The Arizona Cardinals officially put shovels in the dirt Thursday on a new performance center and team headquarters in north Phoenix, a move that signals the beginning of the end for their long run in Tempe. The future home base will sit on roughly 30 acres inside the 217-acre Paradise Ridge site, pack in more than 250,000 square feet of space and is slated to be ready in time for training camp in 2028.
According to the Arizona Cardinals, the organization bought the entire 217-acre parcel at a state land auction this summer for $136 million. The football portion of the project is planned to feature three natural-grass outdoor practice fields and a fieldhouse with a full-size indoor turf field. That complex will serve as the anchor for a larger mixed-use development the club is pitching to commercial and residential partners, with renderings showing expanded locker rooms, modern meeting spaces and upgraded medical and recovery areas.
What the New Center Will Include
Owner Michael Bidwill called the project “a multi-generational decision that we discerned,” a line that landed as players Budda Baker and Trey McBride joined team executives at the ceremonial groundbreaking, according to the Arizona Cardinals. Design firm Rossetti is leading the plans for the site, which the team says will centralize both football and business operations within more than 250,000 square feet of facilities. Work on the desert parcel is expected to start in the coming weeks with grading and floodplain mitigation to get the property ready for full-scale construction.
Why the Move Matters to Players and Staff
The shift comes after a wave of public criticism of the Cardinals’ existing setup. The team finished at or near the bottom of the NFL Players Association’s 2025 team report cards, which flagged issues with the weight room, dining areas and training room, according to the Washington Post. Team leaders say the new building is intended to modernize player spaces, improve medical and recovery capabilities and give football and business staff a chance to finally operate under one roof instead of across multiple Tempe locations.
Local Economic Ripple and Development
The 30-acre Cardinals campus is set to be the centerpiece of a 217-acre Paradise Ridge master plan that the club and the Arizona Commerce Authority are marketing for office, retail and residential use, according to Arizona's Family. City officials at the ceremony said the development could bring construction work in the near term and long-term jobs to the Loop 101 and Scottsdale Road corridor, while putting the area on the radar of companies exploring a Phoenix foothold.
Tentative Timeline and Next Steps
The Cardinals say office spaces at the new site could open earlier in 2028, with football operations moving in after that year’s training camp, per reporting from the NFL. Over the next several months, the organization plans to focus on site preparation and infrastructure work before vertical construction begins. The team has also brought on development partners to oversee the build and to recruit potential commercial tenants for the remaining acreage.
Analysts note that the Cardinals’ move lines up with a broader NFL trend of teams using real estate around their training campuses to generate long-term revenue and exert more control over surrounding development, according to Sports Business Journal. For more reaction to the groundbreaking and what it could mean on the field, a segment breaking down the move is available from LocalMemphis.
