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Mesa to consider MOU with SoulTrust for city-owned Grid site after developer bankruptcy
Summary
City staff briefed council on a proposed memorandum of understanding with purchaser SoulTrust for the stalled “Grid” mixed‑use project at 233 E. Main St.; staff said the city will execute an agreement negotiated by the bankruptcy trustee and noted remaining contractor claims and required bankruptcy‑court approval.
City staff on Thursday detailed a memorandum of understanding the council will consider Monday that would let a selected purchaser, SoulTrust, buy and redevelop a stalled mixed‑use project known as the Grid at 233 East Main Street.
The city-owned site was developed under a 2017 development agreement but entered bankruptcy in March 2024; a trustee for the bankruptcy ran a process to select a buyer, and SoulTrust Maine QOZB LLC was chosen, staff said. The MOU would be an agreement the trustee negotiated to settle claims against the bankruptcy estate; staff told council the city would execute that agreement if the trustee proceeds.
The MOU lays out construction and purchase options by phases, staff said. Phase 1 will contain “micro” units over commercial and office space; phases 2 and 3 would add townhomes. The developer will lease the land during construction and may exercise an option to buy each phase within 180 days of that phase’s certificate of occupancy, staff said. The overall appraised purchase price for the parcel was stated in the briefing as $2,985,000.
Why it matters
The Grid parcel is city owned and sits adjacent to Benedictine University, which made the council’s role central during the bankruptcy sale. Staff said the city previously required the original developer to escrow $1.7 million as a protection in case the project failed; after the project did fail the city used that escrow to restore right of way, reopen streets and install lighting and landscaping.
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