Project Narrative - Annexation

Annexation Project Narrative 
 
For 
 
 Cotton 303 Industrial 
   Proposed Industrial Project 
 
 
            NEC Olive & 173rd Avenues 
Glendale, Arizona 
 
 
 
 
                    PREPARED FOR: 
 
    Iron Rock Development II, LLC 
 
PREPARED BY 
 
 
HUNTER ENGINEERING, INC. 
10450 N. 74th STREET, SUITE 200 
SCOTTSDALE, AZ  85258 
(480) 991-3985 
 
 
August 8th, 2022 
 
 
H.E. PROJECT NO. EISN005 
SR#21-0240 
AN-240

August 8th, 2022 
 
 
George V. Gehlert, Senior Planning Project Manager  
City of Glendale, Development Services Division 
5850 West Glendale Avenue, Suite 212 
Glendale, Arizona 85301 
 
 
 
 
Re: Annexation Project Narrative for Cotton 303 Development NEC of Olive and 
173rd Avenue 
 
Introduction  
The development team representing the Iron Rock 2, LLC will initially include 
Hunter Engineering, Ware Malcolm and Southwest Traffic. The proposed project 
will consist of developing approximately 64.09± acres with one or two buildings 
that combined would equal approximately 1,100,000 square feet. The building(s) 
would be planned for uses such as warehouse, industrial distribution, 
manufacturing, and e-commerce. These uses would include associated truck 
parking, auto parking and other on-site and off-site infrastructure improvements. 
Please see the draft conceptual site plan attached to this PAD application. 
 
Requested Changes 
The site is located within Maricopa County and will seek to be annexed into the 
City of Glendale. The annexation is proposed to include the net area of the site 
without the adjacent public right of ways, which will remain in the County. The 
existing Maricopa County zoning designation is RU-43 and is proposed to be 
transferred to align with the closest similar zoning designation in the City of 
Glendale’s zoning ordinance, which is A-1. The City of Glendale General Plan 
land use designation for the property is LDR 2.5 - Low Density Residential. A minor 
General Plan Amendment will be pursued concurrently with the rezone to the 
Regional Mixed Use (RMU) land use designation. Regional Mixed Use allows for 
employment uses within the Luke Compatible Land Use (LCLU) designation. The 
use of employment based commercial developments as a part of the overall 
mix of uses is appropriate within the RMU land use. The PAD will seek to rezone 
the property to a M-1 “type” Light Industrial PAD to bring the newly annexed 
property into conformance with the planned land use of Regional Mixed Use, 
which allows for M-1 Light Industrial.

The PAD will provide the unique development characteristics needed to meet 
the current demand for industrial warehouse and manufacturing space in the 
area, most specifically taller building heights to allow for state-of-the-art 
warehouse and manufacturing equipment.  
 
 
Site Location & Characteristics  
The Site is currently open farmland with active crop cultivation. The site will 
develop in one phase. The site is bounded by Cotton Lane to the east, Olive 
Avenue to the south, 173rd Avenue to the west, and Mountain View Road to the 
north. There is an industrial rail served site directly adjacent to the east. Many of 
the properties in the vicinity are large lot residential and include a small 
residential subdivision. Other similar light industrial warehouse projects have 
recently located nearby State Route Loop 303, directly east of Cotton Lane and 
to the south along the new 303 freeway. Operations would be typical for a light 
industrial warehouse, distribution and manufacturing use and could potentially 
employ up to several hundred employees. Hours of operation would be typical 
for these types of uses and would normally occur during the day with possibly 
some around the clock operations. 
 
 
Annexation Benefits  
Annexation provides many benefits including economic ones. Here are the 
seven goals to be met as per the 2019 City of Glendale Annexation Policy  
 
a) The financial analysis impact to Glendale, including one-time and 
reoccurring revenues and expenses is based on other similar projects in the 
Loop 303 Corridor, the annexation area could generate a positive net fiscal 
impact to the City by 2025-2026 with revenues exceeding expenditures 
quickly with current market conditions. Based on other similar projects in the 
Loop 303 Corridor, the annexation area could generate a positive net fiscal 
impact to the City of about $240,000 per year by 2025, in addition to the 4.2 
million one-time revenues, with overall revenues exceeding expenditures by 
about 40%. Source: Bethany 303 annexation. 
 
b) Potential for desired growth, job creation and other opportunities will likely be 
realized on this site.  Over the long term, Cotton 303 Industrial project is 
projected to generate a positive net fiscal impact to the City of Glendale 
given the expected characteristics of this development. This site is important 
from an economic development perspective and will increase the inventory

of leasable industrial spaces that the City has to offer and will add new jobs 
to the area. In terms of fiscal results, the ultimate impacts will depend on 
whether the space is leased, or owner occupied and the density of 
employment, however revenues significantly exceed expenditures based on 
assumptions of previous analysis in the corridor. The site is within the City of 
Glendale planning boundaries. 
  
c) The site will further the growth of the City and as a result build civic pride and 
sense of community through the opportunities brought by new industrial and 
commercial development. Since this annexation is consistent with the 2019 
City of Glendale Annexation Policy it will provide long term benefits that the 
City want to have in Glendale. This allows the City to effectively manage 
urban development, allow for the efficient planning and provision of services, 
create a stronger community, and ensure high quality developments in 
accordance with City standards.  
  
d) There are no impacts to existing parks, trails and open spaces programs. The 
area being annexed is mostly vacant farmland that is no longer in 
production.  Narrow paved and some dirt roads are being improved to widen 
streets and road and have been adding sidewalks and landscaped 
frontages in the area since development began in the Loop 303 Corridor. 
 
e) Public services will be expected for fire and police as a primary benefit of 
being annexed into the City of Glendale. As the City annexes new property 
into the City limits it is also obtaining a new revenue stream to further build 
and develop local public safety resources. The demand for services will 
typically be less compared to other types of land uses such as retail and 
residential uses. 
 
f) This proposal supports the mission of Luke Air Force Base in a unique and 
important way. By developing warehouse and other light industrial uses 
adjacent and around Luke Air Force Base, undesirable land uses for flight 
operations are being removed from development consideration and in turns 
helps keep the base in operation and support the mission of the base to 
continue to function as a critical service to the region, state, and country. 
 
g) The City’s natural heritage, natural environments, and historic resources will 
be minimally impact if at all since this is mostly vacant farmland. As 
mentioned above, the area is mostly vacant farmland with no significant 
natural features such as mountains, rivers or native desert open space. The

only significant historic resource that is nearby, Luke Air Force Base is helped 
by this type of light industrial development since it protects the base from 
development such as residential that is contrary to flight operations at and 
around the base. 
 
 
Project Scope 
The general plan designation will for this site will seek an amendment that allows 
for light industrial/manufacturing uses. The property would be rezoned A-1 
Agricultural, as part of the annexation process. The owner would like to run the 
Annexation, PAD and the amendment submittals as close to concurrently as 
possible within the framework of the City submittal process. Upon successful 
completion of the Annexation, Minor General Plan Amendment and Rezoning 
process, the development team would like to submit for Design Review and seek 
approval to submit construction documents.  
 
The buildings will be comprised of one large or two mid-sized warehouse or 
manufacturing spaces with associated office on the corners of the building. 
Loading docks will face north and south with the buildings covering a large 
portion (60%±) of the site. The design intent of the architecture is to create an 
attractive, first class, high quality facility, incorporating a simple, clean, 
warehouse architectural style. The project materials include painted tilt-up 
panels with store front glass office spaces on the corners. 
 
Landscape design shall be developed to have a consistent look. The perimeter 
of the site shall incorporate the use of flowering desert shrubs, drought tolerant 
trees and groundcovers that will provide a sense of identity and be compatible 
with the environmental conditions of the area. Areas adjacent to the public right 
of way will be blended into the existing landscape edge treatment. 
 
 
Drainage & Site Access 
The drainage for the site flows primarily from the northwest to the southeast. 
Surface drainage will be used for retention of the 100-year, 2-hour event. Building 
down spouts will be directed/piped to retention basins and underground 
storage tanks. Primary access to the site will be from the Loop 303 at either the 
Northern or Peoria Avenue interchanges.  Segments of interior drive aisles and 
roadways will be most likely developed as private streets that will connect from 
Cotton Lane, Olive Avenue and 173rd Avenue, to the site.  This site is unique in

that it can provide for mostly all Right Turns for access and egress, which is 
favored by truck drivers. 
 
Our team has spent a significant time during the past month working on project 
research and determining the infrastructure requirements for the site. The 
developer of this project is sincerely excited about this this property and looks 
forward to working with City staff for the duration of the project.  
 
 
Thank you,  
Michael S Buschbacher  
Michael S. Buschbacher II, AICP 
Principal Planner