ICE Acquires Massive $70M Warehouse In Surprise, Arizona
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has acquired a 418K SF warehouse in Surprise, Arizona, according to Maricopa County property records, KOLD reported.
The $70M cash sale of the facility, which sits near Sweetwater Avenue and Dysart Road, was one of the largest industrial purchases in Arizona in January.
Rockefeller Group developed the warehouse, formerly known as the Surprise Pointe Commerce Center, in 2024. The center was meant to accommodate one to four tenants, KOLD reported.
There has been local backlash against the facility and ICE’s presence in the Phoenix metro area. More than a thousand residents attended a Surprise City Council meeting on Feb. 3 regarding the facility and dozens spoke out against it, according to an Arizona Daily Sun report.
U.S. Rep. Paul A. Gosar, whose district includes the warehouse, wrote a Feb. 4 letter to U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem about a lack of communication over the facility.
Gosar, a conservative Republican, stated in the letter that while he supports strong enforcement of President Donald Trump's immigration policies, he is concerned that local officials have been kept in the dark about ICE's plans for the facility.
"A detention facility of the reported size raises legitimate and reasonable questions for nearby residents, schools, first responders, and local governments," Gosar wrote. "Concerns regarding infrastructure capacity, traffic, emergency services, environmental impacts, and public safety deserve serious consideration. These are not anti-illegal immigration concerns; they are common-sense expectations of transparency, planning, and accountability."
Democratic members of Arizona’s congressional delegation have also pushed back against the sale and requested details regarding ICE's plans.
“The federal government has the authority to carry out its responsibilities, but that authority does not eliminate the obligation to act transparently and responsibly, particularly when major federal actions directly affect local communities,” House Reps. Greg Stanton, Yassamin Ansari and Adelita Grijalva wrote to the DHS secretary.
A Dec. 24, 2025, Washington Post report revealed the Trump administration's plans to create a new system of immigrant detention facilities in communities across the United States. For many communities named in the report, this was the first they had heard about it.
Since that report, there has been a series of revelations of purchases by ICE of similar facilities.
In Pennsylvania this month, ICE spent more than $200M on warehouses to serve as detention facilities. Of that, $87.4M went to a 520K SF warehouse in Berks County that fits up to 1,500 beds, and $120M went to a building owned by a Blue Owl Capital affiliate in Tremont Township that could house 7,500 people.
New documents released last week by the ACLU of New Hampshire confirmed speculation that the DHS wants to buy a 43-acre warehouse in Merrimack, New Hampshire, for a detention and processing center that could house 500 to 1,500 beds. That sale has not yet closed, according to public records.
And in Hutchins, Texas, a 1M SF warehouse originally designed for Amazon was purchased to be an ICE facility with 9,500 beds. If filled, the property — which has drawn local protest — would more than double the town’s population.
