Words from Jerry P. Weiers, Mayor of Glendale

Mayor of Glendale

Jerry Weiers

THE DAWN FOR GLENDALE

This is a great time for the City of Glendale. I’m proud to report on a number of exciting projects that will enhance our residents’ quality of life even more than today and reaffirm Glendale’s position as the leading economic engine for the West Valley.

There is a renewed energy in our city – a new dawn.

More companies are choosing Glendale to call home. We are recommitted to enhancing our parks, attractions, festivals and making sound, fiscal decisions as leaders. Now the housing market is also becoming another ray of light for Glendale residents.

In May 2016, our City Council approved rezoning for a beautiful master planned community—the first new housing development built to this scale since the Great Recession. StoneHaven is a 382-acre project offering 1,161 homes, commercial development and trails located between Camelback and Bethany Home, from 83rd to 91st Avenues.

Further west, the Loop 303 Corridor poses tremendous opportunities, with the recent groundbreaking of EPCOR’s regional wastewater and recycled water project on 7,000 acres in Glendale.

These developments are the result of the positive momentum we are experiencing in Glendale—more than five million square feet of commercial construction either underway or in the planning stages.

Two of the larger projects include Aspera, located near Church of Joy at 75th Avenue and the Loop 101, and Dr. Simon’s Westgate Medical Campus at 99th Avenue and Glendale. Aspera is a $152 million development in partnership with Don Cardon that will feature a 120-unit senior housing complex, Mountainside Fitness, retail and more. The $30 million SimonMed Center will be a comprehensive healthcare campus unlike any in the state, creating 1,200 jobs.

The healthcare industry is certainly growing fast, but we also have a diverse business base including Honeywell’s aerospace plant, Bechtel, American Furniture Warehouse and CSAA/AAA Insurance, to name a few.

Glendale is also home to five institutions of higher learning including Glendale Community College, ASU West Campus, DeVry University Westgate, Midwestern University and Thunderbird School of Global Management at ASU.

Another point of pride is Luke Air Force Base, an incredible economic generator for the city, which flies the F-16 and F-35 and trains the world’s best fighter pilots with about 4,000 active-duty personnel serving on the base.

Those Luke families and all of our residents enjoy a quality of life in Glendale that simply isn’t replicated anywhere else in Arizona. Our city’s Historic Downtown has a charm all its own featuring Cerreta’s, a family owned chocolate factory. Families also take advantage of Thunderbird Conservation Park’s 1,185 acres of trails and Sahuaro Ranch Park, which offers a unique historical trek through time.

Glendale is home to many professional sports franchises, including the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals and NHL’s Arizona Coyotes. Camelback Ranch Park is the Spring Training home of the LA Dodgers and Chicago White Sox. We have hosted two Super Bowls, the Pro Bowl, three College Football Championships, ten Fiesta Bowls, Wrestlemania, and most recently, the COPA International Soccer Tournament—all at the University of Phoenix Stadium.

The city’s tourism industry is thriving, experiencing a 21 percent increase in hotel gross sales. Visitors are drawn to the world-class Westgate Entertainment District, Tanger Outlets and Cabela’s.

I’m excited to report on Glendale’s progress. Our city’s bond rating improved, new business is on the rise, and we are truly seeing a new dawn here in Glendale unfold. Thanks to proactive and pragmatic decisions made by our City Council over the past three years, our residents, businesses and visitors all share in the benefits of this momentum.