By Scott Schumaker | East Valley Tribune
In a short meeting last week, the Mesa Planning and Zoning Board passed a trio of applications for large projects up and down Signal Butte Road south of State Route 24.
The flurry of approvals signals forward momentum for the transformation of the rural enclave between Mesa and Queen Creek into an employment hub.
The board also signed off on two projects in other parts of Mesa: the conversion of an aging West Mesa hotel into an apartment complex by a crowd-funded real estate investment firm, and construction of a vertical mixed-use project on Elliot and Hawes roads that District 6 Councilmember Scott Somers hopes will set a new tone for development in the neighborhood.