Author: BEX Staff

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX The Phoenix City Council will vote next week on whether to send a $500M general obligation bond request to voters on the Nov. 2023 ballot. The request covers 47 projects assembled after months of meetings and negotiations between City leadership, department staff and community members. It would be Phoenix’s first request since 2016. The General Obligation Bond Committee broke the requests down into seven program areas. The specific areas and their funding totals are: Arts & Culture: $50,385,000; Economic Development & Education: $38,000,000; Environment & Sustainability: $26,000,000; Housing, Human Services & Homelessness: $63,000,000; Neighborhoods &…

Even though the National Association of Home Builders reports a marked decline in single-family construction, multifamily continues to flourish, especially in suburban markets. NAHB’s Home Building Geography Index for Q3 reported large metro suburban counties saw apartment construction increase from a growth rate of 18% up to 27.5%. Construction in large metro core counties grew 7.1%. In large metro outlying counties, the growth rate decreased from 44.1% to 31%. Experts attribute the growth to renters’ desire for walkable, modern living choices, which pushes new construction because those features are largely lacking in legacy apartments. They warn, however, the sector could…

Groundbreakings 1. Demolition work has begun to ready the site of First + Farmer Residential, a seven-story, 200-unit multifamily development in Tempe. Construction is expected to get underway early in 2023. 2. Construction has begun on the $40M, 110KSF headquarters and manufacturing plant for FrameTec in Camp Verde. The facility will produce roof and floor trusses and wall panels. Completion is expected in spring 2024. 3. The Opus Group announced the start of construction on Deer Valley 30, a three-building speculative industrial development at 1300 W. Alameda Road in north Phoenix. The project will include three buildings on 30 acres…

The Pima County Board of Supervisors will vote this week on a lease-purchase agreement and incentives package for American Battery Factory, a Utah firm that plans to build a “gigafactory” at the Aerospace and Research Campus south of Tucson International Airport. ABF posted a brief statement to its website last week announcing the deal and saying the Pima County development will be the “first in a planned series of U.S.-based gigafactories producing safe lithium iron phosphate battery cells.” Total development costs to bring the plant to fruition are estimated at $1.2B, and the plant’s economic impact is projected at $3.1B…

Nikola’s $1.3B federal loan guarantee application for its planned hydrogen production hub in Buckeye has moved to the second phase of the approval process. The company applied for funding through the U.S. Department of Energy Loan Program Office’s Innovative Clean Energy Loan Guarantee Program. Nikola acquired the 920-acre Buckeye site south of the Lewis Prison facility for $16.5M in September. After initial construction, the plant could produce up to 30 metric tons of hydrogen per day, with an ultimate expanded capacity of more than 150 tons per day. The Department of Energy will now review the company’s Part II application…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX Had they taken place at the same time, Scottsdale Mayor David Ortega’s introductory comments and the responses of the Multifamily development panel at last week’s Bisnow Scottsdale State of the Market event would have added up to a spirited debate. As it was, with Ortega giving the event’s keynote speech and the panel closing out the morning session, it almost felt as if the participants were discussing activities on two different planets. Ortega’s Keynote Mayor Ortega began his remarks by saying, “Scottsdale is the intersection of talent and investment.” He noted most of the city’s…

Owner/developer Caliber Companies, in partnership with co-developer ZenniHome, recently announced plans to move ahead with Zen City – a 90-unit apartment development at 29 W. Main Street in Mesa that will serve as the first site in Arizona for ZenniHomes’ modular construction system. ZenniHomes founder Bob Worsley announced plans in 2019 to build a modular home construction plant through an adaptive reuse development on the site of the former Salt River Project Navajo Generating Station in Page. The plant was declared operational in April. Both the Page production site and the Zen City location are in Designated Opportunity Zones, allowing…

By BEX Staff for AZBEX Optimists and pessimists can both find reinforcement of their worldviews in the recently released Capital Markets Q3 2022 U.S. Market Snapshot from Colliers International. From the beginning of the introductory overview, the report says the current market is “abnormal,” with liquidity challenges stemming not from a banking crisis or eroding fundaments, but arising instead from inflation, geopolitical crises, a strong dollar and fears of a looming recession. “…real estate investors are facing higher borrowing costs,” the authors state, “creating a wide bid-ask spread on deals in the market. In addition, many buyers are ‘pencils down’…

Giving Back 1. Achen-Gardner sponsored three community events in November. The Sky Kids Fly Day Event at the Scottsdale Municipal Airport on Nov. 12 allowed special needs kids to experience the wonder and enjoyment of flight. The annual Litchfield Park and Glendale Touch-A-Truck events on Nov. 19 gave kids of all ages the opportunity to see and touch the equipment and learn all about construction. Awards & Accolades 2. Gary J. Nelson, an architect who works in Phoenix’s Office of the City Engineer, was recently awarded the prestigious Architects Medal by the American Institute of Architects Arizona Chapter. Since the award’s…

Sales Transactions 1. Newmark announced the $255M sale of a four-property seniors housing portfolio – LivGenerations – in Phoenix. Newmark represented the seller, Liv Communities, in the transaction. The portfolio totals 546 units comprising independent living, assisted living and memory care. The seller built all four communities – LivGenerations Agritopia, LivGenerations Ahwatukee, LivGenerations Pinnacle Peak and LivGenerations Mayo Boulevard – between 2014 and 2022. 2. Cardone Capital has purchased the 256.3KSF Promenade Corporate Center in north Scottsdale for $56.5M. The company plans to locate its second headquarters on the site and invest $15M in new capital improvements. The seller was…