Author: BEX Staff

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX A new developer has stepped up to try to breathe life into one of Peoria’s most troubled redevelopment sites. The City had battled for years to condemn and demolish a long-vacant Smitty’s store located at Grand Avenue near 85th Avenue. After finally clearing the old building, developer SJ Acquisitions came forward with a plan for a mixed-use apartment and commercial development known as Grand Commons. The original plan was to include 18KSF of retail and up to 220 apartments. In exploring potential users for the site, however, the developer found no interest in the retail…

An Arizona Court of Appeals panel has ruled the $1.8B South Pier at Tempe Town Lake project can go to the ballot for voter approval. The proposed project on empty City-owned land on Vista Del Lago Drive has been embroiled in controversy since it was approved by Tempe City Council last March. A group known as Central Arizonans for a Sustainable Economy collected petitions to send the plan to voters after complaining the project does not include any affordable housing units and alleging there was insufficient public participation in the review process. South Pier at Tempe Town Lake is a…

Multiple Tower Projects Possible Downtown By Roland Murphy for AZBEX Partly because of its proximity to the airport, partly because there has always been land to build out horizontally, and partly for any number of other reasons, the Phoenix skyline has never boasted the soaring height and volume of towers that other large cities can claim. That has evolved, somewhat, in recent years. While the physical limitations of wood framing have kept the vast majority of development, particularly in multifamily, in the low-rise realm, the last decade has provided the landscape with a healthy dotting of mid-rise—up to 12 floors…

By City of Tucson Office of Economic Initiatives In Dec. 2022, American Battery Factory announced that Tucson had been selected as the company’s corporate headquarters and site of the country’s largest facility for the production of lithium iron phosphate battery cells. The Tucson Mayor and City Council have approved a Primary Jobs Incentive development agreement with ABF. The City of Tucson Primary Jobs Incentive is a financial tool that supports the City’s efforts to attract quality jobs and investment. The incentive provides up to a 100% reimbursement of construction sales tax to qualifying expenses such as required public infrastructure improvements,…

With job turnover increasing and a shortage of young people looking to skilled trades as a career path, educators and industry partners continue to develop outreach and training programs to foster increased participation. One such program—TradeUp!—teaches Madison Park Middle School students about trade labor jobs to make them aware of potential career paths they may not encounter as part of the traditional education experience. Operated as a collaboration between construction and labor professionals, TradeUp! is a six-month program that brings professionals to the school and students to worksites for both instruction and hands-on experience in areas like masonry, HVAC, carpentry,…

Boards & Commissions 1. Valley Partnership announced new Board Officers and Board Members. Board Officers: Laura Ortiz, Evergreen Development, Board Chair; Rob Bassett, Pederson Group, Vice Chair; Nicole Maas, Kitchell, Treasurer; Nic Fischer, Merit Partners, Secretary; Brandon Dillingham, HINES, Past Chair, and Jay Kramer, Fennemore, General Counsel. Board Members: Kimberly Davids, Clayco; Shannon Francoeur, TerraWest Communities; Rebecca Lundberg, PulteGroup; Heath Melton, Howard Hughes Corporation; Larry Pobuda, The Opus Group, and Greg Vogel, Land Advisors Organization. Company News 2. MFRG-ICON Construction announced the rebranding of the company to ICON National. ICON National has offices in Scottsdale, Ariz. and Nashville, Tenn. and…

Sales Transactions 1. ABI Multifamily announced the $49.75M sale of Dimension on 27th Apartment Homes, a 260-unit multifamily community in Phoenix. ABI’s Alon Shnitzer, Rue Bax, Eddie Chang and Doug Lazovick represented the undisclosed buyer and seller. 2. Concord Wilshire Capital and TLG Investment Partners, in partnership with CDS International Holdings Inc., announced the acquisition of the Metrocenter Mall, including the Dillard’s Building and U-Haul Building (formerly Macy’s Building) has closed. The transaction was completed with no mortgage financing. The reported transaction price was $48M. The sellers were Carlyle ER Metro LLC (Carlyle Development Group Inc.), Dillard’s Properties Inc., and…

Saying they were concerned the project did not meet the original vision for its location, the Goodyear City Council postponed an application for Goodyear Celebration Plaza, a mixed-use master plan on approximately 70 acres fronting I-10 between Litchfield Road and 143rd Avenue. ICIC Property Investment 5 LLC’s proposal for the project calls for a development with two 54KSF medical office buildings, another 140KSF office building, 181 townhomes, several three-to-four-story apartment buildings, a hotel and retail. The developer’s stated goal includes providing an amenity-rich development that would serve a supporting role for the nearby Cancer Treatment Centers of America Hospital, with…

By Stream Realty Partners Stream Realty Partners has been awarded the leasing, property management and construction management assignments for two Class A office buildings that will soon be marketed as a 410KSF experiential office campus. Kierland One and Two at 16430 N. Scottsdale Road and 16260 N. 71st St. in Phoenix will soon undergo $29M in hospitality-driven renovations. The project will allow Stream, a national real estate services, development, and investment firm with a growing office in Phoenix, to reposition and market the buildings in the north Scottsdale area. The properties are owned by Vero A2R, the office investment platform…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX For the first time ever, demand for the annual BEX Forecast event was so high we had to plan two separate presentations. Now that the first is in the books, we wanted to give our readers a glimpse into what our research shows for the Arizona construction landscape. On Weds., Jan. 25, BEX Founder and President Rebekah Morris and DATABEX Manager Lya Parrish summarized construction activity across all the sectors we track in a whirlwind two-hour presentation before a capacity crowd at the Arizona Heritage Center. Based on current trends, the duo also gave their…