Lucid Motors buys 120 acres near existing manufacturing facility in Casa Grande
Lucid Motors (Nasdaq: LCID) has purchased two large vacant properties near its existing electric vehicle factory in Casa Grande.
Pinal County records and real estate database Vizzda show that an entity connected to Lucid Motors purchased about 120 acres adjacent to its existing Casa Grande manufacturing facility in May for $17.3 million in two separate transactions. The seller of the land was Phoenix-based Arizona Land Consulting LLC.
Newark, California-based Lucid Group Inc.’s current manufacturing facility is located about an hour south of Phoenix at the southwest corner of Thornton and Peters roads between Interstates 10 and 8 in Casa Grande.
The first land sale, which comprised 80 acres, is located near the northwest corner of Thornton Road and I-8, while the second land sale, which comprised 40 acres and closed on May 16, is located near the southeast corner of Thornton and Peters roads.
Scottsdale-based The Land Agency, a land brokerage firm, did not name the buyer or seller but said it brokered the sale of the 40 acres.
Lucid did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the land purchases.
In September, Lucid opened AMP-1, a 1 million-square-foot facility, where it started producing its first batch of vehicles. Lucid also started construction on new factory just south of the existing plant, which is expected to add an additional 2.85 million square feet to the company’s footprint.
After Lucid became a publicly traded company last year, it had disclosed plans to more than triple the footprint of its Arizona factory. The company has room to eventually expand to 5.1 million square feet.
The company’s rapid expansion, according to Lucid’s head of public policy, is starting to put pressure on housing and basic services in the Pinal County city.
With a low supply of housing, homebuilders and municipalities are working to catch up with demand while housing prices, mortgage rates and rents continue to climb and more companies are creating jobs in the state.
In February, Lucid said it now employs 2,000 people in Arizona and had plans to hire 1,000 more by the end of the year.
Casa Grande driving growth
Casa Grande, a city with a population of about 60,000 people, has continued to attract attention mostly from manufacturers, semiconductor suppliers and construction material suppliers, according to experts.
Anita Verma-Lallian, founder of Arizona Land Consulting, said Casa Grande has a pro-growth and development environment and has attracted a lot of companies. Arizona Land Consulting also recently purchased a 51-acre parcel near Lucid’s plant and an additional 50 acres at the southeast corner of Pinal Avenue and Val Vista Boulevard.
“There’s a lot more that are following, industrial development out there makes a lot of sense,” she said. “There’s not much land left in Phoenix, so a lot of development is getting pushed out further. Casa Grande is well positioned for its location between Phoenix and Tucson to capture that growth.”
Experts have also said that the low cost of land in Casa Grande compared to the Phoenix metro, regional infrastructure investments, transportation and proximity to the Valley are key reasons why companies are choosing Casa Grande. In the past six months, about a dozen industrial companies picked Casa Grande or were seriously considering the area.