As The Arizona Republic article reports, “Mesa is giving the dour economy a one-two punch as it replaces an empty big box with a new concept that is scheduled to open this spring.”
The new marketplace set to open this Spring, is called POOL Together. It is a concept created by a real estate investor, a retail consultant, and a real estate developer from California. Construction began this past summer bringing 50 jobs to Arizona with it. Some of the interior features will include:
- high ceilings
- natural wood columns
- a lounge area
- a kids area
- an outdoor patio area
- and FREE WI-FI
The goal is to create an urban, posh marketplace similar to Pike Place Market in Seattle. It is expected to house 100 merchants, a restaurant, a coffee shop, and a farmer’s market. They emphasize that it is not a flea market or a swap meet, but rather a place where merchants can sell made goods and antiques. The creators studied the Mesa market and worked with city officials for about a year before deciding to go through with the project.
“During this economy the reused building should have a positive impact for the area,” said Patrick Murphy, a Mesa economic-development manager.
Rather than leaving vacant buildings and constructing an entirely new facility for the marketplace project, the developers and creators of the project sought to convert the old, empty Mervyns building on Main Street and Stapley Drive into something completely new. Many major cities have been working similarly to convert old buildings into usable, stable locations for new business.
“We are trying to create something that is user friendly for everybody . . . anything that could be in a village,” Hynes said, adding that the empty building could easily have been leased to a 99-cent store.
“If anything, it will be inspiring,” he said. “We knew whatever we did here it would have to be a destination. We knew it would have to be a place people would want to go to.”
The marketplace will surely draw patrons to Mesa from surrounding cities. They note that Mesa is not generally one of the main cities people consider when they want to find “fun” things to do. Hopefully, the marketplace changes that.
