Goodyear approves 267-acre industrial rezoning, setting stage for major development

By Angela Gonzales for the Phoenix Business Journal

The city of Goodyear has unanimously approved the rezoning of a 267-acre parcel from residential to an industrial and business park on April 28.

An entity tracing to Rankin Real Estate LLC and Omaha, Nebraska-based NewStreet Properties paid $32.5 million for the land in August 2024, according to Tempe-based Vizzda LLC.

The parcel, which is south of the southwest corner of Citrus Road and Interstate 10, sits between two industrial properties.

It’s currently being called I-10 Citrus Gateway.

“Our plan is to wait for users to come along or a single developer that would want to take it down and let them choose what they want to develop,” said Kernit Rankin, founder of the land buyer, Scottsdale-based Rankin Real Estate.

Rankin said he’s open to a variety of options, including developing all or a portion of the site.

“We will work closely with the city of Goodyear and the Greater Phoenix Economic Council to develop the property to its maximum potential,” Rankin said. “It’s one of the best industrial pieces on the market today.”

The business park, which has access to three interchanges on Interstate 10 and Loop 303 as well as high-quality employment in Goodyear, was approved for retail on the southwest and northeast corners.

“Zoning allows for office, medical office, and commercial,” he said. “It’s not just big box industrial, although we are zoned for that.”

The fact that Rankin bought the land ahead of getting zoning approval was a bold move, said Howard Weinstein, founding principal of The Land Agency.

Weinstein and Patty Lafferty, designated broker and a principal with The Land Agency, negotiated the sale of the vacant land.

“They felt confident they could get zoning but zoning wasn’t a condition to close,” Weinstein said.

It was a huge risk, but the land will be worth more than it is today, Weinstein said.

Land was a tough sell when zoned for residential

Weinstein and Lafferty had a tough time selling the property when it was zoned residential.

Not only is a portion of the land within the Luke Air Force Base contour lines, but it is located within Arizona Water Co.’s designated area. Arizona Water Co. would be prohibited from securing a 100-year assured water supply to subdivide the property into residential, under the new water use rules introduced by Gov. Katie Hobbs. The Arizona Department of Water Resources is facing a lawsuit from homebuilders over the state’s water rules.

“It makes more sense to have industrial here versus houses,” Lafferty said.

This 267-acre parcel in Goodyear has been rezoned from residential to industrial.

Miami-based Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN) originally had the vacant parcel in escrow in 2022, but when interest rates skyrocketed, the homebuilder backed out of the deal, Weinstein said.

They then went out to the industrial market, and almost secured a deal with an out-of-state industrial developer, but when the market softened and interest rates didn’t go down, that developer backed out, Weinstein said.

That’s about the time that Rankin stepped up to buy the residential land, knowing that industrial developers are not required to produce a 100-year certificate of assured water supply.

“In a weird way, it helped us, Rankin said. “Arizona’s water policy has created major issues with residential development in Arizona.”

When he got the land rezoned to industrial, Rankin was able to get approved without tying it to a site plan, making it more flexible for the end user.

This zoning approval comes at a time when industrial vacancy rates continues to rise, finishing the first quarter at 13.3%, according to the Cushman & Wakefield‘s Marketbeat Phoenix Industrial Q1 2025 report.

In the Southwest Valley, the vacancy rate was 15.9% at the end of the first quarter, with a total inventory of 203.14 million square feet and another 5.5 million square feet under construction.

“After a record-high of over 42.5 million square feet of construction deliveries through 2024, developers have begun to cut back on new construction activity,” according to the report. “Completion levels remain elevated at 8.1 million square feet, as projects that broke ground in 2023 and 2024 delivered.”