Industrial park planned for Big Surf water park site
The site of Tempe’s popular, but now-defunct Big Surf water park will soon be home to a 36-acre industrial park, part of a large-scale redevelopment plan that received its final approval from City Council members last Thursday.
The property is a sort of graveyard for recreation facilities. In addition to the iconic water park, which was demolished in 2022, it also housed the Oceanside Ice Arena that was razed earlier this year.
Big Surf opened in 1969, billing itself as “the world’s first authentic inland surfing facility.” It’s believed to have been home to the first wave pool in the country, but the water park’s decadeslong run in business came to an end during the COVID-19 Pandemic when it closed and never reopened.
The Oceanside Ice Arena was nearly as old as its water park neighbor, having opened its doors in 1975. It was home to the Desert Youth Hockey Association until the nonprofit hockey club moved to Arizona State University’s Mullet Arena earlier this year.
The site’s upcoming industrial facility is not likely to be as entertaining as the developments that preceded it.
The property’s new owner, a southern California real estate company called Overton Moore Properties, purchased it for $50 million last April. The firm’s plan is to build three one-story industrial buildings that will occupy a total of 690,000 square feet, which they will then lease to third-party companies.
The hope is that the site’s proximity to offices for companies ranging from Cannon to State Farm, as well as its fourmile distance from Sky Harbor International Airport, will make it a prime location for major corporations to set up shop.
It’s unclear if the owner has any tenants lined up yet, or what specific industry the facility will serve, but in December the applicant for the project’s development plan review — Scottsdale-based real estate firm Berry Riddell LLC — told The Arizona Republic that the buildings could be used “for a variety of manufacturing, warehouse and distribution uses.”
The industrial space is expected to be available for leasing sometime next year, according to the development’s promotional brochure.