Mack Redefines $12-Mil First Phase for Deer Valley

PHOENIX-The Mack Co.’s Arizona office is back at the drawing boards for its 31-acre development in the Deer Valley. The 500,000 sf of flex and industrial product is being altered for a first quarter 2002 ground-breaking of a $12-million first phase.

“With the economy and the abundance of flex space that’s out there, we think our site is more conducive to pure industrial,” Mark Becker, Arizona partner, tells GlobeSt.com. The first phase will consist of 175,000 sf to 225,000 sf in two or three buildings, now being redesigned by Mack’s architect, Jeff McCall with McCall & Associates of Phoenix.

The strategy is to capitalize on a demand for industrial and manufacturing space, stripping the high office finish and abundance of glass from the proposed structures. The planned 500,000 sf stays the same, but the change is coming in the build out, Becker says. He says the finished design will be more in keeping with what is found at Scottsdale Airpark, just a 15-minute drive from Mack’s project site. But, it will come at a cheaper rate, perhaps 15% less than its competition. Right now, the Deer Valley market is fetching 55 cents per sf to 70 cents per sf triple net monthly for the building type that Mack is plotting.

The initial phase will take up 11 1/2 acres of the 31-acre tract. Becker says Mack is so confident in the product change and the potential northwest of Phoenix that it is eyeing a midyear 2002 closing to take an abutting 10 acres out of escrow. The acreage is situated near a developing interstate network that will connect to Scottsdale.

Becker says Mack has narrowed the general contractors’ short list to three. That decision will come soon as the architect fine-tunes the plan and Mack gears up for that first ground-breaking.