By Roland Murphy for AZBEX
With the first phases of its Data Center Campus—also known as “AZ1”—under construction at 45 S. Bullard Ave. in Goodyear, Vantage Data Centers is proposing its next development in the area.
Project representative law firm Quarles & Brady LLP has submitted a rezoning request for 14 acres at the SEC of Bullard and Van Buren Street that would allow for development of a two-story 451.6KSF building dedicated to data center and associated uses. The new site lies directly north of the AZ1 development.
The proposal requests rezoning from General Commercial to Light Industrial. The current General Plan designation is Business & Commerce, and the submitted narrative maintains the proposed use is in keeping with that designation.
The new data center—known as AZ14—will incorporate design and color elements similar to AZ1 for visual and aesthetic continuity, according to the submitted narrative.
The narrative stresses that the proposal is in keeping with Goodyear’s community goals for the area. Specifically, it says, “The request to rezone the Property addresses the Community Goals by: (i) providing a large data center that will contribute to the surrounding area; (ii) creating a unique character through architectural details that will continue throughout the Phoenix-Goodyear/MC-85/Bullard Corridor Job Center; and (iii) driving economic development opportunities for the area.”
It also maintains the plan meets goals laid out under the City’s Land Use and Transportation Plan. Specifically, it says light industrial uses are appropriate for the Business & Commerce category with appropriate screening from residential uses, that the location near high-capacity roadway and transit corridors is desirable for employment-dense uses, and that such development enhances walkability and other intermodal transportation uses. The proposed site is located within a Transit Oriented Development Overlay, denoting it is “within walking distance to a planned or existing transit route.”
Other benefits referenced for the proposed site and data center development include its compatibility with surrounding uses, including the AZ1 development to the south. “The proposed data center use that is the subject of this application will simply integrate the vacant parcel into an already approved use and site plan associated with the AZ1 parcel. Rezoning the Property’s C-2 zoning into I-1 will allow the opportunity to blend the Property into the existing AZ1 parcel and eliminate the less compatible C-2 zoning district, thereby unifying the uses and zoning on the Southeast corner of the intersection,” the narrative says.
Vantage, Goodyear officials, representatives of McCarthy Building Companies and other members of the project team held a ceremony in October to mark AZ1’s expansion into Phase II. News reports at the time said, “Vantage continues to prioritize its ongoing commitment to sustainability. The company has designed its Goodyear campus to use virtually no water for cooling, instead employing a closed-loop chilled water system with air-side economizers that allows for reduced energy use based on outside ambient temperature. The campus is expected to achieve Green Globe certification.”
According to the City’s development applications page, Goodyear is currently seeking public comment on the plan for AZ14, and public hearings will be scheduled at a later date. A request for site plan approval will be submitted and considered separately.
Vantage Data Centers is the developer. The architect is Corgan Associates, Inc. The project is represented by Quarles & Brady.
