Echoes Church Purchases Vacant Macy's in Mesa for $5M

The church plans to move its 3,200-member congregation into the Superstition Springs Mall store within two years.

Updated on Oct. 29, 2026 in Commercial

Echoes Church Purchases Vacant Macy's in Mesa for $5M

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Echoes Church has purchased the vacant Macy’s storefront at Superstition Springs Mall in Mesa for $5 million. The congregation, which currently averages 3,200 weekend worshipers, plans to move from Desert Ridge High School to the 154,000-square-foot facility within two years.

Why it matters

The acquisition offers a permanent home for a large local congregation at half the cost of buying raw land, which was estimated at $10 million. This move ends the church's dependency on high school facilities where members must set up and break down equipment every week.

The 154,000-square-foot Macy’s property, which has been vacant since early 2025, sits adjacent to U.S. Route 60 where traffic counts reach 250,000 cars daily. The church intends to hold services at the new site in two years.

The players

Echoes Church

A local religious organization that currently hosts 3,200 worshipers at Desert Ridge High School.

Macy’s

A national department store retailer whose vacant Mesa location was acquired for church use.

The details

Echoes Church secured the large department store space after a real estate broker identified it as a cost-effective alternative to building from the ground up. To make the commercial building suitable for religious services, the church must undergo a substantial renovation process. This transition will provide a dedicated space for the 3,200 attendees who currently rely on temporary setups at Desert Ridge High School.

Timeline

  1. The Macy’s store at Superstition Springs Mall has been vacant since early 2025.

  2. Church services are expected to move to the new location within two years of October 2026.

The Home Front

This purchase follows the national trend of repurposing vacant big-box retail space for community and institutional use. It illustrates the ongoing adaptation of suburban mall architecture as traditional retail footprints shrink.

Residents near Superstition Springs Mall should monitor local planning board notices regarding renovation permits for the site. While construction is years away, homeowners in the immediate vicinity may want to keep an eye on traffic patterns as the facility prepares to host 3,200 attendees.

The takeaway

Large-scale retail vacancies in suburbs are increasingly being reimagined as long-term homes for organizations that require significant square footage. If your own neighborhood sees similar large-scale property acquisitions, checking the city planning portal for proposed use changes can clarify future site traffic.

Further reading

Learn more about local property shifts in the Mesa Commercial section.

Source note: This article includes information reported by abc15 Arizona.

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Do you support converting vacant big-box retail stores into community or religious centers in your area?