Axon tries again with Scottsdale headquarters and housing project

Axon, the billion-dollar Scottsdale corporation that manufactures Tasers and police body cameras, has tweaked its corporate campus plans to appease neighbors and the city officials who would have to approve the 74-acre development.

Why it matters: Axon is one of Scottsdale's largest private employers, and CEO Rick Smith told Axios the new headquarters is key to ensuring the company stays in Arizona.

The big picture: The tech company is looking to move its current headquarters less than a mile northwest to a sprawling campus with apartments, condos and a hotel, anchored by its intergalactic-themed corporate building.

• Smith envisions a "Scottsdale Quarter" vibe, with restaurants and walking paths that non-Axon employees could frequent, too.
• The land is currently zoned only for office and industrial uses, so Axon needs the city's consent to move forward with the residential element of its plan.

The latest: Scottsdale's Planning Commission unanimously recommended the project's approval Wednesday night after declining to weigh in on the company's original plan in January.

• The city council is scheduled to vote on the project on Tuesday.

Flashback: When Axon bought the parcel from the State Land Department for $49.1 million in 2020, the company shared only the proposal for the corporate building. Smith said it wasn't until after COVID that they expanded the vision.

• When the full campus plan was unveiled last year, it met backlash.
• Neighbors feared traffic and tall buildings, and the city's Airport Advisory Commission didn't want multifamily housing so close to the Scottsdale Airport.

State of play: Axon went back to the drawing board in February after the Scottsdale Planning Commission expressed concern.

• Smith said the amended plan calls for about 600 fewer residential units, decreases the tallest building to four stories (from five), increases the distance from the neighborhood, adds park space, and closes an existing road near the neighborhood to through traffic.

The other side: "Our No. 1 concern was the density of the proposal, and that hasn't changed," Susan McGarry, president of the Scottsdale Stonebrook II Homeowners Association, told The Arizona Republic.

The intrigue: Axon must also work with the State Land Department to get final approval, because the land is subject to an agreement between the department and city that prohibits residential development.

• Last year, Valley real estate professional Mike Lieb raised concern that Axon got the land at a discount because it was limited to industrial and office development. If housing had been allowed, the land would have been worth more, he said.
• Axon zoning attorney Charles Huellmantel told Axios the company is willing to make a supplemental payment to the land department, which funds K-12 schools and other public institutions, to make up for the increased value.

Threat level: Smith said the company is considering out-of-state contingency plans in case Scottsdale rejects the proposal. He said he's been working on the headquarters for about a decade, and his board is itching to move the project along.

• "I really love Arizona. This is by far the preferred approach," Smith said. "I feel like the project's gotten better. I'm hopeful [neighbors] go from skeptical to excited."