Giving Back
1. Valley Partnership recently closed the application process for nonprofit organizations seeking to participate in its 39th Annual Community Project. Since 1987, the organization has contributed more than $6.5M in facility enhancements and community improvement projects across the Valley. The selected nonprofit will receive volunteer support for outdoor improvement projects, including landscaping, painting, planting, murals and community space enhancements during the Nov. 7 event, which will host approximately 300 volunteers.
Awards & Accolades
2. LevRose Commercial Real Estate announced Senior Advisor Trevor White, a retail property specialist, has been named to the ICSC Local Arizona NextGen Committee and will represent the firm and the state chapter at ICSC Las Vegas 2026 from May 18 to 20. ICSC’s Next Generation Leadership Network is comprised of under-40 professionals who exemplify the leadership, creativity and vision needed to advance their organizations and the Marketplaces Industry through a period of rapid change and transformation.
3. A dynamic mixed-use development anchored by a central park and lake – along with diverse housing, retail, and pedestrian-only corridors – earned top honors at the 13th annual REIAC/Rockefeller Group Challenge. This year’s project was a request for development proposals for approximately 247.4 acres of land known as Turf Paradise in Phoenix. Student team named Roadrunner Development proposed “Paradise Park,” which took home the cash prize of $1K per team member for each of the three graduating Master’s of Real Estate Development students from Arizona State University’s W. P. Carey School of Business. Members of the winning team included Blake Beauvais, Vanessa Fox, Taylor Koblenz and Jonathan Rigau. The Challenge featured four industry evaluators: Mark Singerman, Rockefeller Group Development Company; Lee Mashburn, Mashburn Companies; Mike Wilson, Wilson Property Services, and Kevin Schillig, MidFirst Bank.
4. AZ Big Media recently announced its top 10 commercial architecture firms with eight architects or more as part of its 2026 edition of Ranking Arizona. Awardees include:
- Corgan,
- Gensler,
- SWABACK,
- SPS+ Architects,
- Grace Design Studios (formerly Orcutt|Winslow),
- Butler Design Group,
- DAVIS,
- Archicon Architecture & Interiors,
- CCBG Architects and
- SmithGroup.
Additionally, AZ Big Media announced its top 10 commercial architecture firms with seven or fewer architects. Awardees include:
- Cawley Architects,
- LGE Design Group,
- STG Design,
- Ideation Design Group,
- triARC architecture & design,
- dpa architects,
- Deutsch Architecture Group,
- MRT Design,
- Allen + Philp Architects and
- ADM Group.
Company News
5. Sundt Construction has acquired Phoenix-based Industrial Power Solutions, an industrial electrical contractor specializing in water and wastewater treatment facilities. IPS will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Sundt, and the acquisition more than doubles Sundt’s skilled electrical workforce. IPS founder Lucas Bruxvoort and the company’s leadership team will remain with the firm. IPS has operated in the Valley for nearly two decades and employs more than 200 people.
6. The Business Engagement and Compliance Office has been renamed Small Business and Workforce Development. The change is intended to reflect the commission’s commitment to supporting small business growth and creating more external workforce opportunities.
7. P.B. Bell celebrated its 50th anniversary on May 10. Over the company’s lifespan, it has developed/acquired more than 11,500 multifamily units and managed more than 55,000 units across Arizona.
8. The now-employee-owned Valley Rain Construction recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. The company initially began as an irrigation contractor. It has since grown into full landscape construction and general contracting, with a focus on parks and outdoor public projects.
9. A.R. Mays Construction is celebrating its 40th anniversary. Founded in 1986 by President Adam Mays, the employee-owned commercial general contractor has completed more than 1,200 projects across 25 states and expanded with a second office in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. The company also services 12 Native American tribes and operates as an Employee Stock Ownership Plan company. Joe Barth, who joined the company in 1993 and now serves as Executive VP, helped lead A.R. Mays’ growth from a local builder into a national full-service general contractor.
Promotions
10. Phil Glenn has been named President of Kitchell Contractors. Glenn, a 17-year veteran of Kitchell, most recently served as VP of Operations, where he oversaw operations for the construction company nationwide. He has led major projects across the Southwest for clients including Valleywise Health, Banner Health and CommonSpirit Health. Glenn will oversee all aspects of Kitchell Contractors’ business with a focus on teams, clients and continued growth.
New Hires
11. Western Retail Advisors announced several new hires and appointments in its Phoenix office:
- Makenna Wesley joined the firm as Associate VP. Wesley has more than a decade of experience specializing in tenant representation for national, franchise and local retail brands. She began her career with Western Retail Advisors in 2016 and most recently served as a Director of Real Estate in Southern Calif.
- Lee Larcher rejoined the firm as Senior Associate. Larcher began his brokerage career in Western Retail Advisors’ Southern California office and brings more than a decade of experience advising owners, operators, developers and tenants. He most recently managed more than $800M in multifamily development projects throughout the West for StreetLights Residential.
- Megan Adamic joined the firm as Senior Associate, specializing in retail tenant and landlord representation. She previously served as a Retail Leasing and Sales Associate for a commercial real estate brokerage and development firm.
- Jase Acker joined the firm as Transaction Manager and licensed Arizona Real Estate Salesperson. Acker previously interned with Western Retail Advisors, supporting senior brokers on tenant and landlord representation assignments.