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ASU Breaks Ground On Downtown Mesa Project

Arizona State University broke ground on its newest academic facility Friday. It’s called ASU @ Mesa City Center, and it will bring 800 students to downtown Mesa. 

The three-story 118,000-square-foot building will house Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts programs related to digital and sensory technology, gaming and film production, according to a statement released by the city of Mesa.

“Today’s groundbreaking marks not only the beginning of a new project at the start of a new decade, it reinforces our commitment to preparing for the competitive demands of a new economy,” ASU President Michael M. Crow said. “We are grateful for the confidence and investment from the city of Mesa which enables us to leverage that support into an investment in students and faculty in several related and transformative areas of study. Along with the Polytechnic campus in east Mesa, this new Center will give ASU a stronger presence in one of the most important communities we serve.” 

Mesa Mayor John Giles says the center is an important step forward in Mesa's development. 

“I can tell you that when I have meetings with companies that are looking to expand or come to mesa, we talk about ASU," Giles said. "We talk about what’s going to be happening in this building. Whether it’s a startup or a Fortune 500 company, and we have a few of those in Mesa ... this is what they talk about and this is what they’re excited about when they come to Mesa.” 

The city of Mesa funded $63.5 million of the $73.5 million project, with the rest of the funds coming from ASU.

The university will contribute $10 million to building out the interior and be responsible for maintaining the building — an estimated cost of about $1.3 million annually. 

Scott Bourque was a reporter and podcast producer at KJZZ from 2019 to 2022.