By Roland Murphy for AZBEX
The Chandler Planning and Zoning Commission has recommended approval for three requests concerning a 181KSF, three-building industrial development by The Opus Group. The action was taken as part of the consent agenda for the Commission’s Nov. 20 meeting.
Chandler 56 is planned on 13.9 acres across two adjacent lots 0.25 miles north of the NEC of 56th Street and Chandler Blvd. Opus has requested a zoning change to the planned area development for the property, as well as approvals for a preliminary development plan and a preliminary plat.
According to the developer’s supporting materials, the location is currently used as an industrial storage yard with four structures: a 16KSF warehouse, a 6.35KSF canopy structure, a 5KSF repair garage and a 2KSF residential-style building. The current zoning for the two parcels is established as independent PAD districts for auto storage and salvage. All current surrounding uses are industrial.
The memo from Chandler Development Services recommending the requests for approval says, “The site is currently owned by Sun Valley Community Church and was previously owned by Valley Christian Schools. Both the church and the school had considered expanding their operations to the site, but decided not to after discovering more about the site’s constraints and incompatibility with city adopted plans designating the site as industrial.”
Those challenges, according to the developer’s materials, include a 60-foot-wide gas encumbrance through the middle of the site with two existing gas lines. Under the development plan, the easement area will include a stabilized decomposed granite fire lane that will double as a walkway, with landscaping to encourage pedestrian activity and activate that portion of the site.
There will be three access drives along 56th Street, with the central access drive aligning with Erie Street and serving the development’s truck courts. A total of 362 regular parking stalls and 15 handicapped-accessible spaces will be provided.
The current conceptual site plan shows three buildings totaling slightly more than 181KSF. Building A is planned for 44.5KSF, Building B for 39.2KSF, and Building C for 97.3KSF.
The Development Services report says, “The proposed development is a single-phase project consisting of three flex industrial buildings allowing for light industrial uses, research and development, tech-related businesses, and automotive accessory sales and installation uses. School uses will be prohibited on the site. There are currently no end-users designated for the three buildings and therefore, the development has been designed to accommodate a wide array of industrial users. The three buildings have been designed to be divisible per market demand. At this time, Buildings A and B are contemplated as single-tenant buildings, while Building C is contemplated to accommodate two tenants.”
The Opus Group is the project developer and (as Opus S.E. Group, LLC) design firm. Kimley-Horn & Associates is the civil engineer, and landscape architecture is by Studio DPA. Legal representation is by Withey Morris Baugh PLC.
