Author: BEX Staff

The Mesa City Council unanimously approved plans for the 36-unit Countryside Townhomes (also known as Countryside Modern) development on 2.4 infill acres at Southern Avenue and 32nd Street following months of meetings and negotiations between the developer and nearby residents opposed to the original plan. Over the course of five months, opponents – mostly from the nearby Dana Park community – got enough concessions from the project owner to pave the way for approval. Council members commented during the July 11th meeting on the hundreds of hours spent by staff, residents and project representatives to get the approval to the…

The City of El Mirage has expressed its support for a request by Dermody Properties to designate approximately 700-acres of LogistiCenter at Copperwing as a Foreign Trade Zone. Requests are ultimately reviewed and approved or rejected by the federal government, but El Mirage will draft a letter supporting the request. El Mirage wants to help the industrial park remain competitive in the face of rampant industrial development in the area. The City reports there are currently seven speculative buildings planned for the park. A Foreign Trade Zone designation is an attractive differentiator, as it allows materials to be stored, processed…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX Diversified Partners is requesting a minor general plan amendment and zoning amendments for a 78.6-acre site at the NWC of Black Mountain and Goldrush roads in Bullhead City for a mixed residential and commercial development. The site lies just east of the City Square Shopping Center and other commercial properties at the NEC of Black Mountain Road and Highway 95. The requests are the first step in developing Trails at Black Mountain, a mixed project of multifamily, manufactured housing, single-family and self-storage components. According to the project description, “The rezoning exhibit depicts a single 16-acre…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX Doing what we do the way we do it, the BEX staff and I see just about every major project in the state, as well as several that don’t quite make the cut in terms of size. For the last couple of years, at least, nearly every one of them has some component of “resident concern” attached to it. These range from the traditional NIMBYs (We’re not opposed to development, per se, you understand, but we hate this particular project. We’ll probably hate the next one, too.), to BANANAs (Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone)…

Delays in entitlements and construction processes are adding an average of five months to new industrial builds. Data from Newmark shows projects in the pipeline are hitting major backlogs. Starts are up 64% between 2019 and 2021. Tenant demand is up 120%. Deliveries are only up 5.7%. Newmark’s report shows challenges from entitlements to supply to labor are impacting construction at every point in the development process. Lead times for materials are uncertain and can reach out to a year (or more) in some cases. Municipalities are short-staffed while simultaneously seeing a higher number of projects coming in. The construction…

The U.S. Department of Transportation has a new rule proposal that intends to make it easier for small and disadvantaged businesses to compete for federal contracts. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the new rule will also widen the U.S. contracting capacity as the $1.5T infrastructure law impacts demand for talent across a widening array of projects. Under the proposal the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise and Airport Concession Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Programs would see several changes, including: Simplified ownership and control certification requirements;Simplified interstate certifications;Adopting so-called “COVID-19 flexibilities,” including virtual site visits;Reduced reporting requirements for some Federal Transit Administration recipients;Expanded marketing opportunities…

Giving Back 1. The Terracon Foundation has awarded a $50K endowment grant to the University of Arizona College of Engineering. The endowment will be used to fund an annual scholarship entitled the Terracon Foundation Geotechnical Engineering Graduate Scholarship. Boards & Commissions 2. Tech Parks Arizona has appointed Karla Morales to its board of directors. Morales also serves as VP for the Arizona Tech Council of the Southern Arizona Regional Office.  Company News 3. Land Advisors Organization announced its investment and new partnership with real estate property technology company Cecilian Partners. Through the new partnership, LAO is adding a new layer…

Sales Transactions 1. Cushman & Wakefield has advised the joint venture of Martens Development and Dune Real Estate Partners in the dispositional sale(s) of The Landing 3, 4 and 5 (“The Landing”), an 858.9KSF industrial on more than 64 acres along Ray Road in Mesa. The seller was represented by Cushman & Wakefield’s National Industrial Advisory Group – Mountain West, including Will Strong, Greer Oliver and Connor Nebeker-Hay. The IAG team was joined by Adam Spies and Marcella Fasulo. CBRE’s Kevin Cosca provided leasing advisory. Rob Rubano and Brian Share with C&W arranged financing for the buyer. 2. ABI Multifamily…

By City of Chandler Last week the Chandler City Council approved a resolution authorizing its Housing and Redevelopment Division, which serves as administrator for the Chandler Public Housing Authority, to pursue a new affordable housing development site on City-owned land south of McQueen Road and Chandler Boulevard. Most of Chandler’s current public housing facilities were built during the early 1970s and need significant capital investment and repair. Chandler’s current public multifamily housing stock includes four family multi-family sites, one senior multi-family site and 103 scattered single-family sites. With this in mind, City staff began exploring the idea of repositioning its…

By City of Glendale Following a highly competitive process that resulted in a nationwide candidate pool, the City of Glendale’s Office of Economic Development announced the selection of Daniel Sabillon as its first Downtown Manager. In his role, Sabillon will lead development and redevelopment activities in Downtown Glendale. A significant portion of the role will be focused on continuing to develop and maintain relationships with merchants, landowners, residents, regional stakeholders, developers and other partners to help facilitate development and business attraction. He has also been tasked with marketing and establishing an online presence for Downtown Glendale through local events and…