Aqua Terra, Mesa proposed residential condo development, formerly Fiesta Towers

Aqua Terra Towers
 (previously called Fiesta Towers)
by Roszak/ADC

Location:West Grove and South Westwood Aves., Mesa, Ariz.

Description:  AquaTerra will create a new destination in Mesa, with a mix of luxurious residences and upscale shopping, dining and services. AquaTerra features an innovative urban design that maximizes the use of space and encourages pedestrian traffic, achieving environmental and economic balance.

Unique Design Features: Three interconnected buildings in a courtyard-style configuration will provide a stunning mosaic on the Mesa landscape, with a color palette inspired by the desert surroundings. Each unit’s balcony enclosure appears to be colored glass. It’s all part of a glass-wall railing system that will include a type of horizontal louver to shade the unit below the balcony. Windows are low-E double insulated glass of various tint colors. The result is a dazzling light interplay of assorted colored glass squares.

Residential Space: More than 430 loft condos, including studios and one and two bedrooms, starting in the mid-$200,000s; penthouses starting at $700,000. Homes in the six-story structure will range from 600 to 3,000 square-feet and the property will offer more than 20 floor plans.

Retail Space: More than 20,000 square-feet of street level space. It will include essential services such as boutiques, restaurants and gourmet shops as part of a central plaza, creating a pedestrian marketplace atmosphere.

Work/Live Space: The development will also include up to 24 work/live units—perfect for entrepreneurs like attorneys, artists, day care providers and designers.

Off-street Parking Space: A total of 539 parking slots: 353 spaces in a fully enclosed basement level garage will be reserved exclusively for residents; an additional 107 fully enclosed parking spaces on the ground floor and mezzanine level will be available for residential and guest parking; and 79 more spaces will accommodate retail patrons and employees.

Amenities: An 18,000 square-foot Lifestyle Center exclusively for residents. The space will include concierge service, workout facility, outdoor pool and sundeck, petite spa, library, DVD and video game library/theatre, Internet café, gourmet kitchen, party room, and business center.

Environmentally-Friendly

Components: The contemporary planning strategy increases energy efficiency—limiting sprawl, reducing traffic congestion and pollution, and promoting street-level retail uses and active pedestrian neighborhoods. Sunshades will help protect units from the intense dessert heat, and a lower unit-parking ratio will encourage less reliance on motor vehicles and more mass transit links to the area—both approaches that are favorable to LEED® certification.

Community Integration: The development will complement plans for the revitalization of the Fiesta District. The architectural exposure and promenade-style landscaping will create a vibrant urban environment inviting residents, guests and shoppers to the area. The development is designed to support economic and residential growth.

Timeline: Sales on units will begin in fall 2007, with construction to launch in winter 2008; completion is scheduled for late summer/early fall 2009.

Price Range:  Starting in the mid $200,000's, penthouses starting at $700,000.

location map: Aqua Terra, Fiesta Towers, Mesa highrise condos
 Aqua Terra, Mesa proposed residential condo development, formerly Fiesta Towers

MORE NEWS ABOUT AQUA TERRA:

Name Change News:  Condos project dumps Fiesta Towers name for Aqua Terra
Gary Nelson - The Arizona Republic - Jul. 18, 2007 09:03 AM

Even as Mesa ramps up efforts to revive the Fiesta Mall area, a key project there has abandoned the "Fiesta" brand.

The Fiesta Lofts condominiums, which in a more robust real estate market were to have been a high-rise project called Fiesta Towers, are now being called Aqua Terra.

The complex still will have more than 400 luxury condos, and it still will offer more than 45,000 square feet of retail space.

But it won't carry the Fiesta name, despite Mesa's efforts to set the area apart as a distinct place to live and work.

City Manager Chris Brady, while acknowledging companies may name their projects as they wish, said Mesa thinks the Fiesta moniker can pay off.

"We certainly think there's some great value to that Fiesta name," Brady said. "It's been many years since it's been there. We're going to do everything we can to build on that concept."

As for Aqua Terra, Brady said, "At the end of the day for us what will be successful is that they have significant occupancy and that that whole area is vibrant. . . . If they can be successful with that name, we'll be happy."

Tom Roszak, the Chicago-area architect who is developing Aqua Terra southeast of the Bank of America tower, could not be reached for comment.
Meanwhile, Mesa is pressing ahead with a $250,000 marketing and branding program for the district, the next step of which takes place Tuesday.

The city and PMC Consulting will host what they're calling a community design workshop at the Dobson branch library. It will provide an update on recent developments in the area and allow people to weigh in on how it might eventually look.

City Council members and the consulting firm have agreed that businesses won't be forced to comply with whatever design standards emerge from the process.

Shelly Allen, the city's interim economic development director, said several more community workshops will follow.

The district, which runs from Dobson to Extension roads and the U.S.60 to Southern Avenue, has been an economic mixed bag of late. Its most famous negative prototype is the failed Fiesta Village strip mall at the northwestern corner of Alma School Road and Southern Avenue whose last tenant, K-Momo clothing, has now left the building.

On the bright side are projects such as Aqua Terra, a Children's Tower at Banner Desert Medical Center, planned renovations at Fiesta Mall, expansion of Mesa Community College and a $6 million overhaul of the Hilton hotel.

 

Archived News: Condo towers pitched near Fiesta Mall by Jim Walsh - The Arizona Republic - Nov. 12, 2005 12:00 AM

Sprawling Mesa could soon start growing vertically thanks to a Chicago developer's plans to build four mid- and high-rise condominium towers in a part of town that could use the assist.

Fiesta Towers is in the concept stage and would represent a new magnitude of urban development for Mesa, featuring two 19-story towers and two 10-story towers near Fiesta Mall.

The plans call for 540 to 850 condo units depending upon market conditions. They could pump new life into teetering west Mesa.

"We're very excited about Mesa. We think there's a lot of potential for Mesa. I think it's a very underserved market," said Thomas Roszak, president of Roszak/ADC LLC, of Evanston, Ill., which specializes in luxury condominium projects.

Roszak said the project aims to create an elegant urban setting, with 45,000 square feet of restaurants, a health club and a gourmet market on the first floor.

The goal is for residents to walk downstairs for services and entertainment at Fiesta Mall or nearby shopping centers.

"You'll know that you're in a special place," he said.

The target market includes doctors, nurses, hospital technicians, professionals, empty nesters and people looking for a second home.

"I think the notion that Fiesta Mall is dead is false," said Dave Richins, president of the non-profit West Mesa Community Development Corporation and a Design Review Board member. "It's really uncharted territory for Mesa."
The Southeast Valley city has few high- and mid-rise buildings. They include the Bank of America building, which is near the Fiesta Towers site at Westwood and Grove Avenue.

"I think maybe it's a coming of age" for the city, Planning Director John Wesley said. "It's maturing, growing, going to the next stage, becoming more urban."

Wesley said a previous study found a need to bolster residential development in the area to create more potential customers for Fiesta Mall and nearby shopping centers, some of which have empty storefronts.

"It's exciting to think about the possibilities for the Fiesta Mall area," he said.

But Wesley warned that the development is only in a concept stage, and the city has not received an official proposal from the developer, TR Alma Partners, which includes Roszak's company.

Roszak/ADC's Web site depicts the project as a series of triangle-shaped buildings, with the two tallest buildings serving as bookends.

It includes either two or three levels of underground parking, according to city records.

Roszak said he needs flexibility to adjust to changes in the market and will seek approval for up to 25 floors in the tallest towers.
A zoning change from office to residential is required, and the City Council would make the final decision.

City plans dating back to the late 1980s and early 1990s envisioned high-rise office buildings, said Reese Anderson, a zoning attorney for Roszak.

The developer met with city planning officials at a "pre-submittal conference" to get feedback on zoning change. City records show that planners support the proposed land use but suggested some modifications.

"I think they do want this, that they're very interested in the concept," Roszak said.

"So far, what we've heard is all positive. You really have to work hand in hand with the neighbors."

Richins said the reaction of neighbors is hard to predict.

"It will be interesting to see what the neighbors say. They've been used to the status quo for a long time."

 


Fiesta Towers will be located on the Northwest corner of Grove Ave. & Westwood Ave., Mesa AZ