SURPRISE, AZ — Is Costco coming to Surprise? It appears that plans are in the works, but it is not officially official (at least not yet).
Here is what we know.
According to city documents, Costco Wholesale has submitted a proposal to build a 152,000-square-foot warehouse on the southwest corner of Waddell Road and Sarival Avenue, just east of the Loop 303 on an undeveloped 16-acre plot of land.
The proposal includes a 24-pump covered fuel station (with the option to expand to 32 pumps), a 5,000-square-foot tire station with four to five bays, and a large parking lot with around 800 spaces. The warehouse would have a bakery, pharmacy, outdoor food court, optical center for eye exams and sales, and a photo center, the documents show.
The Arizona Republic was first to report the news Thursday morning.
The documents do not say when construction would start nor do they give a timeline of when Costco would anticipate opening. Costco does not comment on new stores until no more than three months out from opening, though they do keep a list of upcoming stores on its website. Arizona is not currently listed.
There is also the possibility that the project could fall through.
In an email to ABC15, Ellen Van Riper, Surprise chief deputy city attorney, said, "The project is still being planned. Many things need to happen and be completed before permits for vertical construction are issued."
That includes buying the land the warehouse would be built on.
"First and foremost, the underlying real estate transaction needs to be finalized. Between now and then, the city will continue to review the site plan and related documents in cooperation with the developer," she wrote.
If that happens, a series of site plans and other documents would be submitted to the city and would need to be approved. All that needs to happen before shovels can hit the ground.
In April, developers received preliminary approval of the project's site plan layout from the Prasada Design Review Committee, according to the documents.
Surprise residents have been eagerly wanting a Costco. In the city's 2015 and 2017 resident retail survey, a survey that looks at the stores and restaurants residents would like to see near them, Costco was the top desired retailer. The other two in the top three were Hobby Lobby and Whole Foods.
