Author: BEX Staff

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX A new report from Northmarq shows the current slate of difficulties in the U.S. economy and government’s blunt but aggressive responses to address them have the potential to continue fueling growth in the Build-to-Rent housing market. The Federal Reserve’s continued rapid-fire interest rate hikes have had the intended effect of cooling demand in the overheated and under-supplied single-family owner-occupied market. Northmarq reports residential mortgage rates went from all-time lows to 20-year highs in less than a year, which has led to restrictions on potential buyers’ ability to purchase homes. The report predicts high mortgage rates…

After spending $353M to purchase the Esplanade office campus near 24th Street and Camelback Road earlier this year, Monarch Alternative Capital and Tourmaline Capital Partners have announced a $45M renovation plan on the site that will encompass four of its five buildings. The core of the project will be overhauling a one-story building into a new 16KSF amenity center that will house a café and bar, lounge and game areas, fitness center and meditation spaces, along with other wellness amenities. A separate amenity offering will be an 8KSF conference center with meeting and coworking areas and media production accommodations. Other…

On a vote of 7-0, Mesa City Council approved rezoning for the 61-unit townhome development The Jackson, planned for a six-acre site near Power and Brown roads. The proposal faced vocal opposition from nearby residents, who had previously lobbied against a popular food truck court at the location. After the complaints compelled the property owner to withdraw plans to make the location a permanent installation, they pivoted and submitted plans for the residential development. Mesa Planning and Zoning recommended the townhome proposal 5-2 after a five-hour meeting in late October. Neighbors complained The Jackson will be 10 times denser than…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX Even though the current economic situation is cooling the trend toward sky-high rent increases – particularly in Arizona – a recent report from Zumper shows the state is home to seven of the 100 most expensive cities for renters. The national median rent for a one-bedroom apartment was flat for November, and the two-bedroom rent dropped 0.4%. The massive increases of the last two years were fueled by major economic expansion, low-interest rates, supply chain and labor shortages delaying new unit deliveries, and pandemic-fueled migration. Now, with inflation running at its highest rates in decades,…

Groundbreakings 1. Family Development and Mosaic have begun construction on the 209-unit townhome development Town Germann on 14.53 acres in Gilbert’s Layton Lakes community. The first phase is expected to begin leasing in April of next year, with all 12 phases completed by Q1 of 2024. 2. W.E. O’Neil Construction’s Arizona team broke ground recently on the newest customer facility for NetJets in Scottsdale. Designed by Mead & Hunt, the 42KSF facility includes 30KSF of hangar space and 12KSF for offices and a passenger terminal. Progress Reports 3. The $125M Omni Hotel and Conference Center in Tempe continues to progress toward its planned…

P.B. Bell Companies and Everest Holdings are seeking a rezoning from the City of Phoenix to allow for the development of a 14-acre site on 50th Street between Ray Road and Chandler Blvd. into a 471-unit apartment complex. In a neighborhood meeting earlier this month, project representatives described a community with four clusters of buildings. Two four-story buildings with heights of approximately 48 feet would be built around a pool and clubhouse area. Other planned amenities include a dog park, a “tot lot,” and a multipurpose area with barbeque facilities. Residents attending the neighborhood meeting expressed concerns about the project’s…

Landowners the Barnes Family have submitted a proposal to the City of Eloy to develop a master-planned community with a mix of uses southwest of Arica Road and Sunshine Blvd. The initial proposal asks for a Major General Plan Amendment from Estate Residential with a maximum density of one dwelling unit per acre to a “combination of Medium Density Residential, Mixed Use, Public/Institutional, and Parks/Open Space general plan land use designations,” according to City documents. In the narrative submitted by CVL Consultants, the current proposal calls for 2,618 detached single-family units at roughly 3.9 units per acre, an elementary school…

In its Dec. 1 meeting, the Casa Grande Planning and Zoning Commission will consider a site plan request from Arizona Water Company to build a water treatment, production, storage and distribution facility on slightly more than five acres of land it owns near Overfield Road and West Lakeland Drive. Plans include two 35-foot water tanks, chemical storage and containment space, a booster pump station and an electrical and control building. An eight-foot wall will encircle the property. Planning staff requested the relocation of three saguaros on the site to a landscaped area in the front of the property as a…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX With a pair of 9-0 votes, the Maricopa County Planning and Zoning Commission voted to advance two major energy projects on the far west side of the county in its Nov. 3 meeting. The approvals further cement what one staff member referred as the area’s status as “The region’s solar capital.” Hyder Solar and Storage Project In the first item before P&Z, Commissioners heard a Major Comprehensive Plan Amendment from Rural Development Area to Utilities for the Hyder Energy Project. The proposal centers around the planned construction of an 800MW alternating current solar energy generation…

Developer ATLAS has plans to build a 2MSF speculative light industrial project in Buckeye at the NEC of Southern and 263rd avenues. The Buckeye Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously recommended approval for a General Plan Amendment and rezoning for the plan in its Nov. 22 meeting. Plans call for three buildings of 253.4KSF, 474.6KSF and 1.3MSF to be built in phases. (Source)