(C) Arizona Mirror
This story was originally published by Arizona Mirror and is unaltered.
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Axon ends Scottsdale negotiations but will proceed with headquarters project [1]
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Date: 2025-06
Even after succeeding in winning support at the state Capitol for a change to state law that cancels a public vote on its proposed headquarters development, law enforcement technology company Axon announced that it will no longer negotiate with Scottsdale on its massive corporate campus and housing project.
“Unfortunately, Axon is withdrawing from negotiations with the City of Scottsdale,” Axon President Josh Isner said in a statement released late Monday after meeting with the city’s mayor. “The internal politics of the City Council currently make it impossible to reach an agreement. I have never seen such a toxic environment in my life. We put a great deal on the table and we tried our best.”
Axon has threatened in the past that a failure to build the north Scottsdale project will force Axon to relocate to another state. The $60 billion company has been fighting with Scottsdale over its international headquarters project near the Loop 101 and Hayden Road, which includes a luxury hotel and roughly 1,900 apartments, some of which will be offered to Axon employees at a discounted cost.
After voters in Scottsdale gathered enough signatures to send the project to the ballot, the company sought a remedy at the Arizona legislature saying that they’d leave the state if the referendum vote went forward. Lawmakers passed legislation to spare the company from facing an election, and Gov. Katie Hobbs signed it into law in April.
The new law says that any municipality with between 200,000 and 500,000 residents — Scottsdale had 241,000 residents in the 2020 census — must “allow hotel use and multifamily residential housing” for land zoned like the Axon parcel “without requiring any type of application that will require a public hearing” if certain criteria is met.
City leaders and the citizens who created the initial referendum said they would likely pursue legal recourse, and citizen advocates have already filed paperwork for a possible statewide referendum for the new law.
Since then, Axon has been in negotiations with Scottsdale over the project to allay the concerns of the city council. City leaders have said they’d like Axon to stay, but without the controversial apartment project, which was approved by a lame-duck council.
Scottsdale Mayor Lisa Borowsky said in a statement posted on social media that the company was willing to amend the project, but the two sides couldn’t come to a deal.
“Unfortunately, there were too many hurdles to overcome in order to move an agreement forward successfully,” she wrote. “I remain hopeful that future negotiations result in a win-win agreement that works for the community and keeps this vital employer right where it belongs — in Scottsdale.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has pitched his state to the company amid the drama.
***CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story said that Axon was ending its plans to build its headquarters in north Scottsdale. However, the company told the Arizona Mirror after this story was published that the HQ campus will go forward, but the company is terminating negotiations with Scottsdale leaders over potential modifications to the plan. The story, headline and URL were changed to reflect that.
***UPDATE: This story has been updated to include a comment from Scottsdale Mayor Lisa Borowsky.
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[1] Url:
https://azmirror.com/briefs/axon-ends-scottsdale-negotiations-but-will-proceed-with-headquarters-project/
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