Local apartment complex opens after arson fire in January

Monday afternoon, the Mesa Heights Apartment complex reopened its doors to the first round of families.

Earlier this year, the Mesa Heights Apartment complex was destroyed in a fire but the construction has since finished.

At the time of the fire, the apartment complex was still under construction and only one of the 7 buildings burned down.

The apartment fire back in January destroyed five homes and damaged over 20 properties.

On Monday, the complex hosted a briefing with the first round of families where they shared house rules, family obligations, and available supportive services.

Families were also able to receive the keys to their new apartment.

Mesa Heights hosted a welcome ceremony to distribute keys to the 29 of 58 families that have been accepted to live in the apartment complexes.

The remainder of the families to move in Mesa Heights will be accepted in November.

Inside the welcome center, a resident service coordinator will be available to residents to connect them with community services such as financial literacy or after school tutoring.

The “Gangplank” room will offer Northern Arizona University students a chance to access space to continue their education with computers and job training.

Mesa Heights will also be a new location and stop for the food bank so that families can pick up food if they have no form of transportation.

Veteran Employment Services will be available every Wednesday at Mesa Heights to help local veterans with employment searches.

The Shine and Mentor program will be available to residents as well on Thursday evenings.

This program is a four-year program that allows students to get up to 12 college credit units through Arizona Western College.

The remainder of Mesa Heights residents will move in November.