High-tech industries will find a major Southwest hub for research, development, manufacturing and distribution.

It’s getting exciting to see progress in Tucson’s Sonoran Corridor for technology, aerospace, defense, manufacturing, logistics, business and international trade.

The new regional business and research park, part of the 50-square-mile area around the Tucson International Airport, recently signed its first tenant.

Tucson-based World View Enterprises, Inc., will build its world headquarters there, as well as a launch pad to send high-altitude balloons into space for communications, scientific research and tourism.

New Infrastructure

Recent rail improvements at the nearby Port of Tucson will greatly increase train capacity at the intermodal exchange, already a significant inland port for moving goods among West Coast sea and air ports, Mexico and destinations throughout North America.

New road reconfigurations give Raytheon Missile Systems, Tucson’s largest private employer, room to grow and consolidate its operations.

And there is much more to come, thanks to the efforts of local and regional government and economic development leaders.

“World View’s decision to stay and grow their company here is just the beginning for the Sonoran Corridor. This is just the beginning for thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands of new jobs in the Corridor,” says Sharon Bronson, chair of the Pima County Board of Supervisors.

Southwest’s Commerce & Manufacturing Hub

While the Sonoran Corridor in southeast Tucson will take years to build out, there already is a lot of synergy among Tucson’s major industries. Located in and around the Sonoran Corridor are

• Defense and Aerospace: Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Air National Guard, Raytheon, Tucson International Airport
• Technology: University of Arizona Tech Park with its 27 tenants in renewable energy, computer technology, biotech and other high-tech products and services
• Logistics and Distribution: Tucson International Airport, Port of Tucson, Target Distribution Center, HomeGoods Distribution Center.

By keeping and growing this impressive list of major companies and organizations to the Sonoran Corridor, we at Commercial Real Estate Group of Tucson expect that support services, subcontractors and vendors will follow.

The Sonoran Corridor plan provides room for light and heavy industrial uses, commercial uses, residential and green space areas.

Most importantly, it aims to create a modern network of highways, rail lines and other infrastructure to foster product and service development and delivery, from research to manufacturing to warehousing to distribution.

Elements of that network will include

• a federal high-speed highway that connects Interstate 19 and Interstate 10 in this concentrated distribution hub.
• an additional runway at Tucson International Airport to expand air cargo capacity.
• possibly a new Union Pacific Railroad connection of its existing east-west line and its north-south line, both of which border the Sonoran Corridor.
• continuing improvements for the business and research park, which will focus on aerospace, defense and technology.

Time to Spread the Word

We already are letting clients worldwide know that the Sonoran Corridor is an attractive, viable place to locate a start-up, relocation or expansion and that government leaders are open to creating incentive packages to make it happen.

It’s what made World View opt for a Tucson location instead of places in Florida and New Mexico, both of which also offered incentives.

“This is how public-private partnerships are supposed to work,” says Bronson. “World View is getting the help it needs to get off the ground, literally, and Pima County is getting the private investment necessary to bring high-wage jobs to our valley.”

Commercial Real Estate Group of Tucson specializes in representing tenants and corporate users across the United States. For more information call +1-520-299-3400.