2 new hotels announced at former Fiesta Mall site to anchor proposed women’s soccer stadium

PHOENIX — Sunny Day Sports on Monday unveiled plans for two hotels at the Palo District, the sweeping redevelopment of the former Fiesta Mall site near Southern Avenue and Alma School Road. The planned 600 rooms are meant to support the project’s broader vision, a new women’s health and soccer stadium.

The newly announced hotels are broken into two concepts: a 400-room, modern lifestyle property and a 200-room extended‑stay concept.

The hotels serve as anchors for the 80-acre district, which is being master planned around a proposed professional women’s soccer stadium, a women’s health campus, retail and office space.

The larger hotel will be built directly next to the planned stadium. It will include restaurants and meeting spaces designed to attract conference business and tourism.

The smaller venue is envisioned as a 3.5‑star, extended‑stay hotel tailored to families, fans, tourists, researchers and visitors tied to the health campus.

Sunny Day Sports is the investor group working with real estate firm Plaza Companies on the Fiesta Mall redevelopment. They are in final talks with several companies to select brands for the hotels, which are expected to open in early 2028.

“These hotels … are essential infrastructure that supports the mission and functionality of the Palo District,” Sunny Day Sports CEO Vicki Mayo said in the hotel announcement. “Whether it’s elite athletes coming to compete, tourists and sports fans flocking to new attractions, families supporting loved ones receiving care, or researchers and clinicians collaborating on‑site, these lodging options are designed to meet real needs and enhance the experience of everyone who comes to Palo.”

Project leaders said the hotels will help fill a “higher-end” lodging gap in East Valley that widened after nearby properties aged and Fiesta Mall declined.

The mall sat mostly vacant for years before its 2023 demolition.

Building on the women’s soccer stadium plan

In January, Sunny Day Sports launched a campaign to rally support for a professional women’s soccer team and domed stadium at the Palo District. They previously announced $100 million women’s health campus set to break ground as early as April.

The city of Mesa enabled the redevelopment by rezoning the land as a theme park district in November 2025, allowing the district’s board to issue project-backed bonds and levy a sales tax on business activity.

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