Author: BEX Staff

Giving Back 1. This year, Suntec, the largest commercial concrete contractor in the Southwest, delivered care packages to nearly 100 teachers across Arizona, Utah and Colorado as part of their Teacher Appreciation program. Awards & Accolades 2. The Arizona Association for Economic Development has issued presented its annual Economic Development Distinguished by Excellence Awards. The 11 awards and recipients were: Best of Arizona Award – Arizona Commerce Authority’s Small Business Bootcamp;Economic Developer of the Year, Large Community – Barbra Coffee, director of economic initiatives, City of Tucson;Economic Developer of the Year, Medium Community – Ken Chapa, economic development director, City…

Following Amazon’s Q1 loss of $3.8B, its first since 2015, company leaders said in last week’s earnings call the warehouse and retail giant has excess capacity in its network for fulfillment and transportation. Between Year End 2019 and Year End 2021, Amazon’s footprint for fulfillment and data centers increased from 192.7MSF to 387.1MSF. Most of the company’s space is leased, not owned, and analysts estimate Amazon accounted for roughly 15% of new demand and net absorption in the Industrial sector in 2021. Amazon officials speculate the company will likely reduce its pace of leasing for the next 12-18 months to…

The Pinal County Board of Supervisors has approved three requests that would let EPCOR move forward on its plan to replace the Section 11 wastewater plant in the Queen Creek/San Tan Valley area with a new alternative known as the Copper Basin Water Reclamation Facility. Plans were once in place to renovate and expand the site, but that idea was shelved in 2020. Previous owner Johnson Utilities had many issues with the plant before being acquired by EPCOR in 2021. EPCOR has undertaken to fix many of the Johnson Utilities issues as part of its operations. The company’s requests before…

Plans were announced recently for the future of 373 acres of former State Trust Land in Ahwatukee. Blandford Homes gave a preview of its master plan for Canyon Reserve, an area between 19th and 27th Avenues along Chandler Blvd. The developer intends to start work late this year or early next on 1,050 one- and two-story houses, 150 Build-to-Rent townhomes and 329 traditional multifamily apartments. Sales for the single-family houses are expected to begin in 2024. The plan was unveiled at an April 25th meeting of the Ahwatukee Foothills Village Planning Committee. The Committee is scheduled to rule on a…

Ongoing disputes between the City of Tucson and the Regional Transportation Authority, which had been cooling since a new agreement was reached in January, are threatening to heat back up and may throw the RTA Next plan covering the next 20 years of major road improvements into jeopardy. The current argument focuses on an improvement plan for First Avenue between River and Grant roads that would widen the street from four lanes to six. The project was part of the package voters approved in 2006. RTA does not have sufficient funding for all the 2006-approved projects, and the increases in…

The Goldwater Institute has filed a lawsuit against the City of Phoenix, alleging the City’s use of a Government Property Lease Excise Tax incentive arrangement violates the Arizona Constitution. Under the GPLET, Phoenix will assume ownership of the $87M high-rise project known as Skye on 6th from developer Hubbard Street Group and Cresset Real Estate Partners. It would then lease the property back to the developers, allowing them to avoid paying property taxes for eight years. At the end of the term, ownership would revert back to the developer. Goldwater estimates the agreement will allow Hubbart Street Group to avoid…

The Surprise City Council has named its most important capital projects, arriving a total of nearly two dozen from a list of 82 originally presented by City Manager Bog Wingenroth and City finance staff earlier this month. The original list presented to Council totaled $959M. Wingenroth requested that Council prioritize its top $250M to fund over the next five years. Finance staff plans to give another presentation at the May 17th Council meeting. Some of the prioritized projects include: A $64.2M regional park with a softball complex, trails, standard park amenities, a pool, and the possibility of a lake and…

Sales Transactions 1. Institutional Property Advisors, a division of Marcus & Millichap, has announced the $145M sale of the 240-unit Liv North Scottsdale apartment community in Scottsdale. Seller Liv Communities was represented by IPA’s Steve Gebing and Cliff David. 2. Art and Clint Wadlund of Institutional Property Advisors, a division of Marcus & Millichap, represented seller HZ Properties in the $91.25M sale of a 28-property portfolio made up of 26 casitas in Tucson. Buyer Commerce Capital Partners was self-represented. 3. Knightvest Capital has purchased the 209-unit apartment community Lydian on North 3rd Street in Phoenix for $66M. Transwestern Development Company…

The Mohave County Board of Supervisors recently voted to support applications for three federal land parcels that could be used as the site for a new county fairgrounds. The vote authorized County Manager Sam Elters to explore an application for the land and a master plan for developing it. There has not yet been any approval for the project, itself. The area in question is more than 370 acres of Bureau of Land Management land near I-40. In addition to the fairgrounds, the site could also become the home of a new facility for the County Medical Examiner. The Board…

By Meta via Facebook In August 2021, we were thrilled to add Mesa, Arizona, to our family of data centers. Just nine months later, we’re excited to announce that we are expanding the Meta Mesa Data Center campus with three new buildings, reaching more than 2.5MSF. This expansion raises our investment in Arizona to more than $1B. It also means that the number of skilled trade workers at peak will increase from an average of 1,500 to 2,000. And once it’s completed, we anticipate the data center will support 200 operational jobs. Meta is dedicated to playing a positive role…