Mack Real Estate Group, McCourt Partners to develop land near TSMC – The Arizona Republic
A 2,400-acre stretch of land in north Phoenix surrounding the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. campus could see $7 billion worth of new development after being purchased by a New York-based real estate group at an Arizona State Land Department auction.
Mack Real Estate Group, a developer that has several major projects in the Valley, including some of the designated “supplier sites” for TSMC in the Deer Valley area, bought the land for $56.28 million on Wednesday. Mack, which applied to initiate the auction, was the only bidder and bought the land for the minimum bid.
Craig Henig, the managing director for Mack, placed the bid. He was greeted with hugs and congratulations after Mack won the bid, including from his son, who came to surprise him at the auction.
While Mack was the only bidder, two other companies had qualified to place bids at the auction: Phoenix-based ViaWest Group and Conley Wolfswinkel’s W Holdings.
Mack plans to partner with McCourt Partners to develop the land, located near Loop 303 and Interstate 17. In total the development will bring 28 million square feet of new buildings, including industrial, office, retail and apartments.
Richard Mack, CEO of Mack Real Estate Group, called the area a “new silicon city” in a statement about the purchase and plans for the land.
“TSMC’s Phoenix semiconductor fabrication campus is a tremendous economic driver with local, national, and global significance,” Mack said in a statement.
“TSMC is quite simply one of the most important companies in the world. TSMC produces the chips that allow for exponential innovation and for the continued development of artificial intelligence,” Mack added. “Together with ASLD and McCourt Partners, we are privileged to help in the building of a new type of city that both supports and leverages the domestic and international digital transformation enabled by TSMC’s new semiconductor manufacturing campus.”
The partnership between Mack and McCourt will control future sales of the land within the larger site, which will take place in phases over years, the companies announced. The partnership will also develop 600 acres of the site for multiple uses.
“A transformative project of this magnitude is an opportunity to not just contribute to, but actively drive a city’s growth,” Jordan Lang, president of McCourt Partners, said in a statement. “Our passion for building has always been with an eye to the future, and we’re excited to partner with MREG to establish essential infrastructure alongside the TSMC campus and help shape a city that fosters innovation with global impact.”
The land was part of a larger zoning case in 2020, about 3,500 acres, which included the land that TSMC bought later that year. The site, now dubbed by the city as the “Sonoran Oasis Science and Technology Park,” was divided into different designations, called “technology park” and “freeway mixed-use” depending on the permitted uses.
The “technology park” area, on the northwestern portion of the site, allows for administration, design, manufacturing and other employment uses.
The portion along I-17 was zoned “freeway mixed-use,” which can allow employment uses, regional commercial, office, hospitality, multifamily development and other uses like restaurants.
According to Mack, about 8,960 residential units, along with the industrial and manufacturing space, retail and office, could be built on the massive site.
TSMC bought about 1,100 acres of the land that had been included in that zoning case and is under construction on its $65 billion manufacturing plant on the site.
When asked about the area in January, when the land was posted for auction, Phoenix community and economic development Director Chris Mackay said the area could eventually be home to 50,000 jobs.
In 2021, Mack bought sites in north Phoenix designated as “supplier sites” for TSMC near Seventh Avenue and Pinnacle Peak Road. The sites, now called the Mack Innovation Park, have room for about 3.5 million square feet of buildings. Mack is also the developer of a large industrial complex in Scottsdale.
Reach the reporter at [email protected]. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @CorinaVanek.