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Camelback Creek and Balterra (Tonopah film studio and data center campus)

Arizona Land Consulting plans a data center on rezoned land at 411th Avenue and Camelback Road near Tonopah, as part of a film studio and entertainment complex. The developer told KJZZ it would draw about a gigawatt of power. No data center operator, tenant or building permit was found on record.

Proposed data center in Off Interstate 10 at 411th Avenue and Camelback Road, Tonopah. Being developed by Arizona Land Consulting.

Where it stands

On September 2, 2026, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors approved the Camelback Creek and Balterra rezonings, after the county Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval 7 to 0 on August 6, 2026. AZBEX reported in August 2026 that no end users had signed on at Camelback Creek, and in September 2026 that no development plan was in place yet. The conditions the commission recommended for both sites require an archaeological review before grading and administrative approval of a plan of development. Verma-Lallian told KJZZ in September 2026 that she expected to submit the final site plans within six months, and that construction could begin within two years if they are approved.

The short version

Where it stands now

  • Maricopa County supervisors approved the two rezonings, Camelback Creek and Balterra, on September 2, 2026.
  • AZBEX reported in August 2026 that no end users had signed on, and in September that no development plan was in place. No building, grading or data center permit was found for either site.
  • Verma-Lallian told KJZZ she expected to submit final site plans within six months and that construction could begin within two years if they are approved.
  • Before construction, the county requires an archaeological review before grading and administrative approval of a plan of development.

The plan

  • Camelback Creek is about 310 acres at the northwest corner of 411th Avenue and Camelback Road. Balterra, about 593 acres, sits across 411th Avenue on its east side, southeast of the intersection. 411th Avenue has an interchange with Interstate 10.
  • KJZZ reported a 1,350-acre complex with a 355-acre film production studio, a golf course and an amusement park, and a rendering showing a data center and technology campus of roughly 300 acres.
  • A rendering by Gensler shows an amusement park and an indoor theme park, and the Phoenix Business Journal reported the plan could also include hotels and retail.
  • AZBEX describes Camelback Creek as focused on warehouses, distribution and data centers, and Balterra as more hospitality and entertainment. The Balterra filings also describe warehouse and data center uses there.
  • Verma-Lallian put the cost of the whole development at $6 billion to $10 billion, financed through equity and debt.
  • She said the project began as a film studio and the data center came later. She said the data centers would support AI-integrated filmmaking for her film company, Camelback Productions, and other studios, and could also serve other businesses in the area.

Power and water

  • Verma-Lallian told KJZZ the data center would draw about a gigawatt. Grid connection timelines with APS were still being negotiated, and an on-site natural gas plant could power it until it is connected.
  • The filings say bringing higher-voltage power to the site will take more time. AZBEX reported the company plans a power feasibility study with APS and is also considering natural gas and other options.
  • The county lists Global Water Resources and Belmont Water Company for water and APS for electricity, but no municipal or private company services reach the site yet.
  • The filings say the nearest Global Water Resources system is small and far short of what the site would need, and that an existing well and possibly new wells would need to be evaluated.
  • Verma-Lallian said the data center's water use would be about 5% of a typical housing subdivision's, without giving a figure.

What the county approved

  • August 6, 2026: the county Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval 7 to 0, handling the two sites' four cases on its consent agenda. No member of the public asked to speak.
  • County staff reported no known opposition and one letter of support for Camelback Creek in its report to the planning commission. Before the September 2 Board vote, staff received 19 items of opposition from 17 parcels, none from within 300 feet of the site, plus another letter of support and a support video from an adjacent landowner.
  • Both sites moved from rural zoning to IND-2 industrial zoning with an overlay. The conditions set a maximum building height of 85 feet.
  • September 2, 2026: the Board of Supervisors approved both rezonings.

Who is involved

  • The county records name Balterra Partners 590 Acres LLC as the owner of the Balterra land and Balterra Partners and 590 Acres LLC for Camelback Creek. AZBEX names Arizona Land Consulting as the owner.
  • Colliers Engineering & Design handles planning and engineering, and the law firm Berry Riddell LLC is the legal representative.
  • Verma-Lallian told KJZZ her company owns 6,000 acres in Arizona and that about half could become large-scale data centers. The Phoenix Business Journal reported the firm had two sites fully entitled for data center uses, with one more to go, without saying which sites.

Background

  • A development master plan approved for the Balterra land in 2006 for homes, shops and public uses was never carried out, and the site has stayed vacant.
  • The site is right next to nearly 20,000 acres that an investment firm of Bill Gates bought in 2017.

What is not known yet

  • Which part of the land the data center would use. The county approvals cover about 900 of the 1,350 acres KJZZ describes, and no county record was found for the rest.
  • Who would build, run or use the data center, and whether APS will serve it.
  • How much water it would use.

Where it is

2023 aerial photo of the sixteen Balterra mixed-use zoning case parcels outlined in yellow. The separate Camelback Creek case is not included in the parcel outline.
Aerial photo flown June 24, 2023: USDA National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP); source: USGS, USDA, The National Map: Orthoimagery (public domain). Outline drawn by Arizona AI from Maricopa County Assessor parcel records.

Outlined in yellow: the sixteen Balterra mixed-use zoning case parcels; the separate Camelback Creek case is not shown. It shows the land, not where buildings would go. Parcels: Maricopa County, CPA260007/Z260018, Balterra mixed-use zoning case; MCDOT TAC list of sixteen APNs. Shapes: Maricopa County Assessor (read November 8, 2026).

Open in Google Maps

  • Expected power demand at full build-out: 1.0 GW

Capacity: Figure reported in the press: expected electricity demand, at full build-out. About 1 GW the data center would draw, as Anita Verma-Lallian of Arizona Land Consulting told KJZZ in September 2026. A developer estimate, not a utility agreement.

Timeline

  1. : A development master plan for the Balterra land, for homes, shops and public uses, is approved; it was never built and the site stayed vacant. Source: AZBEX, Dual Plans Will Create Massive W. Valley Mixed-Use
  2. : AZBEX reports a proposed warehouse and data center master plan at Camelback Creek, with no end users signed on. Source: AZBEX, 320-Acre Warehouse & Data Center Master Plan Proposed in Far West Valley
  3. : The Planning and Zoning Commission recommends approving the Camelback Creek and Balterra rezonings and plan amendments on its consent agenda (vote: 7-0 yes). Source: Maricopa County Planning and Zoning Commission, Minutes, August 6, 2026
  4. : The Board of Supervisors approves the Camelback Creek and Balterra rezonings. Source: AZBEX, Dual Plans Will Create Massive W. Valley Mixed-Use
  5. : The Phoenix Business Journal reports the plans could include a movie studio, an amusement park, hotels, retail and a data center campus. Source: KTAR News, from the Phoenix Business Journal, Movie studio, amusement park planned for huge site near Phoenix
  6. : KJZZ reports Anita Verma-Lallian, the developer's CEO, says the data center will draw on a gigawatt of power. Source: KJZZ, Plans for a massive film studio and retail complex in Tonopah also include a large-scale data center

In their words

The project started more as a film studio, and I think the data center component came later on.

Working here

Per-facility headcount is not published here: no reliable public figures exist for these sites, and construction announcements are not permanent employment. Arizona Land Consulting is developing this site rather than operating it, so any long-term operator has not been established here.

Other Arizona Land Consulting facilities in Arizona

  • Hassayampa Ranch Data Center
    Arizona Land Consulting · Tonopah, north of 339th Avenue and Indian School Road · Proposed · 3.5 GW at full build-out

How we know this

Compiled from public records and checked on 2026-11-13. Confidence in this record: medium. Blank figures mean the number is not publicly established, not that it is zero.

Each statement on this page is listed with the page it came from and the words that say it. Sources open in a new tab.

Our own notes

These remarks are Arizona AI's own. They say how this record is counted or what we could not find, so there is no outside page to link.

The data center part of this development is listed as one record because the two county cases and the press describe one combined plan. County zoning approvals were found for about 900 of the 1,350 acres KJZZ describes, and no county record was found for the rest. No building, grading or data center permit was found for either site in the county permit records, and no operator or tenant has been announced.