Loop 202 segment paves way for boom
Farms, fields along new stretch see development
The new 22-mile segment of the Loop 202 opened this weekend, which means not only will the commute for tens of thousands of people change but so will open countryside that has long defined the area’s landscape.
Housing, obviously, will be what much of the now vacant land and farmland converts to along the freeway. Dairy farms and alfalfa fields already are transforming to rooftops along the route from southwest Phoenix to Chandler.
But with the entire length of the extension in Phoenix, that city anticipates a host of new retail, industrial, and hopefully, technology businesses, along with the homes.
“We have an exciting opportunity in front of us in Phoenix,” said Mayor Kate Gallego, who lives in southwest Phoenix near the new freeway. “We already are one of the largest cities in the country, but we have a new freeway opening up in our city, and there is sig
nificant land likely to be redeveloped along it.”
A challenge for city officials going forward, however, is maintaining their vision for a high-tech job corridor as housing developers seek to turn the land into more rooftops.
The new Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway branches off the Interstate 10 in west Phoenix, heading south across Van Buren, Buckeye, Baseline and other surface streets all the way to Elliot Road, where it bends slightly to the east between the Gila River Indian Reservation and South Mountain. Then it turns directly east all the way to Chandler, where it again intersects the I-10.
Phoenix officials hope to attract jobs to prevent residents from commuting out of the city.
About 69% of west Phoenix residents work in another part of the metro area, Gallego said.
“We hear from our residents on the west side that they would happily work closer to home,” Gallego said. “A lot of those are individuals working in the East Valley, in tech and business services.”
Development follows freeways
The Arizona Department of Transportation anticipates 117,000 vehicles a day will travel the new loop, compared with about 300,000 a day that travel the I-10 through downtown Phoenix now.
“If you want to watch development, follow a freeway,” said Christine Mackay, Phoenix community and economic development director.
Much of the land adjacent to the new freeway is zoned for big-box warehouse and distribution businesses.
Nathan Wright, city of Phoenix deputy director of community economic development, said officials hope to keep warehouse-type business to the north of the Salt River, which intersects the new Loop 202 near Broadway Road.
South of the river near the freeway are 1,000 acres where the city’s development officials want to see technology, finance, light manufacturing and other high-wage businesses, he said.
Development officials refer to that as the “South Mountain Tech Corridor” with aspirations that it will become something like the Price Road Corridor in Chandler near the Loop 101, which is anchored by Intel and dozens of other businesses.
“Our focus in economic development is preserving the area along there as a high jobs generating corridor,” Wright said. “A large percentage of West Valley workers commute east of I-17. We are trying to capture those workers and keep them in the West Valley.”
Gallego said she has traveled to meet with some of the companies that might locate in the new technology corridor. She said development officials are able to tout the access to a young workforce and amenities like water and power infrastructure for development.
“It makes it a very high-potential area,” Gallego said.
Mackay said she hopes to prevent housing developers from pushing for zoning changes to build more residential projects along the freeway rather than commercial development.
“We’re fighting against that,” Mackay said. The economic development wing of the city can’t set zoning rules. That is the purview of the planning department. Developers or landowners can request changes to the department and the planning commission, but it’s not something economic development officials would support.
Wright said the city has reached out to owners of large properties in the area, particularly farmland, whom home builders are approaching. He said the city is trying to connect them with prospective commercial developers.
“Biosciences, semiconductors, aerospace, manufacturing, finance,” Wright said, adding that companies in several of those sectors have shown interest in developing along the new freeway.
“We’ve been pitching, we’ve traveled internationally talking about this corridor,” he said. “We are really pushing that to an international and national audience.”
New retail amenities already are popping up in the area. Laveen Park Place, a retail “power center,” is the among first developments the 202 prompted. It’s at the intersection of 59th Avenue and Baseline. It brought a Sprouts market to the neighborhood, and a Harkins movie theater is on the way.
Also included in the project is a Mod Pizza, Wright said.
Tribal land could get a boost
Much of the land adjacent to the south half of the freeway will be difficult to develop without coordination with the Gila River Indian Community because the reservation lies on one side of the road, he said.
The tribe fought against the freeway, but now could see development potential from the road.
“We really want to start that dialogue,” Wright said. “We definitely want to talk to them about working with them to make this successful. Our duty is to bring the jobs. They have a casino and other amenities that bring value to the area.”
Commercial development already is planned on the tribal land, with an announcement in June from Trammell Crow Co. for a 48-acre commerce park at 40th Street on the south side of the new loop.
The project could be complete by September. Cathy Thuringer, a principal with Trammell Crow, said when the project was announced that the Loop 202 is creating a new real estate submarket.
“This new access to and from the southwest Phoenix and southeast Valley submarkets will change the dynamic of travel for tenants and visitors to the area,” Thuringer said at the time.
Dominic Orozco, chief marketing officer for Gila River Hotels and Casinos, said the new freeway allows the tribe to market all three of its casinos — Lone Butte, Wild Horse Pass and Vee Quiva — as being within about 15 minutes of one another.
“We see a benefit in this corridor,” Orozco said. Not only could the new road bring them more business, but it should benefit the 3,000 employees who can more easily move between properties, he said.