If you've ever wished for more athletic and recreational opportunities in Tucson, Mosaic Quarter may be a dream-come-true for you and your family.
Located at the Kino Sports Complex in south Tucson at 2500 E. Ajo Way (adjacent to I-10), Mosaic Quarter is a sport and entertainment-focused lifestyle center that will debut in three phases, beginning in 2027.
If it seems far away from where you live, it's actually surprisingly more central than you may think - 9 minutes directly north of the Tucson International Airport, 10 minutes from Downtown Tucson, 15 minutes from The University of Arizona, 21 minutes from Rita Ranch, 21 minutes from Udall Park, and 23 minutes from Brandi Fenton Memorial Park.
With over one million square feet of facilities and amenities, the privately funded complex will serve as a destination point for residents and tourists, offering much-needed space for entertainment, recreational, and collegiate sports.
Developer Frank Knott, inspired by Baltimore’s vibrant City Fair of the 1970s and 1980s, recognized Tucson’s potential for a large-scale sports and entertainment-focused lifestyle center. Drawn to the city’s diverse culture, friendly community, and the need for such a development, he envisioned creating a similar experience for Tucson residents.
The groundbreaking for the first phase was held on Nov. 20, 2024.
Phase I (which is slated to open in the spring of 2027) will include the following anchor facilities:
Scheduled to open in March 2027, MQ Iceplex will be Southern Arizona’s ice sports epicenter. The 175,000-square-foot facility, with three NHL-sized ice rinks, will have the capacity to host local youth and adult hockey programs including the Tucson Junior Roadrunners, Tucson Adult Hockey League, regional and national hockey tournaments, figure skating competitions, lessons and clinics and other recreational ice sports such as ice bumper cars, broomball, curling, and recreational skating. Once built, MQ Iceplex will serve as the home of University of Arizona Hockey. Both the men’s and women’s American College Hockey Association (ACHA) Division I teams and a future men’s ACHA Division II team, as well as an adaptive sled hockey program, will operate out of the facility.
Scheduled to open in June 2027, MQ Field House will be Southern Arizona’s 131,000 square-foot indoor sportshub, consisting of two floors of expansive athletic space, each 25% larger than the floor of Arizona Stadium. With interchangeable and specialty flooring systems, MQ Field House’s flexibility supports multiple sports for the casual to the serious athlete. The courts in this two-level facility will be multi-purpose, used for basketball, volleyball, indoor lacrosse, indoor soccer, pickleball, archery, lacrosse, 7 on 7 passing football, badminton, and other indoor sports. Like the MQ Iceplex, it is intended to attract regional and national tournaments for the various sports it supports.
This plant, which supports the whole project, is a 1.5MW natural gas-fed, cogeneration facility tied to a 1MW solar farm that will produce power and chilled water for use throughout the Mosaic Quarter campus.
Phase I, which includes 4 dining establishments, is projected to have a $12.5 billion local economic impact, including $8.3 billion of local spending and $917.7 million in new state, local, and regional tax revenue.
Mosaic Quarter Phase II consists of MQ Sportsplex and MQ Pavilion.
Phase II is expected to reach completion in 2029.
MQ Stadium anchors Mosaic Quarter Phase III. As an 8,500-fixed seat enclosed stadium with the capacity to add 6,000 floor seats for concerts, MQ Stadium will serve as host to a wide array of events. With multiple interchangeable athletic surfaces, MQ Stadium will also be a desired venue for soccer, lacrosse, rugby, track and field, basketball, cheer, and dance. Phase III also includes 3 hotels, a 2,000-space parking garage, a full-service urgent care center in partnership with TMC Health and Tucson Orthopedic Institute and a food truck court. Phase III is expected to reach completion in 2031.
You can learn more about Mosaic Quarter on the website or on the Mosaic Quarter Facebook/Instagram pages.
