West Valley project will total more than 1.5 million square feet of Class A space in two phases

GLENDALE, Arizona – Boutique commercial real estate company IndiCap continues its formidable metro Phoenix industrial development push with the announcement of Virgin Industrial Park, which it will develop in partnership with Invesco. At build-out, the two-phase, 110-acre Class A development will total more than 1.5 million square feet in five buildings. It will also bring IndiCap’s local industrial development pipeline to more than 14.4 million square feet and over 880 acres.

Virgin Industrial Park is located on the northwest corner of Olive and Reems Roads in Glendale, Arizona. The project sits within the nationally recognized Loop 303 industrial corridor and immediately north of Northern Parkway, a 12.5-mile expressway connecting the Loop 303 and US 60, offering a traffic reliever to nearby Interstate 10.

Virgin Industrial Park joins two other major IndiCap developments in metro Phoenix: The 1.6 million-square-foot, 113-acre Eastmark Center of Industry, being developed along the Loop 202 in Mesa with AECOM-Canyon Partners, and the 4.1 million-square-foot, 292-acre The Ranch, being developed in Gilbert with Colmena Group.

“We knew that our Phoenix footprint would grow quickly following our market entry earlier this year,” said Jason Kuckler, one of the principals at IndiCap. “We couldn’t be more pleased with the announcement of our first three, very strategically located projects, and are grateful for the support we’ve received from local municipalities. This kind of collaboration is crucial to ensuring that we’re bringing the best possible buildings, jobs and economic opportunities to our project communities – and to future communities as we continue to grow our presence in the Valley.”

Virgin Industrial Park will be developed in two phases. Phase I will include three buildings totaling 566,121 square feet, 244,958 square feet and 213,765 square feet. Phase II will include two buildings totaling 297,439 square feet and 235,040 square feet.

The project will offer a total of 263 dock doors, 20 grade level doors, 60’ to 70’ speed bays, up to 60’ x 60’ column spacing, and ESFR sprinkler systems. Buildings will also feature 32’ to 36’ clear height, 3,000 amps of power, secured truck courts and parking for more than 2,200 autos and 167 trailers.

JLL Senior Managing Director Marc Hertzberg, Executive Vice President John Lydon and Associate Kelly Royle are the project’s exclusive leasing brokers.

“The West Valley has experienced tremendous growth, but even with that growth, almost 70 percent of its population still commutes to other parts of Maricopa County for work,” said Hertzberg. “Projects like Virgin Industrial Park will help the West Valley’s exceptional manufacturing workforce to find high quality employment closer to home, in what is becoming a world-class industrial hub.”

Virgin Industrial Park is located directly west of the Ball, Red Bull and White Claw industrial buildings, and is just a few miles north of corporate industrial neighbors such as Nestle, Williams Sonoma, Walmart, MLILY, Puma, REI and XPO Logistics.

Construction on Phase I of Virgin Industrial Park begins November 2022, with completion expected by December 2023. Completion of Phase II is anticipated by Q1 2024.

Graycor Construction Company has been selected as the project’s general contractor. Deutsch Architecture Group is the project architect.

Formed by real estate industry leaders Mike Chernine and Jason Kuckler, the IndiCap development team brings over 100 years of collective experience to the Arizona and Nevada real estate markets. Todd Ostransky, IndiCap’s vice president of development (AZ) and Aaron Asmus, development manager (AZ), lead all Arizona development projects.

Through their strong local relationships, the IndiCap team continues their pursuit of prime industrial land in the Phoenix metroplex, including the Loop 303 Corridor, Central Phoenix, Mesa, Gilbert and Casa Grande.

TUCSON, Ariz. – Tech Parks Arizona leader Carol Stewart has been promoted to Vice President at the University of Arizona.  She advances the University of Arizona under the leadership of Senior Vice President of Research Innovation and Impact Dr. Elizabeth “Betsy” Cantwell. 

Stewart leads the UA Tech Park at Rita Road with her talented team of professionals that collectively have over 165 years of tech park experience and is developing the UA Tech Park at the Bridges.  She is also president of the University of Arizona Center for Innovation, a technology business incubator network serving the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the international community. 

Stewart has made significant progress and impact during her three-year tenure at the University of Arizona. She has advanced Tech Parks by initiating the much-awaited development of the new UA Tech Park at The Bridges. Her work with a private developer, The Boyer Company, yielded an exemplification of how to not only construct a first-class building, but also materialize collaboration between industry and academia.

The new project, called The Refinery, serves as the innovation hub for the University bringing together a continuum of support services to launch new business coming out of the University. Stewart’s diligence towards creating communities of innovation has brought in the Marriot’s Springhill Suites, establishing a new hotel at the location yielding 100+ hotel rooms to the area along with conference space for academic and public users. The first dedicated research building is also under construction within the new park at The Bridges. The University of Arizona’s Mission Integration Lab is set to open in October 2022 and will allow researchers and engineers to build and test hardware for experiments designed to fly at extremely high altitudes at the edge of Earth’s atmosphere. The facility is making the University of Arizona even more competitive for top-dollar research operations such as NASA’s Long Duration Balloon flight missions. 

Additionally, Stewart’s entrepreneurial expertise has transformed the University’s incubator network offerings through the University of Arizona Center for Innovation (UACI).  As president of UACI she has developed the team to elevate the incubator both locally and internationally raising the number of startups currently in the program from 10 to over 80. Her strategic approach includes developing industry focused incubator outposts across southern Arizona, establishing key international collaborations and identifying gaps in the startup continuum support services. UACI serves as an international model and was recognized in 2022 as the Soft Landings Designee of the Year by the International Business Innovation Association (InBIA). She was instrumental in establishing two new industry-focused physical locations of UACI to address the needs of the community – the bioscience focused incubator, UACI at Oro Valley and the new renewable energy incubator, UACI at Biosphere 2.   

“Our forward-looking approach to layering science parks and incubators into new initiatives and existing institutional assets has led to establishing several major collaborations, and monumental projects are on the horizon. There is tremendous opportunity for university-based economic impact using the tech park model. UArizona serves as a powerhouse in research so the opportunity to develop purpose-built environment such as living laboratories and test beds for new technology abound,” expressed Carol Stewart, Vice President for Tech Parks Arizona at the University of Arizona.  

Carol Stewart has over two decades of experience with research parks, technology commercialization, and business incubation. As a pioneer in the research parks world, she has driven national policy, standardized programs, created national and international networks, contributed to the advancement of technology clusters, engaged stakeholders, and assisted countries with the development of their national science and technology policies. 

As a leader in her field, she serves as the North American Division president for International Associations of Science Parks and Areas of Innovation (IASP) which is the leading association of innovation ecosystems worldwide. The global network includes 350 science park and innovation district members, representing 115K companies in 77 countries.  

Stewart is passionate about her community and serves as a champion in university-based economic development. She is a member of Southern Arizona Leadership Council, Flinn Foundation Steering Committee, a member of the Canadian Global Mentor Program and she also serves on the Board of Directors for Tucson Metro Chamber of Commerce, Pima County’s Workforce Investment Board, Sun Corridor Inc., Arizona Technology Council, BIOSA, and Desert Angels. 

Previously, Stewart served as the founding director of the David Johnston Research + Technology Park at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, was a founding board member of the Association of University Research Parks (AURP) Canadian Chapter, and Chief Executive Officer of AURP which represents the majority of the N. American university research parks network.  In this role, she collaborated with numerous leaders worldwide to build and grow university-related research parks through education, unification, and collaboration. She helped to expand the organization’s international credibility by showcasing best practices to research parks across the globe. 

SURPRISE, AZ – Nick Miner, CCIM of ORION Investment Real Estate, reports representing the buyer of the +/- 5,600-square-foot two-tenant, retail center in Surprise, Arizona for $2,000,000 or $360 per square foot. The property was located in the Surprise Village Shopping Center at Litchfield and Bell Road.

Surprise, Arizona is a beautiful Sonoran-desert community surrounded by mountain park lands. The gorgeous landscape sets the stage for the city’s vibrant sports and recreation scene, growing arts community and fantastic restaurants! It’s the perfect place to “Find your Surprise!” The population was 143,148 at the 2020 census, up from 117,517 in 2010 and just 30,848 in 2000.

Nick Miner, CCIM, Senior Vice President at ORION commented, “This was a great opportunity for my client. It is his long-term goal of purchasing stabilized properties for cash flow.” This is the third transaction Miner has completed for his client.

Buyer, Corridor Living, LLC, was represented by Nick Miner, CCIM of ORION Investment Real Estate.

Seller, Malcolm Family, LP was represented by Bobby Raines of Americor Investment.