Mesa retail development to focus on Hispanics

Work is accelerating a Spanish Colonial-style shopping center catering to a heavily Hispanic area of Mesa.

Mesa Ranch Plaza, a center on 18 acres of land at the northwest corner of Southern Avenue and Stapley Drive, will open early next year with two big retailers catering to Hispanic shoppers — La Curacao, a massive 100,000-square-foot electronics and home-appliance store, and grocer Pro’s Ranch Market.

The center will also host a clothing store for teens called Gen X, as well as Arizona’s first Pollo Campero, a fast-food chicken chain based in Guatemala, said Liz Gaston, Mesa Ranch Plaza project manager.

The retailers will draw from a wellspring of Latino shoppers, according to the developer, Scottsdale-based Diversified Partners. About 43 percent of the population in the immediate area is Hispanic and the median household income is $48,913 a year, according to a demographic study by Diversified.

Construction started on the plaza in February. The center is in an area without many shopping amenities aside from several aging and weathered strip malls.

City officials are hoping the new center will help spur redevelopment in the area, attract new retailers and help bring more residents.

“I don’t think by itself — alone — it will do it, but maybe it begins to cause other things to happen,” said Chris Brady, Mesa’s city manager.

“Sometimes, the newer storefronts put pressure on people because then they realize they’ve got to step it up, because the business they were getting may be going to the new guy on the block.”

Luis Soto, a resident who lives close to Mesa Ranch, said he’s noticed all the construction work at Stapley Drive and Southern Avenue, but hadn’t realized it was going to be a new shopping center.

Soto said he’s looking forward to seeing La Curacao, which will be the chain’s second Arizona location. The other store is in the West Valley.

Soto said he and his family have to travel four miles to Home Depot at Val Vista Drive and Broadway Road to shop for appliances or other necessities for the home. Having a major shopping center in his neighborhood will be a big advantage, “especially with the gas prices nowadays,” he said.

In addition to the two anchors, Gaston said Mesa Ranch Plaza will have an additional 50,000 square feet of shopping space, or about 20 stores.

The center will include eight buildings for national chain retailers, financial institutions and professional services.

Gaston declined to name the other retailers being courting for the project.

“I think it was an underserved area, and everybody that we’ve talked to is really excited about this project,” she said.

The plaza’s designers integrated elements reminiscent of old Mexico.

Features will include hand-painted murals, fountains, Spanish tile and outdoor lounging areas for patrons.