How Baker Development is reviving former Motorola site

AZ Big Media, By Kyle Backer

Demolition of what once was a Motorola facility at 52nd Street and McDowell Road has commenced, making way for revitalization of this storied site in Phoenix. Located minutes away from Sky Harbor Airport, Arizona State University, Scottsdale and Downtown Phoenix, Dan Slack, president and COO of Baker Development, says that the concept for the property is to reinvigorate a site that has been passed over despite being a prime location in the Valley with ample power and water resources.

“By starting the demolition of the project, we’re trying to open the eyes of not only local and national companies, but international companies so they see there’s an opportunity to have 62 acres in the center of Phoenix. It has so many attributes that other sites don’t, but given its current state, people don’t think of it as an opportunity for development,” he says.

With a potential to accommodate anywhere from 1.5 to 2 million square feet of uses ranging from a combination of office space, advanced manufacturing, R&D, distribution, logistics and more, Slack says this site is ideal for a corporate campus since it will be a blank slate for a business to enact its vision.

“The site will have a dedicated substation, and we’re already working with the utility provider to bring, which does differentiate it from many other sites in the area,” he continues. “The property already was served by a high level of power because of what it was historically, and we’re just enhancing that.”

John Werstler, senior vice president at CBRE, agrees that the substation is an asset for the property, adding that energy is becoming harder to come by in the region.

“It’s a big issue for everybody with all the new data centers and manufacturers coming in,” he says. “We’re quickly running out of power, and both SRP and APS need to increase capacity.”