Author: BEX Staff

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX Since 2017, market researchers have estimated Metro Phoenix needs 150,000 additional housing units to meet demand by 2030. Economic and market forces have combined to make sure the Valley construction and development market has lagged behind that target every year since. In the last five years, we have never come close to the +/-15,000 units/year deliveries needed. The construction workforce lags far behind its pre-Great Recession numbers. The pandemic and its economic devastation proved to be a speedbump, but a speedbump with canyon-like repercussions. The materials supply and labor chains were strained well before anyone…

By Roland Murphy and Rebekah Morris for AZBEX Arizona’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped to 5.2% in October, down from 5.7% in September, according to the latest report published by the Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity. The national rate decreased to 4.6% from 4.8%. In Oct. 2020, the state had a seasonally adjusted rate of 6.8%, and the national was 6.9%. The state had a net gain of 30,400 non-farm jobs over the month. “Historically (2011- 2020), nonfarm employment has recorded a gain of 29,000 jobs in October,” the report states. Professional & Business Services had the largest gain with…

Glendale City Council has voted unanimously to approve to annexation requests for industrial developments that will produce a combined total of nearly 4.25MSF of new space. Organics Loop 303 will consist of 850KSF in two buildings on 75 acres at the SWC of Sarival Avenue and Loop 303. The second project, Parkway 303 West, will construct six buildings totaling 3.4MSF on a 262-acre site at the SEC of Peoria Avenue and Cotton Lane. Commercial development of nearly 66KSF could also be included. Council also heard details on Ergas 303, a planned 1MSF, four-building industrial project on 63 acres near Northern…

The Mesa Planning and Zoning Board unanimously approved a consent agenda item recommending a site plan review and rezoning for a 457KSF industrial development be approved by City Council. The Power & Elliot Industrial Park would put four buildings ranging from 86KSF to 144KSK on a 26.3-acre site north of Elliot Road east of Power Road. Plans feature loading docks at the rear of each building. Pedestrian connections and employee amenities, including uses of the adjacent Roosevelt Water Conservation District Canal, are cited as features. (Source)

Soaring construction costs have led the City of Flagstaff to pause a project that would renovate and modernize the United States Geological Survey campus near Buffalo Park. Flagstaff owns the campus, land and buildings and leases them to USGS. Plans to upgrade the space have been in planning and preparation for at least a decade. Many of the buildings were constructed in the 1970s, and the most recent proposal had been to demolish and replace two structures. A new warehouse and lab office space would have been built before their current versions were demolished. When the plan was first estimated…

The Yuma County Board of Supervisors is expected to decide in December how it wants to proceed with a project that will add critically needed space for Yuma County Public Health Services. Director of Facilities management David Hylland presented the Board with options and estimates in a recent meeting. Supervisors requested time to consider the various options. County staff has been working with DLR Group Architects on options for the facility at 2200 W. 28th Street in Yuma. A needs assessment was presented in April. The current 52KSF facility sits on 7.5 acres and has several areas that need work,…

By Legacy Traditional Schools Legacy Traditional Schools a new K-8 campus in the San Tan Valley. The 10-acre, 87KSF facility designed by Knit Studios, is Legacy’s 20th campus in Arizona serving students in kindergarten through eighth grade. Legacy Traditional School – San Tan opens for the fall 2022-2023 school year at the SWC of West Empire Boulevard and North Gary Road. The San Tan campus will enroll up to 1,350 students and offer tuition-free Kindergarten through 8th Grade. When completed, the campus will consist of 47 classrooms, offices, a gym, athletic fields, a library, a piano lab, an indoor basketball court…

As tourism returns to Arizona in the post-pandemic rebound, the Phoenix area is experiencing a need for new hotel development, particularly in the West Valley. Glendale, which will host the Super Bowl in 2023, is actively working to lure hotel developments. The city currently has 16 hotels. A 17th will be added when the Crystal Lagoons Islands Resort delivers. Even with the current stock, tourists attending concerts and sporting events in the West Valley often have to take hotel rooms further east, with Phoenix and Scottsdale seeing the bulk of the hotel traffic, according to officials. With a hefty business…

Awards & Accolades 1. The Chandler Chamber of Commerce has named Achen-Gardner Construction one of the Top 100 Chandler Based Companies. Company News 2. Tricon Residential  has announced an update to its Build-to-Rent community pipeline. Projects include more than 3,000 planned units in 23 communities, including developments in Phoenix, Texas, California, Florida, and Nevada. The entire pipeline is expected to deliver before year-end 2024. 3. Tempe is dedicating 15 apartments and single-family homes for permanently affordable rental housing, bolstering the city’s goal to increase affordable and workforce housing through the Hometown for All initiative. This action brings the total number of permanently…

Sales Transactions 1. Stonemont Financial Group has purchased a 145.5KSF north Phoenix Amazon delivery station at 500 W. Pinnacle Peak Road from Seefried Properties and a Crow Holdings Capital-advised fund for $74.7M. The seller was represented by Cushman & Wakefield’s Will Strong, Kirk Kuller, Greer Oliver and Connor Nebeker-Hay. 2. Fund KKR Real Estate Partners Americas III by KKR & Co. is acquiring hotel properties across the U.S. The fund recently purchased Tucson hotels Courtyard by Marriott at 201 S. Williams Boulevard (153 rooms) and Residence Inn by Marriott Williams Center at 5400 E Williams Circle (120 rooms). The combined purchase…