Marana Aquatic & Recreation Center (MARC)

MARANA, ARIZ. (July 18, 2025) – The Town of Marana has acquired a 3.11-acre vacant parcel at 13416 and 13420 N. Sandario Road for $1,000,000, purchasing the land from Marana Healthcare in an off-market transaction that closed on June 27. The strategically located site sits directly adjacent to the recently opened Marana Aquatic & Recreation Center (MARC) and is being held for future municipal investment and potential expansion.

Currently zoned A (Agricultural) under Marana’s Land Development Code, the property offers flexibility for future use but would require rezoning for any non-agricultural development. The parcel lies within Marana’s rapidly growing Northwest submarket, near Interstate 10 and Cortaro Farms Road, in a corridor earmarked for long-term civic and recreational growth.

The adjacent MARC, a 120,000-square-foot regional recreation facility, officially opened in May 2025 and includes indoor and outdoor amenities such as a lap pool, zero-depth-entry pool, splash pad, waterslides, fitness and weight rooms, a walking track, and multi-purpose community space. Funded in part by a dedicated half-cent sales tax, the MARC represents a $64 million investment in the health, wellness, and recreational needs of Marana residents.

While the Town reported it has no immediate development plans for the newly acquired parcel, officials cited its proximity to the MARC as a key reason for the purchase. Future uses under consideration may include overflow parking, support facilities, event space, or programmatic expansion areas to meet growing public demand.

No brokers were involved in the sale. The acquisition underscores Marana’s proactive land-use strategy to secure property near major public assets, ensuring flexibility in future civic development and reinforcing long-term community planning objectives.

Source: RED Comp #11978

TUCSON, AZ (July 16, 2025) – The Board of Directors of The Chamber of Southern Arizona has voted to support Project Blue, a more than $3.6 billion project consisting of a three-phase data center development in the Tucson/Southern Arizona region.

Project Blue’s technology campus is intended to help meet the massive demand for digital infrastructure in the United States. Data centers, the backbone of the internet and the modern world, consist of physical buildings that house the computer systems and information technology necessary to store and process the data we rely on in our daily lives.

Data centers are critical infrastructure and support all of Tucson’s major industries, enabling both day-to-day operations and long-term innovation in Aerospace & Defense, Bioscience & Healthcare, Advanced Manufacturing & Mining Operations, Financial Services, Education & Research, Tourism, and all levels of government.

To be developed by Beale Infrastructure, the first proposed Primary Project site will be located at Pima County’s Southeast Employment and Logistics Center (SELC) on South Houghton Road near the Fairgrounds. The Initial Phase of the Primary Project could be operational as early as 2027.

Project Blue will create $250 million in new tax revenue over 10 years to state, county and city governments – revenue that can be used to fund services to taxpayers such as housing affordability, public safety and other critical needs in our community. This tax revenue projection is based on the Initial Phase of the Primary Project site, with additional phases expected to generate even greater economic impact over time.

The Primary and Secondary Projects of Project Blue, if fully built, are projected to create over four times the number of full-time permanent jobs as those estimated for the Initial Phase. The number of construction jobs and the economic impact would also exceed those generated by the Initial Phase by more than threefold. This is an unprecedented investment in the city of Tucson, and an economic development opportunity that will bolster city and county budgets without increasing taxes on residents.

Beale Infrastructure will invest more than $100 million in privately funded reclaimed water infrastructure, making it the most significant public infrastructure project funded by a private developer in Tucson’s history. This includes:

• An 18-mile reclaimed waterline extension that will be over-sized in capacity, enabling Tucson Water to facilitate sustainable growth in southeast Tucson and convert existing customers who use drinking water for non-potable purposes.
• A new 30-acre aquifer recharge facility that will improve system-wide supply reliability and offer recreation benefits similar to the existing SHARP facility.

Project Blue will ultimately utilize 100 percent renewable water resources for industrial purposes and has committed to water positivity: 100% water replenishment.

Additionally, Project Blue will fund all Tucson Electric Power (TEP) grid upgrades completed for its direct benefit, ensuring that other customers do not pay these costs. The rates paid by Project Blue will cover all of TEP’s associated costs of service. TEP power grid upgrades will enhance overall reliability and support economic growth throughout the region.

“With significant capital investment and tax revenues to both Pima County and the City of Tucson, this $3.6B project would be the single largest economic development project in Southern Arizona’s history,” said Joe Snell, president & CEO, The Chamber of Southern Arizona. “In addition, the substantial infrastructure investment by Project Blue in energy and reclaimed water infrastructure improvements benefit each and every citizen here in the region. This project is a win-win for everyone.”

“The unique fact about this development is that the site will become water positive, supplying reclaimed water to the Los Reales Sustainability Campus and replenishing the underground aquifer near the Fairgrounds site,” said Fletcher McCusker, treasurer, The Chamber of Southern Arizona and chair, Rio Nuevo District. “We should stand for sustainability developments of this scale and set ourselves apart from communities without those sustainability priorities.”

For an updated Beale Infrastructure FAQ on Project Blue, click here.