As part of the $80-million project, all the trash and non-indigenous plants are being cleared; 76,000 pieces of vegetation and about its 60% of trees are being planted on the side of the 200-foot wide, 10-foot deep channel, which will one day carry flowing water. A 10-mile loop of trails will be built for walkers, runners, bikers and equestrians along the outer banks. The project will also feature an education center, golf course and decorative columns that will shade the walkways leading to the river.

Now that restoration project, which is slated to be completed by 2003, has attracted the first significant commercial investment. A Tempe-based firm, Chamberlain Development LLC, has purchased a 33.8-acre parcel along the edge of the waterway at 16h Street and University Drive for $3.2 million. The company plans to build a business park, the University Center Business Park, which will have up to 400,000 sf of industrial flex space. The project is near Interstate 10 and 17 and less than a mile from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

The company began construction recently on a 31,000-sf speculative building and an 18,400-sf built-to-suit building for Canteen, a Phoenix vending machine company. The land was sold by CalMat Properties Co. of Phoenix. The Phoenix office of CB Richard Ellis, with broker John Werstler, negotiated the transaction for both parties.