On Feb. 21, SkyBridge Arizona broke ground on SkyBridge Building 109, the developer’s latest addition to its 435-acre mixed-use project immediately adjacent to the runway at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport in Mesa, Arizona. The event brought together project team members Graycor Construction Company and CBRE – Phoenix, as well as local dignitaries including Brian O’Neill, executive director and CEO of Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport Authority (PMGAA); Bridget Peterson, Town of Gilbert mayor and current PMGAA Board Chair; and Bill Jabjiniak, director of economic development, City of Mesa.
Building 109 is the first of two 250,000-square-foot, Class A manufacturing/warehouse/logistics buildings that SkyBridge plans to break ground on at Gateway Airport during the first half of this year. This will bring their new building deliverables at the development to one-half-million square feet, with space targeting air cargo, e-commerce, manufacturing and aviation and defense specialists.
“The East Valley is metro Phoenix’s new frontier for aerospace, advanced manufacturing and logistics growth, which makes it a very exciting time to build here,” says Ariel Picker, president of SkyBridge Arizona and SkyBridge Plus Development. “We appreciate the collective effort it takes to bring a Class A mixed-use project like this to life, and look forward to all that SkyBridge will do to serve its future tenants and streamline the U.S.-Mexico logistics chain.”
“Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport applauds the start of this exciting project,” says O’Neill. “Every groundbreaking and every ribbon cutting within SkyBridge Arizona represents new jobs and a positive impact on our regional economy.”
In addition to providing immediate access to Gateway Airport, Building 109 will feature 32’ clear height, a 7” reinforced slab on 4” AMC, 30 dock-high and 6 ground-level doors, and generous power and parking. The building is divisible to approximately 80,000 square feet, allowing it to serve a wide range of tenant types and sizes.
“The Southeast Valley is courting over 13 million square feet of active users in the market. This next phase of SkyBridge Arizona welcomes tenants from aerospace and tech-related manufacturing to cargo and logistics companies catering to the local market or looking to take advantage of the unified cargo process,” says CBRE Senior Vice President Jackie Orcutt. “We are excited to be working with SkyBridge on another Class A industrial development for the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway submarket!”
When complete, SkyBridge will be the nation’s first cargo hub with a joint U.S.-Mexico Customs inspection facility on site. The project is slated for 1.3 million square feet of aeronautical development, almost 2.2 million square feet of non-aeronautical development and 270,000 square feet of commercial retail and office development.
On behalf of SkyBridge, Graycor has already completed 134,500 square feet of space in two buildings at the Gateway Airport site. The first is an 82,500-square-foot, Class A hangar building with office space and four bays to accommodate aircraft as large as a G650 business jet. The second is a 52,000-square-foot flex industrial building with 24’ clear height, storefront entries, administrative offices, conference and break areas, and a warehouse component with up to four docks. Both buildings are fully leased.
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“It was our pleasure to deliver the very first buildings at SkyBridge and we’re honored and excited to build the next,” says Rusty Martin, Graycor Construction Company’s southwest division general manager. “SkyBridge has a clear vision and true commitment to deliver high-quality product that is uniquely airport accessible and in line with what aerospace and logistics-related tenants are seeking as they locate and expand in Arizona.”
The SkyBridge master-planned development is located along the southwest portion of the runway at Gateway Airport. It is slated to become a first-of-its-kind Unified Cargo Processing (UCP) facility, allowing users to complete on-site cargo inspections and processing so that shipments between the U.S. and Mexico can be expedited directly to their destinations in Mexico.
SkyBridge continues to pursue end-users with a focus on aeronautical and industrial requirements, in conjunction with economic development teams from the City of Mesa and State of Arizona.
The architect for SkyBridge Building 109 is ADM Group. The general contractor is Graycor Construction Company. Jackie Orcutt, Pete Wentis, Kevin Cosca, Jonathan Teeter and Alex Wentis of CBRE are the exclusive leasing brokers. For more visit www.skybridgeaz.com.
