City Captures Genomics Institutes
In June of 2002, it was announced that both the Translational Genomics Research
Institute (TGen) and the International Genomics Consortium would locate their
headquarters in downtown Copper Square. Dr. Jeffrey Trent, a leader in genomics
research from the National Institutes of Health, will lead TGen. The city’s
commitment of $43 million was a significant factor behind the success of this
public/private partnership genomics initiative involving the State of Arizona,
the three state universities, foundations and many others. The facility headquarters
will house both administrative offices and wet labs, housing more than 300
employees.
The design process is underway on this 150,000 square foot facility led by
the design-build team of DPR and the Smith Group. The headquarters facility
is slated for occupancy in late 2004.
CEDD staff members received a Team Excellence Award for their contributions
to this initiative. CEDD staff has initiated discussions with State, regional,
and municipal economic development organizations to formulate short and long-term
strategies to capitalize on this bioindustry initiative.
Downtown Phoenix Bioscience Campus Taking Shape in Copper Square
The Downtown Phoenix Bioscience Campus is the headquarters for TGen and the
IGC, world-class genomics research institutes. This exciting project will
be the anchor for the 15-acre, 1 million square feet of bio research and education.
The three State universities, under the umbrella of the Arizona Bioscience
Collaborative, are examining programming and facility needs as part of this
downtown campus. The campus master plan, recently approved by Phoenix City
Council, incorporates elements of open space, pedestrian access and adaptive
reuse of three historic buildings. The City of Phoenix also recently acquired
approximately nine acres north of the campus site for future development.
Campus development is key to attaining the mixed-use environment envisioned
for downtown Copper Square.
American Express Opens Desert Ridge Campus
American Express recently completed construction on two new office buildings
located within the Desert Ridge master planned community in Northeast Phoenix.
The three-story buildings located at 56th Street and Mayo Boulevard, total
more than 370,000 square feet and will house approximately 1,900 employees.
A third building is also planned for the first phase of the project that will
consolidate more than 3,000 employees currently located in leased facilities
throughout the valley. The Community and Economic Development Department assisted
American Express in the site location process. The travel and financial services
provider employs more than 9,000 people in several Phoenix locations, including
a one million square foot campus located in the Deer Valley area.
Bank One
The City of Phoenix assisted Bank One on two recent projects that promise
to increase efficiencies in the bank’s operations and bring new jobs
to the City. The first of these is a 400,000 square foot regional operations
building located in the Phoenix Sky Harbor Center office park. Built on 15
acres adjacent to the I-10 freeway and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport,
the $35 million operations center will house nearly 1,200 employees. Construction
began in December 2002 and is expected to be completed by the Fall of 2003.
Bank One and the City are also working together on the bank’s 40-story
downtown office building as preparations are made to add nearly 1,000 employees
to the downtown landmark. Interior demolition on the project began in November
2002 with a target completion date in July 2003.
Marriott Desert Ridge
The J.W. Marriott Desert Ridge Resort and Spa opened November 30. The 950-room
luxury resort is Arizona’s largest, offering two eighteen-hole championship
golf courses and 170,000 sq. feet of meeting and event space. The resort features
ten distinctive dining experiences. This is the first resort property built
from the ground up to garner the J.W. Marriott resort moniker, and only the
third resort in the United States to share the coveted name.
Westin Kierland Resort
The 735 room Westin Kierland Resort and Spa opened in northeast Phoenix in
early November. The full-service resort is immediately adjacent to the 38-acre
Kierland Commons specialty retail development featuring shops, boutiques and
restaurants. Among the resort amenities is the Troon-managed world-class golf
club and a full conference center.
Schumacher European
Schumacher European Mercedes-Benz is relocating its dealership from the Scottsdale
Airpark to the northwest corner of Scottsdale Road and Chauncey Lane, just
north of the Chauncey Auto Boutique. The new state of the art facility will
include a Cyber Café and a Mercedes Boutique that offers signature
merchandise such as watches, clothing and car accessories. Opening of the
new location is anticipated within 18-24 months.
Orpheum Lofts
The City of Phoenix approved in June 2002, City assistance in coordination
for the renovation and adaptive reuse into ownership housing of the historic
eleven story Title and Trust building which was constructed in 1931. Located
in the heart of downtown Phoenix, the building at 114 W. Adams Street is one
of Arizona’s most significant historic urban properties. This project
represents the first housing in the Copper Square district in the urban core
of downtown as well as the first adaptive reuse for housing of a historic
high-rise in Phoenix.
The project will be converting the former office building into 90-units of
market-rate condominiums and 11,000 square feet of street level commercial
space. An adjacent surface parking lot will be converted in a second phase
into a five level parking garage with 13,000 square feet of ground level commercial
space.
Target Ramps Up
Target Corporation is currently recruiting for positions at its new Southwest
Distribution Center. Its state-of-the-art 1.5 million square foot facility
is located at the southeast corner of 75th Avenue and Van Buren Street in
southwest Phoenix. Target plans to employ over 950 people at the center by
2004.
USAA Expansion Continues
USAA, a supplier of insurance and financial services for military personnel
and their dependents, is developing its Western Regional Operations Center
at I-17 between Happy Valley and Jomax Roads, in north Phoenix. Its expansion
to Phoenix followed its decision to provide insurance services to enlisted
personnel. The company recently completed two interim buildings and plans
to break ground soon on the first of two one million square foot office buildings.
Ultimately, at full build-out of its 500 acre campus, USAA could employ more
than 30,000 employees.
MTA
The City's Management Technical Assistance (MTA) Program is tracking job creation
in companies that utilized the program in 2001-2002 and the results are starting
to come in. In just 8 of the 378 companies that were served already during
this fiscal year, 79 new jobs have been identified. That's an average of 9.8
jobs per company. Companies who use this federally-funded program agree at
the time of application to create at least one job within 24 months in exchange
for the free consultant services. Ardy Hoffmann, Project Manager of the MTA
Program, believes this is only the beginning of an exciting story. "It is
very rewarding to see these outcomes, and it will also help us to market the
program better." In one company alone, 8 new jobs were created as a result
of the consultant helping them build a training and development program for
new employees that were being hired to regain market share in an area they
had abandoned for many years. "What is even more exciting," according to Hoffmann,
"is the fact that finding this company's new employees was a result of a collaboration
between our consultant, Workforce Development, and Human Services. This is
the system at its best."
EXPAND
EXPAND Collateral Enhancement Program activities reached an all-time high
during the two fiscal years 2000-2001 and 2001-2002. A total of $9,286,600
in loans were leveraged by providing $1,707,150 in additional collateral from
the City's EXPAND program. The 28 companies who received these loans have
since created 161 jobs, and 81% of them were filled by low-moderate income
persons - which is a primary goal of the federally-funded EXPAND Program.
EXPAND's results, in fact, exceeded federal requirements by more than 300%
for total jobs created, and by more than 500% for low-mod placements category.
