PMGAA NorthEast Development Plan Gets A Green Light

NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 03, 2017

Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport Gets FAA Clearance for Northeast Area Development Plan
When the federal government turned the former Williams Air Force Base over to the now Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport Authority (PMGAA), it was an expansive 3,000-acre parcel largely removed from the major population centers of greater Phoenix.

Much has changed in the past 25 years; and today Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport is at the center of a thriving and rapidly-expanding Phoenix East Valley. 
More than 1.5 million people now live within a 20-minute drive from the once remote facility.  As the airport has grown, so too has interest in developing the land surrounding it.
On March 21, PMGAA cleared another major development hurdle when the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued its Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) and Record of Decision (ROD) for the Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Northeast Area Development Plan (NADP); clearing the way for future development of 700 acres of prime real estate adjacent to airport infrastructure and two growing highway systems.

 “Unlocking the northeast side of the airport for development is great news for Gateway Airport and the East Valley,” said Mesa Mayor John Giles, current chair of the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport Authority Board. “The opportunity for high-wage job creation in this area will benefit the entire region and strengthens the airport’s role as an economic driver.”
There are currently more than 50 companies located within the airport’s boundaries, employing over 2,500 people.

J. Brian O’Neill, A.A.E. executive director/CEO of Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport Authority added, “We would like to thank our partners at the FAA for their commitment to this important project and their continued support of Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport.  We look forward to engaging both public and private sectors to transform this incredible asset.” 

About Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport:
Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport is owned and operated by the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport Authority (PMGAA). PMGAA consists of representation from Mesa, Gilbert, Queen Creek, Gila River Indian Community, Phoenix, and Apache Junction. Gateway Airport offers nonstop passenger service to 40 cities via Allegiant and WestJet Airlines and welcomes more than 1.3 million passengers each year. Corporate, military, and general aviation customers are served by Gateway Aviation Services, a 24-hour full-service FBO located just north of the passenger terminal.
Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport Authority Media Contact:
Ryan Smith, Strategic Communications/Government Relations
Phone: 480-988-7617
Email: rsmith@gatewayairport.com

 

April Agenda + March Meeting Minutes: Mesa Economic Development Advisory Board

Today's meeting started just shortly after 07:30 a.m. with some late arrivals, but nonetheless got off to a fast start. It was a surprise to see District 1 Mesa City Council member for the second time at the table usually reserved for board members.

Images taken at this morning's meeting have been inserted to update this post yesterday. The Economic Development Advisory Board shall act as the advisory board to the Mesa City Council on matters pertaining to economic development, including goal setting, strategic planning, marketing and business recruitment, retention and expansion.
Source: mesaaz.gov

Mark Freeman to left of Bill Jabjiniak

The membership of the Economic Development Advisory Board shall include: nine (9) voting members up to six (6) ex-officio non-voting members.

Three of the ex-officio members shall be the Mayor, City Manager, and the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Mesa Chamber of Commerce, and three may be City of Mesa representatives that are currently sitting on the Greater Phoenix Economic Council Board of Directors.

Mayor John Giles and City Manager Chris Brady have not been present at these meetings for months. Sally Jo Harrison and Jeff Crockett were absent today
Call (480) 644-2398 for information.

Voting Members

Terry Benelli (17) - 2^nd TermExecutive Director
Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Phoenixtbenelli@lisc.org
James Christensen (19) - 2^nd TermPresident & CEO
Gateway Commercial Bankjamesc@gcbaz.com
Natascha Ovando-Karadsheh, Vice Chair (17) - 1^st TermOwner/Realtor
KOR Propertiesnataschak@KORproperties.com
Dominic Perry (17) - 1^st TermVice President
Avison Youngdominic.perry@avisonyoung.com
Jeff S. Pitcher, Chair (18) - 2^nd TermPartner
Ballard Spahr, LLP pitcherj@ballardspahr.com
Laura Snow (18) - 2^nd TermSenior Director, Strategy and Planning
Banner Healthlaura.snow@bannerhealth.com

Matt Likens (19) - 1^st TermLikens Healthcare & Medical Device Consulting
mlikens24@gmail.com
Deb Duvall (19) - 1^st Termdebbieduvall@cox.net

Scott Rudy (17) - 1st TermThe Boeing Company
scott.r.rudy@boeing.com

Ex-Officio Members

John Giles
Mayor
City of Mesa mayor@mesaaz.gov

Chris Brady City Manager
City of Mesa chris.brady@mesaaz.gov
Rich Adams, GPEC RepresentativePresident/CEO
Southwest Business Credit Servicerich.adams@nacmaz.org
Brian Campbell, GPEC RepresentativeAttorney
Campbell Law Group, Chartered bcampbell@campbellazlaw.com
Jeffrey Crockett, GPEC RepresentativeAttorney
Crocket Law Group PLLCjeff@jeffcrockettlaw.com
Sally HarrisonPresident & CEO
Mesa Chamber of Commerce sharrison@mesachamber.org

Staff

William Jabjiniak, Economic Development Director
City of Mesa william.jabjiniak@mesaaz.gov

[at right in this image, flanked by Mark Freeman]



Meeting Notice & Agenda
Economic Development Advisory Board
City Council Chambers 57 E. 1st Street, Lower Level
Tuesday, April 4, 2017 7:30 AM

    
1. Chair’s Call to Order
2. Items from Citizens Present
3. Approval of Minutes from March 7, 2017 meeting
4. LaunchPoint Overview
5. Smart & Connected AZ Initiative 
6. Director’s Update
7. Other Business
 Next EDAB Meeting- May 2nd 
8. Adjournment

Note: an additional presentation was made by Dominic Para, seen speaking immediately after the meeting with Mike Likens

MINUTES FROM LAST MONTH'S MEETING
RESULTS
Economic Development Advisory Board
City Council Chambers 57 E 1st Street, Lower Level
Tuesday, March 7, 2017 7:30 AM  
1. Chair’s Call To Order
Chair Jeff Pitcher called the March 7, 2017 meeting of the Economic Development Advisory Board to order at 7:34 am at City Council Chambers, 57 E 1st Street, Lower Level.
2. Items from Citizens Present
None
3. Approval of Minutes from February 7, 2017
Chair Jeff Pitcher called for a motion to approve minutes from the meeting held on February 7, 2017.  
MOTION: Laura Snow made a motion to approve the minutes. SECOND: Terry Benelli seconded the motion to approve the minutes. DECISION: Passed unanimously 
4. Visit Mesa Update
Discussion only; no formal action taken by the Board.  
5. Falcon Strategic Plan Update
Discussion only; no formal action taken by the Board.  
6. Director’s Report
Discussion only; no formal action taken by the Board.
7. Other Business - Next EDAB Meeting – April 7, 2017
8. Adjournment - Meeting was adjourned by Chair Jeff Pitcher at 9:07 am.

____________________________________________________________________________

NOTES & BACKGROUND OF THE EDAB CHAIRMAN
Jeffrey Pitcher
Jeffrey S. Pitcher is Team Leader of Ballard Spahr's Commercial Loan Servicing and Distressed Real Estate Teams. Mr. Pitcher focuses on distressed real estate and real estate development, finance, and leasing. He represents clients on a variety of distressed projects and also represents owners of master-planned and mixed-use developments, retail and office centers, multifamily developments, hotels, industrial properties, and other types of commercial real estate.
Source: BallardSpahr
Mr. Pitcher advises institutional lenders and special servicers on workouts and restructurings, and also represents investors in the purchase of distressed assets. He regularly advises clients on the acquisition, financing, and sale of commercial properties and in the negotiation and drafting of commercial and retail leases, guaranties, and related occupancy agreements for both landlord and tenant parties.
Representative Matters

• Represents various loan servicers in the foreclosure, loan workout, receivership appointment, and disposition of more than $348 million in total loans, including loans for multifamily, resort, retail and mixed-use, and office properties throughout Arizona
• Represents special servicers in loan workouts, mediation, loan sales, and foreclosure of residential properties in Arizona, Nevada, and Utah
• Represents a commercial lender on a $50 million loan on a golf course and fractional-interest project
• Represents a lender in the foreclosure of a $95 million resort
• Represents lenders in their entire Arizona portfolio, including loan workouts, deeds in lieu of foreclosure, and foreclosure review

Charter Schools In Arizona: What The Public Isn't Told

What the public isn’t told about high-performing charter schools in Arizona

This post details issues with charter schools in Arizona. It was written by Carol Burris, a former New York high school principal who is executive director of the nonprofit Network for Public Education. She has been chronicling problems with corporate school reform for years on this blog, and this post is part of her occasional series about troubled charter schools in California and other states.
Source: The Washington Post
By Valerie Strauss 30 March 2017

While some charter schools are well-run and high-performing, others aren’t, and some states that allow charters have little or no oversight. A 2016 audit by the Education Department’s Inspector General’s Office found that the department — which awards multi-million-dollar grants to states for the creation and expansion of charters — had failed to provide adequate oversight of some of its relationships with charter management organizations.
Burris was named the 2010 Educator of the Year by the School Administrators Association of New York State, and in 2013, the same organization named her the New York State High School Principal of the Year. She was helped with this piece by Jim Hall, an elementary and middle school principal in Arizona for 23 years who, in 2014, founded Arizonans for Charter School Accountability. He is quoted in this post.
Burris attempted to contact officials at the BASIS charter school network she writes about in this post but received no response.
There are very big differences between what we have come to accept as public schools and charters:

• Democratically elected school boards govern most public schools; charter boards are appointed and not accountable to parents or the community.
• Charters control the number of students they have, and they do not have to take students mid-year, like traditional public schools do.
• Transparency laws, especially in spending, that public schools must follow can — and often are — ignored by charter schools.  
• Many conflict-of-interest laws that regulate public schools can be skirted — and sometimes are — by charters.
• And in some cases, when a charter school is closed because of poor performance or another reason, the school building and property is not returned to the public who paid for them, but is retained by the charter owners themselves.  And, by the way, charters can shut their doors whenever it suits them.

They only thing truly “public” about charters, is that taxpayers foot the bill. Calling charter schools “public schools” because they receive public tax dollars is like calling defense contractors “public companies” because they also depend on public funding.

One of the best illustrations of the “non-public” nature of charters is the much heralded BASIS charter schools that began in Arizona, a state with extremely lax charter laws. A close look at BASIS provides insight into how charter schools can cherry-pick students, despite open enrollment laws.  It also shows how through the use of management companies profits can be made — call hidden from public view.
There are now 18 BASIS charter schools in Arizona, three in Texas and one in Washington D.C., all managed by the for-profit corporation, BASIS Educational Group, LLC. The same LLC also manages five for-profit BASIS private schools in the United States and one private international school.
There is no doubt that BASIS provides a challenging education. What is questionable is just how “public” their charter schools really are.

Critics of charter schools have long observed the differences in school populations that charters serve, and charter schools counter that that is not by design. A quick look at the demographics of the 18 Arizona BASIS charter schools compared with the demographic profile of all Arizona students in the public and charter systems, however, should give pause that such differences are not accidental. The following enrollment figures are from the 2015-2016 school year.
 

	Asian	American Indian/Alaska Native	Black	Latino	White	Mixed
Arizona	3%	5%	5%	45%	39%	3%
BASIS	32%	0%	3%	10%	51%	2%

 
The proportional over-enrollment of Asian-American students and under-enrollment of Latino students in BASIS charter schools is startling. But differences in the students served do not end with race and ethnicity.
In 2015-16, only 1.23 percent of the students at BASIS had a learning disability, as compared to 11.3 percent of students in the state. BASIS schools had no English Language Learners. And in a state in which over 47 percent of all students received free or reduced- priced lunch, BASIS had none.  Although BASIS may have some students from qualifying households, it chooses not to participate in the free or reduced-priced lunch program.
Not getting any response from BASIS, the author of this report called the BASIS Educational Group twice to get answers about the financial status of BASIS. My calls were never returned.  So I turned to Arizonan Curt Cardine, a former East Coast superintendent and former charter administrator.
Discouraged by the unethical practices he says he has observed in Arizona charters, he left the charter world and has spent the last three years conducting an extensive study of charter financial health and financing in Arizona. According to Cardine, “Once money goes to the BASIS Educational Group, the profits now belong to the for-profit to use as they please, including for expansion.”
Cardine then analyzed the latest audit for BASIS and he sees trouble ahead for the charter chain. “The most recent audit shows that BASIS School Inc. is now running a huge deficit in their assets of over $13 million.  The charter schools’ net loss for the 14-15 year alone was $3,074,317.”
Cardine said he was not surprised. “In the state of Arizona, the financial failure rate on charters is 42.79 percent. Over-leveraging is a huge problem,” said Cardine.  “Charters fail, but somehow folks leave making money. Charters like to say they are ‘for the kids, not the adults.’ That has certainly not been my experience — especially here in Arizona.”

 

FINANCIAL DISCLOSURES: Millionaire$$$$$$ In The White House

The White House Wouldn’t Post Trump Staffers’ Financial Disclosures. So We Did.

In partnership with The New York Times and The Associated Press, we’re sharing financial disclosures for everyone to look through, including you

Source: ProPublica.

by Ariana Tobin and Derek Kravitz
ProPublica, April 1, 2017, 11:38 a.m.

In a remarkable Friday night news dump, the Trump administration made dozens of White House staffers’ financial disclosure forms available. But they did it with an extra dose of opacity.
These are important disclosures from the people who have the president’s ear and shape national policy.
They lay out all sorts of details, including information on ownership of stocks, real estate and companies, and make possible conflicts of interest public.

But the White House required a separate request for each staffer’s disclosure. And they didn’t give the names of the staffers, leaving us to guess who had filed disclosures, a kind of Transparency Bingo.
Since the White House wasn’t going to post the documents publicly, we did.
We teamed up with The New York Times and The Associated Press, requested docs for every staffer we know and put them in this public Google Drive folder.
We’re continuing to look through them.
And we want your help:
If you see anything that merits a closer look, comment on the thread below or fill out our Google Form.

Among the things we’ve learned already:

• Steve Bannon, President Trump’s hand-picked chief strategist, earned more than $500,000 last year through businesses connected to Republican donors Robert Mercer and his daughter, Rebekah. The companies include the conservative website Breitbart News Network; the data-crunching firm Cambridge Analytica; the conservative nonprofit Government Accountability Institute; and the entertainment production company Glittering Steel. (Per an agreement with White House ethics attorneys, Bannon is selling his stakes in Cambridge Analytica and Glittering Steel. He made somewhere between $1.3 million and $2.3 million last year, according to the filings.)
• Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and a White House senior adviser, resigned his positions in 266 different business entities in order to comply with federal ethics rules, White House officials said Friday. He and his wife Ivanka’s financial disclosure shows the scale of their wealth, largely through the family-run Kushner Companies: real estate and investments worth as much as $741 million.

And Kushner is holding onto more than 100 real-estate assets, including a Trump-branded rental building in Jersey City, New Jersey, which was financed with millions from wealthy Chinese investors through a visa program.

• As part of Kushner’s financial disclosure, Ivanka Trump, who recently took an official post in the White House, had to disclose her assets. Ivanka Trump’s branded companies, including her clothing and jewelry lines, brought in more than $5 million in 2016 and are valued at more than $50 million. Her stake in the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., which opened in September, brought in income of between $1 million and $5 million. (She is putting her companies in a trust that she won’t manage while her father serves as president.)

There are other tidbits, too.

• Gary Cohn, the former Goldman Sachs investment banker who now serves as director of the National Economic Council, has assets worth at least $253 million, including million-dollar or more stakes in several private companies.
• Omarosa Manigault, the reality-TV star who took a job as a White House communications staffer, has a 33 percent stake in a trust worth between $1 million and $5 million established by her late fiancée, the Oscar-nominated actor Michael Clarke Duncan, who died in 2012.
• Reed Cordish, a Trump family friend and Maryland real-estate developer who now oversees technology initiatives at the White House, reported assets of at least $197 million, including partnerships in Baltimore casinos.

So far, we’ve received less than half of the roughly 180 financial disclosures White House officials said they have processed. But the moment we get them, you will, too.

Like this story? Sign up for our daily newsletter to get more of our best work.

State Personal Income 2016

News Release EMBARGOED UNTIL RELEASE AT 8:30 A.M. EDT, Tuesday, March 28, 2017  Sorry for being slightly tardy in posting these data State Personal Income, 2016 For the full release and tables, visit https://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/regional/spi/spi_newsrelease.htm State personal income grew on average 3.6 percent in 2016, after increasing 4.5 percent in 2015, according to estimates released today by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Growth of state personal income—the sum of net earnings by place of residence, property income, and personal current transfer receipts—ranged from –1.7 percent in Wyoming to 5.9 percent in Nevada (table 1). Earnings. Earnings increased 4.1 percent in 2016 and was the leading contributor to growth in personal income in most states (table 2). Both personal income and earnings grew faster in Nevada than in any other state. Earnings growth in management; arts, entertainment, and recreation; and construction were the leading contributors to its 7.2 percent growth in total earnings (table 3). Utah, Washington, Florida, and Oregon had the next fastest growth in total earnings. In Utah, earnings growth in construction, and in health care and social assistance, were the leading contributors to the 6.4 percent growth in total earnings. In Washington, earnings growth in information, and in retail trade, were the leading contributors to the 6.3 percent growth in total earnings. In Florida, earnings growth in professional, scientific, and technical services, and in health care and social assistance, were the leading contributors to the 6.2 percent growth in total earnings. In Oregon, earnings growth in health care and social assistance, and in construction, were the leading contributors to the 5.9 percent growth in total earnings. For the nation, earnings grew in 22 of the 24 industries for which BEA prepares estimates (table 5). Earnings growth in health care and social assistance; professional, scientific, and technical services; and construction were the leading contributors to overall growth in total earnings. Mining earnings fell 13.6 percent nationally in 2016, after falling 13.3 percent in 2015. Lower mining earnings was the leading contributor to declines in total earnings in Oklahoma, Alaska, North Dakota, and Wyoming, and to very slow earnings growth in Louisiana. Property income. Property income (dividends, interest, and rent) grew 1.9 percent on average in 2016, slower than the 2.8 percent increase in 2015. Dividend income decreased 0.3 percent in 2016, after increasing 2.7 percent in 2015. Growth in rental income slowed to 6.9 percent in 2016, after increasing 8.8 percent in 2015. Growth in interest income, in contrast, accelerated slightly to 0.9 percent in 2016, up from 0.1 percent 2015. The growth in property income ranged from 0.9 percent in Wyoming to 2.8 percent in North Dakota. Personal current transfer receipts. Personal current transfer receipts grew 3.6 percent on average in 2016, down from 5.4 percent in 2015. Medicare and Medicaid benefits grew 5.3 percent and 5.0 percent respectively, while Social Security benefits grew only 2.8 percent. The slow growth in Social Security benefits reflects no cost of living adjustment for beneficiaries in 2016. The growth in personal current transfer receipts ranged from -5.9 percent in Alaska to 7.1 percent in Nevada. Medicaid benefits in Nevada increased 14.1 percent, the third consecutive above average annual increase. The sharp decline in Alaska reflects smaller payments from the Alaska Permanent Fund. Fourth quarter personal income. State personal income grew 0.9 percent on average in the fourth quarter of 2016, down from 1.1 percent growth in the third quarter. Growth rates ranged from -0.1 percent in Nevada to 1.4 percent in Utah and California (table 6). Earnings grew 1.0 percent nationally, and was the leading contributor to growth in personal income in most states (table 7). Growth in construction earnings was a leading contributor to overall earnings growth for the nation and in most of the fastest growing states (table 8). In Utah, and California, only professional, scientific, and technical services earnings made a larger contribution to overall earnings growth, and in Florida, only health care and social assistance earnings made a larger contribution. In four of the fast growing states—Washington, Louisiana, Oregon, and Montana—growth in construction earnings made the largest contribution to the growth in total earnings, while in Colorado, construction earnings and healthcare and social assistance earnings made equal contributions to its growth in total earnings. Declining farm earnings was the leading contributor to the slow growth in total earnings in many of the slowest growing states, including South Dakota, Kansas, North Dakota, Nebraska, and Iowa. In Nevada, the only state with declining personal income in the fourth quarter, earnings were lower in arts, entertainment, and recreation; management; and professional, scientific, and technical services after large lump-sum payments were made in all three industries in the third quarter. Updates to Personal Income. Today, BEA also released revised quarterly personal income estimates for 2016:Q1 to 2016:Q3. Updates were made to incorporate source data that are more complete and more detailed than previously available, and to align the states with revised national estimates. BEA also released revised quarterly estimates of population and per capita personal income for 2010:Q1-2016:Q3, and revised annual estimates of population and per capita personal income for 2010-2015.   ### Technical Contact Matthew von Kerczek (301) 278-9250 reis@bea.gov David G. Lenze (301) 278-9292   Media Contact Jeannine Aversa (301) 278-9003 jeannine.aversa@bea.gov Thomas Dail   thomas.dail@bea.gov twitter.com/BEA_News blog.bea.gov www.bea.gov/_subscribe

New World Record for Solar Panel Efficiency

A Company in Japan Just Broke the World Record for Solar Panel Efficiency
Source: Futurism.com 
In Brief A team from the Japanese company Kaneko has recently announced breaking the efficiency record of solar panels—which now stands at 26.6 percent

 

THE RISE OF SOLAR POWER

Solar power is certainly on the rise around the world. There are massive solar power generating installations across Asia, with countries like India and China taking turns being the home of the largest arrays. 

Even the United States is making some massive strides with this source of renewable energy. In fact, solar energy is faring better than coal—even in terms of the economy. There are more people employed by the solar industry than in coal, and the price of solar power continues to fall. A trend that is likely to continue—especially if we continue to improve the efficiency of harvesting the sun’s energy.

To that end, researchers in Japan are doing their part: a team from the company Kaneko has recently announced breaking the efficiency record of solar panels—which now stands at 26.6 percent. “Improving the photoconversion efficiency of silicon solar cells is crucial to further the deployment of renewable electricity,” says the team.
The research has been published in Nature Energy.
Continuing on this trend toward efficiency is only going to make the prices of solar power continue to drop. Improvements in production processes will speed this along as well, since panels that are cheaper to produce will cost less for the consumer. Last year, the world was able to double its solar power capacity—so just imagine what will be possible with higher efficiency capabilities.

References: ScienceAlert - Latest, ars Technica

 

SUNBELT INVESTMENT EXPANDS HOLDINGS . . . MESA ELLIOT TECHNOLOGY PARK NOW 270 ACRES

Photo Credit: mesaelliottechnologypark.com

Source: BREWAZ.com

Mesa – Sunbelt Investment Holdings Inc. in San Diego, Calif. (Todd Holzer, pres.) has expanded Mesa Elliot Technology Park by acquiring a key parcel that now brings the planned mixed-use project to 270 acres and provides frontage along the east side of the Loop 202 Freeway.

Working through a 1031 tax-exchange entity, Sunbelt Investment Holdings paid $11.888 + million ($4.05 per foot) to acquire 67.5 acres located north of the northwest corner of Ellsworth and Elliot roads.

The seller was El Dorado Elliot 128 LLC, formed by El Dorado Holdings Inc. in Phoenix (Mike Ingram, chairman).
The cash transaction was negotiated by Brent Moser, Mike Sutton and Brooks Griffith of Cushman & Wakefield in Phoenix.

The newly-acquired property, which is now zoned LC (limited commercial), is located within the Elliot Road Technology Corridor.

Property owners in that section of southeast Mesa are eligible for various benefits, including streamlined entitlement, upgraded infrastructure, and tax exemptions.

More details about Elliot Road Technology Corridor can be found here:

City of Mesa : Elliot Road Technology Corridor

www.mesaaz.gov/business/economic.../business.../elliot-road-technology-corridor

The Elliot Road Technology Corridor has everything high-tech companies need to get up and running fast at a very competitive cost. Large Redundant Power ...

The overlay area has 1,000 + acres of shovel-ready land, including 203 acres that Sunbelt Investment Holdings acquired 3 ½ years ago.
That fully-improved site is planned for roughly 2.75 million sq. ft. out of 3.5 million sq. ft. of office, industrial and commercial buildings targeted for the now 270-acre Mesa Elliot Technology Park.
Andy Markham, Mike Haenel and Phil Haenel of Cushman & Wakefield have the marketing assignment. Markham expects to have a new site plan for the expanded business park within the next few weeks.
The C&W agents are looking for build-to-suit opportunities, ground-lease deals and will sell parcels ranging from 5 to 100 acres to end users and developers.
In addition to the technology uses, Markham says the planned business park is an ideal location for manufacturing, e-commerce, and big box distribution.

In November 2013, BREW reported Sunbelt Investment Holdings paying $18.835 million to acquire the 203-acre tract, which is at the northeast corner of Elliot and Ellsworth roads.
The prior owner of that property, a joint venture formed by First Industrial Realty Trust Inc. in Chicago, Ill. (NYSE:FR), developed the infrastructure for the 287-acre business park and sold an 84-acre parcel before the project stalled.
The newly-acquired 67.5 acres, suitable for 750,000 sq. ft. of commercial and industrial space, is part of a larger tract that El Dorado Holdings acquired 5 ½ years ago.
In September 2011, BREW reported El Dorado Elliot 128 LLC paying $10.79 + million to buy a 128-acre parcel located at the northwest corner of Elliot and Ellsworth roads.
El Dorado Holdings still owns 53 acres of that property after selling the portion to Sunbelt Investment Holdings and 7.885 acres at the northwest corner of Ellsworth and Elliot roads. That site, being developed as the 50-bed Arizona General Hospital, was sold in February 2016 for $5.576 million ($16.23 per foot).
The Elliot Road Technology Corridor is expected to benefit from the $2 billion data center Apple Inc. is developing at the southwest corner of Elliot and Signal Butte roads.
Sunbelt Investment Holdings and its affiliates are among the largest land owners in the area and now control about 1,200 acres near the Williams Gateway Airport in Mesa.
In January, BREW reported Sunbelt Investment Holdings paying $3.791 + million ($2.40 per foot) to purchase a 36.3-acre parcel at the northeast corner of Ellsworth and Germann roads in Mesa.
Sunbelt Investment Holdings is owned by the Mann family of Carlsberg, Germany (Johannes Mann, et al., members).
Find out more from Holzer at (858) 495-4900.
Talk to Jim Kenny, pres. of El Dorado Holdings, by calling (602) 955-2424.
Reach the C&W agents at (602) 954-9000.