As Mesa temple begins redevelopment, renters in Mormon church-owned homes asked to leave

Frank Ortega and his wife, Shawn, live in a small red-brick house on Udall Street in Mesa, a house with an orange tree in front on a quiet block they say offers a respite from nearby downtown.

"There's chaos all around us, but when you live in this little neighborhood, it's a nice little oasis," he said.

The two-bedroom house they rent for $900 a month is a dream for the high school sweethearts who reunited after 40 years apart, in a whirlwind romance neither expected.

On Tuesday, Ortega's landlords told him that the couple would need to vacate the house on Udall Street by the end of June. The house is owned by the investment arm of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The church is a powerful force in the neighborhood: It has quietly bought properties — 52 in total — around the towering temple on Main Street for more than a decade, with plans for sweeping redevelopment with the arrival of the light rail.

RELATED: Mesa Mormon Temple renovation plans revealed: 5 things to know

Now, those plans are coming to fruition — plans that will force people like Ortega out of the homes they rent from the church. At least eight homes in the neighborhood are slated for demolition, mostly on Udall Street. While the church has pledged to preserve the historical integrity of the temple itself, preservationists are worried about the possible decimation of its surrounding neighborhood, which is designated as historic.

The neighborhood received its historic designation in 2001 because it is a landmark of Mesa's early development in the 1900s and the bungalow-style architecture.

The temple will close May 20 for extensive renovations and redevelopment in the surrounding neighborhood. It will reopen in 2020.

Church leaders unveiled renderings for the renovated temple on Thursday, offering a rare glimpse inside a building not typically accessible to those outside the Mormon faith. The news conference at the visitor's center came just days after Ortega said he and others on Udall Street were told they would have to leave to make way for the church's planned redevelopment.

Church officials did not respond to questions about the broader redevelopment plan during the news conference.

Renters told to leave

Ortega, on a month-to-month lease, has no option but to leave. But moving poses a significant financial challenge: He said he has a severe heart condition that prevents him from working. Relying on just one income, the couple is worried about having enough money to pay to move into another home.

"I just paid all this money to get in here, it’s really not fair," he said. He has been refunded his $900 security deposit paid when he first moved in about nine months ago.

It's unclear how many people rent homes from the church's investment organization, Land Equity Investors LLC, and how many were told to leave. The church plans to build a new visitor's center on the corner of LeSueur and Main streets, Udall is the block directly west of LeSueur.

Carl Duke, with the church's development arm, applied through the city to demolish eight homes, mostly on Udall Street, in April. The home Ortega rents is not on the demolition list, so he thought he was safe when he first heard the church's plans.

But, at a meeting this week, Ortega said he was told by his property management company, Beehive Property Management, that construction necessitated everyone in church-owned property on Udall vacate. Of 18 parcels on Ortega's block of Udall Street, 16 are owned by either the LDS Church or its investment arm.

RELATED: Mesa temple's redevelopment plans raise historic-preservation concerns

Beehive's co-founder, Jake Beeson, would not comment.

Two others on Udall Street confirmed they were also told to leave by the end of June.

Ortega said he was initially leery of renting month-to-month but the real-estate agent assured him that they would be able to stay for a long time. The couple had planned to put roots down at the house, installing ceiling fans and cleaning up the backyard.

Ortega worries that June heat will make it particularly difficult for the couple to move.

"We thought we had found a nice little brownstone to retire in," he said.

Some homes planned for demolition

Juleen Jones and her mother live in a pale blue house with a small square of green lawn and short line of pink flowers in front on LeSueur Street. Their house is slated to be demolished.

Jones' parents sold the small two-bedroom bungalow a year and a half ago to Land Equity Investors LLC. For a decade, buyers associated with the Mormon Church asked them to sell, Jones said. They were hesitant because the house holds so many memories. It's been in her family since the 1940s.

Eventually, because they needed the money, are members of the church and did not want to stand in the way of its development plans, Jones' said her parents sold. She said the church's investment arm paid a fair market price and did not force them to sell.

"My dad’s very religious, and he didn't want to stand in the way," she said.

They agreed to rent from Land Equity Investors, knowing they would have to leave with the start of construction.

But Jones was hurt to hear the church applied for demolition on the basis that the homes were in bad shape.

"My father took great pride in his house and his yard," she said. "Ours' looks pretty darn good with our lawn and our flowers."

While state law requires rental properties to be registered with the Maricopa County Assessor's Office, the houses rented by Jones and Ortega are not registered as such, assessor spokesman Ryan Boyd confirmed.

Mesa charges a 1.75 percent sales tax on rental properties. The city did not immediately answer whether Land Equity Investors LLC has paid sales tax on the properties it rents in the neighborhood.

Hints about redevelopment plans

Roc Arnett, with the Mormon church and a longtime East Valley leader, spoke at Thursday's news conference. The temple holds a special place in his heart, he said, because it's where he was married and marked the adoption of a child.

"The families that are here have the same kind of reverence for the building," he told The Republic.

Arnett could not detail redevelopment plans for the area around the church, but hinted that the redevelopment would be "Ogden-esque," alluding to a similar project in Ogden, Utah.

In the city blocks near the Ogden temple, renovated several years ago, the church's development arm aimed to build at least 70 to 100 housing units, according to Standard Examiner. Plans for the ongoing development include a hotel and a senior center.

John Wesley, Mesa's planning director, said last week that the church's planned redevelopment would include housing.

Officials with the Mesa church said more about the redevelopment would be revealed by the end of May.

Reach reporter Lily Altavena at laltavena@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8927. Follow her on Twitter: @lilyalta.

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