The first phase consists of two buildings, 72,000 sf and 79,000 sf. They are scheduled for completion in October, says Merselis. The floor plates will range from 35,000 sf to 40,000 sf. The campus will be tied into the city's primary fiber optic loop, which runs under Chandler Boulevard, providing high-speed Internet access.

DMJM Architecture Group designed the project and Hunt Construction Group is the general contractor. The Phoenix office of CB Richard Ellis is the leasing agent.

"Chandler has grown tremendously over the past decade in population and new businesses," Merselis says. "It has become a top location for a broad spectrum of major companies, including firms such as Intel, Toyota and Charles Schwab."

Toyota recently leased 80,000 sf in an office project two miles away near the under-construction Price Freeway. The few office projects that have been built in the Chandler area in the past year have leased quickly, a sign of the level of demand from tenants in the area, Merselis tells GlobeSt.com. He expects to attract a corporate headquarters, call center or a division of a high-tech firm.

With the completion of the Loop 101 or Price Freeway, Chandler is poised to have explosive development growth in office, industrial and retail, not unlike what has been experienced in north Scottsdale during the past four years with the completion of another Loop 101 section.

Chandler Commons Office Park is less than a half-mile from Price Freeway. The artery runs north to south to Superstition Freeway and will link Chandler to the Valleywide freeway system for the first time. About a mile away, at the southwest corner of Chandler Boulevard and Price Freeway, is Chandler Fashion Center, a 1.3 million-sf regional mall that will open later this year. Chandler Festival, a 537,000-sf retail center, with anchors Lowe's Home Improvement and Nordstrom Rack, is under construction at the northeast corner of Chandler Boulevard and Price Freeway.

"With new shopping venues and cultural actives in the community, Chandler has become a thriving center of the southeast Valley with an array of desirable amenities that will further its growth," Merselis says. "The Price Freeway is the nucleus of the new Chandler. We are sitting at the corner of Main and Main.