Maricopa, PINAL COUNTY (Oct. 24, 2024) -- The City of Maricopa is welcoming industries. Similar to fast-growing West Valley cities like Buckeye and Peoria, the city wants to see its residents stay in Maricopa, which comprises 250 square miles of planning area and is expected to exceed 1 million in population when fully built out.
North of the city's business park, the University of Arizona is reimagining a 2,100-acre agricultural research property into an innovation center featuring a 300-acre research and technology park, complete with a satellite education campus and 600 acres of mixed-use commercial buildings, such as a town center, housing, retail, and more.
The university has estimated that the overall project could generate an annual $4 billion economic output, creating tens of thousands of jobs and $74 million in annual tax revenue in the first five years of operation. A $400,000 grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration supported a study for the project.
Construction isn't expected to start for the significant project until at least Spring 2025 as the university secures funding and developers and works through site planning and design.
One of the most significant projects in the pipeline in the City of Maricopa, a community of approximately 75,000 in Pinal County, is a 1,000-acre business park adjacent to a dual railroad track that the city will use to attract employers in high-tech industries and spur growth along the Maricopa Casa Grande Highway. The area is located about an hour south of downtown Phoenix in a space city officials have branded as an industrial triangle.
To put Maricopa on the economic development map, the municipality has been working overtime to plan innovation and industrial corridors while increasing multifamily and retail development in the city, one of the fastest growing in the U.S.
Hollywood, California-based Redevco Solutions LLC and Rail Industrial Partners LLC will serve as master developer of the rail park, representing an initial investment of $1.4 billion. The park could see 12 million square feet of building space and leverage the surrounding workforce, including medical professionals and engineers who commute to the Price Road corridor in Chandler, where Intel Corp. and other advanced technology companies are operating.
A third, smaller industrial park is in the works in a nearly 500-acre master plan called Murphy Park. This plan includes about 260 acres for business and industrial development just north of the Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway and the Ak-Chin boundaries.
Alongside planning for the industrial parks, the city put out a new bid for the planned Copper Sky medical campus in April that was previously slated for 1.6 million square feet of commercial space. Copper Sky is set to include a new hospital, hotels, condos and more at State Route 347 and Bowlin Road. Plans for the campus fell through twice, but the city is now working with a new developer, although the developer's identity hasn't yet been confirmed.
Longtime plans for a $100 million water park in Maricopa are also progressing, according to the city. The developer of PHX Surf recently submitted a new application for planned area development zoning.
The city says it has enough water supply to support future growth and is not reliant on the Colorado River.
PHOTO: The University of Arizona is looking to transform a 2,100-acre property in Maricopa into an economic, research, and education hub in Pinal County. City of Maricopa documents.