By Jimmy Van Wickler | Peoria Times
The Peoria City Council has approved a multimillion-dollar land sale that clears the way for semiconductor packaging company Amkor Technology to expand its planned campus in north Peoria, but some nearby residents say they still have questions about how the project will affect their community.
Council members approved a land purchase agreement allowing Amkor to buy 67 acres of Arizona State Trust land adjacent to its existing 104-acre property in the Peoria Innovation Core, or PIC. The purchase price is $32.5 million and brings the company’s planned site to about 171 acres.
The land acquisition is the latest step in Amkor’s planned $7 billion advanced semiconductor packaging and testing campus, which city officials say is expected to create approximately 3,000 high-wage jobs with an average salary of $90,000 and begin operating by 2028.
While city leaders have touted the project as a major economic development win, some residents say they want more information about the long-term impacts of the development and better communication from city officials.
Brian Parks, a Vistancia resident who has lived in Peoria since 2020, said he supports economic development but believes residents need clearer answers about the project’s future.
“I support economic development and I support quality jobs,” Parks said. “I’m not anti-Amkor, but I do want information.”
Parks said his concerns center on water usage, chemical storage and transportation, emergency preparedness and how the city’s infrastructure will accommodate future growth.
“We live in a desert, so water is going to be the big one,” Parks said. “What kind of water are they going to use, and what’s the impact? If something bad happens, what’s the risk?”
