Phoenix-based developer Creation has closed on a 38-acre site in Avondale for an industrial campus dubbed the Avondale Tech Center. Plans call for roughly 700,000 square feet of space aimed at advanced manufacturing and research-and-development users, with several large shallow-bay buildings slated to hit the West Valley market. The site, near Avondale Boulevard and Van Buren Street, represents another major land play at a time when demand for industrial land is outpacing supply across the metro area.
According to KTAR, the Avondale Tech Center is planned as a roughly 700,000-square-foot campus made up of three buildings ranging from about 212,000 to 254,000 square feet each. Creation is marketing the campus to advanced-manufacturing and research-and-development tenants, a slice of the industrial market that typically needs deeper clear heights and office-adjacent infrastructure. The acquisition follows Creation's string of recent moves around the Valley as developers compete for the remaining buildable parcels.
"Avondale Tech Center represents a highly strategic site that required a full rezone and extensive coordination with city stakeholders and neighboring users to bring to fruition," Creation principal Grant Kingdon told KTAR. That level of entitlement work has become common for large industrial campuses in the West Valley, where new projects have to be fitted into existing road, water and sewer networks. City approvals and infrastructure upgrades are among the next steps before grading and vertical construction can begin.
Where the campus fits in the Valley
Creation has been active across the Phoenix metro, including last year's groundbreaking on Harbor Park in Glendale, a two-building, roughly 163,364-square-foot industrial complex that was largely preleased to PODS Phoenix, along with other projects around Scottsdale, Queen Creek, Gilbert and Phoenix. As reported by AZ Big Media, Creation's Valley pipeline shows a focus on smaller to mid-sized shallow-bay industrial assets that serve local distribution and light-industrial users. The Avondale site follows that pattern but on a larger campus-scale footprint geared toward tech and manufacturing tenants.
Timeline and market outlook
Nearby Harbor Park was reported to be 67% preleased, with a 108,865-square-foot build-to-suit for PODS Phoenix and a second 54,499-square-foot speculative building planned, according to REBusinessOnline. Those deals highlight persistent demand for shallow-bay product in the West Valley and help explain why developers are assembling larger parcels. Industry brokers note that a campus of the Avondale Tech Center's size typically takes 12–24 months from groundbreaking to delivery, although entitlements, permitting and site complexity can lengthen that timeline.
