Pima Center Project Finally Eyes Groundbreaking

PHOENIX-Details of the first phase of the massive Pima Center business park project at Via de Ventura and Loop 101 are beginning to emerge, as developers map out the industrial and office components of the 209-acre property. The park is the largest third-party lease on Native American land in US history.”It will cater to users in the Scottsdale market who are looking for office warehouse or showroom distribution or light assembly space,” Curtis Brown, a principal at locally based Ross Brown Partners, the company marketing the project, tells GlobeSt.com. “We think there’s a huge demand for it up there.”Park developer MainSpring Capital Group, which includes principals from Ross Brown Partners, joint ventured with Farollon Capital of San Francisco to ink the 65-year last August. MainSpring plans to go vertical on 320,000 sf of industrial space in the third quarter. The plan includes 240,000 sf of general industrial distribution and 80,000 sf of small-bay flex space on approximately 50 acres, according to Brown. Phase one of the industrial portion will include eight buildings, each ranging from 19,000 to 65,000 sf in size. The smaller buildings can be subdivided into suites as small as 2,500 sf; the larger buildings can be subdivided down to 7,500-sf suites, says Brown.MainSpring has also formed an alliance with locally based Opus West to develop 250,000 sf of office product, including 100,000 sf of small tenant garden office buildings and 150,000 sf of large-bay suburban office space on approximately 25 acres. That project is not expected to break ground until fall with an anticipated spring 2005 completion.The office component includes two large buildings on one site, and four smaller buildings on another. A third retail component has yet to be fully planned, says Brown, pending a 23-acre site plan carve-out that has not been fully agreed on.Roads and infrastructure will be the first to make an appearance at Pima Center, breaking ground in the early summer, says Brown. Then, the phase one industrial component will break ground in September, with a tentative February 2005 completion currently penciled in.Early phase one project cost estimates hover around $55 million, and Brown expects the fully leased value of the first phase to reach the $75 million range. Infrastructure development costs will run MainSpring $8 million to $10 million.”We see this as a great opportunity for corporate relocation,” says Brown, referring to the mix of office and industrial property on the campus. The park should be particularly enticing to Scottsdale-based companies, he adds, since it will offer a lower transaction tax and easy traffic access to Loop 101 via four signalized intersections. Because the park is located on a reservation, businesses may also qualify for job-training subsidies, Brown says.