Food hub to farmers market: South Phoenix new food innovation center

A project that aims to create a large-scale food distribution operation, a permanent farmers market, a public park and food research and development space in Phoenix has received approval from the city and has named a co-developer.

Peoria-based Plaza Cos. will partner with Arizona Fresh Holdings to develop the 140-acre site, called the Agri-Food Innovation Center, at Eighth and Elwood streets. The site includes the former Del Rio landfill, where mitigation will have to be done before development can take place.

The group will lease the land from the city for 100 years and will pay $125,000 annually to the city in lieu of taxes beginning in the sixth year of the agreement, according to city documents. The city also has agreed to reimburse up to $20 million for public infrastructure on the site. The development is expected to cost about $200 million to build, according to public documents. 

“It’s a very complicated project, it involved a lot of issues and working with a lot of departments at the city,” Todd Hardy, with Arizona Fresh, said. Plaza and Arizona Fresh will work together to develop the project, as well as sublease portions to other groups for development.

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Distribution hub, farmers market in first phase

The former city-owned Del Rio landfill was ordered to close by the state about 40 years ago due to flooding hazards.

Since then, proposals for the vacant land — which have included a golf course, an amusement park and a nature center — have all fallen through. 

The land is along the Salt River, often referred to in Spanish as Rio Salado.

“It’s a piece of land that has captured imagination for many mayors and councils,” Mayor Kate Gallego said at the site’s groundbreaking. “But I think we got it right with the future of food coming right through this particular site.” 

It will still be a few months before construction can start as the project is still receiving construction permits from the city, Hardy said. The project will be built in four phases, with each expected to take about five years. 

The first phase will include the development of:

“The vision for the farmers market is an outlet for local farmers, and people who participate in the wholesale market, to sell their products,” Hardy said. “There will be dozens and dozens of food suppliers under one roof.”

Subsequent phases will include more office space, a conference center, a business park with smaller buildings and research and development facilities.

Transforming a food desert

At the site’s groundbreaking, Gallego touted the project’s impact on the region, saying it will put Phoenix at the forefront of food innovation and create a quintessential Phoenix experience along the riverfront. 

But the project’s founders and city officials also emphasized the impact they hope the center will have on nearby residents of south Phoenix. It is being developed in a “food desert,” meaning an area with limited access to healthy, affordable food. 

Guadalupe Miranda, a co-founder of the project, raised his children on Baseline Road in south Phoenix. “Because of this, my heart was like, ‘how do I help this vulnerable area to grow, to improve the quality of life in this area,’” Miranda said in Spanish. 

He imagines the project as an extension of downtown to south Phoenix that will welcome families from across the Valley. But it will be especially beneficial for residents who live nearby, who will be able to visit the park and eat at the food trucks, he said. 

“We are going to give interactive tours to kids, and they will learn how to plant beans, how to plant tomatoes,” Miranda said. “Here, there is going to be a lot of education for the new generations.”  

The development will include retail outlets for nearby residents to buy food, and could eventually include restaurants on the site, Hardy said.

There will also be space for community events, and a 20-acre park with playgrounds and hiking and biking trails along the riverbed.

“People will really enjoy the site in the spirit of sustainability and wellness,” Hardy said. “It will be a very vibrant place in which to improve the quality of life for the area.”

There are other large-scale food distribution hubs around the country, but none that combine community amenities like a park and other facilities for the public like this development, Hardy said.

District 8 Councilmember Carlos Garcia wants the site to help address the life expectancy gap between south Phoenix and other parts of the Valley. 

“We’re going to have a lot of the recipe of what it takes to undo those 10 to 14 years of life expectancy that is lost by the people who currently live in this area,” Garcia said, citing a study that found that life expectancy in south Phoenix’s 85004 ZIP code is 14 years lower than Scottsdale’s 85258 ZIP code.

Arizona Fresh has begun to partner with Equality Health Foundation’s Blue Zones initiative, which aims to increase life expectancy in south Phoenix. The agri-food innovation center aligns with the Blue Zones mission, which emphasizes the importance of “what you eat, how you move, how you connect with your community,” Tomás León, the President of Equality Health Foundation, said.

“They wanted to make sure that there is a greater connection to the surrounding community, that the surrounding community benefits from this innovation hub and marketplace, and to have greater access to fresh fruits and vegetables and health and well-being services and support,” León said. “And that’s what we bring to this partnership, is bringing those services and support, that connection to local community.”

The project will prioritize supporting local farmers and distributors before sourcing produce from outside the city, Miranda said.

“It’s exciting to prove this opportunity for the entire region,” Sharon Harper, chairman and CEO of Plaza, said. “We want to be part of projects that are transformative, for a region, transformative for a neighborhood and transformative of a concept, and this is all three.”

Education, research opportunities

Future phases of the development will include research and development space for companies and partnerships with universities and community colleges to do research on different aspects of food distribution. The group has been in talks with Arizona universities and has been pursuing grants to add to the research capability.

“We want to treat the wholesale market like a living laboratory,” Hardy said. “We will look at ways in which the supply chain is operating, how food is transported, and how to introduce different technology into the process.”

Reviving the Rio

The project is part of the Rio Reimagined effort to bring vibrancy and uses along the Rio Salado, Harper said. The Rio Reimagined aims to restore both the Salt and Gila rivers in the metro and revitalize the 58 miles of the rivers that run through the Valley. The 20-acre park will run alongside the riverbed and will give park visitors views of the river.

“This is going to jumpstart a lot of activity along the Rio Salado,” Hardy said.

Reach the reporters at [email protected] and [email protected]. Follow them on Twitter @CorinaVanek and @maddieparrish61.

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