Author: BEX Staff

Following a planning staff recommendation, the Goodyear Planning and Zoning Commission has recommended approval of a special use permit to allow construction of a U-Haul Moving & Storage facility at the NEC of Van Buren Street and 137th Avenue. Two buildings are planned, including a four-story 117.9KSF primary building featuring 1,064 storage units and an 18.6KSF “U-Box” building for container storage. Because of the setbacks in place at the infill site, building heights will be taller than usual, with the primary storage building reaching 48 feet and the U-Box building at 53 feet. Goodyear City Council is expected to consider…

The Glendale City Council voted last week to pursue a special General Obligation bond election in November and put two issues before voters. The requests total $160M. The requests would provide $82M for street and intersection Transportation projects and $78M for a variety of Public Safety facilities development and equipment procurement projects. The City polled 400 likely voters earlier this year and found those two categories met with the strongest level of citizen support. Council members debated the need for pursuing a bond request, with some arguing in favor of funding the projects with cash on hand for at least…

Awards & Accolades 1. Willmeng Construction has been named to Inc. Magazine’s annual Best Workplaces list for 2023. Featured in the May/June 2023 issue, the list is the result of a comprehensive measurement of American companies that have excelled in creating exceptional workplaces and company culture, whether operating in a physical or a virtual facility. 2. Camelot Homes has learned they are a Gold Nugget Award of Merit winner in four categories of the 2023 Gold Nugget Awards. Camelot Homes earned its Merit honors for Paradigm, which was honored for Best Single Family Detached Home (3,000SF – 3.499SF) and Best…

Sales Transactions  1. A private 1031 investor has bought The Marketplace retail center in Flagstaff for $23.5M from Macerich. The sale was brokered by Faris Lee Investments.  2. Back to the Future Cottonwood, LLC has paid $11.78M for Cottonwood Plaza, a retail center on North Oracle Road in Tucson. Seller Cottonwood Plaza, LLC was represented by John Yarborough and David Carroll with Romano Real Estate. The new owner plans to modernize and renovate the property.  3. A private investor has bought a 10.4KSF two-tenant medical office building at 2394 N Alma School Road in Chandler for $6.5M. The building is…

Development partners Venue Projects and Sunbelt Holdings recently presented a site plan for the Hayden Flour Mill Redevelopment adaptive reuse project to a special joint meeting of the Tempe City Council and the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community Council. Under the plan, the redevelopment will feature eight structures, including six new buildings. The City bought the mill site at Mill Avenue and Rio Salado Parkway in 2003. In 2021, Tempe issued a Request for Proposals to redevelop the mill site, which closed in 1998. Two other firms had been awarded development rights after Tempe’s purchase, but the rights expired without…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX While most reporting this week about the most recent $17.8B Arizona state budget proposal has focused on in-fighting between Gov. Katie Hobbs and Democratic leaders over Hobb’s apparent acquiescing to Republicans on school choice vouchers, there are a great many sections and line items of interest to the state’s construction community. The Arizona Capitol Times reports the budget includes $150M for the Housing Trust Fund, $40M for homeless services and shelters and a $183M one-time allocation for school building renovation. In addition to those funds, more than $100M is planned for capital projects in the…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX A 5.8-acre site near the SWC of Van Buren and 55th streets in Phoenix could deliver another 225 units to the market under a rezoning and redevelopment proposal coming before the Planning Commission June 1. The location is currently divided between vacant land to the south and a motel to the north. The areas are zoned General Commercial and Light Industrial. Owner Clear Sky Capital Van Buren, LP and its partners, through project representative firm Berry Riddell LLC, has requested a rezoning to Multifamily Residence District to allow the development of The Van Buren Residences. …

The Scottsdale Development Review Board voted 6-0 earlier this month to approve the exterior aesthetics for Optima McDowell Mountain Village, a multiphase, 22-acre residential and retail site near Scottsdale Road and Mayo Blvd. Plans call for 36KSF of retail and 1,300 apartments and condominiums ranging from 775SF up to 2,025SF. The project has a 10-year estimated timeline and will be built in three phases. Building heights will be a mix of six- and eight-story structures with ground-floor amenities and rooftop swimming pools and running tracks. All the infrastructure to support the project will take place in the first phase of…

By LGE Design Build LGE Design Build has released its second quarter Construction Delivery Outlook Report that monitors and analyzes the economic uncertainty and changes within construction labor, supply chain, material pricing, inflation and overall demand. Construction Labor The construction labor shortages are not going to disappear anytime soon. Contractors continue to receive significant demand for mega-projects related to chip manufacturing plants and clean energy facilities while still struggling with a shortage of younger workers entering skilled trades. Other notable findings: On a national level, $1B is being invested in additional construction spending. The construction industry will need to attract…

With growth in the West Valley threatened by the possibility of insufficient water supply and infrastructure, a variety of experts and agencies are examining solutions to head off the problem. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and West Valley Water Association estimated earlier this year the West Valley will need an additional range of between 15.3 billion and 84.7 billion gallons (47,000-260,000 acre-feet) of new water annually by 2060 to meet its predicted growth. The Arizona Department of Water Resources has also issued a study saying there is not enough groundwater for future development. The West Valley has been a hotbed…