[phxSUNSfan]

Actually, Casa Grande likely won't continue to grow much more in the future. One problem is water availability which requires developers to guarantee sources for many decades. The second thing is that most people are no longer buying in the "drive until you qualify" mindset and banks aren't open to such lending anymore. One reason CG would like this project is to restart some kind of growth spurt...but I don't see this being a successful project. If I were a purchasing agent/buyer, why would I fly to Phoenix (especially from far away) then spend another hour (or more depending on traffic) driving a rental car or maybe getting into a shuttle van to look at merchandise in a relatively small, isolated, and dusty town? It just doesn't make sense.

I could see something like this along 44th St. in the Gateway area, but this looks like another "Greyhound racetrack boondoggle". One of the biggest problems is employment prospects. Though this "mart" would initially lead to more construction jobs, I don't see it attracting many vendors and I think the employment projections are unrealistic. They are modeling the project based off a similar marketplace in Dubai, but the dynamics of the UAE are different than in the U.S. The need for a "wholesale convention center" is nonexistent in this country. This sounds almost like a year round "Costco" version of consumer expos like the Consumer Electronic Show in Vegas or auto shows in various cities; however, the format is much cheaper and much less exciting.