By Maria Polletta, The Republic | azcentral.com
Eight years ago, developer DMB Associates bought 5 square miles of southeastern Mesa’s former General Motors Desert Proving Ground with an ambitious goal in mind: Create a thriving “somewhere” in what essentially was the middle of nowhere.
Given the plummeting economy and a series of painfully public false starts, the vision for a sprawling “city within a city” with residential, commercial and employment sectors for a while appeared to be a pipe dream. Plans for a massive resort hotel and a mammoth manufacturing complex, announced in 2008 and 2011, respectively, never panned out.
But as the roller-coaster economy’s twists and turns drove headlines, Mesa and Scottsdale-based DMB quietly were laying a foundation for the property’s rebound.
