TSMC ripple effect: Where to expect growth in 2025 that will transform Phoenix area

By Corina Vanek

Some of the largest construction projects in the country, including the largest foreign direct investment in a greenfield site, are underway in Arizona.

While Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. is easily Phoenix's most attention-grabbing project underway, the ripple effect it will bring might be even more far-reaching. In 2025, related projects and ancillary development will begin to move forward in the area, which will eventually bring housing, hotels, restaurants and educational facilities to the far north stretches of Phoenix.

Major construction projects will continue to shape up over the next few years and are beginning to make their mark on the Valley. Here are some highlights:

TSMC ripple effect

The $65 billion Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. fabrication facility at Interstate 17 and Loop 303 is under construction, but it is only the tip of the iceberg for development in that area of north Phoenix.

Two major developments, which will total about 10,000 acres surrounding TSMC, are in the early planning stages. The 2,400 acres surrounding Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s massive manufacturing plant, dubbed “Halo Vista,” could hold nearly 30 million square feet of buildings, including hotels, industrial buildings, offices, apartments, retail and public uses like education facilities.

Mack Real Estate Group and McCourt Partners are the developers of the site, which could be a “city within a city.” The site will be divided into sub-areas, including two that have been named. One, called the Forge, will be the manufacturing zone, and another, called the Sonoran Oasis Research and Technology Park, will be focused on research, development and engineering.

South of Loop 303, PulteGroup submitted plans to Phoenix for a 6,355-acre master-planned development called NorthPark. The project could include nearly 20,000 residential units, including single-family homes and apartments.  

The land is held by the Arizona State Land Department and would need to be sold at public auction before any development could happen. So far, no auction has been scheduled for the site.

The proposal also must be voted on by the Phoenix City Council through the public hearing process. So far, no public hearings have been announced for the plan.

CityNorth

A 100-acre stretch at 56th Street and Deer Valley Drive, called CityNorth, is beginning to take shape, adjacent to High Street and east of Desert Ridge Marketplace. CityNorth, a master-planned project by Crown Realty Group, has been under construction for nearly four years after the company closed on the site in 2019.

The first building to be completed at CityNorth, a 272-unit luxury apartment complex called Sunela, which was co-developed with Greystar, finished construction over the summer and is about 25% occupied by tenants.

In total, CityNorth could include about 3,000 apartment units at full buildout. Republic Services is building its new corporate headquarters at CityNorth, a 250,000-square-foot office building with an option to expand and build additional space if needed. The building is expected to open by the end of 2025.

On the eastern side of the development, there are plans for restaurants, a grocery store, a hotel and another corporate office.

CityNorth has 15 acres slated for offices remaining where another corporate headquarters could go. Crown has been in discussions with companies, but the site is still available.

Laveen Tech Corridor and Loop 202

In May, the Phoenix City Council approved a 300-acre development near Loop 202 and Estrella Drive in Laveen, called Gila Foothills. If certain milestones are met in the development, the developer will be allowed to build up to 2,200 housing units, a hospital, an auto mall and a resort on the site.

That development had been a polarizing fight between the neighbors and the developer, until the groups struck a compromise that will bring the residential development in phases.

The approved plan allows for 1,200 units immediately and allows the additional 500 contingent on the hospital. If the developer delivers at least 15 acres of retail and restaurants, it can develop 250 more housing units. If it designates age-restricted housing for those 55 and older, it could develop 150 units. And if it developed platted, for-sale townhomes, it could add 100 units, reaching the 2,200 it requested.

The project will also bring Laveen’s first Level 1 trauma center.

West of Loop 202, the long-awaited Laveen Tech Corridor has begun to get attention from businesses.

Amazon’s data center arm, Amazon Data Services, spent $277.32 million to buy land in the area that has long been branded a technology corridor but has seen little development.

In April, Salt River Project bought 97 acres along Loop 202 north of Elliot Road, according to real estate database Vizzda. The utility company plans to build a 500-kilovolt substation, 4 to 5 miles of new overhead 230-kV transmission lines and a half-mile of new overhead 500-kV transmission lines.

Tempe and the Novus Innovation Corridor

Novus Innovation Corridor at Arizona State University, a 300-acre site on the east side of the Tempe campus, has more restaurants gearing up for opening, and hundreds of apartment units are under construction.

Three Fox Restaurant Concepts restaurants are nearing completion at Novus; Flower Child, North Italia and Blanco Cocina + Cantina are being constructed around a grassy courtyard that will include a small amphitheater and shade structure for outdoor events and concerts. The development is west of Rural Road on the newly built Novus Place.

On the former Karsten Golf Course, Wentworth Property Company is developing “Rio Yards,” an office development on the farthest east portions of the course. The first building is completed and two other buildings are under construction.

Outside of Novus, Tempe has more than 2,000 apartment units on tap, approved along a half-mile stretch of Rural Road.

The latest development to be approved, the Leo, will include two 20-story towers and a 10-story parking garage on a 3.7-acre site on the southeast corner of Rural Road and University Drive.

The towers in total would include 950 units ranging from studios to four bedrooms, adding up to 2,391 bedrooms.

Pinal County

Pinal County has become a landing spot for manufacturing and semiconductor suppliers, who have clustered in the area.

LG Energy Solution is under construction on a project in Queen Creek, on 600 acres near Pecos Road and Ironwood Drive. Production is poised to begin by 2026.

The company slowed the development process in July, temporarily pausing progress on the second phase of the plant, while moving ahead with the first phase.

A slew of semiconductor industry suppliers have flocked to Pinal County.

Chang Chun, one of the largest suppliers to land in Arizona, has under construction a $300 million facility in Casa Grande and is one of several suppliers to have bought land with plans to grow in the city.