The Fort Worth-based Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad company is making plans to build on a large swath of primarily vacant land in the metro Phoenix’s West Valley.
Located just to the northeast of State Route 60, and an already-existing BNSF railway between the towns of Wittman and Surprise, the site is bordered by 235th Avenue on the west and 211th Avenue on the east.
The property in question will be the subject of an auction with a minimum bidding price of $49.1 million and sponsored by the Arizona State Land Department on March 30.
State documents describe the site as “undeveloped land used for livestock,” noting also that it contains a 4-acre corral area near the eastern side of the site which features a supply well and cistern.
If BNSF makes the winning bid, it will begin plans to transform the vast acreage into an intermodal and logistics center, as well as an overall industrial complex.
According to reports, the logistics center would be built in the middle section of the site, with the intermodal facility going up on the property’s southeast corner.
With roots reaching to the years before the Civil War, BNSF today is the country’s largest freight railroad. One of its busiest routes slices through mid-Arizona in an east-to-west direction.
BNSF currently operates nearly two dozen intermodal centers across the country, with the vast majority located in the West.
By Garry Boulard
