Peoria OKs Amkor’s $32M purchase of 67 acres for ‘Innovation Core’

Article originally posted on AZ Central on May 20, 2026

Amkor Technology, the semiconductor packaging company, is set to get more than $32 million worth of land in Peoria’s future economic hub in the city’s northern region.

Peoria leaders unanimously approved a purchase agreement that would give 67 acres near 96th Avenue and Amkor Way, known as “Parcel D,” to the company. The May 19 action was anticipated. The city, under a legal agreement, previously gave the company the right to have the first opportunity to buy the property.

The agreement comprises about $27 million of developable land, about $4 million of undevelopable land and about $810,000 of land that will be used to create a road, according to the purchase agreement.

The sale needs to close within seven months of the purchase agreement being signed, according to the agreement.

Maria Laughner, the city’s economic development director, said at the City Council meeting that Amkor’s campus would now be 171 acres and create about 3,000 jobs. A project like this will be a “game changer,” she said.

The campus is in “Core 2” of the city’s nearly 7,000-acre Innovation Core, which will be split into three areas north of Lake Pleasant Parkway and the Loop 303 freeway. Most of the land is owned by the Arizona State Land Department, but Peoria bought about 835 acres in Core 2 at an auction in 2025.

Peoria and Amkor entered a land exchange agreement following the auction, which gave Amkor a 104-acre parcel in Core 2. The company broke ground on its $7 billion semiconductor packaging plant in October.

Under a development agreement, Peoria cannot sell land in the core to Amkor’s competitors and cannot allow residential use within a quarter-mile of the facility.

The Innovation Core is expected to create thousands of jobs, give employment options to West Valley residents who commute far for work, and attract new and growing businesses like semiconductor companies and aerospace and defense firms, according to previous statements from city officials. It will likely be built over decades.

In March, the City Council unanimously approved the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission’s recommendation to allow industrial, commercial and residential uses within the Core. The new zoning allowed a wide mix of uses in different areas of the master plan, including more intense industrial uses near Amkor, higher-density housing along Lake Pleasant Parkway and suburban and traditional residential closer to Lone Mountain Parkway.

Few people spoke in opposition to the recommendation and City Council’s vote in March, but concerns included the rise of semiconductor manufacturers in the area, the distance between homes and the development, the desire to keep open space, possible data centers and the overall planning process.

Shannon Ceimo, who lives about 3 miles from the development, was the only person to speak in opposition to the new sale on May 19. She said there were still no answers on water, electricity, quality of life and how the overall project benefits Peoria citizens. But she said she understood how far along the project already was.

“There’s no turning back now,” she said.