PHOENIX — The City of Maricopa could eventually be home to a large outdoor surf park and water park with wave pools, water slides, a lazy river, restaurants, concerts, and a hotel -- becoming the latest entertainment development to be proposed in the greater Phoenix area.
Currently referred to as PHX Surf Park, the proposed entertainment development would be built in multiple phases across 71 acres -- currently vacant land -- near Smith Enke and Loma roads, in Maricopa.
“The PHX Surf Park will be a premier destination not only in Pinal County, but across the State of Arizona and beyond,” developers wrote in their pre-application narrative.
“The park will create a unique attraction that offers advanced active entertainment, progressive surfing experiences, water play, related retail and dining, concert and open space, and hospitality – all immersed with 'ocean views' and the sound of crashing waves breaking in the desert sun.”
An artist’s conceptual rendering shows the potential for two wave pools, a splash pad, a pump bike track, an outdoor stage, a lazy river, water slides, restaurants, and retail stores, a “tiny home village,” and an area for future attractions.
InMaricopa.com was the first to report about the project's potential development.
Like most large-scale developments, it is very early in the process. So far, the developers have only submitted an initial wide-view look at their idea.
Maricopa City Manager Rick Horst shared the development proposal with ABC15, but cautioned that these were conceptual renderings and that they have not been approved by the city.
On Tuesday, Maricopa City Council gave an initial consent approval for the purchase of three parcels of land to eventually build the attraction.
“The agreements on the agenda [on Tuesday] set in place a purchase/lease agreement with a time table of approximately four months for both the applicant and the City to do their respective due diligence,” said Nathan Steele, director of economic development with the City of Maricopa, in an email.
Once -- and if -- solidified, the developers will have to submit more concrete plans, including engineering permits, building permits, and go through the city’s design review.
“This will be the premier, go-to location in Maricopa and the Phoenix Metropolitan area,” the developers wrote.
It is one of a handful of developments -- water parks, skills parks, surf parks, a lagoon-based entertainment district, and an amusement park -- that have been proposed in recent years in and around Phoenix, including The Strand @ Gilbert, Crystal Lagoons, Island Resort, Cannon Beach/Revel Surf, Dreamport Villages, Santan Adventure Park, and Legacy Sports Park.
