Hawes & Elliot: 153-Acre Mixed-Use Rezone Could Reshape Southeast Mesa

Mesa is reshaping one of its largest undeveloped corners. The city just approved a major rezone of 102.9 acres at the southeast corner of South Hawes Road and East Elliot Road, flipping industrial zoning to mixed-use residential and commercial development. This is the kind of move that doesn't hit the news but hits your property value—especially if you own anywhere near the Gateway Airport corridor or south Chandler.

The project is called Hawes Crossing Village 7, and it's the anchor piece of what's shaping up to be a significant residential infill play in a part of Mesa that's been mostly agricultural and light industrial for decades.

What Just Happened

Mesa City Council approved two companion zoning cases for the same 153.5-acre parcel. The first, PZ 26065 (ZON26-00160), rezoned 102.9 acres from Mixed Use with Planned Area Development Overlay (MX-PAD) covering 29.7 acres and Light Industrial PAD (LI-PAD) covering 73.2 acres into a new configuration. The second, PZ 26068 (GPA26-00161), amended the General Plan on 103 acres to change the Placetype from Urban Center to Urban Residential on 29.7 acres and Local Employment on the remainder.

Translation: roughly 30 acres are now zoned for housing, and the rest is locked into commercial and employment uses. This is not a free-for-all rezoning. It's a structured, phased approach that Mesa Planning staff clearly vetted hard.

Why does this matter? Because Hawes and Elliot has been a dead zone for development. It's far enough south that it felt rural, but close enough to Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport and the I-10 that it was always going to urbanize eventually. Now it is.

Why This Corridor Matters

The Gateway Airport corridor—Signal Butte to Williams Field, Elliot Road down to the Superstition Mountains—is where Mesa's growth is actually happening. It's where every big-box retailer, every industrial park, and now every residential developer is looking. The Elliot Road infrastructure project approved under 26-0748 tells you everything. The city is converting Elliot from a two-lane rural road into a six-lane major arterial with raised medians from the Eastern Maricopa Floodway all the way to Ellsworth Road. That's not cosmetic. That's a city betting real money that this corridor is about to move.

Hawes Crossing Village 7 is the first major residential anchor in that bet.

What This Means for Mesa Homeowners

If you own property within a mile or two of Hawes and Elliot, your land just got more valuable. Rezone approvals are the first domino. Once zoning is locked in, the developer can pull site plans, the infrastructure follows, and property values in the surrounding area typically climb 8-15% over the next 18-24 months as the market prices in certainty.

If you're thinking about selling a house in south Mesa—anywhere from Chandler south to the Superstition area—this is your moment. Builders are going to want to buy land to compete with Hawes Crossing. Demand for finished lots is about to spike.

If you're a buyer, the opposite is true. You're about to see new competition in this submarket. Hawes Crossing will likely deliver 200-400 units over the next 3-5 years. That's real supply hitting a market that's been starved for it. Prices in adjacent neighborhoods may soften slightly, or at minimum, appreciation will flatten. If you were planning to buy in south Mesa, waiting 12 months might save you money.

The Design Review Pipeline

Mesa's also moving fast on smaller projects that signal where the market is heading. Park North Multi-Family (DSN 26032, DRB24-00707) just cleared design review for a 78-lot attached single-family development on 5 acres near South Power Road and East Guadalupe Road. That's the new Mesa: smaller, denser, more urban. Not sprawling single-family on a quarter-acre. Townhomes and attached units.

Meanwhile, Mountain America Credit Union (DSN 26033, DRB25-00407) is building a 7,962-square-foot financial institution with drive-through at McKellips and Recker. That's institutional confidence in the northeast side. Terrible's Convenience Store (DSN 26034, DRB25-00903) is putting down a 4,689-square-foot location south of Crismon and Southern. These aren't sexy projects, but they're the texture of a market that's filling in.

Industrial Still Moving

It's not all residential. ER2 (DSN 26036, ZON26-00411) just got approval for a 155,597-square-foot industrial development on 8.7 acres near Greenfield and McDowell. Magna Steyr Canopies (DSN 26037, ZON26-00414) is expanding outdoor storage on 10.8 acres at East Pecos Road. These are manufacturing and logistics plays. They're not flashy, but they're stable, they don't compete with housing for land, and they keep Mesa's employment base diverse.

What's telling is that all of these are getting approved in the same window. Mesa's not betting on one horse. It's zoning for residential, commercial, and industrial simultaneously. That's a city that actually understands its own market.

The Real Question: Timing

The rezone is approved. Infrastructure is being upgraded. But nothing is built yet. Hawes Crossing Village 7 still needs a final site plan, a plat, and financing. That typically takes 12-18 months from rezone approval to first shovel. If the developer hits snags—and they usually do—it could be 2-3 years before units hit the market.

For sellers, that's good. The rezone approval alone will start moving buyer interest south. For buyers, it's a wait-and-see. New supply is coming, but it's not here yet. Don't panic. Don't rush. The market is moving, but it's not moving fast enough to justify overpaying today.

What to do next

Check your property's new zoning designation. Visit Mesa City Legistar and search for your address or parcel ID. The city's GIS map also shows current zoning overlays. If you're within a half-mile of Hawes and Elliot, pull your parcel records and see what's zoned around you.
Get a home value estimate in your ZIP. If you're thinking about selling into this market shift, use MesaHomes.com's free home value tool to see where your property stands before buyer interest accelerates.
Talk to a local realtor. This is the kind of shift that takes 18-24 months to fully price in. If you're on the fence about selling, book a 15-minute consultation with someone who actually watches Mesa zoning cases. Timing matters.
Read the full case files. The Mesa Legistar links above have staff reports, conditions, and site plans. If you own near Hawes and Elliot or are considering buying there, read the conditions. They'll tell you what the developer committed to—and what Mesa is actually enforcing.

This is educational content, not legal advice. Consult a licensed Arizona Realtor for your specific situation.