Plans for the construction of a massive multi-use development in Scottsdale, Arizona, the center of which would be the new headquarters of taser manufacturer Axon Enterprise remain very much on hold.
In January members of the Scottsdale Airport Advisory Commission rejected the plan for the project in a unanimous 7 to 0 vote, suggesting that it was not fully thought out.
Subsequently, in late February in an earnings call with investors, Rick Smith, Axon chief executive officer, described Scottsdale leaders as “anti-development.”
The company in the summer of 2023 had proposed building not only a 400,000-square-foot corporate office, but a larger campus of 27 acres on the north side of the city.
According to the initial plans for the project, that campus would also include up to 1,900 multifamily residential units, along with a 100-room hotel, and half a dozen 5-story buildings for retail.
Axon had earlier indicated that it planned to spend upwards of $85 million on the project.
The proposal has met with opposition from nearby residents who have said they don’t want a project that large near their neighborhoods, specifically mentioning concerns about increased traffic.
Members of the Airport Advisory Commission, notes the Scottsdale Progress newspaper, said the size and scope of the project “would not be just an intrusive nuisance to the neighbors who are protesting it, but an existential threat to the Scottsdale Airport.”
Matters have been further muddied after Scottsdale City Attorney Sherry Scott complained about an Axon executive contacting the employer of a member of the city Planning Commission.
Remarked Axon’s Smith: “This public spectacle is having a chilling effect on both our interest in staying in Scottsdale, and surely other employers are watching how this is being handled.”
When asked during the earnings call when Axon may actually make a final decision on pursuing the campus project, Smith remarked, “We hope to have a decision by sometime this summer.”
Founded in 1993 as Air Taser Incorporated, the company was rebranded as Axon in 2017, emerging in subsequent years as the largest supplier in the country of weapons products, body cameras, and a cloud-based digital evidence platform.
Despite the controversy over the Scottsdale campus project, Axon saw revenue in 2023 of $1.5 billion, up by 31% over the previous year’s numbers.
By Garry Boulard
