Author: BEX Staff

Groundbreakings 1. Greystar has broken ground on Caliber, a Class A industrial park and the first piece in a $500M mixed-use project planned by Greystar in downtown Peoria. Upcoming phases include residential and retail. JLL is the exclusive leasing broker for the industrial space.  2. The City of Maricopa announced construction will start May 8 on the first phase of the Sonoran Desert Parkway development. Construction is expected to run into the late summer or early fall.  3. Streamliner 16th, a 208-unit attainable housing apartment development from Greenlight Communities, broke ground late last month. Leasing will begin in March 2024. …

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX  It’s blessedly rare that scandals like Legacy Sports Park/Bell Bank Park/Legacy Park: Arizona’s Premiere Sports & Entertainment Complex’s current financial woes—including millions of dollars in delinquent payments to contractors and subs—befall the Arizona Architecture/Engineering/Construction community. Last week, The Arizona Republic published an extensively detailed look into the history of the project, its current financial troubles and the complicated and worrisome financial history of Randy Miller, the person who first envisioned the multi-use park as his “legacy” and brought it to fruition. At around 6,500 words, the piece is longer than most in-depth magazine articles. It…

By Arizona Department of Transportation As warming weather allows the Arizona Department of Transportation to begin more permanent repairs to highways after a rough winter, the agency is reallocating $50.5M to replace deteriorating pavement surfaces in 23 locations, most of them in northern Arizona. Funding for the pavement repair work comes from savings on other projects. The State Transportation Board approved ADOT’s plan to address severe roadway deterioration on segments of I-40, I-17, I-10, US 60, SR 260 and SR 77. ADOT plans to recommend $40M for similar projects in the agency’s 2024-2029 Five-Year Construction Program. The projects, which ADOT…

By Rio Nuevo Continuing its aggressive pursuit of urban restaurants and beverage establishments, the Rio Nuevo Board unanimously approved two large developments with more than $20M of new annual revenue by activating vacant space at Stone and Congress and at Broadway and Plumer in Tucson. Church & Congress Development Mat Snapp, a member of Barter and Shake cocktail entertainment company, which has developed some of the most popular and highly ranked bars in Phoenix, has partnered with local entrepreneur Brandt Hazen. They have acquired all the restaurant properties west of The Fox Theatre on the north side of Congress. Their…

By BEX Staff for AZBEX By a vote of 5-2, the Yuma City Council has again approved rezoning from Agricultural to Medium-density Residential for an approximately seven-acre site at 24th Street and Avenue 9E. Under the current request, developer Saguaro Desert Land (Hall’s General Contractors) wants to build an 84-unit multifamily development on the site. Council had previously approved a rezoning request in 2016. Resident opposition led to a voter referendum that nullified the approval later the same year. After the initial rezoning was overturned, a new request was submitted in 2018 to build workforce attainable apartments. Because the request…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX A trio of rezonings and a General Plan amendment request coming before the Casa Grande Planning and Zoning Commission this week could, if approved and built as planned, deliver a total of 808 new residential units and a small volume of new retail to the city. According to the accompanying staff report, developer Innovation Communities has requested: A minor General Plan amendment from Neighborhoods to Community Corridor for 30.1 acres near the SEC of Rodeo and Pueblo roads, Rezoning from Planned Area Development (Medium Density and Low Density) to PAD (Medium Density) for Innovation Villas…

Scottsdale’s proposed $2.54B Fiscal Year 2023-2024 budget includes $1.376B for capital improvements covering a total of 385 projects. The remainder breaks down to $739.1M for the operating budget and grants and $425.3M for contingencies and reserves. City revenues are planned at slightly more than $2B, while expenses are set at $2.54B. Scottsdale has $964M in budget carryovers that more than make up for the difference. The capital improvement budget is divided into seven project categories: Drainage and Flood Control: $708M, Water and Sewer: $449.8M, Transportation: $437.9M, Community Facilities: $140M, Service Facilities: $139.2M, Public Safety: $100.6M, and McDowell Sonoran Preserve: $38.1M. …

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX Arizona’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased to 3.5% in March, down from 3.7% in February, according to the latest report published by the Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity. The national rate decreased to 3.5% from 3.6%. In March 2022, the state had a seasonally adjusted rate of 3.6%, as did the national rate. While Construction gained 1,500 employees in March, the state had a loss of 9,800 non-farm jobs. “Prior to the pandemic (2010-2019), NSA nonfarm employment gained an average of 10,800 jobs in March,” the report states. Manufacturing gained 1,800 jobs for the month…

Giving Back 1. PK Associates and McCarthy Building Companies took part in this year’s American Heart Association Heart Walk. The team landed the #2 spot among participating companies. Together with 15 other teams, participants raised more than $109K. Awards & Accolades 2. The Arizona Association for Economic Development presented its annual Economic Development Distinguished by Excellence Awards during its annual Spring Conference in Tucson last week. Overall, nine EDDE Awards were presented to: Economic Developer of the Year Award – Large Community: Micah Miranda, City of Chandler; Economic Developer of the Year Award – Small Community: Una Wirkebau, City of…

Sales Transactions 1. Arizona Land Consulting announced it has acquired 320 acres adjacent to the Casa Grande Municipal Airport for potential future industrial development. The $12M site was bought in partnership with Casa Grande Martin Road & Scott Drive LLC and has water and sewer lines in place on the property.  2. Pedcor Companies has paid $7.93M for a 10.9-acre, Opportunity Zone site in Buckeye. The location is planned as the site of a 204-unit garden-style apartment development to be known as Springs at Sundance. Pedcor was represented by Will French of Cushman & Wakefield. Seller Watson and I 10…