Japanese semiconductor supplier Shin-Etsu MicroSi plans Ahwatukee expansion
Semiconductor supplier Shin-Etsu MicroSi is planning to expand its operations in Ahwatukee.
The company is going through the rezoning process to make way for a 17,182 square-foot industrial flex building near the northwest corner of Elliot Road and I-10. It already operates two other facilities in that business park, where the company is headquartered.
The Ahwatukee Foothills Village Planning Committee recommended approval for the rezoning request during a Jan. 26 meeting, which will now head to the City of Phoenix’s Planning Commission on Feb. 5.
The new Shin-Etsu MicroSi facility would include 13,718 square feet of warehouse space and 3,464 square feet of office space, according to a staff report. LGE Design Build is listed as the project’s architect.
The company acquired the 1.27 acre site, which is currently a parking lot, for $1,060,000 in September, according to Maricopa County property records.
Shin-Etsu MicroSi is part of a larger Japanese corporation and has operated in Phoenix since the mid-1990s. It serves clients in the semiconductor and microelectronics industries globally, primarily repackaging chemicals and other materials purchased in bulk before sending them off to chip manufacturers.
“They’ve been in business for over three decades, and they’re just looking for the ability to expand, especially given all of the semiconductor business happening in the Valley,” said Bill Allison, an attorney with Withey Morris Baugh representing the company in the rezoning case.
Semiconductor suppliers cluster around expanding TSMC campus
Semiconductor suppliers have flocked to the greater Phoenix area following the arrival in north Phoenix of TSMC — which is now planning to expand its campus after acquiring a 900-acre site just south of its current plant.
Many suppliers have set up shop in the north Phoenix area to be nearby the chipmaker’s campus, but many have also planted roots elsewhere across the Valley.
Casa Grande, which is about a 45-minute drive outside of Phoenix, has seen increased activity from chemical manufacturers that supply TSMC and Intel recently.
Sunlit, a Taiwan-based chemical supplier, acquired about 40 acres in Casa Grande for $9,226,418 in December, with plans to build out a hydrofluoric acid plant there.
And KPCC Advanced Chemicals Inc, a U.S. subsidiary of the Kanto Group, began construction on the first phase of a planned $500 million chemical manufacturing facility in Casa Grande in December. That facility will employ 200 people and produce ultrapure and proprietary functional chemicals used in semiconductor fabrication, wafer cleanings, etching, chemical mechanical planarization, photolithography and advanced packaging.