Glendale’s Community Newspaper
Vol. 79 No. 19
Inside This Week
Loop 202 becoming a big job generator Glendale Star Staff Writer
BUSINESS..... 14
FEATURES..... 16
Downtown celebrates mothers with special event
S
corned for its impact on Ahwatukee’s quality of life and the object of a bitter legal fight that lasted for years, the South Mountain Loop 202 Freeway is fulfilling its supporters’ expectations of becoming a critical cog to the Valley’s economy, city officials recently told a Phoenix City Council subcommittee. And that’s especially true for the West Valley, where city officials said an estimated 60% of its workforce commute to other parts of the county, and for Phoenix, which they said is quickly emerging as an important hi-
YOUTH..........22
OPINION.......................8 BUSINESS................... 14 CALENDAR...................15 FEATURES................... 16 RELIGION.................... 20 YOUTH........................ 22 CLASSIFIEDS.............. 26
tech corridor generating high-paying jobs. But that corridor still needed help from the city. Council preliminarily approved $10 million in tax breaks over the next 10 years to a Washington State developer for agreeing to privately finance massive road and other infrastructure work around the last 180 acres of residential land in the area of the freeway and Dobbins Road. For years, Ahwatukee residents and the Gila River Indian Community fought to prevent construction of the $1.7 billion, 22-mile freeway linking the Loop 202 Santan Freeway in Chandler and 59th Avenue in the
West Valley. They alleged the freeway posed potentially harmful environmental threats and that it was damaging sacred tribal land. But federal courts rejected every claim. Chris Mackay, community and economic development director, said that since the freeway opened in December 2019, it has become “our newest employment corridor — the South Mountain technology corridor.” “Since that time, we’ve seen thousands of single-family and multifamily units that have broken ground,” she told council’s SEE LOOP 202 PAGE 4
Economic development director retires after 30 years BY JORDAN ROGERS
Glendale Star Managing Editor
B Landmark School hosts panel to help students
May 11, 2023
www.glendalestar.com
BY PAUL MARYNIAK
Glendale Flowers bloomed by mother-daughter duo
FREE SUBSCRIPTION
rian Friedman has spent the last 30 years of his life leading the efforts in development and created the brand that is Glendale Economic Development. Key developments during Friedman’s time such as State Farm Stadium, Desert Diamond Arena and Westgate Entertainment District started the transformation, which today has created one of the largest sports and entertainment districts in the country. Friedman, who will step down from his post in August, got his start in the city at a pivotal time when he was charged with overseeing all entitlement, planning and project management activities for the region. “It’s interesting to see Glendale over all of these decades and to have been the project
manager out in the in the field in 2008 in charge of (Desert Diamond Arena’s) original construction along with the Westgate,” Friedman said. “All of the infrastructure, the planning, the entitlement process, the construction build process, and now getting a chance to fill all of the buildings up with their end users and see the condition of the third Super Bowl having been successfully completed. “And look at the sheer number of hotels that are out there and what’s under construction now with VAI — around $1 billion just in that project and another half billion in the region underway. It really is incredible.” Once seen as a bedroom community and home to Luke Air Force Base, Glendale, in the early 2000s, began its transformation SEE FRIEDMAN PAGE 6
After 30 years of service, Glendale Economic Development Director Brian Friedman will retire in August. (City of Glendale/Submitted)
The latest breaking news and top local stories in Glendale!