A group of six homeowners in the Eastmark area of Mesa have filed a federal class action lawsuit against Brookfield Residential alleging the developer failed to live up to its promises regarding the community’s Great Park development.
The complaint alleges Great Park was intended to be a 90-acre “contiguous” component. The plaintiffs say Brookfield benefitted when it “perpetuated a scheme” to create a smaller and “disjointed” park with fewer private amenities and that it shifted a greater share of maintenance responsibilities onto homeowners than was originally agreed.
The plaintiffs say Brookfield advertised Great Park’s location and scale in its marketing materials to attract homebuyers but that the final item differs from what was promised.
According to City of Mesa officials, the park’s phases have been delivered more quickly and with more features than are found in typical City parks because of a Community Facilities District, which taxes residents to reimburse Brookfield for the development costs.
Brookfield transfers ownership of the park space to the City as each phase is completed. The City then manages it like any other public park.
When Eastmark was annexed into the city, an agreement was put in place to create the 90-acre Great Park and to give Mesa an option to buy 16 more acres for community facilities.
The lawsuit alleges residents were promised additional amenities that were to be owned and maintained by homeowners’ association the Eastmark Community Alliance. Forty acres of additional land was sold to homebuilders in 2020. Part of that sale included land originally earmarked for the overall park development. The lawsuit alleges that sale created a “land deficit” and that Brookfield worked with the Eastmark HOA –which it appointed—to include the additional amenities—a skate park and a disc golf course—as part of the 90-acre obligation required in the original agreement.
The Eastmark HOA approved the public access easement in 2022, allowing the two amenities to count toward the 90-acre obligation. The HOA, however, owns the skate park and disc golf course, which the lawsuit alleges shifts approximately 30% of Great Park’s maintenance from the City onto local residents.
The core allegation is that the HOA created a breach of duty and acted in Brookfield’s interest, rather than in the interests of the homeowners. Even though Mesa officials say Eastmark residents still ended up with more curated open space than other areas, the plaintiffs claim the agreements resulted in residents having fewer acres of open space than they were promised, and that Brookfield was enriched by several million dollars in the process.
Brookfield’s lawyers have moved to dismiss the lawsuit and have the complaint referred to arbitration. They claim the complaint stems from issues in the Eastmark Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions that are agreed to by homeowners and that the CC&Rs require arbitration as the means of resolving disputes. (Source)