City of Peoria buys $11M warehouse for police department to use

PHOENIX — The city of Peoria bought an 81,060 square foot warehouse and an additional 3 acres of land for the Peoria Police Department to use.

The land is located near 95th and Peoria avenues and will be used for storing evidence, impounded vehicles and specialty vehicles, as well as forensic analysis and processing of vehicles and tactical training. 

Instead of building a new facility, city officials opted to search for existing property in the area.

The property was appraised at $10 million and the city was able to secure the purchase for $11 million. It will cost an additional $7 million to renovate the space for its intended use.

The funding for the purchase came from the city’s Capital Improvement Program (CIP) budget. At $35.6 million in total, the CIP budget is a mixture of general fund cash and general obligation bonds.

“We are rapidly running out of room, putting crucial evidence at risk, and we are required by state law to hold onto some evidence for as long as 99 years, so the timing could not be better to move forward with this purchase,” Police Chief Thomas Intrieri said in a release.

“This will help maintain the integrity of our investigations from the past, to the present and future. Our department is grateful to the City Council and staff for identifying a quick and creative solution.”

Police operations will move into the new facility during different phases, with impound storage expected to be the first to move in during the next six months.

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