Author: BEX Staff

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX Even though the pace of rent growth is cooling and some markets are expressing concern about overbuilding, the combination of rising interest rates and a rare degree of balance between deliveries and absorption is keeping the metro Phoenix multifamily market robust. A recent article on GlobeSt.com reported single-family occupancy is at its highest rate in two decades. With accommodations similar to – and often indistinguishable from – a traditional owner-occupied home, SFR and BTR attractiveness remains high and may even increase as rising mortgage rates and price inflation keep many potential home buyers out of…

By Embrey Vertically integrated real estate investment company Embrey has closed on land in Goodyear, the future home to the Senna at Canyon Trails multifamily community. Senna at Canyon Trails will be a 284-unit Class A community that will feature upscale amenities, such as a two-story clubhouse overlooking the resort-style pool and a landscaped courtyard with shade canopies and a firepit. The fitness center also faces the pool courtyard and offers on-demand technology. Other amenities include a connected dog washroom with a grooming table and dryer. Each unit will be equipped with high-end finishes, private balconies and 9′ ceilings. A…

The Scottsdale City Council heard a new report from Elliot D. Pollack and Company last week on the city’s affordable housing situation and were told the East Valley suburb’s affordability climate may be the worst in Metro Phoenix. The study was commissioned by pro-development group Home Arizona. Affordability was based on estimated median salaries in the Valley. Pollack has often stated professionals like teachers, firefighters and police officers cannot afford anything larger than a one-bedroom apartment in the city and are forced to live elsewhere. The latest study confirms and reiterates those findings. As bad as the affordability situation has…

Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport will receive $14.4M in funds under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to expand and update its current temporary terminal space into a five-gate facility that complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Passenger traffic at PMGA is expected to increase by more than 50% in the next 10-15 years, and the Terminal Annex Replacement project has been named the airport’s top priority. Arizona’s U.S. Senators Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly praised the funding announcement, as did Congressional Representative Greg Stanton. The airport has been using a temporary 10KSF, four-gate terminal annex until a permanent facility could…

Giving Back 1. Brycon joined together with the City of Chandler and participated in their ‘For Our City’ program, focusing on their 2022 Operation Back to School event. Brycon was able to donate 100 backpacks filled with school supplies benefitting youth in the Chandler Unified School District. Employees donated money, bought supplies, and spent their morning assembling all 100 backpacks. 2. Greenlight Communities announced two new charity partnerships for this month for the next Greenlight Gives initiative. Greenlight donated $1,200 to the Arizona Builder Alliance’s Annual Backpack Drive to provide 200 backpacks for school children in the Valley. The company…

Sales Transactions 1. MDH Partners has closed a $1.26B sale of the Sunbelt Logistics Portfolio. The 58 properties total 9.7MSF. Seven properties are located in Arizona. Eastdil Secured marketed the portfolio for MDH Partners, which will retain a stake and operate the warehouses on the new owner’s behalf. 2. Institutional Property Advisors, a division of Marcus and Millichap, announced the sale of the 826-unit Hilands apartment community in Tucson for a record $178M price. IPA’s Clint Wadlund, Hamid Panahi, Art Wadlund, Steve Gebing and Cliff David represented seller Northland Investment Corporation and procured buyer Bridge Investment Group. 3. Aukum Group/Management…

George Oliver has purchased the 261KSF, three-story Biltmore Commerce Center at 3200 E. Camelback Road in Phoenix and is planning more than $52M in renovations. Marking the developer’s sixth Valley office project in slightly more than three years, George Oliver purchased the site from a joint venture of Lincoln Property Company and Oaktree Capital Management. The sellers were represented by Ben Geelan and Will Mast of JLL. JLL’s Ryan Timpani will serve as the property’s leasing broker. Located at the NEC of Camelback Road and 32nd Street, planned improvements for the property include open workspaces, high-end materials and “resort-style health-and-wellness…

High Street, the 330KSF office, dining, retail and residential mixed-use development adjacent to City North and near Desert Ridge Marketplace, is planning a major expansion. Officials with ScanlanKemperBard, one of High Street’s owners, have said plans for the five-acre expansion site west of the existing center include a 140-room hotel, an office building of between 145KSF-160KSF and a parking structure. They say Marriott would like to put a limited-service hotel on the space to augment the nearby J.W. Marriott Desert Ridge. Officials add four or five companies have expressed interest in the new office building. They expect to apply for…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX Jackson Dearborn Partners’ recent purchase of a 14.39-acre site in Casa Grande west of the I-10 and Florence Blvd. interchange has breathed new life into a stalled 284-unit apartment plan. Previous owner Desert Rose Development Group had gotten approval for a planned area development amendment at the site – part of the Casa Grande Crossings PAD – in October of 2020. Repeated requests for updates between the approval and May of this year showed no progress. Last week, a press release from The Land Agency announced the site had been sold for $6.9M. Follow-up inquiries…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX Recent news reports have confirmed LG Energy Solution has placed plans for its cylindrical battery plant in Queen Creek on hold. Back in March, AZBEX was the first outlet to report plans for the plant, basing the story on a development agreement approved by the Pinal County Board of Supervisors and the Queen Creek Town Council. News outlets around the world were quick to pick up and expand on the story. (AZBEX, March 18th) Late last month, we were also the first to report the project had been put on hold, based on information received…