Chandler greenlights new mixed-use project and adopts data center zoning amendment – The Business Journals

Chandler City Council approved ordinances Monday for a new provisions on data center development and a new downtown mixed-use development.
Council unanimously voted to collectively approve adoption of a zoning code amendment for the location and operation of data centers and a rezoning and preliminary development plan for The District Downtown on its consent agenda, which included other ordinances.
No discussion took place before the vote.
The data center ordinance was first heard by Council at its Nov. 10 meeting. Council members tabled the ordinance after Cameron Carter, an attorney with Rose Law Group, said the ordinance as drafted is ambiguous and that its requirements could impair a property owner’s rights to develop on their property.
The language for the zoning code had been adjusted, namely the sign-posting requirements and identifying where the required sound study noise-measuring equipment needs to be located, according to Council’s public notification.
The ordinance stated, among other provisions:
Data center developers and tenants have been attracted to the Phoenix market due to tax incentives, a lack of natural disasters, low latency, lower utility rates, and a stable power grid, according to experts. Research from JLL said that new data center supply will be impeded by the availability of land and power in many major markets, which could drive expansion outside of traditional hubs.
As of June, the Phoenix metro has about 544 existing megawatts of power across 6.3 million square feet of space with only 23.9 megawatts vacant. It was second in the country, behind northern Virginia, with 278 megawatts under development compared to zero megawatts under construction in the first half of 2021, according to previous reporting.
Chandler also approved a rezoning of 44 acres that would make way for new office, retail, multifamily and more.
The District Downtown project, which was heard in October by Chandler’s Planning and Zoning Commission, is being co-developed by Meridian West AZ/202 LLC and Kaplan Acquisitions LLC. The project would be developed on the southwest corner of Pecos Road and Arizona Avenue, just to the north of Loop 202.
Click through the slideshow above this article to see renderings of the proposed project
The site was rezoned from a planned area development for office, retail and hotel to a planned area development for a mixed-use development including multifamily, office and commercial.
The 44.7-acre site would be developed across six parcels. 
Plans call for a variety of commercial uses, including more than 360,000 square feet of new office across four buildings; a five-story, 180-key hotel, 795 multifamily units; nearly 45,000 square feet on retail pads with another 34,000 square feet for restaurants, according to a development booklet for the project.
Chicago-based Neri Architects will design the nonresidential part of the project while Phoenix-based Biltform Architecture Group of Companies will handle the residential design.
Micah Miranda, economic development director for the city of Chandler, spoke earlier this year at a Business Journal Corridors of Opportunity real estate panel that the city is about 93% to 95% built out with residential, office, industrial and retail developments.
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