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Surprise moves to buy 40 acres for future public-safety and city facilities, council authorizes purchase agreement
Summary
Council authorized staff to enter a purchase agreement for 40 acres near 180th Avenue and Deer Valley Road for $7 million, to be combined with a February acquisition and used for long-range public safety, fleet and facilities planning; closing targeted for August 14, 2025.
The Surprise City Council on April 15 authorized staff to execute a purchase agreement to buy approximately 40 acres of land near 180th Avenue and Deer Valley Road for $7 million as part of a broader strategy to secure land for future public-safety and city facilities.
Staff said the parcel complements a February acquisition and will be combined with the earlier purchase to create a larger site for potential uses including a fire station (Fire Station 310 noted), training and recruit facilities, a public-safety fleet shop, public works shops, and a dispatch/communications center. None of those projects are currently funded; staff said the acquisition is intended to secure land ahead of growth to avoid higher costs later.
Brandon (city real estate lead) explained the city will open escrow quickly, deposit earnest money, and begin a 60-day due‑diligence period; city staff said much of the due diligence has already started and the target close of escrow is Aug. 14, 2025. Andrea (city finance) told council the purchase will use identified bond funding and general capital funds allocated for land acquisition.
Councilmembers praised the step as proactive. Councilmember Timothy Judd said buying land now avoids higher per‑acre costs later; he compared the $175,000-per-acre price to a past purchase that cost about $3.3 million per acre several years ago. Councilmember Haney and Duffy supported securing land to preserve future response-time capacity and to enable longer-term planning for training and facilities.
The council moved and seconded the resolution (2025-41) and the motion passed. Staff will combine the parcels, complete master planning and site design work during an ongoing Public Safety Master Plan process, and return to council with project planning and funding requests when project scopes are defined.
Staff emphasized the acquisition does not itself fund construction: the city will plan facilities through the master plan and pursue funding later; officials said the land purchase preserves future options and supports both northwest-area growth and long-range capacity planning.
