Halo Vista will create a ‘city within a city’ in TSMC’s backyard Article originally posted on AZ Big Media on March 13, 2026 Through smart planning, savvy investing and stakeholder alignment, the Valley’s reputation as a nascent industrial powerhouse is spreading. TSMC’s $165 billion campus in North Phoenix is symbolic of the region’s transformation away from the boom-bust cycle that left it vulnerable during the 2008 financial crisis and towards a more resilient, diversified economy. To help meet the demand generated by TSMC’s substantial investment, Mack Real Estate Group (MREG) and McCourt Partners will host a ceremonial groundbreaking for Halo Vista — a $7 billion master-planned mixed-use development abutting TSMC — on March 26. Billed as a “city within a city,” Halo Vista’s 2,300-acre footprint aims to create an innovation hub anchored by Greater Phoenix’s growing semiconductor ecosystem, offering nearly 30 million square feet of industrial, retail, office, research and healthcare spaces, along with hotels and upward of 9,000 residential units. According to Chris Janson, president of Mack Halo Vista, the first structures to emerge from the desert will address the corridor’s immediate gaps. So far, an auto mall, Costco, Courtyard by Marriott and Residence Inn have been announced. “Additional retail and restaurants will be coming during this first phase of tenant activity,” he continues. “Thanks to [the development’s] location by the I-17, people can access the project easily, and there is a lot of great infrastructure nearby. With all the growth happening, the area needs it.” Building on success When it comes to branding a product, the best names are both evocative and memorable. Richard Mack, CEO of MREG, explains that Halo Vista is a double reference — emphasizing how the site wraps around the TSMC campus like a crown and a nod to the views of the surrounding natural beauty and the Valley itself as it stretches southward for miles. But when MREG was in the earliest phases of the project, it was unclear how large this “halo of development” would be. When the firm won the state land auction for the parcel, Mack recalls that it wasn’t guaranteed that TSMC would move forward with all three of the initial fabs. “The first was underway,” he continues, “and we felt it was very likely that they’d build two, but we were making a bet. There was the chance that a change in administration could reduce — or increase — TSMC’s investment, but we believed that chip manufacturing was existential for the U.S. no matter what and also critically important, geopolitically speaking, for Taiwan.” Around this same time, Craig Henig, managing director at MREG, notes that he and a partner started making connections with TSMC to better understand their needs. After successfully closing on the site, the pair joined local officials on a trip to Taiwan. “We toured the Hsinchu Science Park to see what we could potentially replicate, or even improve on, in Phoenix,” he says. “We also spoke with TSMC executives, and the buzzword that kept coming up was ‘ecosystem.’” From these meetings, Henig gained a better understanding of the company’s wish list for a project like Halo Vista and relayed that information back to the team upon returning stateside. Those priorities included sites for suppliers within the semiconductor supply chain, hotel rooms for visitors from Taiwan and a multifamily component for employees. Retail, healthcare and a full spectrum of educational institutions were also flagged as priorities by TSMC leaders With the vision of the ecosystem made explicit, the “city within a city” concept for Halo Vista began taking shape. “They wanted everything,” Mack adds, “but we had to triage [TSMC’s requests] to deliver what we could [finish] quickly first — with the understanding that we’ll be able to build everything else over the life of the project.” For example, Mack says ASU would be the natural partner to bring higher education to Halo Vista. The firm has spoken with the university about why an engineering school would be a good fit, but no deal has been finalized — yet. “Halo Vista will take 15 to 20 years [to complete],” Janson concludes. “We’re looking ahead to understand how the master plan will support all the things a ‘city within a city’ should have, while still tailoring it towards what’s immediately in front of us. In other words, we’re taking it one day at a time.”