Featured in AZCentral on Jan. 8, 2022. 

Hopes were high in Surprise with the 2005 announcement of Prasada, a 4,200-acre development “expected to become an economic hub for the city" with thousands of homes, an indoor mall, two power centers and more.

Some auto dealerships opened, but then the Great Recession hit and plans for the development largely halted for more than a decade. Fifteen years later, residents will finally see more housing, dining and shopping options along the city’s southern boundary near Loop 303.

The city’s 2006 development plan for Prasada said it would be a new regional center for the city and become “a unique place — in fact, a destination.” Some of the plans now moving forward look different, said Jeanine Jerkovic, Surprise's economic development director.

There will be no indoor mall and the retail space will be less than the 6 million square feet initially planned, she said, but the main vision — more shopping and luxury homes — are intact.

“The vision has really stood the test of time,” Jerkovic said. City officials and developers have “maintained some degree of flexibility,” she said, “understanding that retail trends change, residential trends change, employment trends change. But the big vision that (Prasada) would be a quality of life corridor in the West Valley, I think has largely held up.”

SimonCRE, a commercial real estate company, is developing a 700,000 square- foot open-air shopping center called Village at Prasada, southeast of Loop 303 and Waddell Road.

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