Proposed county project predicted to create 1,500 Maricopa jobs

Pinal County has high hopes for several projects promising many jobs. At least one could have a significant impact on Maricopa’s workforce.

Elliott D. Pollack & Company, known for its economic prognostications, produced an economic analysis of the plans for Attesa, a planned motorsports complex on 2,500 acres near Casa Grande that intends to include a hotel, conference center, driving club and other retail space along with racetracks. Its price tag is $1.1 billion.

The Pollack company completed the study last year. This month, it added a memo from senior economist Danny Court to Dan Erickson, member/manager of Danrick Builders, which intends to develop Attesa. The memo breaks down the employment the project could create in Pinal County communities.

The intended property is south of Interstate 8 between Montgomery and Bianco roads. The county has a public hearing related to the project scheduled for Wednesday.

Court said the Attesa project “is expected to create over 13,300 onsite jobs, which will provide Pinal County residents a significant opportunity for local employment.” Many of those are construction jobs, but more than 6,000 are expected to be permanent jobs.

For Casa Grande, that would be 4,900 part-time and full-time employees earning $88.7 million in wages. For Maricopa, the forecast number of employees is 1,537 earning $27.8 million.

The Pollack company predicted 61 percent of employees on the project would be from Pinal County.

“It will start with construction and then go from there,” county Economic Development Director Tim Kanavel said. “Jobs are going to be created, ongoing, and most of those people will live in Casa Grande, Maricopa, Eloy and Coolidge. The influx of new visitors and residents will create more jobs at restaurants, retailers and other consumer companies.”

Attesa has calculated a groundbreaking in the first quarter of 2018. Developers have experienced a slow process in getting appropriate zoning, however. The county Planning & Zoning Commission recommended approval of a text amendment that adds a citizen-initiated, multi-purpose community master plan (MP-CMP) Zoning District. At its June 21 meeting, the Board of Supervisors decided to delay a hearing on the issue until Aug. 2 because it was improperly agendized.

“Without this text amendment, we really can’t move forward in our zoning,” said Nick Wood, attorney from Snell and Wilmer, representing the developers.

“We’re essentially going to build a mini-city,” Erickson said in a press release from Attesa. “We’re going to welcome tech companies who need to research, develop and test, and people who have a passion for performance cars and driving them at speed, and guests who want to be entertained with uncompromised customer service. To provide the best experience possible, in all those areas, we’re going to need people. And most of them will be local, with the county.”

But Attesa has also been a shadow on the periphery of another planned motorsports complex in Maricopa. Apex Motor Club is planning a much smaller, private course only for club members on the northwest side of Maricopa. After the city council approved a conditional use permit, a petition drive was formed by Maricopa Citizens Protecting Tax Payers Political Action Committee to force it to a public vote. City Hall turned back the petitions, and that resulted in a lawsuit by the PAC.

Those heading the PAC are not residents of Maricopa, and former Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods spoke on behalf of the “anonymous” opposition. The lawsuits have delayed work on the Maricopa project. Apex President Jason Plotke pointed the finger squarely at Attesa officials.

“Apparently, they believe their own project so insufficient that they cannot compete with ours,” he said at the time.

No documentation has been produced directly linking Attesa representatives with the Apex opposition.

Other projects that have been announced for the Casa Grande area are PhoenixMart (under construction), Lucid Motors (in development) and the proposed amusement park DreamPort Villages (in development).