Author: BEX Staff

A report from Rounds Consulting Group commissioned and released by Arizona Sonoran Copper Company claims reopening the Cactus Mine west of Casa Grande could generate $8.5B over the project’s expected lifespan. The mine is expected to have an 18-year operational life with five years to prepare before opening and five years to clean up and restore the site after operations end. The report estimates nearly 1,400 direct and indirect jobs, with $90M in labor income, as a result of the project. The estimated total tax revenue from the project is $366M. A rezoning request was recently recommended for approval by…

By Associated Builders and Contractors National nonresidential construction spending was up 0.9% in October, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data published by the U.S. Census Bureau. On a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, nonresidential spending totaled $814.2B for the month. Spending was up on a monthly basis in 13 of the 16 nonresidential subcategories, with spending in the commercial subcategory virtually unchanged for the month. Private nonresidential spending was up slightly by 0.2%, while public nonresidential construction spending increased 1.8% in October. “On the surface, there is much to be encouraged by in October’s construction spending data,”…

Awards & Accolades 1. The International Concrete Repair Institute has announced the winners of its 2021 Project Awards. The Arizona Dam Spillway Repair Project in Phoenix – submitted by Gervasio & Associates, Inc. – earned an Award of Merit in the Longevity category. Groundbreakings 2. Build-to-Rent community MODERNE at Rocking K Ranch in the southeast Tucson area of Vail will break ground this month. It will include 224 single-story, single-family homes on 17.1 acres. 3. Developers GID and SunCap Property Group, along with Graycor Construction Company, joined with local dignitaries and project stakeholders to break ground three brand new, fully speculative industrial buildings…

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…