Annexing vacant land into the city limits is not an uncommon method to grow new uses, particularly for industrial zoning. In fact, the city of Glendale will consider two such proposals in one upcoming workshop.
The Glendale City Council will weigh both proposals — among other agenda items — at its 12:30 p.m. workshop on Tuesday, April 12.
An interesting aspect of one otherwise mundane and routine 4.38-acre territory of vacant Maricopa County land up for annexation is its history as a former movie set.
Or, was it a movie set?
The trail picks up with a line on the city’s official agenda for the Wigwam Annexation proposal to be considered.
The subject property is an unincorporated island within Maricopa County’s jurisdiction and zoned for a single-family district with a minimum lot size of 43,000 square feet. The 4.38-acre territory is surrounded by much larger acreage owned by Airpark 30 LLC, which is located immediately adjacent to Luke Air Force Base
Also, according to the city’s official agenda, “The property is largely vacant, although presently includes the remnants of a demolished movie set.”
Wait, what?
Sitting south and west of the southwest corner of Bethany Home and Litchfield roads, the single parcel is a county island within Glendale’s jurisdiction. Although the Maricopa County Assessor’s Office still indicates that the Wigwam Joint Venture LP is the property owner, the site was recently acquired and closed on by ViaWest Group, according to Gilmore Planning & Landscape Architecture, who submitted the annexation consideration as part of a larger industrial project. Liberty Utilities is the land’s service provider.
These images found on Google allegedly show the remnants of a “movie set” on otherwise vacant land near Glendale, Litchfield Park and Luke Air Force Base. The images are dated February 2021.
What also is known through the project narrative is that “The Wigwam Resort had historically used the elevated top of the hill as an event venue. The structures have experienced some fire damage and have been mostly destroyed.”
What isn’t so clear at this point is just what movie was supposedly filmed there.
“I have never heard of a movie set here,” Phoenix Film Commissioner Phil Bradstock wrote in an email to the Glendale Independent. “Perhaps at one point someone used whatever was there for a movie set for an Indie movie (speculation on my part). Although I can’t imagine this to be the case as the property is VERY close to the Luke AFB and those jets are extremely loud taking off and landing which means you can’t roll sound very well.”
The 2017 blockbuster “Transformers: The Last Knight” indeed was shot partially in the West Valley, including at Luke.
“Parts of ‘Transformers: The Last Knight’ were filmed at Luke Air Force Base, a Valley junkyard and along Loop 303 and State Route 88,” the Arizona Department of Transportation’s Peter Corbett wrote that summer for ADOT. “Paramount Pictures obtained a permit from the Arizona Department of Transportation to shoot its highway scenes (including the 303).”
Bradstock, in fact, was involved with the “Transformers” production when it filmed in town.
“They did shoot at Luke AFB as I believe the Governor (Ducey) and the director (Michael Bay) met out there. However the car ‘junk’ lot was north of Deer Valley Airport (I visited the set and can confirm it was there),” Bradstock wrote in his Monday email this week. “They did film on the 303 where the TSMC project is currently being built and shot some driving shots in various parts of the state. But nothing in Glendale other than the AFB.”
So, back to the question at hand. What movie used this particular parcel of land for filming that Glendale seeks to annex?
“I’m not personally familiar with this ‘old movie set’ to which you refer to in the Litchfield Park area,” Ramsay Wharton, the Arizona Commerce Authority’s program manager for Film & Digital Media said Monday, though she was able to find apparent images of the “set” and the site via Google.
Jack Gilmore, with Gilmore Planning & Landscape Architecture, who submitted the annexation request, knows that the “Wigwam Resort owned it forever,” when asked about that land Wednesday evening.
“My understanding is it was more of a corporate event site. These big corporations that go out and have these events organized at Wigwam, and then the Wigwam would take these guys out on this hill and they would do barbecues and have events out there,” he said. “I’ve heard the reference to movies, too. But I don’t know how true that is or how old. It could have been decades and decades ago it was ever used.”
Whatever the case, should the city proceed on annexing this parcel it will generate a positive net fiscal impact for Glendale. One-time fees for the proposed project are estimated at $263,000, according to the city, with a positive impact to Glendale of $10,000 per year, excluding onetime revenues.
If the annexation is approved, the site would be added into the Glendale city limits 30 days later.
If you have any information regarding the “movie set” on that parcel, email sstockmar@iniusa.org.
Steve Stockmar News Editor | Sun Life Magazine & Arts & Entertainment
YourValley.net @stevestockmar
Meet Steve Steve Stockmar joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2017, and has been an Arizona journalist for almost 30 years. He serves as editor of Sun Life Magazine and contributes to West Valley communities where he focuses mostly on arts & culture, education, and profiles of neighbors making a difference.
Community: Every season Steve serves as a “buddy” with the Miracle League of Arizona in Scottsdale, has volunteered his time with Family Promise in Glendale, and previously served on the Ghostlight Theatre board in Sun City West.
Education: Graduated from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff with a Journalism major and English minor.
Random Fact: Steve once won a 50-player live Texas Hold ’Em poker tournament.
Hobbies: Anguishing over his beloved Chicago Cubs and Bears; listening to Beatles and Grateful Dead music.
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