Author: BEX Staff

After developer Dominium Management made changes to its plan for an affordable housing community in Surprise south of Waddell Avenue and between 171st and 175th avenues, its efforts were rewarded June 16th by the Surprise Planning and Zoning Commission’s recommendation of approval for its Preliminary Development Plan. The previous plan encountered difficulties with the Truman Ranch Planned Area Development and raised significant organized opposition from nearby residents. The opposition remains in place, but Dominium has scaled back its overall plan back from an original 613 units to a proposed 601 under the PDP. Project representatives said the new plan falls…

Objecting to how a 40-unit development in Old Town incorporates shade, Scottsdale Mayor David Ortega has put a request before City Council to overturn a Design Review Board approval for the project’s site plan, landscape plan and building elevations. The Goldwater is designed as a 40-unit development with 7KSF of commercial area in a 70-foot-tall building totaling 91.7KSF on East 4th Street. Ortega was not a member of the June 2nd DRB meeting, but he attended in his capacity as mayor, questioned staff and project representatives, and expressed concern about the design. DRB approved the requests on a 6-1 vote.…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX Arizona’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.2% from April to May, according to the latest report published by the Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity. The national rate was also unchanged at 3.6%. In May 2021, the state had a seasonally adjusted rate of 5.4%, and the national was 5.8%. The state had a net loss of 5,500 non-farm jobs over the month. “Prior to the pandemic, nonfarm employment averaged a loss of 6,700 in May (2010-2019),” the report states. Government lost 6,700 in May, fueled largely by losses in public education due to…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX In its June 8th meeting, the Mesa Planning and Zoning Board approved the site plan for a proposed six-building, 962.5KSF industrial development on 65.3 acres on South Signal Butte Road south of Elliot. Located in the Eastmark Planned Community District, the Park Signal Butte proposal is already zoned for light industrial uses, including the warehouse/manufacturing/accessory office uses owner DMB Mesa Proving Grounds, LLC has planned. Because more than 50KSF is proposed for non-residential uses, a major site plan review was required under the Eastmark Community Plan. According to the submitted site plan, the six-building plan…

Like many – if not most – major projects around the country, Peoria’s four-phase Beardsley Water Reclamation Facility Expansion is suffering cost impacts and timeline delays due to ongoing supply chain constraints. Costs for Phase 2A, which includes construction of a new reclaimed water pump station, are running over budget by between 17%-and-20%, and the timeline has pushed from the end of next year to some point in 2024. The Peoria City Council recently approved an amendment to its contract with the builder totaling $21.95M. Peoria Water Services Director Cape Powers said the increases are due to a combination of…

Awards & Accolades 1. Big-D Construction announced it has been nationally Certified™ by Great Place to Work®. This year, 94% of employees at Big-D Construction said in an anonymous survey it is a great place to work – 59% higher than the average U.S. company. 2. HILGARTWILSON has been ranked #33 on Zweig Group’s Hot Firm List for 2022. The Hot Firm Award recognizes the 100 fastest-growing AEC firms in the United States and Canada. 3. The Arizona Chapter of NAIOP bestowed its annual Best of NAIOP Awards in a ceremony on June 9th. The winners were: Company Awards: Architect…

Sales Transactions 1. Rise48 Equity has bought the 288-unit apartment community The Waterfront in Phoenix for $75.3M. The seller was represented by a team from Northmarq headed by Trevor Koskovich. The Northmarq Debt & Equity team financed part of the acquisition with a loan of $61M. 2. Cushman & Wakefield announced the firm has advised Tanbic Edgehill Centerra Apartments, LLC in the $74.75M sale of Centerra, a renovated 202-unit apartment community in Scottsdale. The buyer was an entity formed by Cortland. David Fogler and Steven Nicoluzakis with C&W’s Multifamily Advisory Group in Phoenix represented the seller. 3. TruAmerica has acquired…

Even though commercial real estate has hit a state of negative leverage – in which an investor’s equity is less than the capitalization rate – many investors are choosing to remain in the sector. Simply put, negative leverage occurs when the debt constant (annual debt service payment divided by debt amount) is more than the cap rate. With interest rates having spiked to the point the 10-Year Treasury is sitting at 3.0%, up from 1.48 a year ago, many investors have found themselves in negative leverage territory, with finance costs at 4.5%-5.0% on assets with cap rates of 3.5%-4.0%. The…

By Associated Builders and Contractors Associated Builders and Contractors reports its Construction Backlog Indicator increased to nine months in May from 8.8 months in April, according to an ABC member survey conducted May 17th to June 3rd. The reading is up one month from May 2021. Backlog in the infrastructure segment jumped from 8.7 months in April to 9.3 months in May, and the Northeast and South regions continue to outperform the Middle States and the West. Contractors with more than $100M in annual revenues enjoyed the highest backlog, at 13.2 months. ABC’s Construction Confidence Index readings for sales, profit…

Investment Development Management is proposing a 678-unit multifamily development on approximately 34 acres of a 160-acre site bounded by 99th Avenue, Thomas Road, Loop 101 and McDowell Road in the Maryvale area of west Phoenix. Phoenix City Council is considering a development agreement to reimburse IDM for infrastructure improvements as an incentive for the project. Under the agreement, the City would reimburse the company up to $1M of the expected $2M cost to connect the site to Phoenix water lines. City officials said the connection will provide service for multiple uses west of Loop 101, but there are no other…