Author: BEX Staff

By Associated Builders and Contractors The construction industry will need to attract an estimated 501,000 additional workers on top of the normal pace of hiring in 2024 to meet the demand for labor, according to a proprietary model developed by Associated Builders and Contractors. In 2025, the industry will need to bring in nearly 454,000 new workers on top of normal hiring to meet industry demand, and that’s presuming that construction spending growth slows significantly next year. “ABC estimates that the U.S. construction industry needs to attract about a half million new workers in 2024 to balance supply and demand,”…

Awards & Accolades 1. Achen-Gardner Construction has won a Build Arizona Award from the Arizona Chapter Associated General Contractors of America for its Carefree Water Consolidation CMAR project. The project was constructed for the Town of Carefree and the award was in the New Construction – Public, Heavy, $10M-$50M category. 2. Achen-Gardner Construction has won the Ben Patton Luster Construction Safety Excellence Award from the Arizona Transportation Builders Association. The company’s submittal featured its work on the City of Phoenix’s Val Vista Transmission Main 4 CMAR Project, which presented unique safety challenges. Groundbreakings 3. Chicanos Por La Causa broke ground…

The Florence Planning and Zoning Commission discussed a plan for a development that would ultimately create 7,500 homes spanning portions of Florence and Coolidge. The overall Florence 287 site is 2,249 acres. Florence is being asked to approve a 1,595 planned unit development for the portion in its jurisdiction. Developers Langley Properties and Colmena Group chose the location, in part, because of its proximity to State Route 287 and the planned North-South Freeway. Plans for Florence 287 include single- and multifamily neighborhoods and may offer properties both for sale and for lease. Specific goals include a variety of residential offerings,…

The first phase of long-awaited repairs at Kyrene School District’s Ben Furlong Education Center got underway last spring with the approval of a $6.3M plan, including a $4.8M guaranteed minimum price for portions of the infrastructure repairs. Late last month, the District Board approved slightly more than $6M to fund the second phase of repairs. Another $3.4M in other costs is still pending and will be voted on later this year. The facility at Kyrene and Warner Roads comprises 12 buildings on an 18-acre site and includes the administration building and transportation barn. Both were built in the late 1980s…

Biltmore Fashion Park owner Macerich is planning a 140-foot office tower on the Biltmore site at the NEC of Camelback Road and 24th Street. According to the company’s application with the Phoenix Planning Hearing Officer, the 330KSF, 10-story site will have ground floor retail and office floor plates of 40KSF each. A PHO review is required for buildings planned for more than 112 feet in height. The new tower would be situated toward the SEC of the 32-acre Fashion Park site on space currently occupied by surface parking. Documents submitted with the application show Nelsen Partners is the design firm.…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX The second half of 2023 saw a slew of articles and market reports noting the post-pandemic travel boom was finally starting to slow. There’s no denying the COVID lockdowns generated a desire in the consumer populace to make up for lost time and missed opportunities. There was also a ratcheting up of the collective sense of mortality that pushed FOMO levels into the red. Of course that initial burst had to die down. Whether it’s tulip bulbs or subdivisions, no bubble lasts forever. Everything normalizes over time. It’s interesting to note, however, how strong demand…

Mack Real Estate Group has submitted an application to buy more than 2,300 acres of land at an Arizona State Land Department auction scheduled for May 29. The site lies at the SWC of Carefree Highway and Interstate 17 and extends south and southwest to two points on the north side of Loop 303. Other entities may bid in the auction if they choose. The minimum bid price has been set at $56.28M. The site is adjacent to the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company plant location, which has spurred massive amounts of supporting construction and development in recent years—from TSMC-affiliated suppliers…

The Tempe Development Review Commission recommended two apartment development plans for approval during its Jan. 23 meeting. KB DEVCO is planning Apache Square, a 272-unit apartment complex on 1.95 acres at 1747 E. Apache Blvd. The proposal calls for 99 studios, 96 one-bedroom, 63 two-bedroom and 14 three-bedroom units, along with 4.5KSF of ground floor retail and a parking garage. The other community, Verve Tempe, is planned by Subtext and would build 240 units on 0.9 acres at 1011 E. Orange St. The planned unit mix is set for 153 four-bedroom, 10 one-bedroom, 45 two-bedroom and 13 three-bedroom spaces. The…

Giving Back 1. Melissa Owen, a ranch owner in Sasabe, started organizing State Route 286 cleanups in 1995. She expanded nine years ago to clean the highway from end to end in one day, an event she calls “All the Way to the Border.” On Jan. 27, Owen and 100 volunteers filled bags with litter as part of the cleanup effort. All the Way to the Border is aided by the Arizona Department of Transportation’s Tucson-based Southcentral District, which issues a special permit for the cleanup, and from ADOT’s Three Points Maintenance Yard, which had staff on hand during the…

Sales Transactions 1. Riverside Apts LLC purchased Riverside Suites, a 29KSF investment property at 1725 E. Limberlost Dr. in Tucson. The 33-unit apartment property was purchased from Campbell 33 LLC for $5.15M. Allan Mendelsberg and Joey Martinez with Cushman & Wakefield | PICOR represented both parties. 2. Larsen Baker (as Dorado Opportunity Group, LLC) has paid $3.5M for a nine-building, 71KSF office and medical building campus at 1200 N. El Dorado, Tucson. Larsen Baker’s Isaac Figueroa represented the firm in its purchase. Dave Volk of VOLK Company and Jim Fijan with Transwestern represented seller El Dorado Ventures, LLC. 3. Kerry…