Mesa breaks ground on ‘Wrigleyville West’

PHOENIX — They’re calling it “Wrigleyville West.”

Over 200,000 people attended the Cubs’ spring training this year, and on Monday, Mesa officials broke ground for a new resort in Riverview Park.

“It’s not that we’re simply building a hotel,”” said Mesa Mayor Scott Smith. “Envision both sides of this Paseo (Rio Vista) being filled with urban hotels, shops, restaurants, bars, all those kinds of things.”

The four story Sheraton Hotel Mesa will have 180 rooms, two restaurants, a bar, pool, spa and a 26,000 square-foot conference room, along with another 20,000 square feet of space with which to lure other retailers.

“When this is finished, this’ll be a place that our citizens will walk and say, ‘Thank you it was worth it,'” Smith said. “And they should thank themselves for voting to approve this.”