New office could anchor regional hub in Goodyear
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Globe Corp.'s new office building is next to Goodyear City Hall. Photo: Jeremy Duda/Axios
Goodyear city officials are hoping that a new high-end office building next to city hall will be the first part of a massive business, retail and entertainment district that will draw people to the area.
State of play: The city and Globe Corp. worked together to select the site of new City Hall — which opened Aug. 1 — and to plan the surrounding complex to ensure the government headquarters ]wouldn't "just be an island" with nothing around it, Globe president and co-CEO George Getz tells Axios Phoenix.
- Globe Corp. is putting the final touches on the building.
Details: Getz said the three-story, 106,000-square-foot building is currently about 25% leased, with KB Homes, a bank and another company slated to rent space on the ground floor.
- Globe owns all of the land surrounding City Hall, and Getz says he hopes to build an identical building for retail space, apartments and other amenities.
- Globe also built the first parking garage in Goodyear to serve the complex.
What they're saying: "I think people were just afraid to come out here, and they didn't think maybe the demand was here. But 1.7 million people live west of I-17, and there's no space available," Getz says.
- "We just feel like we're going to show people that we can get this leased. And then all of a sudden, I think you're going to see increased activity out here as far as other projects getting started."
Between the lines: Sintra Hoffman, president and CEO of the regional economic development organization WESTMARC, said 69% of "advanced industry" employees in the West Valley drive east for work.
- Advanced industries include finance, insurance, information technology, legal services, management positions and aerospace.
- Hoffman touts Globe's Gen1 building as the West Valley's first Class A office space, a designation used for the highest-end type of office building.
- The city doesn't really have a downtown, and Mayor Joe Pizzillo tells Axios Phoenix that he hopes Goodyear Civic Square at GSQ will serve as the city's primary gathering place and a hub for both the city and the broader region.
1 big investment: Globe built the office building on speculation, meaning it didn't have tenants lined up at the beginning.
- The company bought the land in 1970 — when the area was nothing but farms.
- Pizzillo said Globe donated the land for City Hall and the adjacent park.
Of note: Goodyear has a population of about 102,000 and is one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States, according to the 2020 Census.