By Melissa St. Aude | Casa Grande Dispatch
At more than 1.7 million square feet, the size and layout of the proposed PhoenixMart sourcing center is too big to meet current Casa Grande codes, and the city will outsource an analysis of the building plans to ensure the massive structure is safe.
The Casa Grande City Council last week approved a $64,600 contract with Hughes Associates to review PhoenixMart plans.
City Manager Jim Thompson said because PhoenixMart is a unique building and a first for Casa Grande, it makes sense to outsource the review of the plans rather than hire a new city staffer to do that work.
Outsourcing the job of reviewing building plans is not unusual, he said.
During the height of the housing construction boom a few years ago, Casa Grande outsourced much of its building plan analysis work to help the city staffers keep up with the workload.
