and it pains me to have it to get in a car and drive like five miles to get the avocado for dinner.

Um or or whatever it is to have some, you know, things readily available.

It's difficult to find it in the downtown, and as we add people, it's gonna become more difficult.

Um, and you know, and it provides more green space, and I like the activation and interests, you know, from your um farm there, and then we'll have the Sarine House.

Um, and um we have the Mesa Urban Garden, just Farms is right there on First Street, and uh they're doing some farming that they um sell to the restaurants and such.

So I think this is a huge amenity for the downtown, especially because of the food desert and the lack of green space, and now we're bringing you know these elements to an urban area, and it feels very rich and is going to be just a gem of the people just want to be there to hang out.

I will be there just to hang out.

I'll be sitting there with my coffee in the morning and talking about, you know, when I was on council.

We voted on this.

Maybe I'll have uh a John Giles with me.

We'll talk about our good old times.

But um anyway, I'm so glad uh part of the agricultural theme is developing around our downtown, and thank you for all your work on this, uh Mayor.

I know it's important to you and um to the urban transformation team to um looking at this as space innovatively because we haven't figured out a productive way to use this property for many many years, decades.

Thank you.

Vice Mayor, thank you.

This is a parking lot I don't I don't park in uh Jan's driveway.

Uh the food truck thing is really interesting.

Are we playing do any electrical work along this line so you could do shorelines to this?

Yeah, I see nodding heads.

This is great.

The reason I'm asking that is second street.

If we could do shorelines, uh that reduces the need for having to do generators, so that keeps it a lot quieter.

So I'm glad you're looking for uh you're doing that.

Perfect.

Ms.

Goldforth.

Sorry, so there's food trucks or it's a it's an uh make mayor uh council member, it's an option.

Oh, okay.

And so that this will really depend on the operations um of the site.

We we know that Steadfast is coming here, um, and we we we are excited for them to come, but who knows, 20 years from now, maybe maybe a different operator.

And so having the options for food trucks be able to come in, having those short lines, as the vice mayor mentioned, it gives us the versatility.

So as the site continues to evolve, as the operations evolve, we have different options to offer.

I mean, maybe it's um snow cones, you know, that that's not on site, but it can complement the other things that are being sold on site to um appeal to more residents who are attending.

Okay, and and so that's what I was gonna get clarification.

So Steadfast Farms will be operating the farm portion, but the barbecue portion is that something is it is that separate?

Uh count council member, we they are operating the entire site.

Oh, okay.

So that includes uh so uh Chef Derek, we we mentioned him, he he will be he's part of the Steadfast team, he'll be handling that portion.

Um the other things that'll be sold on site will be managed by Steadfast.

Uh, really our our participation in the site is going to be fairly minor in that we're managing the contract, it's still a city property, but the day-to-day operations, locking up at night, all those things will be managed by Steadfast.

So will it be a steadfast farm?

Is that what is that what it, you know, will we it be named?

I'm just curious.

I don't know, maybe you haven't gotten that far in Christmas.

Uh Councilmember go forth.

I don't think that we're going to want to walk away from the Sarine House name because that is this is the Sarine House.

But um we haven't talked about names.

Um we could probably have that conversation.

It wouldn't, I don't think it would be at all bad to hear said Steadfast Farms at the Sarine House at the historic Sarine House as a brand.

It would be the name Steadfast Farm carries uh uh a brand with it that we are very you know the quality of their their urban farming is something that we're very proud to actually have as our partner here.

Um but going back to your uh other question of the food trucks.

Um maybe we should have show that slide again.

What the project's going to include is an actual curb cut improvements where the food trucks can park along second street.

So we'll actually change the curb line to create um a little bit of an inset where the food trucks can be parked and be a little bit off site off of the street.

Um and that that's the shore power will be along side four.

And then the the the store power will be along that that that sidewalk.

So we're we're creating the ability for food trucks to happen.

You know, we're also you know, steadfast, they could potentially decide they want to have an event that that's beyond an education event where even their own food stand wouldn't be enough, and they want to bring in additional food trucks to support that event.

You know, as the operator, they could also, you know, provide the city with the ability to use this space for if we wanted to activate it for an event, and then we could potentially bring in food trucks.

It's a again, as as Jeff said, it it's really about creating the ability to have those options.

Yeah, I think that's great.

I just somehow completely missed the food truck, excuse me, option.

I was more focused on the dining, which um that stationary dining, but anyway, um, that's great.

Yeah, it's Steadfast Farms is great.

I've been out there at Eastmark numerous times, and they they do a fantastic job.

So I think that's a is that that will be a great partnership.

I'm glad to have them here.

And I think um using what we're doing on um preserving the history of the house, um, I think is absolutely what we should be doing.

We don't have a lot of history to preserve, I think, at the city of Mesa, and so it's important that we we do preserve the ones that we do have, and and tying in the agricultural history of Mesa, I think is great.

So this is all exciting, and I can't wait to to use it and and go.

So thank you.

Did you give us a timeline on this?

Yes.

Um with one small edits.

Uh, here it is.

Uh so we are uh final design is occurring right now.

We'll start construction later this year, and then construction will be completed late next year.

Summer's a little early, it probably should say fall, and we're anticipating a ribbon cutting about a year from now.

Okay, thank you.

Any other questions?

All right, thank you, Jeff.

Thank you, Mayor.

We love giving you the opportunity to be able to say that.

Jeff Squared, I don't know.

Okay, with that.

Item two is to acknowledge the receipt of minutes.

Is there a motion for that?

Uh thank you, Vice Mayor.

Miss Spillsberry, all in favor say aye.

Aye.

Okay, motion passes unanimously.

Next is currency events and conferences attended.

Council members, would you like to add anything to your last week?

No, I would just like you to talk about yesterday's breakfast.

I thought it was phenomenal.

And so, yeah.

Thank you.

Thank you for doing that.

Um, yeah, so we had we hosted the uh Faith Leaders Breakfast yesterday morning, and and we talked about teen mental health, and I thought that was very appropriate in our community.

And thank you, council members, for being there.

Um I thought it thought it was very uh empowering to the group, and and it was specifically based to our faith uh based organizations in our cities, some are nonprofit organizations, and uh it was well received, so we kind of changed it up a little bit and turned out really well.

Thank you for straight to the plate.

They were a caterer and uh uh good food, good time, and there's probably about 125 people there.

That's good.

So good turnout from our faith-based community.

Talked about together in service.

Uh Delyn Bodine talked about the importance of together in service in our community and integrating all faith-based uh uh institutions together and working together in our community.

So thank you for that.

Did you want to finish?

Okay.

Anything else?

Anyone else?

That's it.

I mean, I guess we could also maybe I loved the breakfast.

Um I also wanted to maybe just mention we had our chamber dinner last night for the board, and a lot of us were there last night, so we appreciate the chamber and their partners' work in our city.

Thanks.

Did you want to do deep and dine?

Sure.

Yeah, there's uh newpson at the Riverview Complex.

Uh there is uh Dinkin Dine.

Uh it's uh uh pickleball concept, uh, tons of uh pickleback courts and food and beverages, and uh I uh uh mayor and I uh uh attended and uh played some pickleball uh in the morning on Tuesday.

So fun time, so but we diged it, didn't we?

We dinked it, yeah.

So don't blow a hand.

Yeah, I was worried about the yeah, so it was weird seeing a guy in a cowboy hat and boots playing uh pickleball.

But we had a good time.

Well, with that, Mr.

Butler, can you share the schedule of future meetings?

Well, mayor, a few of you are not done yet.

Uh immediately following this will be the audit finance and enterprise committee meeting.

And then uh just a reminder that Monday, thank goodness is uh Labor Day, so uh city offices will be closed.

So I hope everyone has a good labor day holiday.

And then we will be back here next Thursday morning at 7 30 a.m.

Thank you.

All right, is there a motion to adjourn?

Let's go forward.

Miss Stuff, all in favor say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

All right, we're adjourned.

Thank you, everyone.