By BEX Staff for AZBEX
Part of the site of PhoenixMart, one of the most notable development failures in Pinal County, may soon be converted for use as a new industrial technology center.
PhoenixMart was planned as a major international trade and commercial wholesalers’ hub as far back as 2011, according to a local news article. After breaking ground in 2013, the project encountered multiple financial, construction and legal problems, including a 2015 FBI raid on the owners’ headquarters, all of which led to its subsequent cancelation.
Federal officials confirmed in 2018 the project was no longer under investigation. The project was effectively canceled in late 2019.
Owner AZ Sourcing LLC now has new plans for 251 acres of the overall 586-acre site, according to news sources and the Casa Grande Planning and Zoning Commission. The company has requested a major amendment to the planned area development, known as NALTEC-PhoenixMart PAD, “to allow additional industrial uses, including uses permitted by right and those subject to Conditional Use Permit approval, within an area to be known as the ‘Casa Grande Tech Center,’” according to a Commission agenda.
AZ Sourcing reportedly owns 505 acres of the 586-acre PAD site and all of the 251 acres under the amendment request. Information previously posted to the company website but since removed said, “The site is being developed into a next-generation data center campus. It includes an existing 1.5 million square foot industrial superstructure and is positioned near major transportation corridors, regional utility infrastructure, and Arizona’s expanding ‘Silicon Desert’ ecosystem. The scale and configuration of the site allows for long-term expansion, power density, and flexible development sequencing.”
City staff is reportedly working to complete its report on the request and proposal. The Commission is expected to consider the matter Nov. 12.
Project representatives said data center uses, if they meet the necessary requirements and secure the needed approvals, will constitute 37 acres of the planned site uses. The necessary conditional use permit is not part of the Nov. 12 review.
Representatives said the partially erected 1.5MSF PhoenixMart shell would be completed and repurposed as a small data center under the overall plan. City officials said additional applications and hearings will be required for any data center components.
