Developers Propose Massive Industrial Projects in Metro Phoenix

The hot Phoenix-area industrial market could see two new developments totaling nearly 3 million square feet of warehouse and distribution or manufacturing space built in Glendale, Ariz., near Luke Air Force Base and Loop 303.

The separate projects from Hopewell Development and The Pizzuti Cos. are being considered by Glendale officials with a Sept. 28 vote on the proposals tentatively set by the City Council.

The council would have to agree on the annexation and rezoning of nearly 180 acres for the projects to move forward, according to the Phoenix Business Journal, which first reported the proposals.

READ ALSO: $150M Mesa Industrial Project Gets Green Light

The city of Glendale has been annexing land near and adjacent to the Loop 303 corridor to increase industrial development. Both sites would be near G303, a nearly 1.3 million-square-foot speculative industrial park developed by Hines that was recently leased by MLILY, a China-based mattress manufacturer. The Cubes at Glendale, an industrial park being developed that will eventually have 5.5 million square feet of space, is also nearby.

Hopewell Development, a Canadian-based real estate company that has a Phoenix office and several industrial properties in the metro, has proposed constructing a nearly 1.6 million-square-foot industrial park on about 104 acres on the southwest corner of Northern Avenue and Reems Road. The first phase would have two buildings of 251,250 square feet and 285,419 square feet on 37 acres. Phase two would have three buildings—221,100 square feet, 301,500 square feet and 492,260 square feet, according to documents filed with the city. The mix would be about 776,000 square feet of warehouse space and 776,000 square of manufacturing space.

The architect is Deutsch Architecture Group and the landscape architect is G.K. Flanagan Associates, the Phoenix Business Journal reported.

Hopewell, which began developing in the U.S. in 2010, teamed up with GTIS Partners in January to build Champions Circle Business Park, a 361,000-square-foot, Class A industrial facility in North Fort Worth, Texas, that will be part of the massive AllianceTexas master-planned, mixed-use community.

In February, Republican Distributing Co. leased 173,940 square feet at a newly built warehouse facility owned by Hopewell in the Phoenix suburb of Tolleson, Ariz. Hopewell bought the site in June 2019 and teamed with Sunstate Builders to deliver the property in late 2020.

Bickman industrial project

The Pizzuti Cos., a national real estate developer based in Columbus, Ohio, has proposed building more than 1 million square feet of warehouse and distribution space on 75 acres on the northwest corner of Glendale Avenue and Reems Road. Pizzuti has dubbed the project Bickman Industrial and is planning a 1.1 million-square-foot facility that could be split evenly between manufacturing and warehouse space. The Phoenix Business Journal reported the project may eventually have a second phase that could feature two assets at 609,600 square feet each or one at 748,480 square feet and the second at 470,720 square feet.

Ware Malcomb is the architect and engineer for the project.

Founded in 1976, Pizzuti also has offices in Chicago and Nashville, Tenn., and has developed more than 40 million square feet of industrial projects.

In September 2019, Pizzuti teamed with PCCP to develop a speculative industrial project in Columbus called Rickenbacker West II & III with two buildings totaling nearly 540,000 square feet near Rickenback International Airport. The companies had previously developed Rickenbacker West 1, an 802,390-square-foot speculative industrial building.