UPS to build processing hub in Phoenix at cost of $180 million

UPS Inc. said today it will spend $180 million to build what will eventually be a 980,000-square-foot package-processing hub in Phoenix.

The project's first phase calls for the development of more than 600,000 square feet in Goodyear, just west of Phoenix near Interstate 10. UPS will operate out of a portion of the structure before the start of the peak holiday shipping season. The facility will be expanded over the next two years, and be fully operational by late 2019, the company said.

In a related development, UPS will begin regular Saturday ground pickup and delivery services in Phoenix on June 3. In April, UPS launched regular Saturday ground service in response to the growing demand for e-commerce deliveries. It has long offered regularly scheduled air services on Saturdays.

The program will cover nearly 4,700 markets by November, and expand to 5,800 locations by the end of 2018.