For years, the Murphy Elementary School campus in southwest Phoenix sat empty. Now it has been remade into a two-building industrial park called Merit 27 Buckeye, and both buildings are already fully leased. The project replaces a rundown school site on roughly 18 acres near 27th Avenue and Buckeye Road, after months of demolition and environmental cleanup to prep the land for construction. Developers and contractors are pitching the conversion as an infill industrial play aimed at capturing local manufacturing and distribution demand inside the city limits.
As reported by the Phoenix Business Journal, Merit Partners led the redevelopment and said the park reached full occupancy soon after completion. The company and its partners have framed the effort as a way to turn excess school district land into productive industrial space for Phoenix.
What Was Built
The project delivers about 256,813 square feet of modern industrial space split between two buildings: a 191,227-square-foot Building A and a 65,586-square-foot Building B, at 1515 S. 27th Ave. and 2675 W. Buckeye Rd., according to CityBiz. Both structures include 32 to 36 foot clear heights, dozens of dock-high doors, ESFR sprinklers and energy-efficiency upgrades designed with manufacturing and distribution users in mind.
Tenants And Team
Building A is leased to HVAC manufacturer Daikin, while Building B is home to Mazak, Reliable Garage Doors, Hajoca and Impilo Inc., according to project materials cited by inBusinessPHX. Stevens-Leinweber Construction served as general contractor, Butler Design Group handled architecture and CBRE oversaw leasing for the development.
From Schoolyard To Shovel Ready
Merit acquired the 18.1-acre parcel from Murphy Elementary School District No. 21 in 2022 for $4.33 million, according to a Land Advisors Organization press release about the sale. Before construction, the team spent roughly six months demolishing and remediating the site, clearing about a dozen old buildings, cutting utilities back to the mains and installing new water infrastructure. Project materials and local coverage say that work turned the property into a shovel-ready industrial site and even created hands-on training opportunities for the Phoenix Fire Department, per CityBiz.
Why It Matters
The deal highlights why industrial developers across metro Phoenix are chasing infill sites. Demand for logistics and light manufacturing space remains strong while centrally located land is tight, and land-sale data alongside local reporting point to robust industrial growth across the Valley. The park’s proximity to freeways, along with city-led streetscape and access upgrades along 27th Avenue, were key selling points for tenants, according to AZ Big Media…