Author: Brianna Johnson

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors will vote on an incentive package and resolution of support for a Foreign Trade Zone designation for Nestlé USA’s planned 625KSF manufacturing facility on 139 acres at the SEC of Northern Parkway and Reems Road in Glendale The Glendale City Council has already voted to approve the project, which will primarily focus on using oat products for coffee creamers. Council also voted to support the FTZ designation. A review of the proposal conducted by Applied Economics estimated the 10-year economic impact for Glendale at $2.1B, including 1,900 direct construction jobs and $226M in construction…

By BEX Staff for AZBEX Two projects are under consideration as part of The BLVD master plan in Avondale. The first, Avid Hotel and Shops, has been submitted for four acres in the plan’s Park Avenue District, a mixed-use vision that includes hotels, retail, restaurants, entertainment and education uses. According to an article in Phoenix Business Journal, The Avid proposal calls for a 95-room hotel in four stories, a 5.3KSF specialty store, a 5KSF restaurant and another 3KSF of retail. The site plan approval request was submitted by Archicon Architecture & Interiors LC. The second project, Encore Avondale, will feature…

By Roland Murphy and Rebekah Morris for AZBEX Arizona’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased to 3.7% in January, down from 3.9% in December, according to the latest report published by the Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity. The national rate increased to 4.0% from 3.9%. In January 2021, the state had a seasonally adjusted rate of 6.1%, and the national was 6.4%. The state had a net loss of 44,800 non-farm jobs over the month. “Historically (2012- 2021), nonfarm employment has recorded a loss of 49,800 jobs in January,” the report states. The private sector lost 38,400 jobs in January. Professional…

February prices for residential construction materials increased 1.6% on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, according to the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics Producer Price Index report. Steel product prices dropped 9.9%, and gypsum products were down 1.9%. Ready-mix concrete prices rose 0.8%. Interior paint prices held steady after going up 21.2% and 30.3%, respectively over the last year. Softwood lumber was up a seasonably adjusted 2.6% after a 28.9% increase over the preceding two months. Framing lumber has more than tripled in price since August 2021. (Source)

A two-phase proposal from DLR Group to construct a new office building for Pinal County operations and raze old buildings as they are vacated has encountered resistance from the Board of Supervisors. Vice Chairman Jeff Serdy told fellow Board members March 9th he would prefer to see several different proposals brought forward for consideration. He also expressed resistance to leveling the current offices for a new “sterile” building. Pinal had spent $7M renovating the current historic office space following the Board expansion in 2012. DLR Group’s stated goal in proposing the new structure was to integrate it with the existing…

Even though it withdrew a request for request for qualifications last year, the City of Tempe is still interested in redeveloping the mostly vacant Danelle Plaza at the SWC of Mill and Southern avenues. The City owns 3.14 acres in the roughly 15-acre plaza, home of local landmark Yucca Tap Room and a hub for the Tempe alternative arts and culture scene. The earlier RFQ received responses from Guina Affiliated Developers and Miravista Holdings. Tempe withdrew the solicitation last June in the belief that the site would benefit from a more comprehensive and detailed redevelopment plan than originally sought. Representatives…

The Pinal County Board of Supervisors has approved plans for Lofts at Townsite, a 264-unit apartment plan with a self-storage and boat/RV storage component on site. Pinal County planning staff said the plan for the 32.25-acre development proposal near Earley Road and Noble Street had the support of Casa Grande planners as well. The Board approved a comprehensive plan amendment and rezoning requests for the property, as well as an overlay zoning district. The landowners are David and Yukari Fitzgerald. The request applicant was EPS Group, Inc. (Source)

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX With all the nine- and 10- (and sometimes even 11-) figure industrial, multi-hundred-unit multifamily and multi-hundred-acre mixed-use projects dominating headlines around the state, it’s sometimes easy to overlook the smaller, more specialized developments that bring personality and uniqueness to the Arizona A/E/C landscape. One such specialty project offering is the portfolio of six Toy Barn luxury specialty personal storage developments operating, rising or expanding around the Phoenix area. Having just broken ground on its second Scottsdale facility and currently planning the third phase expansion for its Chandler location, I recently reached out to Jason Phillips,…

The Tohono O’odham Nation’s Ki:Ki Housing Association has been awarded $3.4M under the Community Development Block Grant American Rescue Plan for infrastructure projects that will provide clean water to villages in anticipation of future home construction. The grant is funded through the American Rescue Plan Act. The project is intended to build piping connections to deliver water. Funding will also cover the emergency construction of four manufactured residences. The current housing waiting list for tribal members numbers more than 400. The housing association’s current inventory under management is fewer than 500 rental and for-purchase units. The infrastructure plan is intended…

The Tohono O’odham Nation’s Ki:Ki Housing Association has been awarded $3.4M under the Community Development Block Grant American Rescue Plan for infrastructure projects that will provide clean water to villages in anticipation of future home construction. The grant is funded through the American Rescue Plan Act. The project is intended to build piping connections to deliver water. Funding will also cover the emergency construction of four manufactured residences. The current housing waiting list for tribal members numbers more than 400. The housing association’s current inventory under management is fewer than 500 rental and for-purchase units. The infrastructure plan is intended…