Author: BEX Staff

The Phoenix Business Journal is reporting Carvana’s $25M purchase of the 150-acre Cactus Commerce Center at the NEC of Cactus and Litchfield roads could become a 200KSF reconditioning and inspection center for its vehicle offerings. The news outlet obtained documents from the City of Surprise detailing “Project Oliver,” in which Carvana would build a $64.5M assembly line-style inspection and refurbishment facility. Typical steps in the process would be oil changes, tire and brake service, repainting and other standard maintenance and minor repair services before vehicles are photographed for listing on Carvana’s website and stored for future delivery to one of…

Pre-construction on the long-anticipated Central Station redevelopment at Central Avenue and Polk Street in downtown Phoenix should begin next quarter. The City of Phoenix approved development and lease agreements to renovate and revitalize the transit station site in 2019. The City’s RFP required plans that maintained the bus station and two light rail stations on the property. Plans for the project have changed since they were first approved. A planned 150-room hotel was scrapped due to the pandemic. As a result, the number of apartment units in the tower was increased. The final unit count is not yet available. In…

A study from The Nature Conservancy and AECOM makes an economic case for planning and implementing measures to counter urban heat. According to the study, failing to adopt measures like widespread tree planning and cool roof installation could generate additional costs in terms of lives lost up to an average of $1.5B by 2050. It also predicts temperatures warmer by an average of three-to-five degrees will take 0.5% off the area’s economic output in the same period. Earlier this year, Phoenix opened the Office of Heat Response & Mitigation, one of the first city heat mitigation offices in the country. One goal is to…

Awards & Accolades 1. Optima Kierland and Optima Sonoran Village have both been awarded the American Architecture Award, one of the nation’s highest honors for architectural design. Groundbreakings 2. Stevens-Leinweber Construction has broken ground on two new Class A spec industrial buildings that will open a new section of the Merit Partners PV 303 mega park in Goodyear. The new project will add 880KSF of new space to the park. 3. Following years of preparation and debate, clearing and grubbing work has begun on the Arizona side of the $56M-plus Laughlin-Bullhead City Bridge, the second public bridge to connect the two cities across the…

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…