For residents watching the growth around SR 24, one of the most practical additions on the horizon is a new place to stock up: Sam’s Club is the planned anchor for Gateway Crossing near Williams Field Road in southeast Mesa.
The project appears in leasing materials from developer Vestar and Phoenix Commercial Advisors. Those materials identify the warehouse club by name, giving residents something more concrete than a neighborhood rumor. An opening date, however, is a separate question—and East Valley Explorer has not verified one for this location.
Where is Gateway Crossing?
The project’s leasing brochure places Gateway Crossing at the southwest corner of SR 24 and Williams Field Road, near Arizona Athletic Grounds and the Eastmark and Cadence communities.
That location puts the proposed center near both surrounding neighborhoods and the sports complex. For local families, the appeal is straightforward: another option for everyday shopping and dining in this part of Mesa.
The photographed site and an illustrative concept
These two views compare East Valley Explorer’s August 24, 2026 drone photograph with an AI-generated concept created from that image. The original shows the vacant land beside Arizona Athletic Grounds; the concept adds a possible Sam’s Club building, parking and landscaping to help readers visualize the proposed use.
The rendering is an editorial illustration, not a developer rendering or approved site plan. Building placement, architecture, parking, landscaping and lighting are approximate and may differ from the final project.
Existing conditions
Illustrative Sam’s Club concept
What is planned besides Sam’s Club?
A February 2026 Shopping Center Business interview with Vestar leadership described Gateway Crossing as an approximately 225,000-square-foot development, with Sam’s Club anchoring a mix of smaller shops, restaurant pads and two hotels.
The leasing brochure also depicts smaller retail buildings and separate pads. Those spaces indicate the kind of center being marketed; they should not be read as announcements of signed restaurant or store tenants.
Beyond Sam’s Club, the sources reviewed for this article do not establish a complete, confirmed tenant lineup. Restaurant names, hotel brands and individual business opening dates remain details to watch.
How does it connect to Legacy Park?
Gateway Crossing and Legacy Park are related developments, but their names are not interchangeable. Gateway Crossing is the Sam’s Club-anchored shopping center; Legacy Park is the larger mixed-use project planned immediately to its north.
As covered in our September 15 Legacy Park update, Mesa City Council approved a development agreement covering the projects on September 14. That story explains the public infrastructure plans and the distinct minimum development commitments for each property.
For readers following both projects, keeping those distinctions in mind helps avoid confusion: a schedule reported for Legacy Park does not automatically establish when the nearby Sam’s Club will welcome shoppers.
When will the new Sam’s Club open?
A specific opening date has not been verified in the sources reviewed for this article as of September 17, 2026.
The available materials support describing Sam’s Club as a planned anchor. They do not support announcing a grand-opening day or treating the entire development as ready for business.
The next meaningful updates will be store-specific announcements, construction milestones and confirmed tenants. Until then, Gateway Crossing is a shopping development worth following for southeast Mesa residents—with Sam’s Club as its clearest named draw.
