Author: BEX Staff

By Associated Builders and Contractors Associated Builders and Contractors has released its 2025 Health and Safety Performance Report, an annual guide to construction jobsite health and safety best practices. As a proud sponsor, ABC published the report ahead of Construction Safety Week 2025, May 5-9, to support its industrywide call to action for safer jobsites and a stronger safety culture. The report shows the positive impacts of construction companies participating in ABC’s STEP® Health and Safety Management System, which enables top-performing ABC members to achieve incident rates 658% safer than the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ construction industry average, reducing…

Giving Back 1. Sundt Construction volunteers renovated the S’more Café at Ryan House in Phoenix, completing the project in three weeks and using more than 300 volunteer hours. Led by Preconstruction Manager Jesse McDonald, the effort included new appliances, cabinetry and accessibility features. Phoenix Design One donated design services, and the Sundt Foundation supported the project. 2. The 21st annual Phoenix Sundt Foundation Charity Golf Tournament raised $230K for the Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center. Sundt Construction and its industry partners participated in the event. Awards & Accolades 3. Weld Like a Girl in Yuma was the only non-school…

Sales Transactions 1. A Los Angeles-based investor acquired the Superstition Gateway shopping center in east Mesa for $121M. The 66-acre retail shopping center contains 495KSF of leasable space, which is more than 90% occupied. The buyer assumed the existing $77M CMBS loan and its 3.6% interest rate. Lee & Associates brokered the transaction, and Thomas Title & Escrow closed the deal. 2. ATLAS Capital Partners has sold a parcel to the City of Phoenix for $29.5M to be part of Phoenix’s Rio Reimagined revitalization project. The 29.4-acre site is located at 3030 S. 7th St. and contains a 42.5KSF industrial…

By Rebekah Morris, CJ Jorgensen and Roland Murphy for AZBEX The Phoenix Chapter of the American Society of Professional Estimators recently held its 2025 ASPE Construction Conditions Panel Discussion. The panel was moderated by BEX Founder and President Rebekah Morris and featured: Max Froehlich, Sales Manager, Nucor Steel; Bob Karber, Principal, IMCOR; Glenn Leier, VP, Wespac Construction; Karla Moran, Sr. Manager of the Economic Development Team, SRP; Steve Shea, Partner, Hibernian Development, and Ben Squires, Project Manager, Butler Design Group. As she does with most event appearances, Morris began the panel by highlighting various BEX findings around the Arizona construction…

The Coconino County Board of Supervisors has approved a multiphase master plan for the development of Fort Tuthill County Park. Consultants GlobaLocal Vision and Wheat, a J2 Design Studio, spent 11 months developing the plan with input and recommendations from County Parks and Recreation staff, the Coconino County Parks and Recreation Commission, the Board of Supervisors, members of the public and other stakeholders. According to the April 22 presentation, at least 702 people participated in the process. The consultants also studied ongoing trends in parks and recreation in assembling the plan for the 633-acre site south of Flagstaff. The four-phase…

By Associated Builders and Contractors The construction industry had 248,000 job openings on the last day of March, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. JOLTS defines a job opening as any unfilled position for which an employer is actively recruiting. Industry job openings decreased by 38,000 last month and are down by 90,000 from the same time last year. “Construction job openings continued to trend lower in March, a clear sign of slowing industrywide demand for labor,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu.…

By Arizona Department of Transportation The Arizona Department of Transportation and partner agencies will hold an event from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday, May 20, at Mesa Convention Center (Building C) to help small businesses and those owned by individuals from socially and economically disadvantaged groups compete for transportation contracts that receive federal funding. Offered through ADOT’s Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program, the DBE and Small Business Transportation EXPO provides an opportunity to learn about project opportunities, visit exhibit booths, attend educational sessions, and network with industry professionals and business owners. Participants will also hear from transportation leaders, including ADOT…

Awards & Accolades 1. Achen-Gardner Construction, LLC received the Wastewater System Project of the Year award for its City of Phoenix PVC-Lined Concrete Sewer Pipe and Manhole Rehabilitation – North CMAR project during the 98th Annual AZ Water Conference and Exhibition. The project rehabilitated more than 17KLF pipe, and 36 manholes were either rehabilitated or constructed. There were 20 sewer bypass operations, including a double containment system crossing the Central Arizona Project canal at the Cave Creek Bridge. 2. Gensler was honored at the 2025 IIDA Southwest Design Awards for two commercial office projects. Comarch Data Center received the Award…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX After receiving multiple inquiries over the years from site selectors looking for large sites for future employment centers, and having few options to present to them, Pima County is advancing an Area Specific Plan that could fuel major economic development activity in the years to come. Pima has several areas and specific properties it owns and leases for various types of economic development activities—including downtown urban space, interstate-adjacent office and industrial properties—and the 500-acre Aerospace Research Campus intended for aerospace, technology and research and development uses. In the 1970s, the County acquired approximately 3,000 acres…

By CJ Jorgensen for AZBEX Valley Partnership’s 2025 Water Summit Luncheon captured Arizona’s current hydrological landscape with the repeated motif, “We are running out of water. We have all the water we need.” The Water Summit consisted of four different topics that included six speakers. The event began with Fennemore’s Director of Natural Resources, Rob Anderson. Anderson, who coined the quote of the day, gave a broad overview of the history of water in Arizona and the future of water in the Grand Canyon state. Water is sourced from four separate areas: the Colorado River, in-state rivers (such as the…