BNSF’s Plan for Huge Industrial Park Moves Forward
The project will be part of a $3.2 billion rail and logistics center near Phoenix.
The BNSF Railway Co. has received a recommendation from the Maricopa County Planning & Zoning Commission that a comprehensive plan amendment for the railroad’s 839-acre Logistics Park Phoenix be approved, the Phoenix Business Journal reported. BNSF did not immediately respond to a request for additional details.
This recommendation reportedly is scheduled for a final vote by the county’s Board of Supervisors on Dec. 11.
The site is along U.S. 60, near the unincorporated community of Wittmann, Ariz., in the northwestern exurbs of Phoenix. If BNSF’s plans fully come to fruition, the 4,320-acre site will feature “a rail-served intermodal terminal, logistics center and logistics park,” according to the railroad.
One of the hurdles on the road to that, the PBJ reported, is a separate zoning case for the overall property that isn’t anticipated to make progress till next spring. Assuming that the rezoning occurs, BNSF plans to start construction later next year and have the project operational in 2028.
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Local residents have “strongly opposed” the massive development since BNSF first invested in the area, the PBJ noted. It added that the incoming mayor of nearby Surprise, Ariz., has expressed concerns that the project will overtax the current road network, which he said is already beyond its designed capacity, and that BNSF’s plans to access groundwater also are problematic.
Rail power
Barely a month ago, Mohr Capital, of Dallas, completed West Summit at Surprise, a 707,380-square-foot, Class A industrial campus in Surprise. Mohr had acquired the 46-acre development site, part of Summit Business Park, in 2022 and broke ground on both buildings the following year. The 453,960-square-foot Building 1 has direct access to BNSF trackage.
In an interview with Commercial Property Executive last July, Mark IV Capital President & CEO Evan Slavik explained the strategies behind the company’s 4,300-acre Victory Logistics District in Fernley, Nev.
Slavik noted that one of the priorities for the park was ensuring that the site is served by both the Union Pacific and BNSF railroads. To leverage that, he said, Mark IV plans to build a private rail switching facility at the project, as well as a transload facility.
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