Rendering of Gaylord Entertainment & DMB project for Mesa, Arizona (from "yes on 300")
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Mesa, Arizona is an anomaly.
It's large.
To be precise, it's the 38th largest city in America.
That means there are several states in the union that don't have a city as large as Mesa.
But Mesa lacks something.
Overshadowed by the bigger cities of Phoenix and Tucson, Mesa is looking for something beyond the bland.
I don't know if I should even mention this, but Mesa just earned another distinction that cements this.
Forbes named Mesa one of the ten most boring cities in America.
Ouch. That hurt.
However, I doubt most of America knows about the article... more likely- most were too bored to care.
So... what to do?
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Mesa has a great deal to offer beyond friendly people, great fall/spring/winter weather, access to several lakes, affordable housing, and winter league baseball.
And, if voters have their say, Mesa will house the state's (nation's?) most compelling new project.
Gaylord Entertainment has proposed to build the state's largest hotel and conference center in Mesa.
The price tag for this?
A billion dollars. (To the penny? I always wonder about these conveniently priced initiatives.)
Gaylord Entertainment and DMB have developed a campaign to woo Mesa voters to finish what the city council started... that is... to approve a bed tax agreement that will bring the project to the go-stage.
These two partners in development claim that this project will:
- Create 8,000 construction jobs
- 4,000 permanent jobs
- $12 million in construction fees for Mesa
- $5.5 million in annual sales tax for city services
- Monies come from tourists not taxpayers
That's the sales pitch.
I'm for it.
It would be, I dunno, not boring.
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