City purchases Estrella Gin land for $3.1 million

Tuesday the Maricopa City Council unanimously approved the purchase of 69.65 acres of land in the Heritage District.

Assistant to the City Manager Roger Kolman referred to the area as “the core area of downtown.” The land will be used to house city maintenance and transportation facilities and to provide an area for employment development.

Estrella Gin Company sold the land to the city for $3,158,714 plus closing costs, which according to the staff report is “an average cost of $1.04 per square foot.”

The bulk of the cost, a little over $2 million, would come from the Transportation Development Fee Fund with the rest coming from the HURF and General Funds.

Approximately 11 acres north of the UPRR tracks are intended for a city public works maintenance facility and a proposed transit facility, possibly including a new Amtrak station. The remaining land could be utilized for developing employment opportunities in the area.

The larger portion of the parcel, 59.4 acres, is located west of the city and north of W. Garvey Avenue, with Acacia Crossings subdivision on the east, undeveloped land to the north, a dairy farm on the west and the UPRR tracks on the south.

On the larger parcel of land there is currently an office structure and modular home that could possibly be used by the city, however, other, older structures would have to be removed to make room for new facilities.

Because of its CI-2 zoning, this larger acreage will be “fairly useful going forward for any kind of development,” Kolman told council members.

The southern portion of the parcel, 10.3 acres, has the same east and west boundaries, Loma Road and W. Roosevelt Avenue, as the larger parcel. This smaller area could have a future for recreational uses or as a developmental solution to the Vekol Wash flood issue.

The overall sale addressed several council priorities, including transportation connectivity, quality of life, economic stability, managing the future and public safety.

Photo courtesy of city of Maricopa