Author: BEX Staff

Well-known Valley auto dealers The Berge Family is looking to rezone more than 45 acres at Signal Butte and Williams Field roads in Mesa. The rezoned site will be added to approximately 85 acres that was rezoned in 2019 and all 130 acres are planned for commercial, light industrial and residential uses. Ten parcels are being added to the site plan, making up the 45 acres to be rezoned. Four of those sites will require annexation into Mesa. Seven of the 10 parcels will be zoned as general commercial. The remaining three will be zoned light industrial. The commercial uses…

By BEX Staff for AZBEX Glendale City Council held a hearing Sept. 27 on a blank annexation petition from Iron Rock Development II LLC for annexation of a 64.09-acre site at the NWC of Cotton Lane and Olive Avenue. City documents show Council directed staff to initiate the annexation process for the site on Aug. 23. Iron Rock Development II is affiliated with industrial developer Eisenberg Company. If annexed and subsequently rezoned, the developer plans to build a 1.1MSF industrial facility in one or two buildings, according to the staff report. The site is currently used for agriculture and is…

By Rebekah Morris for AZBEX The annual State Transportation Improvement Plan shows a significant 17.32% increase in the five-year total from last year, primarily due to federal funding increases. This is the third year in a row the Arizona Department of Transportation has seen 10%+ increases in the five-year total. Consistently the second-largest capital improvement plan in the state, this increase in funding bodes well for future transportation project opportunities for design & construction firms. The plan and associated programs are divided into four primary operational areas: Highways,Maricopa Association of Governments’ Regional Transportation Plan Freeway Program,Pima Association of Governments Regional…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX Capital Allocation Partners has proposed an 80-unit townhome apartment development at the NEC of 73rd Avenue and Thunderbird Road on a 6.23-acre Maricopa County island site in Peoria. To proceed with The Ville, the developer is seeking a rezone from rural to R4-RUPD, which allows for lot sizes of 2KSF per dwelling and a residential unit plan of development. If the rezoning is approved, the owner will seek to have the cite annexed into Peoria and will pursue a formal site design review there. Annexation is necessary for the public utility and City services required…

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…