Author: BEX Staff

By BEX Staff for AZBEX Despite the elimination of light rail expansion funding in the recently passed and signed bill to send the Proposition 400E Maricopa County half-cent transportation sales tax to voters for approval, area transportation officials say two planned extensions will go forward using other funding mechanisms. An Aug. 2 article in The Arizona Republic quotes Maricopa Association of Governments Funding Policy Manager John Bullen as saying a planned extension running parallel to I-10 from downtown to 79th Avenue and another in the area of 19th and 43rd avenue between Bethany Home and Indian School Road can still…

By Associated Builders and Contractors National nonresidential construction spending increased 0.1% in June, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data published by the U.S. Census Bureau. Spending is up 18% over the past 12 months. On a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, nonresidential spending totaled $1.07T in June. Spending increased on a monthly basis in 12 of the 16 nonresidential subcategories. Private nonresidential spending was virtually unchanged, while public nonresidential construction spending rose 0.3% in June. “Nonresidential construction spending growth downshifted over the past two months,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “While stakeholders can expect ongoing spending…

By Alexandra Both and RentCafé Phoenix is one the nation’s fastest-growing cities, having welcomed more than 30,000 newcomers in the last three years, all needing a place to live amidst an affordable housing shortage. According to Maricopa Association of Governments data, almost half of renters in Maricopa County are cost-burdened, paying more than 30% of their income on rent. As a result, since 2017, homelessness in Phoenix surged by more than 70% to an alarming 9,600 people at the start of the year. More action is needed because Phoenix holds the key to its own housing crisis. The city ranked…

Awards & Accolades 1. Achen-Gardner Construction announced the firm won three Project of the Year awards at the recent AZ APWA statewide conference. The company served as Construction Manager at Risk for all three projects. The categories, projects and owners were: Environment Less Than $5M, Zone 1 – Transmission Main Assessment and Rehabilitation, Town of Gilbert; Environment $5-25M, Chandler Heights Utility Relocations, City of Chandler; Environment $25-75M; Waterline Replacement – Clark, University and Daley Park Neighborhoods, City of Tempe. 2. The Pinal County Attorney’s Office in Florence won the APWA Project of the Year award in the $5-25M Structures category,…

Vestar is planning a new retail outlet in north Phoenix, approximately two miles from its existing Desert Ridge Marketplace development. Plans submitted to the City of Phoenix say Black Mountain Village will put approximately 140.6KSF of retail and restaurant space anchored by a neighborhood grocery store on a 20-acre site near Black Mountain Blvd. and Deer Valley Drive. The location is currently under the management of the Arizona State Land Department. No auctions are currently scheduled for the site, which Vestar will have to buy or lease before building. The application by law firm Gammage & Burnham justifies the project…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX A new residential development in west Phoenix may be the next project to associate itself with The Grand Canal. Devco Residential Group is proposing Residences at Grand Canal, a 112-unit development roughly 500 feet south of the SEC of 75th Avenue and Camelback Road. The vacant 6.5-acre site is bounded by The Grand Canal on the east, single-family residences and agricultural land to the west, vacant land and an animal hospital to the north and single-family residences to the south. The developer is requesting a rezoning from R1-6 Single-family Residence District to R-3A Multifamily Residence…

Northern Arizona Healthcare is requesting disqualification of a fall special election referendum over its master plan for a proposed hospital. NAH filed a request with the Coconino County Superior Court to scrap the referendum, alleging the opponents’ petitions to gather signatures for the election contained misinformation about the project. Case law in Arizona requires referendums to be disqualified from the ballot if they contain false or misleading information about the issue under consideration. NAH claims the petition did not mention the planned hospital and merely stated the project will construct retail and commercial space. The first phase of the project…

The $104B Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization package approved by the U.S. House of Representatives and under consideration by the U.S. Senate includes funding for Pinal Airpark in Marana that could lead to the construction of the facility’s first air traffic control tower. Once a “boneyard” for old aircraft and part of the Central Intelligence Agency’s secret air operations program, the airpark has worked for years to evolve into a fully functioning airport and was named the Arizona Department of Transportation’s Airport of the Year in 2016. It now sees more than 100,000 commercial and military flights per year, and the…

Awards & Accolades 1. Sundt Construction, alongside architectural firms Poster Mirto McDonald and Miller Hull, won three Design-Build Institute of America Western Pacific Region awards. The Design Excellence Award, Award of Excellence for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Design Build and The Innovation Award awards were presented for their work on the Student Success District project for The University of Arizona. Company News 2. The Weitz Company announced the celebration of its 45th anniversary since the opening of its Arizona office. Since 1978, Weitz has played a vital role in shaping Arizona’s construction landscape, successfully completing more than 1,115 projects…

Sales Transactions 1. Global Hospitality Investment Group has paid $115.5M for the DoubleTree Resort by Hilton Paradise Valley in Scottsdale and is planning an additional capital investment to improve the property. The seller was Southwest Value Partners. 2. EQT Exeter has paid $105M for 570KSF of the total 1.25MSF G303 Industrial development at 6605 N. Sarival Ave. in Glendale. The sellers were Hines and Oaktree Capital Management. 3. Arizona Land Consulting has bought 265 acres near Baseline Road and Highway 85 for $24M. The site is expected to be the eventual home of a new industrial development, but no developer…