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Despite Downtown Phoenix Growth, Suburbs Still Popular Office Spots

A rendering of Union, an office campus being developed near Rio Salado Parkway, Dobson Road and the Loop 202 in Mesa.
(Photo by Lincoln Property Co./Harvard Investments)
A rendering of Union, an office campus being developed near Rio Salado Parkway, Dobson Road and the Loop 202 in Mesa.

While Phoenix leaders like to tout downtown as a prime location for companies to move and expand, there remains a market for office space along suburban freeways.

Mesa recently reached a preliminary deal with Lincoln Property Company and Harvard Investment to turn 28 acres of city-owned land into a new office campus.

The land just off Dobson Road and Rio Salado Parkway sits between the Chicago Cubs spring training complex and the Riverview retail center.

David Krumwiede, Lincoln Property’s executive vice president, said large office users are focused on location.

“Often times they like to be on freeways and we’re at the confluence of the 101 and the 202 so you can draw a number of staff members from wider areas,” he said. “It’s very competitive out there to get high quality staff, so employers are really looking at that and we’re obviously trying to deliver what their staff wants which is amenities, location, accessibility, and high quality work environments.”

The new campus will include water features, shaded areas and outdoor rooms. Called “Union”, the project will be built in phases with the first phase of construction, a four-story office building, expected next year. Krumwiede said the second phase would consist of two six-story buildings and the final phase would be an eight-story building. At buildout, the Union would provide 1.35 million square feet of office space.

“We would hope that we would deliver a building approximately every eighteen months after delivery of our first one,” he said, “Again, it depends on market demand and user demand, but the market’s very attractive.”

Union is near Lincoln’s Waypoint development, a 426,000 square foot office park which includes American Traffic Solutions, Cognizant and corporate headquarters for Nextcare.

Financial details between the developers and Mesa must still be finalized. Among other things, the memorandum of understanding says the city will assist the developer in exploring property tax breaks and may reimburse the developer for certain infrastructure, relocations and alterations.

Memorandum Of Understanding

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As a senior field correspondent, Christina Estes focuses on stories that impact our economy, your wallet and public policy.