Mesa Riverview vs. Tempe Marketplace

There is a very interesting comparison piece between Mesa Riverview and Tempe Marketplace in the Tribune on Sunday. This story was especially interesting to me because I happened to be at both places the night before. On Saturday night, while we were out, my wife and I decided to take a stroll through both shopping centers.

It was about 8pm on Saturday night, and the District in Tempe Marketplace had not one but two perfomances going on. Near the bookstore, they had an accoustic guitar player hanging out playing songs while people walked about. Near the center part, they had a full rockband complete with horns playing. Now, I didn't think the singer of the rockband was all that good, but the band sounded great. The restaurants seemed to be pretty busy, but the stores (which pretty much just freestanding stores you see in a normal mall) were all pretty empty. The vibe was nice, although I think they need a few heaters in some of the common areas.

So, then we packed up and drove over to Mesa Riverview. The place was pitch black. At first, I thought that Tempe Marketplace may just have better and more obnoxious signage. Then, as we pulled in on Bass Pro Drive, you could tell something was wrong. No streetlights, no stop lights. The power was off in the entire place. We drove around the place anyway, and most of it was closed probably due to the power outage. So, its hard to make a direct comparison. However, you could see that there was still a full crowd at the wine bar.

I think that if you just compare the two shopping districts, its clear that Tempe Marketplace is on top right now. However, its not really a fair comparison to compare the two projects just based on those districts. As I was leaving, we were facing right smack dab at those auto dealerships, which are also part of the project. My wife also reminded me of the hotel that is coming. When it comes down to it, its going to be more difficult to make an overall direct comparison.