Glendale, Arizona

10 11 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 3, ISSUE 9 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 3, ISSUE 9 GLENDALE , AR I ZONA Where IT goes for IT support. As an IT leader, you know your team can solve almost anything. But when it comes to solving everything, even your experts could use more experts in their corner. Cox Business has a complete portfolio of cloud solutions to help you overcome any challenge, all supported by a provider you already trust. Get started at www.coxbusiness.com/cloud PREFERRED VENDORS/PARTNERS n Van Tuyl Companies www.vtcompanies.com n SRP www.srpnet.com SRP is a community-based, not-for-profit public power utility and the largest provider of electricity in the greater Phoenix metropolitan area, serving more than 1 million customers. SRP is also the metropolitan area’s largest supplier of water, delivering about 800,000 acre-feet annually to municipal, urban and agricultural water users. n Midwestern University www.midwestern.edu | www.mwuclinics.com | www.mwuanimalhealth.com As Arizona’s largest medical school, Midwestern University has invested more than $400 million in Glendale, created over 900 jobs, and trained 15,000+ alumni, with 42% practicing in Arizona. We provide a rigorous experiential education in state-of-the-art facilities and a range of healthcare services for all ages at our community clinics*.* n Cox Business www.coxbusiness.com/cloud in Glendale a highly sought-after destination for many different types of homebuyers. These diverse communities also support Glendale’s goals to be much more than a bedroom community. It already is a home for up to 50,000 college students at several different universities, including a campus for Arizona State University, Midwestern University, and Arizona Christian University. Many of its graduates choose to stay in the area to live and work following graduation, especially as more employers locate in the region. Friedman believes that everyone working for the city of Glendale can be proud of their efforts in creating a brand of trust and competence. More than anything, establishing and strengthening these relationships matter. The choices that these investors and developers make are based on a level of trust and confidence created by personal relationships. Fortunately, Glendale brokerage firms, site selectors, property developers, and even individual investors have come to understand that Glendale’s story is a notable one. A big part of that collective trust is also built on the idea that the city will help provide for new residents as well as investors. “Our job is to help (residents) get a job and create an atmosphere of success,” Friedman explains. “ If we can show that anyone can make it here and there is reason to be optimistic, then everything else can fall into place.” The future will lead to more of the same, assuming Glendale’s strategic growth plan remains on track. Perhaps the only thing to slow it down is an unanticipated severe economic slowdown, but Glendale’s reputation precedes itself even in a worst-case scenario. It’s a reputation that Friedman wants to “guard with our professional lives.” One example is the future opening of VAI Resort, the largest hotel and entertainment destination in Arizona. It is set to open in late Spring of 2023 with the mission to bring a water oasis to the desert. With over 1,200 luxury hotel suites and rooms, a large state-of-the-art 360-degree concert stage, 13 elevated fine dining concepts, flowing white sand beaches, and pristine Caribbean-blue water, it will become one of the premier resort destinations in the U.S. A 52,000 square foot island will be a center point for this unique 60-acre entertainment resort. With the path Glendale is on, it will continue to earn more revenue per capita than Gilbert, Arizona, a city that saw its population grow at an annual rate of over 10 percent from 1980 – 2020. Glendale already offers more jobs per capita than Mesa or Gilbert and is the fifth-largest job center in the Valley of the Sun. “It is the West Valley’s time to shine,” Friedman says. “There are high-end developers who are the best at what they do in their industries who can develop anywhere in the area or the country but they choose to be here. We want to make sure that will continue.”