Majestic lands 1M SF Phoenix industrial on 99-year tribal lease
Tribal land opens a new site-selection lane in a Phoenix market where developable dirt near the freeways is scarce.
Majestic Realty has signed a 99-year ground lease with the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community to develop up to 1 million square feet of Class-A industrial near Loop 101, the developer’s first ground-lease partnership with a tribal community in its 80-year history.
Why it matters
Phoenix industrial land near the freeways is increasingly hard to assemble, and tribal ground leases open a supply channel most merchant developers have not tapped. Structuring a project on leased rather than owned land changes the capital stack and the underwriting, longer holds, no land basis to recover on sale, but it unlocks well-located sites in a metro where entitled, freeway-adjacent dirt commands a premium. For developers chasing warehouse and light-industrial demand in the Valley, the deal maps a route to scale that sidesteps the bidding wars for fee-simple parcels, provided they can underwrite the ground-lease economics and the longer entitlement path that partnership requires.
The numbers
The project would span roughly eight Class-A buildings at North Pima Road and East McDonald Drive, inside the Salt River community with direct Loop 101 access. The ground lease runs 99 years, with terms undisclosed. Majestic, in predevelopment now, expects to break ground in 2027. The company framed the agreement as balancing economic growth with the community’s cultural stewardship of the land.
What’s next
Watch whether this becomes a template other Phoenix developers copy, because a successful Salt River project would signal that tribal land can absorb a meaningful share of the Valley’s next industrial wave. More at the Phoenix hub.