Wittmann Land Purchased by BNSF for $9 Million

BNSF Railway has been working behind the scenes to build its property holdings in Wittmann around its planned $3.2 billion logistics park.

The Texas-based rail company has acquired approximately 56 acres of land in 14 separate transactions over the past month totaling more than $9 million, the Phoenix Business Journal reported. The proposed freight hub, dubbed Logistics Park Phoenix, would rise on the north end of the unincorporated community along U.S. Route 60.

A BNSF spokesperson confirmed the recent land purchases next to its previously bought parcels.

“This purchase included homes surrounded on all three sides by land BNSF already owned,” spokesperson Lena Kent told the Business Journal. “Given the proximity of these homes to Logistics Park Phoenix, BNSF believed acquiring the properties was a responsible and appropriate step, and we completed the transaction with willing sellers.”

BNSF’s planned freight railroad hub and logistics park would support the growing warehousing and distribution sectors northwest of Phoenix. When complete, it would create thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue, the company said.

The project has drawn jeers from local residents and opposition from municipal governments, especially over the past year. Last May, residents from Wittmann and surrounding enclaves shared their frustration about the planned logistics hub at a local community meeting, with one person calling it “soulless, greedy and appalling,” the Business Journal previously reported.

While Wittmann is a small unincorporated community, a city abutting Wittmann’s borders showed its discontent with the effort. In October, the Surprise City Council passed a resolution formally opposing the project. Surprise city officials said it would bring “substantial unmitigated risk” to the community and strain Surprise’s infrastructure and public safety services..

The following month, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors denied BNSF’s full comprehensive plan amendment, leaving the legal fate of the development unclear, according to the Business Journal. Still, BNSF is moving forward with its plans.

Kirby Anderson, a Wittmann resident who has led a local opposition campaign, was happy to see local city and county governments stand in the way of the project.

“Fortunately, we have a Maricopa County Supervisor in Debbie Lesko who, along with the entire Board of Supervisors, already said no to their monstrosity since it is so inappropriate for the area,” Anderson told the Business Journal after BNSF’s latest land purchases. “We are grateful to them since there is not a single person that would want to live next to BNSF.”

— Chris Malone Méndez