Author: BEX Staff

The Mesa City Council has approved a rezoning request from A New Leaf to begin a new $30M affordable housing development for seniors and veterans on its La Mesita housing campus at Main Street and Dobson Road. Phase 4 of La Mesita will complete the campus by providing 48 studios and six one-bedroom units connected to the larger site, which includes apartment residences and a temporary housing shelter. Ten of the 54 units will be dedicated to veterans. A New Leaf bought the land in 2015 and has always intended it as an expansion site. The group plans to fund…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX The Dinerstein Companies has submitted a request for design plan approval for Legacy North Apartments at Crossroads—a 443-unit apartment and townhome development at Legacy Blvd. and Miller Road—to the Scottsdale Development Review Board. The 20.5-acre, R-5-zoned site was purchased in an Arizona Land Department auction in March by real estate investor Michael Lieb’s Legacy 76, LLC. A news report at the time said the buyer planned to partner with The Dinerstein Companies on a multifamily development for the site. At 443 units, the site has a planned density of 23 units/acre. Although the development is…

Property owner AZ MED CAP, LLC and developer Paul Alessio have plans to build a $40M, 180-unit apartment community on the six-acre site of the former Mesa General Hospital at 515 N. Mesa Dr. in Mesa. The hospital closed in 2008. After several attempts to salvage the decrepit building and find medical users failed, Mesa encouraged the developer to demolish the building, improve the surrounding buildings and solicit feedback for redevelopment. City officials and project representatives believe the resulting plan—Mesa Drive Apartments—will be a good fit for the area and hope it will spur additional infill development. The plan calls…

By Associated Builders and Contractors Construction industry employment increased by 23,000 in June, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Industry employment has risen by 198,000 jobs since June 2022, an increase of 2.6%, to 7.947 million. Nonresidential construction employment rose by 12,200 positions on net, with positive growth in two of the three subcategories. Heavy and civil engineering added 7,300 positions, while nonresidential building added an additional 5,400 jobs. Nonresidential specialty trade contractors lost 500 jobs on net. The construction unemployment rate increased to 3.6%. Unemployment across all…

Giving Back 1. The Sundt Foundation recently awarded $37,610 in grants to eight Tucson charities. The recipients are: St. Luke’s Home in the Desert; $10K, Marshall Home for Men; $6,610, Youth on Their Own; $5K, Wheels for Kids; $5K, Gabriel’s Angels; $3.5K, Inside Out Network; $2.5K, BICAS; $2.5K Tu Nidito Children and Family Services; $2.5K. Awards & Accolades 2. AZRE Magazine has published its list of the Most Influential Women in Commercial Real Estate for 2023: Dawn Bishop; Prologis, Jamie Blakeman; Lokahi Engineering, Jenna Borcherding; VanTrust Real Estate, Lynette Dreitz; Cawley Architects, Amy Fricke; LGE Design Build, Bonnie Halley; Colliers,…

Sales Transactions 1. Providence Real Estate Group has purchased Scottsdale Financial Center I from Goldman Sachs for $44M. Cushman & Wakefield’s Tim Whittemore and Patrick Schrimsher are the listing brokers for the property, located at 4110 N. Scottsdale Road. 2. Cushman & Wakefield announced the firm has brokered the sale of Avalon, a fully renovated, 117-unit multifamily community at 3851 N. 28th St. in Phoenix for $29.5M. The buyer was CS Large Cities Housing Fund, LP. David Fogler and Steven Nicoluzakis with Cushman & Wakefield’s Multifamily Advisory Group represented the seller, Avalon LLC. 3. Whitestone REIT has paid $25.3M for…

Taser maker Axon wants to build a tech campus in north Scottsdale to support its planned headquarters facility near the NEC of Hayden Road and Mayo Blvd. The campus is currently planned to include a hotel and approximately 2,300 residential units across four five-story buildings with ground-floor retail and restaurants on a former state land site at Hayden Road and the Loop 101 freeway. In a recent neighborhood meeting to introduce the proposal to residents of the nearby Stonebrook community, Axon representatives said the campus and amenities will serve to support the company’s employees’ housing and entertainment needs at the…

A pair of new auto malls along SR 24 in the southeast part of the Valley came before the Maricopa County Planning and Zoning Commission last month. Berge Auto Mall and Gateway Auto Mall are proposed by Berge Auto Group and Horne Auto Group, respectively. Berge’s site is planned for 114 acres at the NWC of Signal Butte Road and SR 24, while Gateway wants to build on 88 acres at the SWC. Both properties are currently vacant and lie partially in the jurisdictions of both Mesa and Maricopa County. Both cases are represented by Pew & Lake PLC and…

By Pima County The U.S. Department of Transportation on June 22 announced Pima County will receive $20M from the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity Act to add travel lanes, sidewalks, bike lanes, and other transit enhancements to a 1.3-mile segment of West Valencia Road. Once completed, Valencia between Mission Road and Camino de la Tierra will have increased lanes, better traffic flow, improved bike lanes, and better public transportation access and amenities. It also will improve the connection between metro Tucson and communities including the Pascua Yaqui Tribe and the Tohono O’odham Nation San Xavier District, as well…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX The National Association of Homebuilders recently released an overview of Inclusionary Zoning laws around the United States. Prepared by Hinckley, Allen & Snyder LLP, the 106-page “Policy, Practical, and Legal Challenges to Inclusionary Zoning: A Resource Manual for NAHB Members” offers a state-by-state look at inclusionary zoning and “provides a list of policy, practical and legal strategies that NAHB members may adopt when dealing with inclusionary zoning proposals, as well as an accessible guide to state statutory and case law authority for municipal or county governments to enact inclusionary zoning ordinances,” according to the announcement.…