Filed under: Community, In the news | Tags: #jobs, #statefarm, Arizona, Economy
State Farm to build Tempe regional headquarters, bring thousands of new jobs
Illinois-based State Farm Insurance is planning to build a massive regional headquarters along Tempe Town Lake that is slated to bring thousands of new jobs to Arizona.
I have spoken to multiple sources who confirmed this but wanted to remain anonymous. These sources told me that State Farm will build a roughly 1 million-square-foot campus on an approximately 18-acre site that would eventually house about 5,000 to 7,000 employees.
The project, sources say, is being eyed for the west side of Rural Road along Rio Salado Parkway just east of the $50 million luxury apartment project being planned by San Diego-based developer Oliver McMillan, which is next to the existing Hayden Ferry Lakeside development.
About 10.6 acres of the prospective land is owned by Scottsdale-based Sunbelt Holdings Inc. and the remaining acreage, which Sunbelt also has an option to buy, is owned by the Arizona Board of Regents, the governing body of the state’s three public universities: Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University and University of Arizona.
Sources told me the State Farm campus would entail about four or five office buildings, plus parking accommodations, and Ryan Cos. has been picked as the builder.
There was no information available as to how much the project would cost or when it would be built, but sources say all parties involved want to “move fast.”
Phoenix is one of three markets — the others being Atlanta and Dallas — where State Farm is looking to expand its presence. It has already set the stage in Dallas by signing a lease for 1.5 million square feet before the end of last year, which, according to an article by the Dallas Business Journal, a sister publication, was the largest office lease recorded in that city’s history.
For Phoenix, this would be the biggest new office building to be delivered to the market since the Great Recession put office construction at a standstill. It is especially encouraging for Tempe considering its loss of a major corporate headquarters with the mega-merger of US Airways Group Inc. and American Airlines. The new American Airlines will be based in Fort Worth, Texas.
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