PROPERTY, GROWTH AND LOCATION
Beginning with the End in Mind
GET REAL
by Mike Hunter
Driving Process and Innovation in the Construction of Semiconductor Manufacturing Facilities Technology is all around us. It’s so integral to our daily lives that we often forget how reliant we are on the electronics that drive our everyday activities. Semiconductors, and a huge variety of microchips/processors, are a critical component of these electronic devices. However, keeping up with demand for the manufacturing of these chips is the challenge that chip manufacturers are tasked with and contractors like JE Dunn are tackling. The chips manufactured in semiconductor fabrication facilities are highly specialized, requiring a complex process to produce, and the methodology for executing the design and construction for these facilities is equally complex. Design and construction of semiconductor fabrication facilities is comprised of three phases: Base build, process lateral systems and tool install, with each phase dependent on the others. The challenge of successfully integrating them can be overcome with a thorough understanding of the “backward pass” approach to planning, design and construction.
BEGINNING WITH THE END IN MIND
The solution for seamless integration between phases is to engage and integrate tool install subject matter experts (SMEs) as part of the base build team to coordinate with our client’s tool install early on, using our backward pass approach. This approach is facilitated by our SMEs, who have a complete understanding of the moving parts in all three phases of the FAB build and understand the tie points, as well as their interdependencies on one another. Integrating this knowledge with our scheduling and modeling processes ensures the “critical path” runs through the first tool of the tool set and commissioning of each system — closing the loop and connecting all three phases. Without getting too technical (which is difficult with something that is literally the definition of the most complex and technical technology), the key is working forward efficiently with the end product and deliverable in mind the entire way. One of the most unique differences between traditional construction and semiconductor manufacturing is that the “end” design can change so many times along the way, as the technology that drives the final product also changes. With technology evolving daily, we have to build with what the final product could be, as it reaches its fullest potential.
SETTING THE STANDARD
The base build phase of the design build process typically consists of the core and shell of the fabrication building (FAB) and all the supporting infrastructure required. At this step, cleanliness and attention to detail leading up to clean protocol level 3 is of utmost importance.
PROCESS LATERAL SYSTEMS (PLS)
The key to success is understanding that the design of the PLS must be driven from the tool matrix. It is critical that the points of connection (POCs) for the tools have been qualified to meet the necessary FAB specifications prior to tool installation.
Photo courtesy of SVN Desert Commercial Advisors
TOOL INSTALL
Industrial Development Near Mesa Gateway Airport SVN Desert Commercial Advisors completed the sale of an approximately 112-acre industrial site in Mesa at the southwest corner of Warner Rd. and Sossaman Rd. just north of the Mesa Gateway Airport. Contour Real Estate plans to build a masterplanned industrial park encompassing eight buildings totaling more than 1.5 million square feet (in two phases of development) targeting specialized manufacturing, logistics and ecommerce tenants. The deal had been in escrow for twelve months as Contour worked through a rezone and PAD approval with the City of Mesa. svndesertcommercial.com
Diversified Partners to Redevelop Queen Creek Golf Course to Housing Diversified Partners plans to redevelop the Links at Queen Creek golf course into multifamily and single-family housing, with construction expected to start this year. Total redevelopment upon completion will exceed $750 million. The back 48 acres have been sold to Tri Pointe (Maracay Homes), where 172 single-family homes will be built, together with a gated entrance. The project will also include multifamily (garden style), high-density apartments and a single-family-for-rent product for a total of 106 net acres. There are numerous amenities on the site, including a community park and private lake. dpcre.com
Sterling Real Estate to Convert Scottsdale Hotel to Apartments Scottsdale-based investment firm Sterling Real Estate Partners recently acquired Suites on Scottsdale in an off-market transaction
Tool Install is a specialty design-build process and requires specific trade partner and tool manufacturer engagement and strict safety protocols. This phase requires the highest level of collaboration between all working in a controlled environment. This just scratches the surface of the complexities of constructing semiconductor manufacturing facilities, while technology produced within these facilities takes complexity and imagination to the next level. —Colin Featherstone, vice president at JE Dunn (www.jedunn.com)
with plans to convert the hotel into market-rate apartments. Originally built in 1996, the 114-room extended-stay hotel will be transformed into a luxury, 85-unit apartment community. The property is centrally located in one of Scottsdale’s most affluent sub-markets, positioned on the corner of Scottsdale and Mountain View roads, just south of Shea Blvd. This acquisition marks Sterling’s second adaptive reuse project. sterling-partners.com
Phoenix made No. 6 on CommercialSearch’s top 30 for most industrial space completed between 2012 and 2021, adding 72.7 million square feet of space in that timeframe. In 2021, sales volume in the metro reached almost $4.2 billion, more than double compared to 2020. commercialsearch.com/blog/industrial-decade-report-2012-2021
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MAR. 2022
INBUSINESSPHX.COM