Author: BEX Staff

By BEX Staff for AZBEX The Fairmont Scottsdale Princess Resort is planning a major expansion that will add new meeting space, guest rooms and a 1,000-space parking structure. In the proposals submitted to the City of Scottsdale, the resort wants to add 9KSF of meeting rooms and a new one-story conference building with a 25KSF ballroom. On the SEC of Cottage Terrace Lane and Hacienda Way, the plan will add a new four-story building with 155 guest rooms, expanding the resort’s total room count to 949. The new guest wing will also include 57 underground parking spaces. At the SEC…

By Associated Builders and Contractors Associated Builders and Contractors reported that its Construction Backlog Indicator declined to 8.7 months in March, according to an ABC member survey conducted March 20 to April 3. The reading is 0.4 months higher than in March 2022. Backlog slipped in March and is now at its lowest level since August 2022. Backlog is down on a monthly basis in every region except for the South, which continues to be associated with elevated levels of current and future construction activity. ABC’s Construction Confidence Index reading for sales inched higher in March, while the readings for…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX While the Arizona and national construction environments are still far from being able to say, “All is well,” Rider Levett Bucknall’s latest North America Quarterly Construction Cost Report and Q1 Crane Index both indicate a sense of cautious optimism for calm that may not be misplaced. Quarterly Construction Costs RLB cites U.S. Department of Commerce data to report $1.826T of construction was put in place in January 2023. This represents a decrease of 0.1% from December 2022, but a 5.7% increase from January 2022. Nationally, the average increase in construction cost was 8.11%. The largest…

By Northern Arizona University Northern Arizona University’s School of Hotel and Restaurant Management is opening the Mesa Workforce Development Center in Fall 2024. The MWDC will offer education and training programs to rebuild and expand the hospitality workforce in Mesa and surrounding communities. The MWDC will provide for-credit hotel restaurant management and hospitality degree programs as well as noncredit credentials, including shorter and more affordable offerings to address the strong demand for workforce solutions in the hospitality industry. The decision to locate the MWDC in Mesa was driven by the long-term economic development opportunities in the East Valley and its…

Ryan Companies is planning a 122-acre build-to-suit industrial park east of I-10 and south of Houser Road along the Union Pacific rail line in Eloy. The Foreign Trade Zone-eligible Southwest Crossing Industrial Park site is located in an Opportunity Zone, and Ryan officials say they are targeting companies involved with manufacturing, distribution/logistics, and sustainability, among others, that are looking for less expensive space than can be found in Phoenix. The company has developed conceptual plans showing 1.9MSF in two buildings of approximately 1.4MSF and 518KSF and another configuration of roughly 1.8MSF in six buildings sized from 407KSF to 120KSF. Leasing…

A new environmental analysis released by the Biden administration shows two possibilities for cutting use of Colorado River water by seven states and several Native tribes. One option favors California and some tribes because of “high priority rights” to the water. The second advocates a more even distribution of cuts among the various parties by mandating cuts on a proportional basis when water levels in target reservoirs reach specific low points. Arizona and Nevada would fare better under the second plan. The analysis looks at how the government can cope with water shortages at Lake Powell and Lake Mead through…

Groundbreakings 1. HonorHealth broke ground this week on an expansion project at HonorHealth Deer Valley Medical Center. The expansion, located at 19829 N. 27th Ave. in Phoenix, will be completed in phases and represents an investment of $170M. Construction is scheduled to begin this summer, with the entire project slated to be completed in 2025.   2. Empire Group of Companies recently broke ground and construction is now underway on its latest Build-to-Rent community in Peoria. Village at Pleasant River, located at 115th Avenue and Happy Valley Road, will include 246 single-family, single-story homes for rent.  3. Salt River Project, Plus…

Plans were announced last week for a 168-room Reverb by Hard Rock hotel to join the $100M, 26-acre entertainment and hospitality development The Sydney on the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community. Palmer Development Group held a groundbreaking for The Sydney last week. The hotel component is expected to start construction in eight to 12 months. Other tenants already on board for The Sydney include Pickle & Social—a restaurant and event space—and Goodsurf—a recreation facility with an on-site surf pool with food, drinks and live music. (Source)

Following a name change, the opposition group Central Arizonans for a Sustainable Economy has apparently also undergone a change of heart and dropped its lawsuit against the South Pier at Tempe Town Lake development. The project is a $1.8B master-planned community with luxury apartments, retail, restaurant and entertainment destinations planned for 12 acres on Vista Del Lago Drive. CASE, now known as “Worker Power,” had filed a lawsuit after the City of Tempe rejected the group’s attempts to place the project on the ballot as a referendum. CASE objected to the lack of on-site affordable housing and the project’s property…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX A proposal from Fairfield Residential may soon bring 390 more apartment units to a 4.6-acre site at the NEC of Rockford Drive and Cameron Way in Tempe. Located in the 2100 Rio Salado Business Park, the site is west of the intersection of the Loop 101 and Loop 202 freeways off Price Road. The location is currently zoned General Industrial and has a Mixed-Use designation under the City of Tempe 2040 General Plan. It is noted as High Density on the General Plan’s projected density map, with a maximum of up to 65 dwelling units/acre.…