Dermody Properties plans to start construction on 1.2 million square feet of speculative industrial space in El Mirage, adding two buildings with 42-foot clear heights that will rank as the tallest speculative warehouses ever built in the Phoenix market. Buildings 3 and 4 at LogistiCenter at Copperwing are slated for delivery in the third quarter of 2027.
According to Connect CRE, Building 3 will span 693,760 square feet and Building 4 will add 520,170 square feet, for a combined 1,213,930 square feet. The two structures are designed so they can also combine into a single building totaling 1,319,962 square feet, giving Dermody flexibility to court either a pair of mid-size users or one massive single-tenant operation. Connect CRE also reports the site sits roughly 27 minutes from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.'s Phoenix-area campus, placing it near the chipmaking hub.
Taller Ceilings, More Power Than Standard Spec Buildings
The 42-foot clear heights planned for Buildings 3 and 4 would make them the first speculative industrial buildings with that ceiling height in the Phoenix market, offering roughly 17 percent more cubic racking volume than standard 40-foot clear facilities, per Capdex. That extra vertical space is increasingly prized by bulk logistics operators looking to maximize rack capacity without expanding their footprint.
Each building will also be supported by 6,000 amps of electrical power, for 12,000 amps combined between the two, the same report notes. Building 3 is designed with 124 dock doors and 274 trailer parking spaces, while Building 4 includes 86 dock doors and 207 trailer spaces — loading infrastructure built for large-scale distribution or advanced manufacturing tenants that need heavy truck turnover.
Why Dermody Is Betting Big Without Tenants Lined Up
Dermody Chief Investment Officer Tim Walsh said starting Phase 2 reflects the firm's long-term confidence in Greater Phoenix logistics demand and its strategy of leveraging expanding municipal infrastructure, per the same Capdex report. That confidence comes even though Dermody is moving forward on speculative construction before securing pre-leases for the new phase, a bet that follows the successful lease-up of Building 6, which fully stabilized Phase 1 of the project at 284,421 square feet, according to Connect CRE.
LogistiCenter at Copperwing itself is a 961-acre master-planned industrial park with capacity for more than 7 million square feet of distribution space once fully built out, Connect CRE reports. Dermody was represented in the transaction by Pat Feeney, Dan Calihan, and Tyler Vowels of CBRE.
A Foreign Trade Zone Sweetens the Deal
LogistiCenter at Copperwing sits within an approved Foreign Trade Zone, according to Connect CRE, a designation that carries real financial weight for prospective tenants. Foreign Trade Zone personal property is assessed at 5% rather than 17%, according to the Greater Phoenix Economic Council. That is a reduction of more than 70 percent in assessed value; HB2822 does not affect real property or its assessment ratio.
The project also benefits from access to Northern Parkway, a 12.5-mile regional arterial.
A Tight Industrial Market Backs the Bet
The timing lines up with a broader rebound in Phoenix industrial real estate. In the third quarter of 2026, the Phoenix metro industrial vacancy rate fell 300 basis points year-over-year to 10.3 percent, supported by 23.7 million square feet of leasing activity through the first nine months of the year, according to Cushman & Wakefield. The Southwest Valley recorded 9.8 million square feet of net absorption year to date, while the Southeast Valley led Q3 net absorption, the firm reported.
Whether Buildings 3 and 4 land anchor tenants before their projected third-quarter 2027 delivery remains an open question. Dermody is advancing the speculative construction without pre-leases in hand, betting that the combination of TSMC-driven supply chain demand, the Foreign Trade Zone tax break, and a tightening vacancy rate will be enough to fill the space by the time it's ready.
