By Phil Riske | Managing Editor
Approval of federal paperwork for 300 foreign investors in the PhoenixMart project in Casa Grande is delaying progress, a project spokesman says.
“We’re waiting for them to be vetted and approved,” Patrick Welch, a spokesman for Az Sourcing, the project’s Chinese parent company, told a Greater Casa Grande Chamber of Commerce gathering reported by Casa Grande Dispatch.
The $1B PhoenixMart sourcing center and business complex on the east side of Casa Grande is primarily funded by visa applicants under the EB-5 program, which permits them a speedy process to a green card as long as they invest in federally approved programs.
The Dispatch reported grading of the site that began in November is about 95 percent complete, after which construction can begin on the 585-acre project, which has been projected to create 8,000 direct and indirect jobs.
Construction is expected to stretch into 2016, after other delays pushed the completion date beyond the original target of 2015.
