February 1, 2022 – PHOENIX, Ariz. – Work is underway on a three-building industrial development that sits along Interstate 10 in the City of Phoenix. ViaWest Group and its building partners Willmeng Construction, Butler Design Group and Kimley-Horn broke ground on the 512,710 square-foot Converge Logistics Center on Friday, January 28.
“We started working on this a while ago with the Kyrene school district,” said Danny Swancey, Partner with ViaWest Group. “We were very fortunate to secure this land on a long-term lease and to work with the design team and the city to produce just over 500,000 square feet of amazing, high-quality industrial buildings that I know the city is going to need.”
ViaWest Group signed a 77-year ground lease with Kyrene School District on the 28.6-acre parcel located in Phoenix, with I-10 dividing the property from Chandler’s city boundaries. The parcel sits less than a half mile from the Chandler Blvd. and I-10 interchange, and users will also have easy access to the Loop 202 Freeway.
“Depending on how long you’ve lived here, we’ve all driven by this site dozens, if not hundreds, if not thousands of times and I’ve always wondered how we could get our hands on it,” said ViaWest Founding Partner Steven Schwarz. “It ended up being a case of the right place at the right time. There are no sites like this around the Valley anymore. Infill sites along the freeway are extremely rare and we are excited to get it going.”
This infill, Class A industrial development will feature three structures, with Building A being the largest at 210,670 SF. Building B will be 140,941 SF and Building C will be 159,221 SF. All three have clear heights of 32 feet, multiple drive-in bay doors, ample dock-high doors and large trailer parking and auto parking stalls. Designed to be multi-tenanted, the buildings have divisibility to 52,000, 23,500 and 39,800 SF, respectively.
Willmeng plans to work on all three buildings at the same time, with the target of bringing the entire project to market by Q1 of 2023.
“It was 17 years ago that we did our first ViaWest project. We’ve had a lot of very good outcomes and we couldn’t be more thankful for the opportunity to build for Steven and Danny and ViaWest,” said Willmeng CEO James Murphy. “And when it comes to building high-performing teams, ViaWest has put together an outstanding one. For those who know Phoenix, this is an outstanding team.”
Rounding out the team working on this project are Mike Haenel, Andy Markham, and Phil Haenel with Cushman & Wakefield, who will be handling the marketing and leasing of the project.
The industrial market in Chandler and South Phoenix has seen a growing number of new industrial, warehouse and logistics projects in recent years, with more planned along the new South Mountain portion of Loop 202. Swancey said that Converge Logistics Center will fill a demand for small to medium-sized tenants.
“The demand for industrial space is on fire and that’s great for all of us,” said Swancey. “We’re excited to bring the product to the market that’s either going to serve an existing user that needs to expand, or hopefully, a new tenant that is trying to make it in this market.”
