[PHX_PD]

Fiesta Mall condo project back on track

Jim Walsh
The Arizona Republic
Sept. 16, 2007 12:00 AM

A condominium project designed to increase pedestrian traffic and help transform Mesa's Fiesta District into an urban center is moving forward.

After months of little action, sales of Aquaterra condominiums are scheduled to start in November.

A Web site advertises "metropolitan living spaces" and "chic lofts." Prices are expected to range from $180,000 to $900,000.

"We're very excited to be part of the Fiesta District," said Tom Roszak, of Roszak/ADC, the project's developer. "Part of the success of our project is all these other things happening in the area."

Aquaterra is expected to contribute to the district's redevelopment, along with renovations to Fiesta Mall and the new Children's Hospital tower at Banner Desert Medical Center.

Roszak said about 40 percent of the units must be sold before construction begins. He said he plans on construction starting next summer and Aquaterra opening in late 2009.

Aquaterra features three interconnected buildings that are five to six stories tall and blue- and orange-tinted glass.

The project originated as the bigger, splashier Fiesta Towers in November 2005, but it was scaled back amid a decline in the Valley's housing market.