City buys 15 acres for Maricopa Station development for $5.9M

The city made two recent land transactions – one purchase and one sale – as part of efforts to facilitate development.

The purchase of about 15 acres of land – mostly along the Union Pacific railroad tracks just south of the overpass and east of John Wayne Parkway – cost $5.9 million. It was bought from Michigan developer Shaun Ridge LLC.

The city intends to use the land to develop a public market and infrastructure, including streets, utilities and green space, according to the city’s draft capital improvement projects plan. It is intended to spur economic, residential and retail development as part of its plans for Maricopa Station, which encompasses the total acreage south of the overpass where the east side of Honeycutt Avenue currently dead ends as well as the Heritage District area immediately east of the tracks. Pedestrian bridges over the tracks would link both areas.

The open-air market will allow local vendors to rent affordable space for virtually any amount of time, from a day to a year. The city sees this as a way to enhance economic development by providing a single location in the city for local vendors to operate their retail businesses.

Mayor Christian Price said acquiring the land was key to achieving the city’s immediate development goals.

“That purchase is critical to the development of that area,” he said. “It doesn’t mean we’re going to develop it as a city, but we’re playing a role in the process. As a city government in these things, sometimes you’re a mediator, sometimes you’re a negotiator, sometimes you’re an accessory. But we’re doing this deal so we can control the outcome and ensure it winds up where we want it to wind up.”

City Manager Rick Horst said that timing was critical. He said moving on the 15 acres now was necessary or the city’s plans for developing Maricopa Station south of the overpass could be in jeopardy.

“This land is part and parcel to nearly 60 acres that will ultimately comprise the Maricopa Station mixed-use retail center,” he said. “This purchase was intended to allow the city to control that property and wait for a master planned development in support of approximately 450,000 square feet.”

Horst indicated that if the city didn’t move quickly, smaller projects could “cherry pick” smaller parcels in the area which could restrict the city’s ability to attract large- and mid-size stores, restaurants or hotels. The city anticipates re-selling this land to developers at a future date, he added.

Price said the city is speaking with several developers with excellent connections.

“Land development is a key when you’re trying to bring businesses out of the ground,” said Price. “You need a developer who understands what we want and what the residents want, and that’s who we’re seeking.”

He added that timelines are difficult to estimate “because there are so many things that have to happen in the right order.”

Ultimately, Price said, the stores or restaurants have to agree on things like opening dates among the hundreds of variables that go into launching a business.

“It’s hard to build a coalition that agrees on all those things, and then it all has to come out of the ground,” Price said. “As far as a timeline, I think somewhere in the area of 12 months to 2½ years is the goal – taking it from raw dirt to people shopping there.”

The council also approved selling 4.22 acres at the northeast corner of West Edison Road and North Wilson Avenue for $1.24 million to K&T Legacy Investments LLC. The land had been purchased by the city as part of initial plans to facilitate development of Sonoran Creek Marketplace, where a Sprouts Farmers Market is tentatively scheduled for a fall 2021 opening.

The land was declared surplus and went out to bid. K&T, a Valley real estate development firm, intends to develop a multi-family housing project on the site, according to Horst. He said the sale of the property does not imply that the multi-family project is ready to launch as K&T still must submit plans for review and get approval from Planning & Zoning and city council.

An amendment to the pre-annexation development agreement between the city and Hogenes Farms and TRS 15 LLC was also approved last week. The resolution makes changes to the initial 2007 agreement annexing the Hogenes property, including the dedication of the right of way for the construction of Green Road. The amendment makes the developer responsible for preliminary design of the Green Road overpass, a key part of the city’s proposed “ring road,” which would eventually encircle the city much like the Loop 101 does in the Valley. The agreement also limits the number of homes that can be built on the land until the overpass is completed.

A fourth deal – the city’s sale of two acres on the southeast corner of John Wayne Parkway and Bowlin Road for $522,720 – was removed from the agenda prior to the council meeting.

That sale, which was to be made to Andy Bhakta, the owner of the soon-to-open La Quinta Inn and other hotels in the state, is expected to be back on the council agenda at a future meeting. A second hotel at the site has been discussed, perhaps an extended stay facility.