Mesa City Council will hold a public hearing on August 31, 2026 on case ANX25-00725. The proposal annexes a narrow strip of Maricopa County road right-of-way on Signal Butte Road. That strip sits next to Destination at Gateway — the 163-acre retail and auto mall complex planned at the new SR-24 interchange. No vote has happened yet. Approval is not confirmed.
If you live in Eastmark, Queen Creek, or Gilbert, this corner is about to change
For years, residents in Eastmark, Queen Creek, Gilbert, and Superstition Vistas have driven well outside their communities for everyday shopping. Destination at Gateway changes that. It brings the area’s first nearby Walmart. It also adds dining and automotive services at an interchange most East Valley commuters already use.
On Signal Butte Road, construction is active. Traffic signals are planned at Signal Butte and Mountain roads for development access. The site sits next to Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. That airport supports more than 10,000 jobs. It generates about $1.3 billion in annual economic impact. Eastmark alone has more than 17,000 planned residential units. That rooftop count is what draws national retailers to a corner.
The annexation itself does not displace anyone. The parcel is a government road right-of-way, not private land. But it matters. A strip of county-controlled road running through a city-served district creates a gap. Mesa cannot apply city utilities or permits to land it does not govern. Bringing that strip inside city limits closes the seam.
Why a narrow road strip is the key to city jurisdiction here
The parcel is 0.38 acres. Case ANX25-00725 proposes to bring it into Mesa city limits. It runs south along Signal Butte Road from Williams Field Road for about 659.19 feet. It stops at the northern edge of State Route 24. It sits in Mesa Council District 6.
That strip is currently Maricopa County right-of-way. As Destination at Gateway is built out, Mesa will provide city services to surrounding parcels. That county gap becomes a real problem. Annexing the strip puts the entire frontage under Mesa’s authority. The public hearing is August 31, 2026. The council has final say on annexation ordinances.
An aerial rendering of the Destination at Gateway retail complex, showing the scale of surface parking and commercial building footprints planned for the site. (Diversified Partners)
Destination at Gateway: the 163-acre project behind the filing
Diversified Partners is a Scottsdale-based developer. The company is building Destination at Gateway at the new SR-24 interchange at Signal Butte Road. The project covers 163 acres. It pairs a retail power center with a purpose-built auto mall.
Confirmed tenants include Walmart, 7 Brew, Take 5 Oil Change, Taco Bell, Zara Nail Bar, and PAC Dental. Major employers nearby include Apple, Meta, Intel, CyrusOne, Fujifilm, and Novva data centers. More than 62,000 vehicles pass the Signal Butte/SR-24 location every day. More than 101,000 travel Loop 202 daily. The site is surrounded by more than 10,000 residences within five miles, separate from Eastmark’s planned unit count.
24 Auto Row: the auto mall on the west side
A rendering showing the streetscape design planned for the auto dealership pads at Destination at Gateway, including landscaping and traffic signal infrastructure. (Diversified Partners / John Mahoney, Architect)
The auto mall is called 24 Auto Row. It spans about 80 acres across eight parcels. Those parcels range from roughly 6.4 to 12.5 acres each. The Berge family is developing it. Their Arizona automotive business dates to the 1940s. Brent Carleton Berge is the third-generation CEO. Berge Auto Group currently runs seven dealerships. Architect John Mahoney designed the site plan.
24 Auto Row and Destination at Gateway are separate from Gateway Auto Mall. Gateway Auto Mall is the Horne Auto Group project south of SR-24. Different ownership, different side of the freeway.
Mesa’s $14 million incentive deal — and the debate around it
On June 17, 2024, Mesa City Council unanimously approved three measures for Destination at Gateway. Those were a development resolution, a retail tax incentive, and a land rezoning.
The $14 million incentive is a retail development tax deal with Berge. It expanded a $6 million incentive the city approved in 2020 for the same site. To get reimbursed, Berge must complete public improvements and deed them to the city by 2028. The incentive, the rezoning, the development resolution, and the annexation are all steps in the same chain.
The deal had critics. Councilman Mark Freeman publicly acknowledged taxpayer skepticism about subsidies for a private developer. That tension is worth knowing if you plan to attend or comment at the August 31 hearing.
Construction progress on Signal Butte Road
Off-site work on the east side of Signal Butte Road is done. Work on the west side was underway and expected to finish by Q3 2026. Commuters on Signal Butte Road near SR-24 will see active construction through that window and beyond as building work ramps up on retail and dealership pads.
The approval timeline from 2020 to August 31, 2026
- 2020: Mesa approves an initial $6 million incentive for development at the Signal Butte/SR-24 location.
- June 17, 2024: Council unanimously approves the development resolution, the expanded $14 million incentive, and the rezoning for Destination at Gateway.
- 2028 deadline: Berge must complete and deed public improvements to receive reimbursement.
- August 31, 2026: Public hearing on case ANX25-00725 — annexation of the 0.38-acre Signal Butte Road right-of-way strip.
The August 31 hearing — and what comes after
The Mesa City Council public hearing on case ANX25-00725 is August 31, 2026. The council has final authority on annexation ordinances. No vote has occurred. The outcome is not predetermined.
If approved, the 0.38-acre strip moves from Maricopa County into the City of Mesa. That closes the boundary gap along the project’s Signal Butte Road frontage. Construction milestones and the 2028 public-improvement deadline follow from there.
If you want to weigh in, August 31 is the public opportunity. Follow updates on the broader Gateway corridor development and watch the August Mesa council agenda for meeting details.
