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» 1183fa0 28 Phoenix may sell 450 acres of land near. Corina Vanek : Arizona Republic. USATODAY NETWORK © “Selling about 450 acres of land i near . duke Air Foreé Base could generate .about $100 million for Phoenix’s avia-. . tion department, department leaders said this week at a subcommittee meet- ing of the City. Council. ‘e . Phoenix owns about 820 acres of F Jandnear Litchfield Roadand Olive Ave- ntie; north of Luke Air Force Base. The. “city’s aviation: department has pro- € “could provide needed funds to support’ posed selling the northern portion ofthe land for industrial or commercial devel- ‘opment. The land is unincorporated “eounty land, butt is near land that has been annexed into Glendale. . Phoenix has. owned the Jand, exiled the Tal Wi Wi property, since 1999, and ~ | the land was originally purchased to protect airspace around the Air Force base, according to Phoenix documents. In the years since, the state Legislature has enacted laws that protect military ~ installations, restricting the types of de- velopment that can be built there. * _ Selling-a portion of the property, the aviation department’s future com- prehensive. asset management plan, Chad Makovsky, Phsenix’s director of “aviation Services: said at the subcoin- Inittee meeting. _- . Atthe meeting, Councilwoman Laura Pastor asked why the city would: sell the property. instead of leasing it, to prée- « serve thé asset should the value of the Tand will go'up.. Makovsky said the land 168 gamered a “dramatic increase” in interest frorh Sndustrial and commercial developers ‘ who are interested in purchasing:and developing it. The city is also consider- ” ing using the remaining space on the southem portion of the property as a'so- Jar electricity generating project, which would generate. renewable energy cred-'’ its for the city.. : * Thelandis jeased now for paucity . al-use, which generates about.$150,000 * ‘Luke Air Force. Base | *. per year for the city, Makowsky ‘said. The éity released a‘request for infor, mation about the land in 2022 and re- ceived fourxesponses, two-fromcompa- - nies interested in the ‘industrial devel-- - opment portion and two from. theee 4 in-, terested in solar. “ The aviation department i is veqiired. to get City Council. Lapp: ing city-owned proper go beforé the couricil sothe mBoioe oval before'sell- * The‘drea around Luke Air Force Base: has become a hot spot for industrial de: . velopment. South ‘of. the. base, neat Litehfield and .Bethany Home roads, - Phoenix-| -based ViaWest Group bought - 82.acres of land for $12:million'and plans. .:° to close on an additional 57.acres ofland: this month. The developer plans to build a18-building industrial park, which will : ‘total. nearly 2 inion square. fe ‘buildings. In September, the. Glendale - city Council approved dxézoning of 134'atres at Northern..Parkway and Dysart Road: fox a development that will bring about ~ 21 million'square feet of wareliouse and distribution space, according to real’ ‘eS tate databasé Vizzda- The project was proposed by-Clarion Partnets. Phoenix-baséd Merit Partners has: also bought ‘hundreds of acrés north of - the Air Force basé to. develop industrial buildings. . Lincoln ; Property .Co: bought 140. acres ofland for $53 million néat North- - ern Avenue and. Litchfield Road in May. 2022. The conipany plans’ to piild 2.3- million square feet of industrial ‘build . ings on the’ site. Construction is sched- uled to be completed in early: 2024. . “West of the base, along Loop 303 and. . _ Bethany Home Road, McKinney Tnvest- ments got’approval-from Glendale City ' Council in-December ‘to rezone 38 acres to develop about: -700;000 square féet.of , buildings fora project called. Bethany 303. Most of the’ projects disnmed 3 in ‘the , area are being built. speculatively, meaning no companies ° have signed leases for thie uring 2 ahead’ of time. ‘