In February, Chicago-based Alter Group completed construction on two other office buildings in the business park, both 41,000 sf and single-story. The company is in lease negotiations on space in those two buildings, Moe says. The office park is designed to have as much as 1.4 million sf of office space at build-out.

"The labor pool in that area is very strong," he says. "The employees and the access to the I-17 and Loop 101 freeway systems is a strong plus."

Last year, the Alter Group completed construction on another project in the area, the Desert Canyon Corporate Campus, which has 350,000 sf of office space. The project was Alter's first development foray into the Phoenix market.

The north Phoenix area has become a hotbed of industrial and office development in the past two years, as an increasing number of corporations have been attracted to the open land, convenient freeway access and the sizeable yet growing labor pool. The Loop 101 Freeway will link north Phoenix and north Scottsdale to the freeway system for the first time when it opens late next year.

Some of the most recent deals include:

* USSA, one of the largest private insurance companies in the nation, is planning a 700-acre campus at Happy Valley Road and I-17.

* Safeway, which purchased 38 acres also at Happy Valley Road and I-17 where it will move into the 168,000-sf Deer Valley Corporate Center project.

* Cox Communications, an Atlanta cable service provider, was building a new corporate campus at 19th Avenue and Deer Valley Road, but stopped work earlier this month and has put the 24-acre campus site up for sale.

* Axciom, a computer-related business, purchased 20 acres at 7th Street and Loop 101 where the company plans to build a corporate campus.

* Butte Development Co., a Phoenix-based firm, is developing a 168,000-sf office building at 19th Avenue and Loop 101.

* Koll Co., another Phoenix-based company, is building a 190,000-sf office building at 23rd Avenue and Rose Garden Lane, which is just north of the Loop 101.

* Orsett Development is putting up a 70,000-sf office building at 7th Street and Loop 101.

* Voit Development is working on an 180,000-sf office building at 7th Avenue and Loop 101.