By Maritza Dominguez | AZ Central
Mesa, a sprawling city of more than half a million people, will see the expansion of an Asian food hub, a new internet provider, a growing electric car footprint and a long-awaited beach-style park in 2023.
Here’s a look at what to expect with these Mesa developments in the new year.
Mekong Plaza expansion
Mekong Plaza, the hub for Mesa’s Asian District, is getting a $10 million expansion. The project is expected to be completed by July, according to a city news release.
As much as 60% of its space has been pre-leased. The dirt lot south of the main building will turn into a retail space big enough for more than a dozen business and restaurants.
Mekong Plaza was transformed to a multi-faceted retail destination in 2008 from an empty Target. The city has focused on branding the area as a destination space for metro Phoenix. To help promote the district, the city set aside $200,000 to be used over the next two years.
Google Fiber
Mesa is the first Arizona city to receive Google’s internet service Google Fiber. In July 2022, the council voted to allow Google to use the city right-of-way to install its infrastructure on city streets.
Construction is planned to begin in early this year, with the first customers receiving service by the end of 2023.
The service offers two different plans, a $70 per month plan with one gigabit per second of download and upload speed, and a $100 per month plan of two gigabits per second of download speed and one gigabit upload speed.
