The Gadsden Company held a groundbreaking on Tucson’s west side on Friday, April 7, to announce the that construction of the MSA Annex is underway. The MSA Annex west of I-10 at West Congress Street is the expansion of the Mercado San Agustin Public Market which was built in 2008.

A big project to develop Tucson’s west side is getting closer to construction. The Rio Nuevo Board is helping finance the expansion of Mercardo San Agustin. The multi-million dollar project is set to add hundreds of jobs and more than a dozen businesses to the city’s west side.

The city of Tucson has removed itself from the business of developing an extension of the downtown area west of Interstate 10 after eight years. For $1.2 million, Rio Nuevo is buying out the city’s stake in a 2008 development agreement with The Gadsden Co. to do projects on land south of Congress Street and west of Interstate 10 and the Santa Cruz River.

When Chef Ryan Clark opened Agustin Kitchen (formerly Agustin Brasserie) in December 2013, he had been brought on board by Fresh Start Group (FSG) owners Adam Weinstein and Jerry Dixon to create a bright new concept that would captivate and engage Southern Arizona.

The Santa Cruz River Farmers Market, run by the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona, is one of the 10 best in the country, according to the folks who publish the venerable Farmers’ Almanac.

A combination of private sector investment, better land use planning, and the potential of the modern streetcar has created “horrendous interest” in economic development in Tucson’s urban core.

To date, the Rio Nuevo downtown redevelopment project has had primarily a public funding emphasis. The focus is on the brink of shifting into a private investment mode as well with last week’s decision by the Tucson City Council to award a development contract to the Gadsden Company for 14 acres west of downtown.