McCarthy Builds Future Leaders With New Arizona Training Campus

TEMPE, AZ – January 27, 2026 – McCarthy Building Companies, a 100% employee-owned firm and the nation's oldest privately held national construction company, has finalized the purchase of a sprawling 12-acre property in Tempe. The site, the former DoubleTree by Hilton hotel at Priest Drive and Broadway Road, is set to be transformed into a state-of-the-art campus dedicated to leadership development, innovation, and strengthening the company's unique culture. This move represents a landmark investment in its people, signaling a bold strategy to cultivate the next generation of builders and leaders from within its own ranks.

The new campus will serve as a national hub, hosting thousands of McCarthy's 8,000 employee-owners from across the country each year for multi-day learning programs, team-building exercises, and strategic company meetings. The initiative underscores a deep commitment to its workforce, which the company views as its most valuable asset.

A New Standard in People Development

This new campus is not merely an expansion of current training efforts but a fundamental reimagining of what corporate development can be in the construction industry. While McCarthy already operates a highly regarded Innovation and Craft Workforce Center (ICWC) in nearby Chandler, which focuses on hands-on skills for craft professionals, the Tempe campus will serve a complementary and crucial purpose. Its mission is to nurture the professional, managerial, and executive talent that will guide the company's future.

“This purchase marks another major investment in our people, performance, and culture, and it underscores our long-term commitment to developing the next generation of builders and leaders,” said Ray Sedey, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for McCarthy. “By creating a dedicated campus for specialized training, connection, and leadership development, we’re positioning our employees — and therefore our clients — for long-term success.”

McCarthy's dedication to training is already nationally recognized. The company was the first construction firm ever inducted into Training Magazine's Training Top-10 Hall of Fame, a testament to its long-standing investment in employee education. The Tempe campus elevates this commitment, creating a physical heart for its leadership and development programs. It will offer everything from skill-specific coaching for rising managers to executive development for senior leaders, ensuring a consistent pipeline of talent equipped to handle the industry's most complex challenges.

Revitalizing a Community Cornerstone

The project also represents a significant act of urban revitalization for the city of Tempe. The 12-acre property has a long and storied history, known to generations of locals as the Fiesta Inn campus and, before that, a popular Howard Johnson's Motor Lodge. Rather than demolishing the existing structures, McCarthy plans to honor the site's legacy through a thoughtful process of adaptive reuse.

As a “longstanding community builder,” the company intends to preserve the distinctive architectural character of the former hotel while infusing it with a completely refreshed and modern aesthetic. The plan includes enhancing the campus’s lush landscape to maintain its connection to the surrounding community. This approach will transform a dormant local landmark into a vibrant, active hub of professional activity.

The economic benefits for Tempe are expected to be substantial. The influx of thousands of visiting McCarthy professionals annually will provide a steady stream of revenue for local hotels, restaurants, and other businesses. Tempe city officials have embraced the project, viewing it as a powerful collaboration between the municipality and a major national corporation.

“We have known and respected McCarthy’s work for decades and we are so proud that they chose Tempe as the location for their new Center for Learning and Development,” said Tempe Mayor Corey Woods. “Their significant investment in restoring and improving this property is appreciated, and our city looks forward to hosting the thousands of McCarthy construction professionals who will be visiting each year.”

The Employee-Ownership Blueprint

To understand the logic behind such a significant capital investment in a non-revenue-generating facility, one must look to McCarthy's core identity: it is 100 percent employee-owned. This structure is the driving force behind the company's long-term strategic decisions, shifting the focus from short-term shareholder returns to sustainable growth and the collective success of its people.

The new campus is a tangible manifestation of this philosophy. It is an investment made by the owners, for the owners. This fosters a powerful sense of shared purpose and accountability that permeates the organization. By providing its employee-owners with best-in-class resources for growth, McCarthy is reinforcing the idea that every individual has a stake in the company's future and is empowered to contribute to it.

“This campus will be a testament to the powerful partnerships that came together to bring this vision to life,” noted Antonya Williams, McCarthy’s Regional Chief Strategy Officer. “The passion and talent of our McCarthy partners are at the heart of this effort, and we are all-in on developing our people—at every level—to be visionary leaders of our projects and company into the future.”

In a competitive labor market, particularly one as challenged by workforce shortages as construction, this commitment serves as a powerful tool for both talent retention and recruitment. It sends a clear message that McCarthy is a place for a career, not just a job.

A Strategic Bet on the Future

With planning and construction improvements scheduled to take place over the next 18 to 24 months, the Tempe campus is a forward-looking project. It is McCarthy's strategic answer to the evolving demands of the modern construction industry, which requires leaders who are not only technically proficient but also innovative, collaborative, and adaptable.

While other companies in the sector invest in training, the creation of a dedicated, large-scale campus focused specifically on leadership and professional development is a distinguishing move. It allows McCarthy to centralize its culture, standardize its leadership principles, and accelerate the adoption of new technologies and building methods across its national footprint. By taking full ownership of this critical function, the company ensures that the development of its people is directly aligned with its strategic objectives and its promise of delivering superior results for clients.

The transformation of the former Tempe hotel is more than just a construction project; it is a foundational element of the company's strategy for its next 160 years. As the industry watches this development unfold, it stands as a bold declaration that in an era of unprecedented change, the most critical asset a company can build is its own people.