The Bar Has Moved: Arizona’s New Industrial Building Baseline

TREND Report • May 2026
By Erik Powell, Executive Vice President, Stevens-Leinweber Construction, Inc.

Arizona’s industrial sector is evolving quickly, and the tenant improvement request we’re seeing as general contractors are changing along with it. We’ve watched, and worked, in real time as many industrial building features once treated as premium are now the baseline expectation for even speculative developments.For anyone navigating the market, understanding what’s changed – and why – can support success across leasing, operations and long-term value creation.

How the baseline shifted

Before COVID-19, an industrial building’s shell was often considered bare bones structure, with many items still necessary to receive occupancy. But the speed-to-market demands and procurement chaos that followed the pandemic changed that equation. Today, tenants are looking for buildings that are operationally ahead of the game, giving them expanded features and a faster trajectory to occupancy. In this environment, speed wins the tenant!

For these reasons, developers are no longer waiting for tenants to request high-end TI upgrades. Instead, they are asking us to build them in from day one – front-loading amenities and infrastructure on a speculative basis more than ever before.

The shift has deepened our collaboration with our project teams and tightened our coordination across every trade partner. In a modern facility, what the concrete subcontractor does impacts the robotics integrator, and what the electrician does impacts the conveyor supplier. The ultimate goal is flexibility for the unknown tenant need.

Operating at the front edge of these trends is essential to delivering buildings that function as intended. Here’s what that looks like for our SLC teams:

The foundation of tech: Slabs and flatness

Arizona’s industrial evolution starts at ground level with a move toward 8-inch reinforced concrete slabs. While there’s still a place for the 6-inch slab, the heavy users driving Arizona’s economy need more to support the massive weights of their modern manufacturing and material handling equipment (MHE).

Flatness is the other half of the story. Robotics, automated storage and wire-guided systems have made the traditional FF35/FL25 (floor flatness/floor level) ratio obsolete. Our new benchmark is FF60/FL40, or “super flat,” and with the right equipment and expertise, our team can even surpass these ratios. If you don’t build it flat from the start, and a tenant needs that precision later, you’re facing the costly and disruptive process of grinding down a finished floor.

Machine- Ready

High-tech slabs prepare modern industrial buildings for the immense technology happening inside, where interiors are now defined by:

Intricate conveyor systems: Multilevel webs that weave vertically and horizontally.
Automated logistics: Including shipping and receiving areas that scan every item in real time, supported by robotic picking and sorting modules.
Robotic “homes”: Dedicated docking stations where autonomous robots return to recharge and recalibrate.

All of these elements came into play at our industrial TI for Parts Town at Merit Partners’ PV 303. Recognized as the tenant’s most advanced U.S. fulfillment center to date, the space includes a 30,000‑square‑foot robotic field for high-speed replenishment, a 42,000‑square‑foot mezzanine for automated handling and an “Auto Store” for vertical robotic picking. We even incorporated trucker lounges to support drivers… a small but meaningful detail.

At Merit 27 Buckeye, we recently installed four KONE 20‑ton bridge cranes with 40,000‑pound lift capacities per bridge, also quickly transforming an industrial shell into a high-performance production zone.

Scaling up: Clear height, power and precision

As vertical racking and conveyor systems rise to 30 feet or higher, Arizona’s industrial buildings have had to grow as well. A 40-foot clear height is becoming the standard, allowing tenants to maximize cubic square footage without expanding their footprint. Power requirements have also surged, jumping to 3,000 to 3,600 amps for a 100,000‑square‑foot building, and 9,000 amps (expandable) for a million‑square‑footer.

Even dock doors are getting smarter. While the 9-by‑10‑foot size remains the same, automated dock packages have replaced manual pulleys. These systems lock trucks in place, communicate via light signals, and only engage auto-levelers when it is safe to proceed. It’s a major leap in efficiency and worker safety.

Winning the talent war

Because high-tech industrial systems require skilled labor, the competition for talent is intense. Developers are now building amenities to help their tenants attract those employees with features like:

Climate control: Fully air-conditioned warehouses are increasingly non-negotiable.
Natural light: Clerestory windows and LED lighting improve the interior environment.
Lifestyle spaces: High-end spec offices, outdoor patios and even sport courts enhance the day-to-day workplace experience.

Arizona’s evolution

Arizona is maturing into a hub for semiconductor, energy, logistics and advanced manufacturing. Whether you’re a tenant evaluating your next facility, a developer deciding on your approach, or a broker advising a client, what gets built into every new industrial project matters more than ever.

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