Good morning, Eastmark.
Highs reach 109 today and climb to 112 by Wednesday, when the National Weather Service has an extreme heat watch up through Thursday evening. Get outdoor errands and park time in early.
- 🏗️ 261 apartments and retail go before Planning and Zoning Wednesday. The site is Signal Butte and Rubidium.
- 🌡️ Extreme heat midweek. Highs of 110 to 114 Wednesday and Thursday.
- ⚽ World Cup on the big screen at Gateway Library. Matches most days this week.
- 🎶 Poolside DJ Friday, Eastmark Farmers Market Saturday.
- 🏠 Property beat. More homes for sale across Mesa, prices about flat.
- 📋 Still Tracking. Sprouts, Apple, Liv at Eastmark, and Brakes Plus.
261 apartments and a 750-acre rezone head to Planning and Zoning Wednesday
Two Eastmark items sit on Wednesday's Planning and Zoning agenda, and the bigger one would bring rental housing to the community's eastern edge. A developer is asking to build 261 apartments and a strip of retail at the southwest corner of Signal Butte and Rubidium. City staff is recommending approval.
Key facts on the apartments:
- What: "Homestead at Eastmark," 261 apartment units plus 2.2 acres of retail and commercial space.
- Where: 11.7 acres at the southwest corner of Signal Butte Road and Rubidium Avenue, on Eastmark's eastern boundary (Mesa District 6).
- When: Planning and Zoning public hearing, Wednesday, June 24.
- Status: Staff recommends approval with conditions.
This one matters because of what Eastmark already is. The community sold its last for-sale home in 2025, and it was built almost entirely as single-family houses. A 261-unit apartment project would add a rental option that mostly hasn't existed here, and the 2.2 acres of retail would push the commercial layer further around the perimeter, the same direction EastMarket is going at Ellsworth and Ray.
There's a logic to where these apartments would land. Eastmark's northern and eastern edges sit next to the Elliot Road technology corridor, where Apple's command center, Meta's data center (which opened last year), and Google's campus have built up a large daytime workforce. Rental housing near that job base is the kind of thing the market tends to fill in once the for-sale homes are gone. Whether 261 units at this corner is the right number is what the hearing is for.
The second item is quieter but larger on paper: the "DU 5/6 South Plan Amendment," a redraw of the land-use boundaries on roughly 750 acres between Elliot Road and Point Twenty-Two Boulevard, west of Signal Butte. It doesn't approve any specific building. It adjusts how that northern stretch of Eastmark is zoned, which shapes what can go there later. Staff recommends approval on that one too.
What to watch: Wednesday's hearing, and whether either item draws resident comment before the board votes.
The week ahead
Gateway Library is leaning into the World Cup. The branch is showing matches on the big screen most days this week, free and open to anyone: France vs. Iraq today at 2 PM, England vs. Ghana Tuesday at 1 PM, and Norway vs. France Friday at noon. With triple-digit heat outside, an air-conditioned room and a big screen is a decent plan.
The rest of the calendar:
Tuesday. The resident-led Landscape Advisory Committee meets at 9 AM in the Classroom at The 'Mark, with Cohere management and the community's landscape vendors. Any resident can sit in.
Wednesday. Women's Bible Study at 10 AM at The 'Mark. A drop-in craft afternoon for kids runs at noon in the Classroom, while supplies last.
Thursday. A talk on the Grand Canyon and Arizona's other natural wonders, 6 PM at Gateway Library. Note the new start time.
Friday. A poolside DJ spins 90s and early-2000s hits at the Community Pool at The 'Mark starting at 5 PM. Earlier, the library screens Toy Story at 2 PM as part of its America 250 classic-movie series.
Saturday. The Eastmark Farmers Market runs 8 AM to noon in the Great Park parking lot, just south of Gateway Library.
Around Eastmark
🏠 Property beat. 538 homes came on the Mesa market last month, and 546 sold. The median sale price was $452,500, basically flat from a year ago (down about 1%), with the typical home taking 55 days to sell. The short version: more inventory, steady prices, and a slower pace than the rush of a few years back.
🌯 A new sit-down restaurant is coming to Ellsworth. Zeitouna, a lunch-and-dinner spot, cleared its city restaurant license last month for 3515 S Ellsworth Road, Suite 101. No opening date has been announced yet.
🏆 Mesa landed on a best-run-cities list. A new WalletHub study ranked Mesa among the top 10 nationally and first in Arizona, scoring cities on how well they manage budgets and services.
Still Tracking
Quick check-in on a few things from past editions:
- 🛒 Sprouts at EastMarket (Ray and Ellsworth). Construction underway. Building wraps up around August, Sprouts opens Q4 2026.
- 🍎 Apple manufacturing on Signal Butte. Council votes on the Foreign Trade Zone agreement Monday, May 18.
- 🏢 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.
