Surprise Southwest Railplex (Surprise, Arizona)

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Surprise's Southwest Railplex is a roughly 2-square mile area bounded by Waddell Road, Dysart, Litchfield Road and Peoria Avenue, which is bisected by a Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway spur. The area consists of four rail-served industrial parks: Surprise Pointe, Cactus Commerce Center, Summit Business Park and Skyway Business Park.

Pre-zoned, build-to-suit commercial space along a rail line is a rare find in the Valley. The closest similar space is roughly 83-miles away in Pinal County.

Surprise's economic development staff touts the BNSF spur as a commodity that could eventually spawn thousands of manufacturing and distribution jobs. Tenants Canyon Pipe & Supply Inc. and Horizon Aviation & Machining have already opened in the area.

However, Arizona's housing bust has put a chokehold on other companies' plans to settle along the spur. The most recent tenant to pull out of the area is 84 Lumber, which had planned to put a facility at the southwestern corner of Waddell and Dysart roads next to Surprise Pointe, said economic development director John Hagen.

Milgard Windows and another housing parts manufacturer bought land on a separate portion of Skyway Business Park, but never opened, said previous owner Jim McDowell. Property deals with vitamin and beverage companies also never came to fruition, he said.

Despite those setbacks, Hagen has high hopes for the railplex area. He markets the land to outsiders as the city's business district. One of the area's first big tenants, Crescent Crown Distributing, opened in March and is now one of Surprise's largest private employers.Aside from the rail-served parks, developers have also started work on four office complexes nearby.

Read more: www.azcentral.com/community/westvalley/articles/2009/07...