Author: BEX Staff

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX We have recently spent a great deal of time and space in this magazine detailing the rise in opposition to dense, tall development around the Valley, particularly in Scottsdale (AZBEX Dec. 7, Dec. 3, Nov. 30). A recent article in Scottsdale Progress, however, shows one aspect of the fight we did not cover: The fact that Phoenix keeps approving high, dense projects right on Scottsdale’s border, particularly in the north Valley. Over the past several months, Phoenix City Council approved RD Kierland (also known as Manor Kierland) – a 360-unit development near Greenway Parkway and…

The Wickenburg Town Council recently approved an application for development review for an 86-room Cobblestone Hotel and Suites development. The hotel will be built along U.S. 60, with access off El Recreo Drive and Bass Road. Groundbreaking is planned for early 2022. Council approved a rezone and planned area development request for the $13M project earlier this year. (Source)

California-based industrial developer Contour is moving into the Valley in a big way with three major projects on the board totaling nearly 3.6MSF. The land for Buckeye 54 was acquired in a joint venture with Shopoff Realty Investments last month. The team paid $6.5M for 54 acres at the SEC of Rainbow Road and Southern Avenue where they plan to build an $80M, 900KSF warehouse development. Details are scarce on the second Buckeye project other than it is expected to total 1.2MSF when completed. On the other side of the Valley, Contour received zoning approval from Mesa City Council for…

By Concord Wilshire, TLG Investment Partners and Hines via News Direct One of Phoenix’s most iconic properties is about to become the largest mall redevelopment project in Arizona history, transforming into a vibrant new addition to the city’s core. Concord Wilshire Capital and TLG Investment Partners (collectively, the “Developer”) announced today that they have contracted to acquire the iconic Metrocenter Mall in Phoenix, and plan to invest approximately $750M to redevelop the property into a residential and mixed-use community. The Developer has formed a strategic alliance with Hines to redevelop and repurpose the Metrocenter Mall into a community-driven walkable village…

Two projects – Deer Valley and Scatter Wash – known together as Scatter Wash Energy Storage, are in the initial development stages to create a free-standing battery storage project near Deer Valley Airport. Developer Strata Clean Energy plans to spend $450M to create a 400MW/1,600 megawatt hours-capable battery storage site that would house enough energy to power at least 350,000 homes for one hour. The site is located near the APS Scatter Wash substation and will connect to APS’ grid when completed in 2024. Battery storage and grid connectivity is a growing sector in energy development projects. KORE Power’s KOREPlex…

Maricopa is seeing an explosion in residential development. A recent article from inMaricopa shows 15 individual projects totaling more than 20,500 units in various stages of planning and construction. Of those, nine are traditional single-family owner-occupied. Multifamily development is a much more recent phenomenon in the city, but it could be said to be making up for lost time with six projects of various types in progress. Those include: West Maricopa Village: 520 units; Portales Townhomes: 33 townhome rental units; Honeycutt Run: 208 single-family Build-to-Rent units; Hancock Gunsmoke: 253 single-family Build-to-Rent units; Hampton Edison: 151 units; and Copa Flats: 312…

Open construction jobs increased to a total of 410,000 unfilled positions in October. That sets a record in the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey data for the sector. The 410,000 job openings in construction meant an unfilled job rate of 5.4% in October. The count a year ago was 253,000. (Source)

AZ Water Association is now accepting nominations for water/wastewater operators, professionals, projects, and systems for recognition at the 95th Annual Conference & Exhibition in April 2022. Deadline to submit is February 17th, 2022. More information on the awards and event is available here. AZ Water Awards Construction Professional of the Year (Open to Owners, Designers, Operators & Contractors) Electrician of the Year (Large & Small Systems) Engineer of the Year Environmental Stewardship Gimmicks & Gadgets Health and Safety Professional of the Year Kachina Award for Outstanding Service Laboratory Analyst of the Year Maintenance Mechanic of the Year (Large & Small Systems) Nathan…

Giving Back 1. Western Wealth Communities and Western Wealth Capital have used their annual Rent-Free Christmas program to provide free rent in December for 58 deserving families. As part of the program, 14 families also received a full Christmas package, including food vouchers and presents for the whole family. Awards & Accolades 2. CDC Small Business Finance is the No. 1 U.S. Small Business Administration lender among 7A and 504 firms for fiscal year 2021. It is also Arizona SBA 504 Lender of the Year for the fourth straight year. A total of $793.7M was financed in commercial real estate,…

Sales Transactions 1. Monarch Alternative Capital, in partnership with Tourmaline Capital Partners, reportedly has plans to buy four of the Esplanade buildings in Phoenix’s Camelback Corridor from Clarion Partners and LBA Reality. The price is estimated at approximately $385M. 2. JLL has closed the sale of Block 23, a mixed-use, live-work-play asset in downtown Phoenix. JLL represented the seller, an affiliate of RED Development, and procured the buyer, City Office REIT, Inc. The sale sets a new per square foot record in the city for multi-tenant office trades. The JLL Capital Markets team representing the seller was led by Ben Geelan and Kevin…