WinCo Foods, industrial development coming to Casa Grande

By Corina Vanek for The Arizona Republic.

A development that will include a WinCo grocery store, retail and industrial buildings near Interstate 10 and Florence Boulevard in Casa Grande is moving forward, despite an initial recommendation of denial from the Planning Commission.

The Casa Grande City Council unanimously voted in favor of the project at its first hearing on April 6. It will be before the council for a final approval vote April 20.

The project’s developer is Arizona Land Consulting, led by land investor Anita Verma-Lallian. The group bought the land, totaling about 600 acres, in 2024 for $30 million, according to real estate database Vizzda. The rezoning only applied to 273 acres of the site.  

“What really attracted us to the site is the I-10 and Florence is really the gateway to Casa Grande,” Verma-Lallian said.

To address concerns raised by the Planning Commission, Verma-Lallian said her group prohibited data centers and removed any possibility of apartment development in the project. The group was not planning to build a data center in the project, she said, but it would have been a permitted use in the industrial zoning they were seeking.

“We spent a lot of time with the council to work through their concerns,” Verma-Lallian said.

The group is in escrow to sell a portion of the site to WinCo Foods, said Wendy Riddell, the zoning attorney representing the development, at the council meeting April 6.  

The first phase of grocery and retail would include about 20 acres, but Verma-Lallian said the development could include up to 50 acres of retail.

“Casa Grande has been seeking a grocer there,” Verma-Lallian said. “There is a lot of excitement for a grocery store.”

The grocery store and the accompanying retail will be the first pieces to develop, she said, but construction will likely take a couple of years.

Arizona Land Consulting is considering developing the industrial itself or doing a joint venture with another developer. Casa Grande has become a popular landing spot for semiconductor industry suppliers that have come to Arizona to support TSMC, with 10 companies, mostly chemical or gas suppliers, announcing locations there since TSMC’s arrival.

Verma-Lallian said they are in discussions with different industrial users for the buildings, which would be built over the next couple of years. The group would like to see manufacturing or distribution on the site to create jobs.