ScottsdaleAZ.Gov

Report forecasts 13,000 more jobs at Airpark

  May 20, 2009

  Contact: Mark Hunsberger, economic vitality specialist, (480) 312-7315

  Report forecasts 13,000 more jobs at Airpark

Business growth in the Greater Scottsdale Airpark area will bring another 13,000 jobs by 2020, most of them in professional, technical and financial services occupations, according to an updated economic study.

The study also cited the need to redevelop older portions of the Airpark and recommended a shift toward more mixed-use developments to help keep the area competitive with other emerging job centers around the Valley.

The study by Gruen Gruen + Associates covers expected growth in the traditional business area around the Scottsdale Airport as well as less-developed land along Loop 101 from Raintree Drive to Scottsdale Road. It updates a similar report the firm completed for the city in 1999.

The report will be used to help guide the Greater Airpark Community Area Plan currently being prepared by the city’s Advance Planning Division, and also makes recommendations for policy actions to keep the Airpark in its position as one of the premier business locations in the Valley.

Despite the current recession, job growth will resume and will average roughly 2 percent per year, increasing the total number of jobs from about 42,500 in 2007 to 55,000 in 2020, according to the report.

Office-based businesses led the growth of jobs over the last decade as the area has shifted from manufacturing and warehousing toward service businesses and corporate headquarters, the report found. It predicted that sectors such as professional, technical, and financial services will continue to grow to comprise over 40 percent of employment in the area.

Demand for office, retail, and flex space in the area will continue to outpace that for industrial and warehouse buildings. After accounting for absorption of currently vacant space, there is enough land in the area to support all the additional building space that will be needed through 2020, the study said.

The Scottsdale portion of the Airpark faces competition from nearby developments in other jurisdictions. The report recommends that the city encourage development of high quality commercial properties with mixes of different uses, such as residential and retail, at higher density where appropriate. It is also recommended that the city encourage redevelopment of older portions of the Airpark by encouraging assemblage of small parcels and working to improve transportation and telecommunications infrastructure.

The full report and an abbreviated summary can be found on the City’s website at:

http://www.scottsdaleaz.gov/economics.asp

For information on the Gruen Airpark report please contact Harold Stewart at (480) 312-2311, or Mark Hunsberger at (480) 312-7315, in the city’s Economic Vitality Department. Hunsberger also may be reached at mhunsberger@scottsdaleaz.gov.

For information on the Greater Airpark Community Area Plan process please contact

Mary Troyan, Airpark project manager, at (480) 312-7902 or mtroyan@scottsdaleaz.gov.

Information on the Greater Airpark Community Area Plan is at:

http://www.scottsdaleaz.gov/planning/areaplans/GreaterAirparkCAP.asp.