Mesa staff preview MOU with SoulTrust to finish stalled ‘Grid’ project on East Main

Mesa city staff on Thursday walked the City Council through a trustee-negotiated memorandum of understanding with SoulTrust Maine Q O Z B LLC that would let the developer resume work on the stalled Grid project at 233 East Main Street and lease city-owned land while completing phased construction.

The presentation, given by Jeff McVay, manager of urban transformation, and Stephanie Monge, downtown transformation project manager, laid out the deal’s major terms and the bankruptcy-court steps needed before any final development or sale documents are returned to council. "This is city owned property, right next door to Benedictine University," Monge said, explaining why the city has been closely involved since the developer filed for bankruptcy last year.

Why it matters: the Grid is a high-profile, long-delayed downtown Mesa project. The MOU would let a new developer take responsibility for finishing the partially built structure and for settling claims against the bankruptcy estate; if the trustee and bankruptcy court approve the settlements, the city would enter construction-phase leases and permit the developer to purchase the property phase-by-phase after each phase receives a certificate of occupancy.

Key facts and next steps

- The property and partially built structure at 233 E. Main St. were owned by the city after earlier development problems. The city previously secured $1.7 million in escrow to restore right-of-way and complete public improvements after the prior developer failed; McVay said the city "expended all $1,700,000" to reopen Main and Pomeroy streets and finish some public work.

- The trustee in the developer’s bankruptcy ran a multi-developer selection…