Supporters of Save Shalimar –

First – thank you for your continued support of our effort to prevent the destruction of a historic neighborhood and 44-acres of greenspace. Also, a shout out to the heavens as the recent heavy rain may just have saved the hundreds of mature trees from the edge of death. Water of life.

The owner (Neuheisel) and the developers (BB Living, Cachet Homes) are doing everything in their power to beat down opposition, manage a misinformation campaign, garner elected official and special interest support, and force a high-density, multi-story rental complex into one of the last remaining open spaces in Tempe. Shalimar has been there since 1960 and has been around longer than Kiwanis Park.

There is no question on the owner’s motivation and why the developers won’t go away. There are millions of dollars at stake. And while you are certainly aware of where those funds are headed, you might not know who is going to pay the price.

Imagine being a retiree and suddenly being forced with a loss of equity and net worth that you have no ability to recover. You bought a home in a golf course community, knowing that regardless of the golf course future, the land was zoned AG 1/House/Acre. Knowing this, you make a significant investment. You paid a premium to live there. The same goes for all the families in the surrounding neighborhood that decided to make a life in this historic community and made significant investments in their homes.

The owner could sell the property as it was zoned and move on. But that would not yield the kind of money a rezoning and developer sale brings. The developer will also be heavily rewarded with a high-density rental complex that brings a rental stream in perpetuity. If you do not care about the neighbors and larger community, the decision is easy. Put out a couple messages about the difficult decision and the search for a ‘good steward of the land’ and wait for the rezoning approval.

Fortunately, Shalimar Nation is not having it.

From the developer side, there is no news to report. Following the developer neighborhood meetings in June, it was months before we saw any responses to the dozens of questions brought up during the meetings. As expected, the responses were hollow, virtually meaningless, and just more of the same misinformation campaign they have been focused on.

There are a host of issues with the proposed development. One major issue that we have not talked about extensively is traffic, safety, and the product that is targeted to be constructed. We want to shed some light on this, as supporters have raised concerns, and it was a big topic of discussion during the developer meetings back in June. The following slides are presented for your review, education, and hopefully action.

This proposal is absolutely unworkable. The Shalimar Association and Save Shalimar Campaign are staying in the fight for all of Tempe.

Please keep informed of breaking news and updates via Facebook, Instagram, Nextdoor, TikTok and of course SaveShalimar. We appreciate all donations of time and money. This helps fuel the campaign.

We thank you for your continued support.

The Shalimar Association / Save Shalimar Campaign.