The multinational Sumsung Electronics may be on the verge of announcing plans to build a giant new manufacturing facility somewhere in metro Phoenix.
According to both the Wall Street Journal and the Phoenix Business Journal, the Suwon, South Kora-based company has been looking at several sites in the area for the possible construction of a new semiconductor plant.
That plant, as big as they come, would likely cost around $17 billion to build, and may more specifically go up in the Phoenix suburb of Goodyear.
The company is said to be particularly interested in a currently vacant 1,100-acre site near the intersection of Indian School Road and Perryville Road on the north side of Goodyear.
The project may qualify for benefits as a Foreign Trade Zone development, which requires that a new facility must cost at least $25 million to build and house a minimum 75,000 square feet of manufacturing space.
An FTZ designation could save Samsung tens of millions in Arizona property taxes.
Sources have indicated that Samsung may also be looking at a similar-sized site for its new facility in the town of Queen Creek, roughly 55 miles to the southeast of Goodyear.
Beyond Arizona, Samsung is thought to also be reviewing sites in the vicinity of Austin, Texas, and an area in or near the town of Batavia, New York, on the east side of the Empire State.
Samsung recently announced plans to invest upwards of $121 billion in the development of logic chips and memory semiconductors during the next decade.
It is not known when the company will announce a decision regarding the site for its new semiconductor plant.
By Garry Boulard
