The city of Goodyear and Globe Corp. began construction Friday on Goodyear Civic Square, which will bring a new city hall, library, public park and long-awaited speculative office space to the West Valley city.
Goodyear Mayor Georgia Lord said the city has been working on a plan for a permanent city hall since 1984, and has had plans fall through for other buildings, before finally getting to the point of construction on the new Civic Square.
George Getz, director, president and co-CEO for Globe, said his family has owned the land near 150th Avenue and McDowell Road since the 1970s, and while Goodyear has grown to become a city with burgeoning business and residential development, the city has been missing a center focal point.
The first phase of the project will include the city hall building, a two-story library and 100,000 square feet of speculative office space. Globe owns 47 acres of land in the area, and is planning future phases of the project after the office space hits halfway leased, Michael Olson, CFO of Globe Corp., said. The office building does not have any preleasing yet, but Olson said even before beginning to market the new building, national companies have reached out seeking office space in the West Valley.
“The way the office environment is, because of financing and capital, most require preleasing, but someone has to go in there and start without pre-leasing,” he said. “We are going to be that one that starts without preleasing, but if you build it, they will lease it.”
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