Employment hub planned along rail spur in West Valley

The Business Journal of Phoenix
By Mike Padgett
April 25, 2008

Rising fuel costs and efforts to stay in front of the growth wave in the northwest Valley are shifting developers' attention to a 9-mile-long railroad spur.

Because significant drops in fuel prices for commuters and trucking companies are unlikely, a high-density commercial and industrial development along a little-used railway would foster a regional employment hub in the far West Valley and reduce commuter traffic, according to a railroad spokeswoman and other proponents.

The Ennis spur stretches for 9 miles south of Burlington Northern-Santa Fe Railway's main line, which parallels Grand Avenue. From a point on the main line near El Mirage Road in El Mirage, the spur zigzags south and west across mostly farmland and undeveloped property in Surprise and Glendale, then terminates near Loop 303 and Olive Avenue.

The spur was added in the 1940s to serve West Valley farmers and Luke Air Force Base, said LaTonya Finch, BNSF's regional manager of economic development.

Over the years, the railroad lost clients along the Ennis spur as farmers sold their land to developers, went out of business or hired truck companies to haul their crops.

"We have four existing customers on the (Ennis) line today, but we have a great deal of new business slated to come on line within the next two to five years," Finch said.

About 3,000 acres along the Ennis spur could become home to companies needing rail service, said Mike Fitz-Gerald, managing director of Colliers International's Phoenix division.

Finch said the potential acreage is closer to 4,000. "We are marketing the (Ennis) spur because it is truly the only available rail infrastructure that will accommodate new business growth" in the region, she said.

The BNSF main line enters the Valley northwest of Surprise. It follows Grand Avenue to 19th Avenue, where it turns south, and then terminates southwest of downtown Phoenix.

North of the Valley, the railroad connects to the transcontinental rail line near Williams in Northern Arizona.

One of the latest companies that will be served by the Ennis spur is an east Phoenix beer distributor planning to add a facility in the West Valley. Crescent Crown Distributing bought a 60-acre parcel a couple of years ago in Surprise Point, a 320-acre development bounded by Sweetwater Avenue and Waddell, Dysart and Litchfield roads.

Surprise Point developer Keshvar LLC is planning a mix of offices, retail space and industrial buildings.

Crescent Crown plans to start construction there late this year, said Mike Ciosek, Colliers' associate vice president in the industrial and land development division. The facility will employ about 100 workers initially, with plans to expand to 300 in several years.

Finch said part of the Ennis spur is within Luke AFB's jet noise contours. Local zoning laws allow commercial and industrial development within those noise zones, but not homes or schools.

The redevelopment proposal along the Ennis spur is among the latest of several projects planned or taking shape in and around Surprise. One of the largest is Prasada, a 3,355-acre master-planned development in Surprise proposed by Westcor, RED Development, Suburban Land Reserve, Fulton Homes and WDP Partners.

Prasada is planned on both sides of Loop 303, between Waddell and Cactus roads. The property is about a mile north of the end of the rail spur.

Work on Prasada's streets and utilities is under way. The first phases of its auto mall and power centers are projected for opening late this year.

The population of Surprise, now at more than 100,000, has tripled since the 2000 census, city officials said.