Scottsdale approves Axon housing deal

After a dispute over a massive new headquarters, the Scottsdale City Council has approved an agreement with the weapons tech company Axon. The initial plan for the 70-acre campus asked for 1,900 housing units, but that plan was rejected.

The council agreed to a compromise with Axon, allowing the company to build 1,200 housing units in its development at the Loop 101 and Hayden Road. Of those 1,200 housing units, half will be apartments, and the other half will be transformed into condos.

Mayor Lisa Borowsky of the City of Scottsdale, joined “Arizona Horizon” to discuss the agreement and what this could mean for the future of Scottsdale.

“[The compromise with Axon] is, by far, the most controversial decision that Scottsdale, I think, has ever seen,” Borowsky said.

The Mayor of Scottsdale has been openly opposed to the previously approved 1,900 housing units.

“It was part of my reason for running,” Borowsky said. “To keep Scottsdale special and preserve our character.”

On April 18, 2025, Governor Katie Hobbs signed Senate Bill 1543, or the Axon Bill, into law. The legislation allows hotels and multi-family housing within light industrial zones to establish large international campuses in cities with 200,000 to 500,000 populations.

“[The law] completely silenced our ability, essentially, to make any decisions with respects to projects like [Axon],” Borowsky said.

In the following months, Borowsky recognized the importance of mitigations between Axon and the Scottsdale political actions committee Taxpayers Against Awful Apartment Exemptions.

“I knew where TAAAZE stood and I knew where Axon stood. I believed that I could get them to a middle ground,” Borowsky said. “In fact, I did get them to a middle ground.”

A special meeting was held on Nov. 14, 2025 to determine the future of the complex where Mayor Borowsky brokered the current deal with Axon President Josh Isner.

Due to this deal, TAAAZE filed a suit against the City of Scottsdale.