Author: BEX Staff

Commercial developers and restaurant industry representatives were heavily represented among the approximately 60 attendees of a Sept. 21 online community meeting with the Mesa Planning Division to discuss the City’s proposed zoning changes for drive-thrus. All the representatives who spoke during the meeting expressed concerns about the plan. Under the proposed changes: Only two drive-thrus (not including pharmacies, banks and similar drive-up service windows) would be allowed per intersection or commercial center;Only two drive-thrus will be allowed adjacent to each other. If a third is planned, it must be at least 750 feet from the two adjacent ones, andNew drive-thrus…

Lumber future prices have plummeted for the second time in two years, indicating a steep slowdown in U.S. construction and possibly hinting at a pending recession. Lumber futures closed at $410.80/1,000 board feet on Sept.26, returning to pricing levels found at the start of the pandemic. Two-by-four costs have fallen more than 70% from their high $1,400/1,000 board feet in March. Pricing service Random Lengths reported its index is down more than 60% since March. It blamed the Q1 surge on buyers hoarding wood in an attempt to mitigate supply chain worries. The drop is also being read as an…

Groundbreakings 1. The first phase of work for the Arizona Department of Transportation’s Interstate 17 Improvement Project from Anthem Way to Sunset Point is now underway. The $446M, 23-mile project – which will add capacity and reduce congestion along the corridor – is expected to take approximately three years to complete. It includes 15 miles of widening from Anthem Way to Black Canyon City and the construction of approximately eight miles of flex lanes from Black Canyon City to Sunset Point. 2. LGE Design Build, alongside developer Echo Real Estate Capital, announced the official start of construction on Echo Park 303, a 676KSF industrial facility…

By BEX Staff for AZBEX An article from Independent Newsmedia reports the Buckeye Planning and Zoning Commission will consider two industrial proposals planned in the city’s newly created State Route 85 employment district at its meeting this week. The first project – known alternately as SR 85 & Baseline Road and Buckeye 225 – seeks to rezone approximately 226.88 undeveloped acres immediately west of SR 85 between Baseline Road and Southern Avenue for light industrial uses. A concurrent annexation plan has been submitted with the rezoning. The conceptual site plan shows five buildings totaling approximately 3.37MSF. The prospective building mix…

By Dignity Health Kindred Behavioral Health, a business unit of LifePoint Health, and Dignity Health have announced the signing of a letter of intent to build and operate a new inpatient behavioral health hospital on the campus of Dignity Health St. Joseph’s Westgate Medical Center in Glendale. The two story, 95KSF facility will include 96 inpatient beds and provide outpatient services. The center is projected to cost $55M to build and will employ more than 150 healthcare professionals. Construction is expected to begin in fall 2023. Once built, the new facility will help to meet the diverse and complex behavioral…

The Arizona Department of Transportation has recommended a diverging-diamond interchange to improve traffic flow at the interchange of SR 347 and I-10. Most of the interchange improvements would be concentrated on the alignment at SR 347 and Queen Creek Road. Changes would include reconfiguring the approaches to the interchange, reconstructing ramp terminals and reversing the flow between them, constructing a new bridge to the south for westbound traffic and using the existing bridge for eastbound traffic. The alignment would be split so each half would handle one direction of traffic. Under the new configuration, there would be four eastbound lanes…

By Provident Realty Advisors via PR Newswire Provident Realty Advisors announced the acquisition of 16.60 acres at 6550 W. Orangewood Avenue, Glendale. Located just west of Grand Avenue, Provident plans to develop a +/-302.4KSF speculative warehouse/distribution facility on the site. Construction on the Class-A distribution facility will begin in the first half of 2023 with completion slated for early 2024. The building will feature 36′ clear heights, +/- 61 dock doors, a 185′ truck court, and 86 trailer parking spaces. Over the past three years, Provident has rapidly grown their industrial portfolio across the Sunbelt. It currently owns 14 industrial…

By Rebekah Morris for AZBEX The City of Phoenix’s Five-year Capital Improvement Plan has hit a new high-water mark for funding with $9.778B in overall planned expenditures and funding. A wide range of projects across departments and focus areas, including: Aviation,Information Technology,Public Transit,Street Transportation & Drainage,Water andWastewater are planned. State’s Biggest Program Gets Bigger Before 2018, the Arizona Department of Transportation had been the single largest public agency in the state for capital programs and expenditures. Since then, however, Phoenix has absolutely dominated the space, growing from a variety of new funding sources, significant tax revenue growth, as well as…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX Community Hospital Association has put forth a plan for a new 80-unit assisted living and memory care facility across from Wickenburg Community Hospital. CHA is requesting a rezoning from Major Street Commercial to Multiple Family Residential, lot consolidation, a conditional use permit and several setback variances to enable development of Hassayampa Haven. The proposed development site at the NWC of Tegner Street and Bralliar Road is irregularly shaped, with a 5:1 length-to-width ratio. The long, thin site requires the buildings be of an elongated design to maximize what can be built. An existing office building…

By CBRE CBRE is raising its forecast for hotel performance both in Phoenix and nationally on the heels of industry gains in Q2 2022 and the expectation of slightly positive GDP growth in 2023. Phoenix Conditions In Phoenix, the Average Daily Rate is expected to increase 23.3% to $161.06 in 2022 and is forecasted to increase 3.2% to $166.29 in 2023, passing pre-pandemic levels and up from CBRE’s previous 2022 and 2023 projections of $154.46 and $161.47, respectively. Revenue Per Available Room is expected to increase 35.6% to $109.31 in 2022 and is also expected to pass pre-pandemic levels with…