Council overrules city planners/ P. 11
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Jinxed downtown Mesa parcel bitten again BY SCOTT SHUMAKER Tribune Staff Writer
COMMUNITY ..... 18 Mesa doc started cancer care hospital in China.
BUSINESS............ 21 Beloved downtown Mesa dentist hangs up the drill.
SPORTS................ 28 Flag football for girls now official state-sanctioned sport. COMMUNITY .............................. 18 BUSINESS ................................... 21 OPINION ..................................... 24 SPORTS ...................................... 28 GET OUT ...................................... 30 CLASSIFIED ............................... 32 ZONE 1
Sunday, December 18, 2022
FREE ($1 OUTSIDE THE EAST VALLEY) | TheMesaTribune.com
An edition of the East Valley Tribune
M
uch has gone right for the redevelopment of downtown Mesa in 2022, but a critical part of its hoped-for renaissance appears in danger of going back to the drawing board. The 27 acres of vacant land at Mesa and University Drives were once a neighborhood of 63 homes acquired by the city starting in the 1990s and leveled at a taxpayer
cost of $6 million, in part through eminent domain. Acquired decades ago under the banner of economic revitalization, numerous projects planned for the site have failed. Now, the latest proposal, a high-density mixed use development, is in danger of heading to the scrap heap. In a Nov. 16 meeting of the Downtown Mesa Association’s Board of Directors, Mesa’s Downtown Transformation Manager Jeff McVay told the board in response to a
question about Transform 17 that the current plans with developer Miravista Holdings for the site are in jeopardy. “We have a very high level meeting with the developer and the city manager next week,” McVay said. “The outcome of that meeting is likely not to be a continuation of this project, but that is yet to be determined.” “We are preparing for the worst and getsee
TRANSFORMATION page 13
Murder casts pall on downtown Mesa BY JOSH ORTEGA Tribune Staff Writer
T
he Dec. 6 slaying of a downtown shoe repair shop owner cast a pall on Mesa’s downtown business district, but authorities and merchants stressed the killing was an isolated incident that indicated no ongoing threat. Three days after the body of Jesus Fabian De La Rosa was found on the floor of Lamb’s Shoe Repair around noon, Mesa Police announced the arrest of a 65-year-old man who apparently was staying at the Central Arizona Shelter Services in Central
Phoenix on first degree murder, robbery charges and firearms charges. Court papers filed by police stated that suspect Lynell Brosier often used the bathroom at the shop and that he had apparently stolen a gun from the victim during one of those visits. He allegedly was in the store sometime late in the morning of Dec. 6 and shot Mr. De La Rose three times in the head before leaving with a second gun and the victim’s cell phone. Detectives used video recordings, the cell phone’s data and a cane the see
MURDER page 6
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People left flowers, balloons and written condolences outside Lamb’s Shoe Repair on Main Street in Mesa last week following the Dec. 6 shooting death of owner Jesus Fabian De La Rosa. (Josh Ortega/Tribune Staff)
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