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PHOENIX — The Arizona Cardinals celebrated the groundbreaking of their new headquarters and practice facility in north Phoenix on Thursday, marking a major milestone for the franchise and the surrounding area.
The project is part of a 217-acre mixed-use development site acquired for $136 million through an auction conducted by the Arizona State Land Department. The property sits just west of Scottsdale Road and the Loop 101 Pima Freeway and is expected to include additional business developments that will be announced later.
The Cardinals’ portion of the development will occupy 30 acres and span more than 250,000 square feet — more than double the land of the team’s current performance center in Tempe, which sits on 14 acres. The new complex will also provide nearly 100,000 additional square feet compared to the existing 156,000-square-foot facility.
The headquarters will feature three outdoor natural-grass practice fields, a full-size indoor field, athletic training and sports medicine facilities, a player lounge, locker rooms, meeting spaces and expanded football operations areas. Team officials say the upgraded infrastructure is designed to enhance player performance and long-term organizational growth.
Team owner Michael Bidwill said the NFL players deserve to work at the “most premiere location” and called the facility a “multigenerational decision.”
“I wanted to make sure it was player first, performance first and we leverage the Cardinals headquarters to have the most greater good for the state of Arizona and the city of Phoenix as possible,” Bidwill said.
Bidwill added that the team expects to move into the new facility following training camp in August 2028, with a full opening slated for summer of that year.
Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, who attended the ceremonial groundbreaking, said the broader mixed-use development is intended to become a hub for “global and national partners in sports, innovation, medicine and more.”
Gallego noted that the site complements nearby destinations such as the Mayo Clinic and Desert Ridge Marketplace, creating a corridor focused on health care, retail and corporate growth.
Sandra Watson, president and CEO of the Arizona Commerce Authority, echoed that vision.
Watson said the area will be a “magnet for innovation, talent and opportunity” as it advances the state’s economic growth.
“This world-class development will turbocharge those efforts, catalyzing additional high-profile corporate relocations and accelerating the state’s economic momentum,” Watson said. “That’s how we won the last decade, and that’s how we will win the next.”
Local leaders expect the project to generate construction jobs in the near term and long-term employment opportunities tied to team operations and future commercial tenants. The development also signals continued investment momentum in north Phoenix, an area that has seen rapid growth in business, residential and technology sectors.
Several Cardinals players, including Trey McBride, Budda Baker, Marvin Harrison Jr. and Elijah Higgins, attended the event, underscoring the organization’s commitment to building a next-generation training environment.
As construction moves forward, the Cardinals’ new headquarters is poised to become a central anchor in one of the Valley’s fastest-growing corridors — blending professional sports, economic development and innovation in a single campus.
Originally reported by Payne Moses, KTAR. Com News in KTAR News.
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