Mack Real Estate Buys 2,300 Acres Near Phoenix for $56M

Mack Real Estate Group has bought 2,300 acres of state land at auction to build a $7 billion tech village in north Phoenix.

The New York-based investor, the only bidder, bought the land surrounding the Taiwan Manufacturing Semiconductor plant with a minimum bid of $56.28 million, or $24,000 an acre, AZCentral reported. The seller was the Arizona State Land Department.

While Mack was the sole bidder, two other companies had qualified for the auction: Tempe-based W Holdings and Phoenix-based ViaWest Group.

The endgame is to build a Sonoran Oasis Science and Technology Park anchored by the $65 billion Taiwan Manufacturing Semiconductor plant in Deer Valley.

The U-shaped site is north of Loop 303 and west of Interstate 17, in North Gateway, 26 miles north of Downtown Phoenix.

Mack plans to partner with Los Angeles-based McCourt Partners to develop 28 million square feet industrial and office buildings, shops and restaurants and apartments. McCourt Partners was founded by Executive Chairman Frank McCourt, former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Richard Mack, CEO of Mack Real Estate Group, called the area a “new silicon city.”

“TSMC’s Phoenix semiconductor fabrication campus is a tremendous economic driver with local, national and global significance,” Mack said in a statement. “We are privileged to help in the building of a new type of city.”

The partnership between Mack and McCourt will control future sales of the land within the larger site, which will take place in phases over years, the companies said. The partnership will also develop 600 acres of the site for multiple, unspecified uses.

The Sonoran Oasis Science and Technology Park is split between a high-tech campus and “freeway mixed-use,” along I-17. TMSC bought 1,100 acres in 2020 to build its manufacturing plant. The mixed-use portion could accommodate up to 8,960 homes, Mack said.

Mack Real Estate, founded in 2013 by William, Richard and Stephen Mack, initiated the auction for the Phoenix site in 2022.

The company has a large commercial track record, including the 3 million-square-foot Mack Innovation Park in Deer Valley, Arizona; a 2,300-acre master-planned development in Orlando called ChampionsGate; and the 2.8 million-square-foot Time Warner Center in New York.

— Dana Bartholomew