Liberty Property Trust Thursday announced that it will break ground on its first building this spring at Liberty Logistics Center II, a new 73-acre industrial park located at the corner of 71st Avenue and Buckeye Road in Phoenix.

The 222,910 square foot distribution facility is the first of the 1.5 million square feet of multi-tenant industrial space planned at the new park.

“Throughout the last two years we began to see demand in the southwest valley shifting away from large single-tenant users,” said John DiVall, senior vice president at Liberty Property Trust. “Liberty Logistics Center II will fill a hole in Phoenix’s southwest valley which has not seen a multi-tenant development of this scale in more than five years. Close proximity to Interstate-10 and a location in the heart of the southwest valley’s distribution core will be very attractive to mid-size tenants looking for a state-of-the-art industrial building that allows for easy access to the Phoenix metropolitan area and the greater southwest.”

The first phase of Liberty Logistics Center II will begin this spring when Liberty breaks ground on a 222,910 square foot Class A industrial building featuring a 205′ building depth, 30′ clear height with grade & dock level loading, concrete tilt construction, 3600 amps of power and full concrete truck courts. The building, which is designed to achieve LEED certification, is divisible down to +/- 40,000 square feet and expected to be completed late Q3 2016.

Simultaneously, Liberty will develop the pad for a second building totaling 280,280 square feet which also may be constructed this year depending on leasing activity at the project.

Don MacWilliam, Payson MacWilliam and Rob Martensen of Colliers International and Megan Creecy-Herman of Liberty will be responsible for leasing on the project. The architect for the building is Deutsch Architecture Group and the general contractor is Nitti Graycor.