New office could anchor regional hub in Goodyear

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.