Buckeye Is Set for a Retail Boom
The Arizona city is one of the fastest growing in the country, and the retail market is poised to grow significantly over the next few years.
“Buckeye benefits from its prime location as the westernmost suburb in the Phoenix metropolitan area, its affordable land, wide open spaces, and situation within a Foreign Trade Zone,” James DeCremer, Principal at Avison Young in Phoenix, tells GlobeSt.com. “All these attributes make it ideal for development. Buckeye is strategically located where the I-10 meets State Route 85 to the Mexican border, and connects Metro Phoenix via truck and rail to major markets in Southern California and Mexico. The industrial property sector in Buckeye is rapidly growing to meet the need for distribution centers and warehouses for e-commerce inventory and supply chains. In the past 10 years, warehouse space in the submarket has increased by 65%.”
Like the national retail market, Buckeye is also experiencing a market shift. “Whole industries are adjusting to changing consumer shopping patterns. However, Buckeye’s retail landscape appears healthier than the metro area as a whole; vacancy rates have declined from double-digit highs during the height of the great recession to a low 2.1 percent at the end of 2019,” says DeCremer. “Retailers are also reporting very strong overall sales figures with very large year over year same store sales growth.”
There are currently several retail opportunities that could substantially transform the market over the next few years. Those projects include Sundance Towne Center, a multi-anchored power center under construction with new freeway shops, located at the I-10 Freeway and Watson Road and the first major shopping center destination at the western entrance to Phoenix; Sundance Marketplace, 2.2-acre pad or shops located at Watson Road and Yuma Road; Sundance Commercial land for sale in Opportunity Zone located at the I-10 Freeway and Watson Road; Watson Freeway Pads and Land, located at the I-10 Freeway and Watson Road; Buckeye Diamond Shamrock, a former gas station for sale located at 105 E. Monroe Avenue; and Buckeye Medical Pads for sale: 3 pads of 1.23 acres, 1.49 acres, and 2.72 acres, located in an Opportunity Zone at Watson Road and Yuma Road.
These opportunities are just the start. Buckeye’s population growth has helped to catalyze significant growth in the market. “According to the City of Buckeye’s economic development plan, rapid population growth has resulted in Buckeye being underserved in most categories of retail and services,” says DeCremer. “Retail follows rooftops, and as retail specialists, Avison Young’s Phoenix office recognized Buckeye’s tremendous potential for retail growth early on. Our team has been active in the City for more than ten years, completing more than 25 property sales, ground leases, and lease deals totaling more than 40 acres and 400,000 square feet.”