From high-tech new semiconductor factories to the bumper crop of warehouses and logistics facilities popping up across the Valley’s ever-growing outskirts, Greater Phoenix’s light-industrial real estate sector is red hot. In fact, Phoenix’s industrial market is now a key link in the nation’s supply-chain, according to a recent report by Avison Young commercial real estate, ranking in the top five in the U.S. for several top metrics over the past 12 months. This includes square footage under construction (#2), square footage delivered (#5), square footage under construction as a percentage of inventory (#1), net absorption (#4) and rent growth (#2).
But what’s fueling this industrial building boom? Part of it is still pent-up demand as the supply chain shakes off the long-term effects of the COVID pandemic. And part of it is simple migration — specifically, industries exiting California for greener pastures across the Southwest. But another untold story is the new technology coming online, many of which were, ironically, rolled out due to the complications of COVID.
Take warehouse roofing systems. Traditionally, most industrial warehouses here in sunny Arizona were crafted from wood and metal roof joists, which was a cost-effective way to support a structure when there was no worry about heavy snow loads piling up. But during COVID, not only was there a huge surge in warehouse building, but manufacturers were also struggling with supply chain issues and could not keep up with demand, so the price for roof-building joists tripled — if any could even be gotten at all.
Enter Next Level Steel of Mesa with a high-tech twist on a World War II-era technology: castellated steel beams. This fabrication technique originally grew out of the post-war steel shortage, which led engineers to experiment with slicing and splitting apart traditional steel I-beams, before they are precisely welded back together. However, because the “teeth” carved in the steel are offset, each steel beam then features a series of precise hexagonal holes, which make the beam stronger while also spanning further. Plus, they are faster to erect and delivered with less lead time than traditional roofing structures.
As the only fabricator in Arizona offering these high-tech steel beams, Next Level Steel provides design, fabrication and steel erection services ranging from the upcoming TSMC semiconductor factory to the completed dining hall at the Marine Corps Air Station Yuma.
And it’s not just Arizona that’s benefiting from this new technology. Kicking off in Q1, Next Level Steel is constructing a six-building, 500,000 logistics facility for Phalen Development in Greater Las Vegas. Our partners at Alston Construction decided to incorporate this high-tech new steel beam after Phalen’s designers saw the technology being incorporated into similar projects Alston is currently building in Arizona.
But that’s just one way this new technology is fueling innovation and even green-building techniques, here in Arizona and beyond. The additional strength provided by castellated steel beams allows clients to add eco-friendly solar panels to the roof without requiring additional structural support. Plus, castellated steel beams can also replace precast concrete in parking garages, creating an overall lighter structure that requires less bulky concrete foundations, and also helps mitigate the urban heat island effect here in the Western U.S.
Brandon Bell is a second-generation steel fabricator and founder of Next Level Steel in Mesa, Arizona.
Did You Know: Next Level Steel has grown from six employees when founded in 2020 to more than 100, and just opened a second state-of-the-art steelyard in Goodyear exclusively dedicated to castellated steel beam production, more than doubling capacity up to 1 million square feet per month.
Top photo courtesy of Next Level Steel,
Brandon Bell photo courtesy of Claudia Johnstone
