More than 2,000 acres of farmland in Buckeye, Arizona, could be transformed into the region’s next employment hub and create what local officials estimate could be more than $1 billion in economic benefits, a proposal that provides a glimpse into the growth of one of the nation’s fastest-expanding large cities.
The city is priming the industrial site known as Grand View Arizona through rezoning and annexing efforts to help land Phoenix’s next mega-user or, as Ken Galica, Buckeye’s planning manager, told the city council last month, “the next big thing.”
“If we’re going to attract the next (insert electric car manufacturer here) to produce their vehicles from top to bottom, this would be a site for something like that,” Galica offered as a possibility.
JLL is spearheading marketing efforts for the project, with a size that trumps the footprint of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s North Phoenix chipmaking plant and Intel Corp.’s campus in Chandler, two of the region’s biggest commercial hubs, according to JLL Vice Chairman Marc Hertzberg.
Buckeye is in the middle of a population boom; data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows the city grew by 37% from 2020 to 2025, to roughly 125,500 residents. Phoenix’s population grew about 3.6% during that time frame to nearly 1.7 million. Buckeye ranks second in the country for cumulative population growth for U.S. cities and towns with at least 100,000 people.
The marketing for Grand View Arizona coincides with the early stages of Teravalis, a 37,000-acre master-planned community also in Buckeye that could be home to hundreds of thousands of people and 55 million square feet of commercial development upon buildout.
Grand View Arizona will be located in Phoenix’s most active industrial region measured by investment, development and tenant interest. Southwest Phoenix saw more than 10 million square feet of positive tenant demand in a 12-month period ended in the first quarter — accounting for half the overall market’s total, according to CoStar.
The plans for what’s to come are yet to be determined and flexible. The property comes online to a cautious investment landscape caused by inflation concerns and a cooling industrial development market.
The development and the region’s broader growth has also prompted some concern among residents and officials over water supply. This project does come with water availability, according to Buckeye Mayor Eric Orsborn, but the city is working to find water from different sources and use more reclaimed water to serve Buckeye’s growing needs.
Buckeye’s economic future
However, the land is zoned and ready for immediate development, said JLL Vice Chairman Anthony Lydon in a statement to CoStar News. He added that Grand View Arizona is designed to appeal to a range of industries that include energy, aerospace, electric vehicles, batteries, biotech and life sciences, and artificial intelligence.
“The project is rooted within a highly developed logistics network and supported by robust population growth, employment-friendly policies, expansive infrastructure, skilled labor, and reshoring initiatives needed to make the next chapter in manufacturing a reality,” Lydon said in a statement.
Secondary commercial and residential uses can also be part of the development. Up to 750 acres can be used to create a housing district that can bring as many as 6,500 units, with up to 150 acres for multifamily development.
But if one user wants the entire property, it can take almost all of it for their operations. At least 32 acres will be set aside for commercial uses like retail and restaurants.
“Grand View Arizona represents a major step forward in Buckeye’s economic future, positioning our city to compete for the next generation of high-quality employers,” said Orsborn in a statement.
The target industries would differ from the demand seen in Southwest Phoenix, which stems primarily from distribution-oriented users, with third-party logistics firms, retail distribution centers and warehousing being the area’s primary drivers, said Connor Devereux, CoStar’s senior director of market analytics.
Devereux added that a pickup in manufacturing-related activity would help round out the area’s profile while creating high-quality jobs for the region.
For the record
Marc Hertzberg, Anthony Lydon, Greg Matter, John Lydon and Nicole Marshall are the brokers spearheading the marketing efforts for the project.