Drive north on Interstate 10 from central Tucson, take the Marana Road exit, and head east on Marana Main Street. On the right, just past the Marana Aquatic and Recreation Center at 13455 N. Marana Main Street and across Civic Center Drive from the Ed Honea Marana Municipal Complex at 11555 W. Civic Center Drive, sits a stretch of mostly open, town-owned land. As of May 2026 it does not look like much. Per the Town of Marana, the Arizona Daily Star (tucson.com), Inside Tucson Business, KOLD News 13, and KGUN9, that parcel is the future home of Downtown Marana — a roughly 19-to-20-acre, five-phase, eleven-year, car-free, brick-paved walkable entertainment and retail district. The lease and development agreement was approved by the Marana Town Council on December 15, 2025; the developer is Marana Urban LLC, the team of longtime downtown Tucson developers Scott Stiteler and Rudy Dabdoub. Town Manager Terry Rozema has publicly indicated a summer or fall 2026 groundbreaking, with the first businesses targeting spring 2027. Here is a fully sourced May 6, 2026 walk-through for Marana residents, northwest-Tucson buyers, and anyone evaluating the town as a relocation target. Dec 15, 2025 — Council approves lease and development agreement. ~19-20 acres — Phase 1 footprint of town-owned land. 75 years — Initial lease term, with a 25-year renewal option. Summer-Fall 2026 — Targeted groundbreaking window Where Downtown Marana Will Actually Sit Per the Town of Marana's Downtown page (maranaaz.gov/Marana-Life/Downtown) and reporting in the Arizona Daily Star, Inside Tucson Business, and tucsonlocalmedia.com, the project sits on approximately 19 to 20 acres of town-owned land located east of Marana Main Street and north of Civic Center Drive — directly across the street from the Ed Honea Marana Municipal Complex at 11555 W. Civic Center Drive and adjacent to the Marana Aquatic and Recreation Center (the MARC) at 13455 N. Marana Main Street, in zip code 85653. The broader vision the Town has discussed publicly is a roughly 60-acre downtown over time; the lease executed in December 2025 covers the first ~19-to-20-acre phase. Coverage by KGUN9 has used the 60-acre figure to describe the long-range vision and the 19-to-20-acre figure to describe the near-term lease boundary. For drivers, the practical reference points are the Municipal Complex on one side of Civic Center Drive and the MARC on the other — the new district will rise on the open ground between and behind those two civic anchors. Who Marana Urban LLC Is Marana Urban LLC is the development entity behind the project, led by Tucson developers Scott Stiteler and Rudy Dabdoub. Per the Arizona Daily Star and Inside Tucson Business, their downtown Tucson portfolio includes the AC Hotel Tucson Downtown, The Hub student-housing tower at Stone and Pennington, the Playground Bar & Lounge, and the pickleball-themed restaurant and beer garden Corbett's, located in the historic Corbett Building on North Sixth Avenue. The relevance to Marana buyers is straightforward: the team that gets the lease has a multi-decade record of building and operating walkable, mixed-use entertainment buildings in central Tucson. Stiteler is the principal owner of Marana Urban LLC and has been quoted publicly describing the first two anchor tenants as a 'nice restaurant' and a brewery — the same kind of food-and-beverage anchor mix that defined the early years of Tucson's Congress Street and Sixth Avenue revitalization. Phase 1: A Restaurant, a Brewery, a Spa, and Brick-Paved Streets Per Inside Tucson Business and tucsonlocalmedia.com's coverage of the December 15, 2025 council vote, Phase 1 of Downtown Marana will be located on the portion of the site nearest the Marana Aquatic and Recreation Center. The phase is required to include at minimum 15,000 square feet of commercial building space; later phases must add at least an additional 55,000 square feet of commercial development across the remaining 11-year buildout. The Phase 1 program includes a sit-down restaurant, a brewery, a spa, an open recreational outdoor area, a temporary parking lot, and the surrounding street infrastructure — a brick-paved roadway with sidewalks, curbs, street lighting, and trees. The brick-paved roadway is not cosmetic; it is the design device that signals 'walkable district' rather than 'commercial strip' and is one of the elements drawn directly from the Mule Alley reference at the Fort Worth Stockyards. What Each Phase Could Eventually Hold Phase 1 Anchors (Near MARC) (Restaurant, Brewery, Spa, 15,000+ sq ft): The first two buildings, per Stiteler's public comments reported by KGUN9 and KOLD News 13, are a sit-down restaurant and a brewery. Phase 1 also includes a spa, an open recreational outdoor area, a temporary parking lot, and brick-paved streetscape. The minimum commercial floor area for Phase 1 is 15,000 square feet. Later Phases (Long-Range Vision) (Hotel, Dance Barn, Rodeo Arena, 55,000+ sq ft): Per early renderings reported by KOLD News 13 and KGUN9, the long-range vision for the broader downtown contemplates a hotel, an event grove, a dance barn, a bike loop, a rodeo arena, additional restaurants, coffee shops, retail shops, and event spaces. Future phases must add at least 55,000 additional commercial square feet over the eleven-year buildout. The Walkable Core (Car-Free Interior, Brick Streets, Pedestrian): Per Discover Marana and Inside Tucson Business, the district itself is designed as car-free at the interior, with parking lots wrapping the perimeter and brick-paved roadways and sidewalks moving people through the core. The model is closer to a walkable historic-district storefront grid than to a conventional Tucson power-center pad layout. The Mule Alley Reference (Fort Worth Stockyards, Mixed-Use, Heritage Brick): The Town of Marana has publicly cited Mule Alley at the Fort Worth Stockyards in Texas as the design inspiration. Mule Alley is a restored row of historic horse and mule barns reactivated as a curated mix of restaurants, shops, entertainment, and creative offices. Marana's version will be ground-up rather than restored, but the brick palette, scale, and pedestrian rhythm are the design analog. The Lease and the Eleven-Year Schedule Per Inside Tucson Business and tucsonlocalmedia.com, the lease that the Marana Town Council approved on December 15, 2025 runs for 75 years, with a 25-year renewal option for the developer, and the development is scheduled to roll out over five phases across roughly eleven years. The agreement itself sets specific contractual milestones: Marana Urban LLC has 18 months from execution to submit a Phase 1 development plan for construction, 24 months to begin construction, and 36 months to substantially complete Phase 1. From the December 15, 2025 starting point, that pencils to a development-plan submittal target by mid-2027, a construction-start contractual deadline by late 2027, and Phase 1 substantial completion by late 2028. Town Manager Terry Rozema has indicated to local media that the actual groundbreaking is expected to occur ahead of those contractual deadlines — in summer or fall 2026 — with the first restaurant and brewery aiming to open in spring 2027. The contract dates are the outer limits; the public timeline target is faster. Practical reading of the schedule: contract milestones from the December 15, 2025 lease set Phase 1 substantial completion by roughly late 2028. Town leadership's public target is faster — groundbreaking summer or fall 2026 and first businesses opening spring 2027. Both sets of dates are publicly sourced; treat the contract dates as the floor and the public targets as the announced goal. Why a Walkable, Car-Free Core Is a Notable Design Choice for Marana Marana's existing commercial fabric — Continental Ranch, Gladden Farms Marketplace, the Arizona Pavilions Shopping Center, the Twin Peaks corridor, the Tangerine Road retail nodes — has been built almost entirely as conventional pad-and-strip suburban retail, with surface parking driving the layout. A car-free, brick-paved, walkable interior is a structurally different design product. Per Discover Marana and Inside Tucson Business, the new Downtown Marana plan deliberately puts parking lots on the perimeter and forces all interior circulation onto sidewalks and pedestrian streets — the same design move that defined the rebuild of Mule Alley at the Fort Worth Stockyards. The relevance to home buyers in northwest Tucson is that this is the first substantial commercial site in Marana being designed primarily for walking rather than driving. For households who have been weighing Marana against Oro Valley or central Tucson on lifestyle factors — sidewalk dining, nightlife within walking distance, a real downtown to identify with — the announced design intent is a meaningful change in the town's long-run product mix. The 85653 and Marana Real-Estate Backdrop Per population estimates aggregated on World Population Review, Marana's 2026 population is approximately 67,000, an increase of roughly 28 percent over the 2020 census count of 52,626 and an annualized growth pace in the high three-percent range — among the faster-growing municipalities in metro Tucson. On the housing side, market data aggregated by Redfin, Zillow, Realtor.com, Homes.com, Compass, Movoto, and Realtytrac for Marana and the 85653 zip code generally show a 2026 median sale price in the high $300,000s to mid $400,000s, with average days on market in the 60s to 70s and inventory in a more balanced position than the 2021-to-2022 cycle. Different aggregators report different mid-points depending on geography (city of Marana proper vs. the broader 85653 zip) and methodology (sale price, listing price, or Zestimate-style automated value). The directional read is consistent: Marana is a high-growth Tucson suburb where the home-price band still tracks below or in line with the Oro Valley/Catalina Foothills band and where new commercial amenities are landing as the population continues to rise. What's Worth Watching in the Coming Weeks Three things on the Downtown Marana calendar are worth tracking between now and the end of summer 2026. First, design submittals: Marana Urban LLC's contractual deadline to submit the Phase 1 development plan is 18 months from the December 15, 2025 lease, but the public target is a summer or fall 2026 groundbreaking, which means design and permit filings should appear in the Town of Marana's Development Services queue earlier than the contract floor. Second, infrastructure and utility work: brick-paved streetscape, lighting, sidewalks, and the temporary parking lot all need to be staged before vertical construction; that street-level activity is the first visible signal that work has begun. Third, public meetings: the Marana Town Council and the Town's Planning Commission post agendas on maranaaz.gov, and any modifications to the development agreement, Phase 1 site plan, or related zoning items will run through those public meetings. A relocation buyer who wants to track this project the way locals do should bookmark maranaaz.gov/Marana-Life/Downtown, the Town of Marana newsroom, and the Marana Current and Proposed Projects ArcGIS map. What This Means for Buyers and Sellers Watching Marana A single approved lease and a planned spring-2027 first opening do not, by themselves, change any one home's value. Every property in Marana sits in its own micro-context: how close is it to Marana Main Street and Civic Center Drive, what subdivision is it in, what is the access to I-10 and Tangerine Road, what schools serve the address. The accurate way to use the Downtown Marana announcement is as one current data point in a broader picture: the town has a 75-year lease in place with a developer that has actually built and operated walkable mixed-use product in central Tucson, the 19-to-20-acre first phase has a contractual schedule, and ground is targeted to break in the summer or fall of this year. For buyers actively looking near Marana Main Street, Civic Center Drive, and the surrounding 85653 neighborhoods, that is a meaningful future amenity moving from 'concept' to 'leased.' For sellers preparing 2026 listing strategy, it is a current, factual market-condition update worth being aware of when discussing comparable sales, the Town's growth trajectory, and the broader story being told to incoming northwest-Tucson buyers. Quick reference: Downtown Marana, ~19-to-20 acres east of Marana Main Street and north of Civic Center Drive, in zip code 85653. Lease and development agreement approved December 15, 2025. Developer: Marana Urban LLC (Scott Stiteler and Rudy Dabdoub). 75-year lease with a 25-year renewal option. Five phases over eleven years. Phase 1 minimum 15,000 sq ft commercial, with at least 55,000 additional sq ft in later phases. Inspiration: Mule Alley at the Fort Worth Stockyards. Targeted groundbreaking summer or fall 2026; first restaurant and brewery targeting spring 2027. Sources Town of Marana — Downtown Marana page (maranaaz.gov/Marana-Life/Downtown), on the location, design intent, walkable car-free interior, and Mule Alley inspiration. Town of Marana — Marana Aquatic and Recreation Center facility page (maranaaz.gov), on the MARC address at 13455 N. Marana Main Street, Marana, AZ 85653, and the Ed Honea Marana Municipal Complex at 11555 W. Civic Center Drive, Marana, AZ 85653. Town of Marana — Marana Development Update newsroom entries and the Marana Current and Proposed Projects ArcGIS experience (experience.arcgis.com), on near-term project status. Inside Tucson Business — 'Marana council OKs downtown lease and development plan' (insidetucsonbusiness.com), on the December 15, 2025 council vote, the 75-year lease with 25-year renewal option, the five-phase eleven-year buildout, the 18-/24-/36-month Phase 1 milestones, and the 15,000-and-55,000 commercial square-footage minimums. Tucsonlocalmedia.com (Marana News / Explorer News) — companion coverage of the December 15, 2025 lease vote and Phase 1 program. Arizona Daily Star (tucson.com) — 'Tucson developers are helping Marana create a real downtown,' on the developer team Scott Stiteler and Rudy Dabdoub and their downtown Tucson portfolio (AC Hotel Tucson Downtown, The Hub, Playground Bar & Lounge, Corbett's). KOLD News 13 — 'Council approves lease agreement for Marana Downtown project' (kold.com, December 18, 2025) and 'Renderings of Marana's downtown project has residents excited for growth' (kold.com), on the dance barn, rodeo arena, hotel, and bike-loop renderings. KGUN9 — 'Marana closer to new downtown with 60-acre development' and 'Marana moves forward with developing a 20-acre Downtown district' (kgun9.com), on the 60-acre long-range vision and 20-acre near-term lease boundary, plus Town Manager Terry Rozema's summer-or-fall-2026 groundbreaking and spring-2027 first-business comments. Discover Marana — Downtown Marana economic-development context (discovermarana.org), on car-free interior design, parking on the perimeter, and Mule Alley reference. World Population Review — Marana, Arizona population estimates 2026 (worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/arizona/marana), on the ~67,000 2026 population, the 2020 census base of 52,626, and growth-rate context. Redfin — Marana, AZ housing market and 85653 zip-code housing market (redfin.com/city/11280/AZ/Marana/housing-market and redfin.com/zipcode/85653/housing-market). Zillow — Marana home values and 85653 zip-code home values (zillow.com/home-values/56207/marana-az/ and zillow.com/home-values/95033/marana-az-85653/). Realtor.com, Homes.com, Compass, Movoto, and Realtytrac — supplemental Marana and 85653 market context. Mule Alley at the Fort Worth Stockyards — design reference background (fortworthstockyards.com/mule-alley/ and mulealleyfortworth.com). All data current as of May 6, 2026.