TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — New housing and shops coming soon to the Westside are expected to bring more tax dollars to the local community.
The Bautista, an addition to the Mercado District, has been in the works since 2020. Construction began in 2022, and the project is now almost complete.
Gadsden Company President and CEO Adam Weinstein shared details about the development.
"It’s a 256-unit multifamily apartment complex. It's Class A market-rate residential with 16,000 square feet of our expanding Mercado District retail," Weinstein said.
The complex will be similar to the Monier directly across from it, featuring 10 to 12 street-level shops and eateries. While it is not yet known who is moving in, the new businesses will offer more options for those visiting the area.
"100% of our businesses are local small businesses and they kind of represent the fabric of Tucson. A good public market district should be a reflection of the community that it lives in," said Kira Dixon-Weinstein, Executive Director of the Mercado District.
The Bautista will be the largest building in the Mercado District. It sits along the Santa Cruz River and features different-sized balconies, a public plaza, four courtyards, underground parking, a fitness center, pool, and a paseo connecting it to the rest of the Mercado District.
The area will also connect to the Loop, where riders can take a pit stop for a coffee or enjoy the shops.
“The other thing that’s important to note, you can’t see it from the outside, but there are four large courtyards that are all for the residential component of the building, so it’s a unique courtyard housing design where most of the entries on the interior courtyard are balcony loaded as opposed to interior doubly loaded corridors," Weinstein said. "Everything is fresh air.”
He says he's most excited about bringing the next tier of residents into the overall Mercado District as a whole. He believes it's going to create a whole new level of dynamism and community that they've been growing throughout the build out.
"In addition to that, it's a significant sales tax revenue that we'll be able to be generating in complement to the other projects we have in place, so that we can continue to feed the Rio Nuevo coffers," Weinstein said. "So that they have the ability to deploy those sales tax revenues for the creation of other businesses throughout the TIF (Tax Increment Finance) District, which just helps us all as a whole as a community in the city of Tucson."
Dixon-Weinstein says she is looking forward to all the complex has to offer.
"I'm really excited about the center paseo that runs between the two buildings and the new park that goes along the bike loop. So the bike loop will have an amenity that doesn't really exist anywhere else on the bike loop," Dixon-Weinstein said.
Completion of the north section of the building is scheduled for July, with the south section expected to be finished by October.
"We'll incrementally take occupancy as rapidly as we can and the commercial and retail will also be coming online in conjunction with the residential units," Weinstein said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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Vanessa Gongora is KGUN 9's Westside reporter.. Vanessa fell in love with storytelling by growing up in sports. She was fascinated by how sports reporters go beyond the x's & o's to tell players' stories, and how sports bring people together, inspiring Vanessa to provide the same impact as a journalist. Share your story ideas and important issues with Vanessa by emailing vanessa.gongora@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
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