New Use Found For The Now Defunct GM Proving Grounds

The first residential project on land formerly occupied by the General Motors Desert Proving Ground has been announced. 796 single-family homes on the northwestern corner of Ray and Signal Butte roads will begin construction early in 2013.

The construction is planned for land 2 miles from Mesa Airport’s eastern border and would be part of the 15,000 dwelling units envisioned in a plan for the DMB land that the City Council approved in 2008.

The former GM property is scheduled for high end luxury homes to be build by a company called DMB.  The DMB project narrative did not list a prospective developer for the site.

It notes that according to the community plan for DMB’s Mesa Proving Grounds development, the property “will form the basis of the social fabric of the community and will be designed as intimate neighborhoods that encourage walking and social interaction.”

The document promises small neighborhood parks, narrow streets to encourage slower traffic and strong connections to other portions of the DMB property, including what has been called the Great Park in the center of the 5-square-mile development.

DMB and Mesa believe the GM site will develop in stages over the next few decades and has the potential for future high-rise business centers at, for example, the intersection of Ellsworth and Elliot roads.

DMB spokeswoman Cassidy Campana said the company is talking with several homebuilders about the newly approved tract but no deals have been made and there is no timetable for construction.

It will take a while to lay infrastructure and the development might not be ready to launch until 2013.

The inaugural project for DMB’s property was supposed to have been a ritzy Gaylord resort and conference center, another upscale resort, a championship golf course and high-end shopping about a mile east of the Ellsworth-Elliot intersection.

Mesa granted Gaylord a three-year extension for its groundbreaking deadline. The Nashville-based company has told the city its project here is still alive and will proceed when the economics pencil out.