North Peoria residents balk at new Amkor plans

By Philip Haldiman
Mail | X: @PhilipHaldiman

The announcement more than a year ago of Amkor Technology locating in north Peoria came with great excitement, securing the city as an important stop on the microchip supply chain.

Amkor says it has plans to invest $2 billion during two phases and bring at least 2,000 new local jobs into the city. In a big way, the location nailed one of the city’s top council goals of economic development and bringing high-level employment to the city.

But many residents in the north Peoria master-planned community of Vistancia, where the facility will be built, feel they weren’t properly informed about Amkor’s site selection and that the facility isn’t a good fit for the area.

Moreover, residents say the changing specifications of the facility, to be located in the community's commercial core, has over-reached their expectations.

The biggest example that residents point to is a recent announcement from Amkor stating the facility will now be 2.1 million square-feet and 2 levels, with a height of 118 feet. Amkor initially announced the facility would be 500,000 square-feet and single level.

Amkor Senior Vice President David McCann told Peoria Independent in a statement that his company and city of Peoria have consistently noted the facility would be constructed in phases, and that market conditions now dictate the addition of a second level as part of Phase 1.

He added that Amkor is closing a critical gap in the U.S. semiconductor supply chain with this facility, and having the second level will enable the company to more efficiently meet industry demand and close that gap without expanding the building footprint.

“Facility size, height and uses remain fully compliant with City of Peoria zoning guidelines, which have been in place for approximately 25 years and always envisioned a large employment center on this property with mixed, commercial or industrial uses,” McCann said.

Amkor recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to bring advanced packaging and test capabilities to Peoria and secured up to $407 million in direct funding from the federal government under the Chips Act.

In an interview, Mayor Jason Beck said Amkor has grown their business model, and the only direction is up. And with that, their projection of job growth has increased to bringing as many as 2,200 new local jobs into the city, he said.

Amkor owns the land in Vistancia, and the city doesn’t get to tell them what do to as a business, Beck added.

“The industry has changed. (Amkor) now has a relationship with TSCM. That is large. They both have major contracts with Apple,” Beck said. “Our duty is to make sure we have jobs for our citizens. Our duty is to make sure our citizens have the ability to spend more time with their family and be able to spend more time closer to home, and be able to work in their environment. ... My job is to plan for the next 20 years, not the next year.”

But Megan Staub, a lifelong resident who now lives in Vistancia, feels like the city is putting Amkor before its residents, and said Amkor has more than doubled in size, with many aspects that do not sit well with residents in the area, ranging from traffic to environmental concerns.

Resident’s are also concerned about water use at the facility. Just under 1 million gallons per day are planned for phase 1. At build-out, the plant could use a maximum of 1.9 million gallons a day, with a minimum of 80% being reclaimed water in both instances.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., one of the largest microchip producers in the world, is in the process of building a 5 million-square-foot fab in north Phoenix projected to use 4 million gallons of water a day when fully operational.

Staub said, yes, the area is zoned for Amkor, but Vistancia never marketed that industrial would be part of the commercial core.

It will change Vistancia and not for the better, Staub said.

“We have been told over and over again that the plan was for commercial, offices, health care and education. (Industrial) was never in the marketing plan, and residents were not made to believe that industrial manufacturing was a possibility,” she said. “To be honest, I never liked the idea of Amkor at Five North in Vistancia but it was an easier pill to swallow when the building would be 500,000 square-feet and no taller than 54 feet. It has now become an enormous pill that cannot be tolerated. With the new specifications, it is something that cannot be ignored.”

Some Vistancia residents are disappointed they were not made aware of Amkor locating in the commercial core.

Vistancia Development conducted two community meetings for residents in May and June 2023 to share the vision and plans for Five North, including the approved land uses — commercial, employment, office, medium- to high-density luxury residential, and open space.

During that meeting, the map of the conceptual land plan listed five land use categories, none of which included industrial. The closest land-use category to industrial was office/RD (Research and Development).

Apparently, Amkor had not confirmed to buy land in the commercial core at that point.

“The employment land use area was presented as part of the plan, and active discussions with a Fortune 500 high-tech company and TSMC supplier were in the early phases of discussion,” Kimberley Clifford, vice president of marketing for Northpoint at Vistancia, stated in an email to Peoria Independent.

Resident Carol A. Engelman said that Amkor could have been brought to the attention of the Vistancia residents.

She said Five North was to become an economic revenue producer for Peoria, designed to mirror a highly profitable entertainment sector modeled after Kierland Commons in Scottsdale, but, she added, Amkor does not fit in that model.

“From the onset of the Five North plan, residents were assured that it would feature an upscale outdoor shopping/restaurant district and amenities that would benefit a thriving, prestigious community with no mention of any type of industrial zone,” she said.

Peoria Councilmember Matt Bullock, who represents the area where Amkor is to be located, said he understands why Amkor wants to increase the size of their facility — with the increased need for advanced Artificial Intelligence microprocessors, which TSMC will be manufacturing, Amkor sees the opportunity to substantially increase revenue and needs to maximize the number of production lines inside their available space.

On the other hand, Bullock said, he understands and empathizes with residents who are upset.

“What is unfortunate is that after talking with over 200 homeowners recently, none of them were told by their new homes sales agent as to what could possibly be built where Amkor is going, including the height, which is part of the allowed zoning,”

Philip Haldiman can be reached at phaldiman@iniusa.org, or on X @philiphaldiman. We’d like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.

Philip Haldiman
Senior News Editor | Peoria

phaldiman@iniusa.org

Meet Philip
Haldiman is an award-winning journalist who most recently took first place for investigative reporting in 2023 from Arizona Newspapers Association. He joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2015, covering Sun City West his first year. Since 2016, he has covered the city of Peoria. Prior to coming to INI, he was a reporter with The Arizona Republic for seven years, covering numerous cities throughout the Valley. Before that, he was a freelance writer.

Community: Haldiman spearheads the Peoria Independent Hometown Heroes Awards program, honoring local individuals and businesses that give back to the community. He has hosted local candidate forums over the years and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists. Haldiman also served as a member of the Journalism Program Community Advisory Board at Glendale Community College. Outside journalism, Haldiman served as a member of the city of Peoria Complete Count Committee for the Census, 2019-2020. Lastly, he has served as a member of his HOA governing board since 2021.

Education: Arizona State University with a BA in Journalism and Mass Communications and a BA in Theater. 

Random Fact: Haldiman is a fourth-generation Arizonan as well as wrote and produced an autobiographical comic book about his time spent in Hollywood and his life as a cult film star.

Hobbies: He enjoys hiking Arizona’s mountainous landscapes and is currently working on a play for the stage.