Good morning, Eastmark. An extreme heat warning runs through 8 PM Wednesday, with afternoon highs of 108 to 113.
- 🏗️ 103 acres at Hawes and Elliot could switch to housing. Planning and Zoning Board hearing Wednesday. Staff recommends approval.
- 🚗 Ellsworth Road speed limit drops to 45 mph. Council votes August 17 on making the whole road one speed.
- 🎓 Nine East Valley districts settle EVIT bus funding. Deal covers transportation to the Mesa campuses before school starts.
- 🥕 Farmers market Saturday, therapy dog reading at Gateway Library. Plus a landscape committee meeting Tuesday morning.
- 🏠 Mesa's median sale price is $452,500. Down 1% from a year ago.
- 📋 Still Tracking. Sprouts, Liv at Eastmark, and Brakes Plus.
103 acres at Hawes and Elliot could switch to housing
Mesa's Planning and Zoning Board takes public comment Wednesday on a plan to convert 103 acres at the southeast corner of Hawes and Elliot from employment land to housing.
Key facts
- The file: GPA26-00161, "Hawes Crossing Village 7." It is a Major General Plan Amendment, a formal change to the city's long-range land-use map.
- The site: 103 acres at the southeast corner of South Hawes Road and East Elliot Road, in council District 6. That is about a mile west of Eastmark's Ellsworth boundary, on the same Elliot corridor.
- The change: 73.2 acres move from Local Employment Center (ground held for offices, light industry, and jobs) to Urban Residential. Another 29.7 acres move from Urban Center to Urban Residential.
- The hearing: Planning and Zoning Board public hearing, Wednesday, July 29. Joshua Grandlienard is the assigned planner, and staff recommends adoption.
Elliot Road is the spine of Mesa's technology corridor. Apple's command center sits at Elliot and Signal Butte, Google's Redhawk campus at Elliot and Sossaman, and Meta's data center opened along the same stretch in February 2025. Moving 73 acres of employment ground to rooftops changes what the west end of that corridor is expected to become, and the part Eastmark feels first is traffic on Elliot and Ellsworth.
What to watch: the board only makes a recommendation. The final vote belongs to City Council. The staff narrative is in the agenda packet.
The week ahead
Tuesday. The resident-led Landscape Advisory Committee meets at 9 AM in the classroom at The 'Mark, 10100 E Ray Rd, with Cohere management and the Eastmark landscape vendors. Any resident can sit in. Details.
Wednesday. Women's Bible Study meets in person at The 'Mark from 10 to 11:30 AM, with a virtual session at 6:30 PM. Email Barbara Breen for locations. Details.
Saturday. The Eastmark Farmers Market runs 8 AM to noon in the Great Park parking lot just south of Gateway Library. Same morning at 11 AM, Gateway Library hosts Reading with Teddy, where kids five and up read to a certified therapy dog. Sign up for a 15-minute slot in person at the customer service desk that day, first come first served. Details.
Monday, August 3. Veterans Helping Veterans meets at 10 AM in the classroom at The 'Mark. Club leader Kevin takes questions at 856-361-8606. Details.
Friday, August 7. A live DJ plays the community pool at The 'Mark from 5 to 8:30 PM. Details.
Around Eastmark
🚗 Ellsworth Road is getting one speed limit end to end. An ordinance before City Council on August 17 would drop the stretch between Elliot Road and the south city limits from 50 mph to 45 mph, making Ellsworth a continuous 45 from the north city limits to the south. The Transportation Advisory Board recommended the change. Details.
🎓 EVIT and nine East Valley school districts reached a busing deal. The agreement funds transportation to the East Valley Institute of Technology's Mesa campuses, the shared career and technical program East Valley high schoolers attend for trades, health care, and aviation coursework. The districts had been heading into the new school year without one. Details.
🌡️ A Mesa woman went three years without working air conditioning. 12News reported that repair and replacement quotes reached $18,000, beyond what she could pay, before a Valley organization replaced her unit at no cost. Details.
🏠 Mesa's median sale price is $452,500, down 1% from a year ago.
Still Tracking
Quick check-in on stuff covered in past editions:
- 🛒 Sprouts at EastMarket (Ray and Ellsworth). Construction underway. Building wraps up around August, Sprouts opens Q4 2026.
- 🏢 Liv at Eastmark (NE corner Ellsworth and Ray). 208 apartments across 12 buildings, recently approved. Construction next.
- 🔧 Brakes Plus Mesa (Ellsworth and Elliot). Auto shop still working through council site plan tweaks.
