Metro Valley Real Estate

July 8, 2008 - 9:57PM

Waveyard development group puts team together

Beth Lucas, Tribune

A group of planners and engineers who will build a water adventure park in Mesa is beginning to take shape.

Waveyard Development announced Tuesday it had secured three major engineering and development companies to begin planning Waveyard, which is expected to open in 2011 in west Mesa.

The group is made up of Kentucky-based The Weber Group, Phoenix's Hunt Construction Group and the Neuman Group of Beaver Creek, Wis.

The companies are the first to become part of Waveyard's Liquid Evolution Adventure Parks, or LEAP, a group that will advocate for and design watersports parks nationwide. The group is proposed to help plan everything from small water parks to developments similar to the scope of Waveyard.

Ultimately, LEAP will include real estate developers, designers and engineers that will first focus on development of Waveyard before using their expertise elsewhere, said spokesman Bo Morris.

"They have the technology to bring projects as big as Waveyard to different cities," he said. "Or, if a city or community wanted to bring a smaller wavepool or any number of types of water sports facilities, they are capable of doing it."

Waveyard is planned on 125 acres near Dobson Road and the Red Mountain Freeway stretch of Loop 202, and will include a resort, a retail village, dining and entertainment and a variety of watersports including surfing, rafting, kayaking and scuba diving.

Mesa voters in November overwhelmingly approved a $20 million sales tax rebate over 10 years, plus interest, and $1.5 million in public improvements to build Waveyard.

The plan is to break ground by early next year, or as soon as late this year.

Waveyard co-founder Richard Mladick said in a news release that the group will work to create "the premiere outdoor adventure destination in the world."

The Weber Group, which will serve as master architect, has designed projects including Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom and Nickelodeon Central at Paramount's Carowinds in Charlotte, N.C.

Hunt Construction Group will lead commercial construction, and has experience including developing University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale and Scottsdale's W Resort and Spa.

The Neuman Group will bring its experience in aquatic planning, which has included Pennsylvania-based Hershey Entertainment & Resorts and Wave Development.