State land in Peoria’s ‘Innovation Core’ near Amkor, off Loop 303, set for auction

Article originally posted on AZ Central on July 11, 2025

About 835 acres of land, part of an area deemed the “Peoria Innovation Core” will be sold at an Arizona State Land Department auction in August, kickstarting a plan between the city and the department to create a tech-industry hub in the area.

The site, located at Loop 303 and Lake Pleasant Parkway, is part of the much larger, roughly 6,700-acre master-planned area of the Peoria Innovation Core. The 835-acre site for sale, labeled “core 2,” has been designated for a mix of uses, including employment and business parks, commercial, mixed-use village centers and parks and open space.

The area lies west of where Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. is building its $165 billion manufacturing campus, and roughly 5 miles northeast of where Amkor Technology Inc. is planning its $2 billion semiconductor testing and packaging facility.

In late 2024, the city agreed to install about $140 million worth of infrastructure, including roads, water and sewer lines in the area, which is still controlled by the Arizona State Land Department, to maximize the value of the land.

Those funds were already budgeted in the city’s capital improvement program, a municipality’s list of long-term projects to construct, maintain, or update public facilities.

In an email, Deputy City Manager Mike Faust said city leaders were glad to see the auction scheduled and would like to see the area developed.

“The Peoria Innovation Core is a strategic plan designed to create new local jobs and attract new revenue sources that will support the quality of life our residents expect: from public safety, water security and protecting the natural recreation environment that we all enjoy,” Faust said. “By creating local jobs and more local businesses, Peoria can sustain high-quality city services, meet growth needs, and increase city revenues, without raising current tax rates.”

Sites controlled by the Arizona State Land Department must be sold at public auction. Faust did not confirm whether the city plans to bid for the land.

“Staff will continue due diligence on the auction terms and process as the auction nears,” he said.

The city could choose to buy the land and sell individual pieces to different developers, giving the city more control over what companies build on which sites, or a private developer could buy it all and then sell pieces as it chooses.

The starting bid for the auction is $46.7 million. The auction is scheduled for August 27.

At a Peoria City Council meeting in December, Faust cautioned that development in the 6,700-acre core would likely shape up over the next two decades. The area could eventually be home to thousands of new jobs, especially in the semiconductor and technology sectors, and 30,000 new homes.

The city had also floated the idea of developing a municipal airport in the Peoria Innovation Core. That idea was halted after a study showed the city would have to drastically restrict other land uses in the core to be compatible with an airport, defeating the purpose of priming the area for new economic development and housing.