Author: BEX Staff

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX Revitalizing the Old Town area has been a persistent challenge for the City of Peoria for years, with plans advancing and retreating in an oddly haphazard fashion and defeat being snatched from the jaws of seemingly impending victory more than once. The City battled for years to demolish a vacant and blighted Smitty’s grocery store location at Grand Avenue near 85th Avenue. Once that was complete, developer SJ Acquisitions obtained the site and proposed a mixed-use development of commercial and multifamily that was hoped to serve as a gateway into Old Town. The company was…

Awards & Accolades 1. BOMA Greater Phoenix held its 2021 The Outstanding Building of the Year – also known as TOBY – Award presentation recently at the Scottsdale Resort at McCormick Ranch, honoring five buildings. They were judged on community involvement and site management to environmental and “green” policies and procedures. This year’s winners (by category, building name, management company, property manager): 100,000 to 249,999 SF: Three Gateway, Bridge Commercial Real Estate, Janalee Jackson; Earth: GSA Professional Office Building, Ryan Companies US, Amanda Forsmo; Industrial: Lighting Unlimited, A Brighter Idea, Cory Schneider (building owner); Medical Office Building: St. Joseph’s Westgate…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX Last week, we told you about the master plan to bring a 360-unit apartment complex, 259 Build-to-Rent units and 26KSF of commercial development to a 40-acre site near Sonoran Desert Drive and North Valley Parkway, just east of the I-17 and Loop 303 intersection. (AZBEX, Nov. 9, 2021) Two more proposals are making their way through the City of Phoenix approval process that, if built, will bring another 398 traditional multifamily units and 354 Build-to-Rent units to the same area. The requests for all three projects seek to remove their sites from the North Gateway…

By Sterling Real Estate Partners Sterling Real Estate Partners recently acquired 9.6 acres of land with plans to develop a 238-unit, Class A apartment complex in the heart of Avondale’s rapidly expanding community. The property will feature luxury unit interiors, a resort style pool, fitness center and furnished outdoor lounge. The land is located in a Qualified Opportunity Zone. The project will help serve the 7.9% population growth projected over the next five years. Avondale has seen its population grow by 21.4% since 2010 and has been accompanied by rent growth of 14.3% in 2021 alone. The city has been…

A 1.2MSF logistics facility known as GO | 99 will be coming to the SEC of 99th Avenue and Buckeye Road if a proposal from developer GO Industrial comes to fruition. The company announced the project in August. The initial site plan was granted a preliminary approval by Phoenix Planning and Development late last month. GO Industrial hopes to break ground in December, with the project completing in Q4 of next year. Representatives had requested an expedited review process but were told by Phoenix planning staff the request was not possible. The company bought the 77-acre site for $23.6M earlier…

The Queen Creek Planning and Zoning Commission voted unanimously last week to recommend approval of a proposal to rezone 600 acres of State Trust Land for employment uses. Representatives for the Arizona State Land Department said the land in question must be bought at auction before it can be put to any use. No auction has yet been scheduled. The site is near one of two sites that had previously been rezoned to allow for a potential Samsung chip manufacturing site. Current speculation is Samsung will probably not locate its plant in Arizona. The zoning, however, remains in place. Town…

Several developers are pushing forward with major retail plans as the economy continues its post-pandemic rebound. In a recent interview, SimonCRE CEO Joshua Simon noted West Valley retail has seen a significant uptick, fueled by new employment opportunities and population growth. Colliers International reports slightly more than 144KSF of retail space currently under construction in the West Valley and more than 672KSF in metro Phoenix overall. Among the SimonCRE’s current projects are Jackrabbit Ranch Marketplace in Buckeye, an 800KSF development in the Prasada master-planned community in Surprise, an RV and boat storage facility nearly Loop 303, and a 43KSF retail…

Peoria is considering what to put into a potential bond request for the 2022 general election. General obligation bonds are the largest source of funding for the City’s Capital Improvement Project budget, making up 28%. Peoria’s 10-year CIP is fully funded at $835M. Items under consideration include street improvements, park and facilities upgrades and expansions to public safety. City officials have pointed out a newly enacted state law allows towns and cities to repurpose existing bond authority, using funds for projects in earlier bonds to fund new projects if necessary. As a result, staff is asking the City Council to…

As the Federal Reserve is expected to quicken its tapering of Treasury and securities purchases, and interest rates are expected to rise, experts predict Commercial Real Estate will remain one of the best hedge investments against inflation. In a recent news feature, John Chang, senior VP and national director of research services at Marcus & Millichap, noted CRE volume is up 19% versus Q3 2019 and that the amount of capital looking for solid returns is likely to keep CRE interest high. Interest rates on 10-year Treasuries dropped to 0.7% by March of 2020 due to the Fed’s quantitative easing…

Awards & Accolades 1. The City of Kingman’s Solid Waste Superintendent Ed Tapia, Administrative Assistant II Donna Alderson and Water Quality Program Manager Nancy Sipe have all graduated from the APWA Public Works Institute. Boards & Commissions 2. The Goodyear City Council will no longer hold meetings on the second and fourth Monday of every month. Moving forward, meetings will be held on an “as needed” basis. 3. The City of Peoria reminds residents interested in public service that it accepts applications for the City’s boards and commissions year ‘round. Applications are kept on file for two years. Company News…