City officials make plans for North Peoria Gateway

By Philip Haldiman
Mail | X: @PhilipHaldiman

Now that Peoria has unlocked for development 1,620 acres of land known as the North Peoria Gateway, city officials are taking further steps to ready it for development, ranging from land auctions to road improvements.

Council recently discussed Peoria’s North Peoria Gateway Economic Development Strategic Plan that outlines its plan for the area in the coming years.

The roughly 2.5-square-mile Gateway is generally located between Lone Mountain Parkway and Calle Lejos on both sides of Loop 303, adjacent to the Vistancia commercial core Five North.

Economic Development Director Jen Stein, who resigned Oct. 21, said during her last council meeting Oct. 15 that the mission of the plan is to proactively assemble strategic employment and commercial land in alignment with entitlement to best position properties for near-term development.

“So getting the land ready, getting it shovel ready, infrastructure ready, zoning, so that businesses can move in and have a really smooth transition,” she said.

While Peoria has primarily been seen as a “bedroom community” where many residents leave its boundaries to work, city officials say the Gateway will offer opportunities for commercial, residential and employment closer to home.

One goal in the Gateway strategic plan is to improve roads to create better access. This will include the realignment of the Happy Valley Road and Vistancia Boulevard intersection.

Stein said that design concept reports are underway and interim improvements are planned for 2025-26 and final improvements are planned for 2027-28.

This is a game changer, Stein said.

“It is exciting because it will help open up that accessibility for all that land, especially as we bring in those great commercial opportunities — restaurants, retail — it will really allow people to move through smoothly and mitigate some of the traffic concerns,” she said.

Periodically, Arizona State Land in this area will be available for auction to the highest bidder. However the state land department will not bring parcels to auction without entitlement.

The department will hold an auction Nov. 25 for just under 280 acres at Lone Mountain Parkway and 135th Avenue. Stein said this land is planned for more than 750 homes. The minimum bid will be $46.89 million.

The Gateway strategic plan states two major goals: generate 3,000 jobs during next five years and generate $450 million in additional retail transactions by the end of 2028.

Steins says the city is on track for both goals.

“We are on our way with some of the big announcements we’ve had recently,” she said.

The city has completed a survey to gauge residents’ most desired restaurants and retail establishments to help in recruitment efforts to bring them to Peoria.

Based on the survey findings from 1,480 people, residents want retail and restaurant options, as well as to close the medical and health care services gap within the city.

“We do not have a hospital in Peoria but we are working with various operators,” she said.

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.