Author: BEX Staff

By BEX Staff for AZBEX Cordia Energy is planning to add a fourth water chilling and circulation plant to serve its downtown Phoenix customer base. The proposed plant will sit on 2.67 gross acres at the NWC of 6th and McKinley streets, with a building footprint of 12,136SF. Other media outlets reported last week that the plant was to be a huge development and built underground, neither of which is correct. Cordia’s three downtown Phoenix plants comprise a chilled water system capable of providing more than 27,000 tons of cooling and storing 100,000 ton-hours of ice for additional cooling. The…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX – BEXCLUSIVE Developers, particularly multifamily developers, have been wary of Fountain Hills for several years, as the town has earned a reputation for difficulty in securing zoning and entitlements for new projects. With the Town Council’s June 6 denial of a rezoning as part of an 80-unit proposal for Senderos at Fountain Hills, the town has declared itself effectively closed for business and given the development community a loud and clear signal that even the best proposal stands little-to-no chance of bearing fruit. Even though Senderos at Fountain Hills is a smaller development than we…

Environmental services company Republic Services, Inc. is planning to expand its headquarters with a new 240KSF facility in the master-planned City North development near Desert Ridge Marketplace. The company is acquiring approximately 10 acres in the development and relocating its headquarters from its current location near Scottsdale Road and Mayo Blvd. Republic representatives said the company chose the new location after examining sites in other states. The City of Phoenix recently approved a development and incentives agreement with Republic Services and City North developer Crown Realty & Development. Under the terms, Phoenix will provide $2,500 to the company for each…

Earlier this week, the Republican legislators working to prevent the renewal of Maricopa County’s Proposition 400 half-cent transportation sales tax passed a bill with several partisan priorities included, such as eliminating a light rail extension to the state capitol, among others, and sent it to Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs, who will veto it. Hoping to end the stalemate and advance the measure to voters, six Valley mayors issued a letter in which they planned to find “another avenue” to bring the question to voters next year if there is no solution reached before then. Other leaders later signaled their support.…

The Phoenix City Council has approved several new water conservation policies and restrictions under a resolution called “The Sustainable Desert City Development Policy.” The policies look to reduce water consumption among both residential and commercial users and focus largely on improving efficiency before buildings are constructed. The resolution passed on an 8-0 vote, with one councilmember absent. The approved measure is a statement of intent. The policies will be codified through ordinances and changes to the building codes over time. Staff will first have to assess how to practically implement the items, and the changes will have to undergo a…

Awards & Accolades 1. Area Development magazine has named Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s north Phoenix plant one of 15 “Manufacturing Projects of the Year.” 2. The 2023 America’s Transportation Awards named the Arizona Department of Transportation’s replacement of the US 60 Pinto Creek Bridge between the East Valley and Globe as Best Use of Technology and Innovation, Medium Project, for the Western region. Groundbreakings 3. Vestar announced construction has begun at The Shops at Lake Pleasant, a $50M, 90KSF restaurant and retail development at the NEC of Lake Pleasant Parkway and Happy Valley Road. Upward Architects is the design firm,…

The City of Peoria has allocated $500K for an airport feasibility study to review the costs of potentially building an airport in the north part of the city near the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. facility. The airport could even be cargo specific, although experts note that would be unusual. Mayor Jason Beck noted while campaigning last year that a municipal airport would help Peoria achieve its economic development goals. The budget approved in May put a key focus on economic development and redevelopment. Officials say an airport in the northern part of the city would help position the area as…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX Back in April, we reported on one of the most complex rezoning requests ever to come before the City of Surprise. Surprise officials had requested that developers combine six projects into one grand case, but the complexity of the multi-faceted request and the degree of resident opposition to some portions proved too cumbersome for the Planning and Zoning Commission, which ultimately recommended rezoning for only one of the six parcels. (AZBEX; April 28) In May, the Surprise City Council tabled the request after extensive back and forth, in which members made it clear the only…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX In addition to our front-page column on the bell possibly tolling for Proposition 400 renewal in the current session, there is another issue before the Arizona State Legislature in their two-day return to work this week that needs to be looked at: Sen. Steve Kaiser’s (R-District 2) affordable housing zoning revisions. Readers may recall last year when Kaiser was still serving in the House, he and Democratic State Representative César Chávez proposed legislation that would have prohibited municipalities from using zoning regulations to restrict residential development and enacted “zoning by right” to simplify and accelerate…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX – BEXClusive By the time you read this, the Proposition 400 renewal quagmire could either be resolved or on its way to becoming a full-blown economic development crisis. The Arizona Legislature is coming back to work for two days this week between lengthy official recesses. Lawmakers will be in session June 12th and 13th before breaking until early August, which could then be the end of the legislative term. Among the host of bills still up in the air is enabling legislation to send a renewal of the Maricopa County half-cent transportation tax, known as…