Author: BEX Staff

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX Much has been made about the Valley’s growth and the crisis-level need to add vastly more housing than we are currently delivering. Analysts put demand levels at between 15,000 and 17,500 new multifamily units per year to meet our 2030 needs. The development and construction market has not come anywhere close to those numbers since the Great Recession. Estimates put 2021’s likely deliveries at around 11,500. Because of the massive imbalance between supply and demand, nowhere in the Valley can make any legitimate claim of general affordability. Metro Phoenix has been a consistent leader in…

SimonCRE has announced it will build Village at Prasada, a 700KSF open-air shopping mall in Surprise. The $500M development near Loop 303 and Waddell Road will feature major-brand retailers, restaurants and entertainment outlets. Prasada is a 3,355-acre master-planned community. Development partners include RED Development, Macerich Development, WDP Partners and Suburban Land Reserve Inc. Village at Prasada will have a 330KSF first phase, which had a ceremonial groundbreaking earlier this month and is targeted for completion in fall of next year, and a 250KSF second phase that will begin sometime in 2022. (Source)

The intersection of Interstate 10 and SR 347 might be the next to be slated for a diverging diamond interchange. The prospect is under consideration by the Arizona Department of Transportation as one option to improve traffic flow for Maricopa residents. ADOT representatives said two other possibilities are also being evaluated under the Environmental Assessment and Design Concept Report study process. The project seeks to help prevent backups onto I-10 and reduce an ongoing problem with backups at the existing left turn lane from SR 347 onto the interstate. The three possibilities being considered are a No Build Alternative, a…

Chang Chun Petrochemical Group is planning to build a new plant on 84 acres in the Pinal County Technology Park near the Casa Grande industrial corridor. The CCP Group development, known as “Project Discovery,” will be the park’s second project. Parties involved with the plan say it has been in the works for more than a year. The park’s first project, “Project Buckshot,” a Kohler manufacturing plant, was announced earlier this year. CCP Group is a Taiwan-based chemical manufacturer. Specifics as to what will be produced at the location have not yet been disclosed. The Casa Grande City Council will…

Home furnishing retail giant Williams-Sonoma Inc. has leased 1.2MSF at The Cubes at Glendale, according to a recent article in Phoenix Business Journal to multiple sources. The article speculates, however, the company may have much larger plans. Business Journal’s research shows that in February a company described as a Fortune 500 retailer with “a very recognizable name” was looking for 200-250 acres in Buckeye to develop a 3MSF light manufacturing and distribution space. The effort, codenamed “Project Jaguar,” was to be built in three phases lasting through August 2026. While Buckeye’s public records did not identify the parties, the article…

Giving Back 1. Lennar Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Lennar Corporation, and the Building Talent Foundation have formed a strategic alliance to empower youth and underserved persons through residential construction job skills training and career coaching. Lennar Foundation’s investment in BTF of $2M over two years will accelerate the advancement of the organizations’ mutual goals and work to build a sustainable residential construction workforce by 2030. 2. Terracon has contributed $10K to the SRP Healthy Forest Initiative to help reduce wildfire risks and restore the forested watershed that provide water to roughly half of the Valley of the Sun. Boards & Commissions…

Sales Transactions 1. Tide Equities sold the 472-unit Midtown on Main Street Apartments in Mesa for $137M. The buyer was Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. 2. MODERNE Communities closed on $106M for the build-out of two new Build-to-Rent projects. The company will break ground on MODERNE at Rocking K Ranch in Vail this month in December and will begin construction on MODERNE at Roosevelt in Tolleson in early 2022. 3. Stealth W Jefferson LLC, SBSS W Jefferson LLC and CI448 W Jefferson LLC have purchased a 466KSF industrial facility on 45 acres at 91st Avenue and Van Buren in Tolleson…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX In our last issue, we looked at how development fatigue and resistance to the current pace of change in the Valley are harming housing affordability and putting the area economy at risk. Today, let’s look at another trend that poses even greater threats: Organized resistance groups. While nearly every development proposal meets with some degree of resistance from a percentage of area residents worried about traffic, density, building heights and the omnipresent “impacts to neighborhood character,” it is (so far) only an unlucky few who encounter organized resistance groups. In 2019 the National Apartment Association…

A $100M mixed-use development will soon be coming to 20 acres in Gilbert near the SanTan Village shopping center. Northside at SanTan Village is planned to feature a 120-room hotel, two high-end office buildings totaling 250KSF and six boutique retail and restaurant spaces totaling 32.5KSF. The development will also feature shared community spaces and a half-mile fitness track around its perimeter. According to news reports, the project is being developed by SanTan Development Group Inc. and Okland Capital as a joint venture. The Gilbert Town Council staff report shows SanTan Development Group Inc. is affiliated with LeSueur Investments. Okland Construction…

By Milhaus Multifamily developer Milhaus has closed on its second residential apartment development in Tempe. The $56M Qualified Opportunity Zone development at 2119 E. Apache Boulevard will offer 219 studio, one- and two-bedroom apartment units and five live-work spaces. The complex will be Milhaus’ first-ever partially solar-powered property with solar panels on carports to help reduce common area electricity usage. Amenities will include a pet-friendly spa and bark park, resident lounge with a coffee shop and in-house barista, communal kitchen, rec/game room, coworking and office spaces, pool and outdoor entertainment deck with fire pits, fitness center and yoga studio, and…