Author: BEX Staff

Opposition has already begun to Gilbert’s proposed $515M bond request in the Nov. 2 election. Planned projects to be funded under the request include the Ocotillo Bridge, road repairs and trail crossings. In a recent Town Council meeting Councilmember Laurin Hendrix questioned the need to include the Ocotillo Bridge under the request, since there was a recent state allotment of nearly $8M for the project. He said the bond request appeared to him to be a “slush fund” to pull in as much taxpayer money as possible for the Town to spend as it sees fit. Current Councilmember Aimee Yentes…

Boards & Commissions 1. Alana Porrazzo of Jennings Haug Cunningham has been elected by the Executive Council for the State Bar of Arizona’s Construction Law Section to serve as the Young Lawyer Division’s representative for the 2021/2022 term. Company News 2. As part of a national expansion, residential real estate investment firm Renovo Financial will open an office in Phoenix. Regional Managing Director Brendan Ochinero will lead the Phoenix presence. 3. Real estate investment and development company Stream Realty Partners will open a new office in Phoenix. The company has chosen the former director of Savills’ Phoenix office, Tiffany Winne,…

Sales Transactions 1. JLL Capital Markets has closed the $165.25M sale and secured $102M in acquisition financing for La Encantada, a 246KSF shopping center in Tucson. JLL represented the seller, Macerich Company. A group of local investors purchased the property. JLL arranged the fixed-rate, full-term, interest-only acquisition loan with an investment bank and financial services company. 2. Institutional Property Advisors, a division of Marcus & Millichap, announced the sale of Accolade, a 548-unit multifamily property in Phoenix. It sold for $155M ($282,847/unit). Steve Gebing and Cliff David of IPA represented the seller, Weidner Apartment Homes, and procured the buyer, Knightvest…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX Planned apartments part of $1.15B in new development along 202’s 59th Avenue leg Developer P.B. Bell is the latest to add its name to the growing list of companies contributing to the dramatic private development growth along the 59th Avenue leg of the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway. When the freeway extension was first proposed, transportation and economic development officials promised extensive development and revitalization when pitching the Loop 202 extension, the northern leg of which runs parallel to 59th starting at Estrella Drive until it ultimately connects with Interstate 10. The P.B. Bell 59th…

In response to a request from the City of Tempe, The Arizona Coyotes have proposed creating a $1.7B mixed-use development that features an arena, hotels, multifamily and retail. The team plans to finance the area through a blend of private investment for the core project and using Tempe sales tax dollars for $200M in additional costs for infrastructure development and remediation of the 46-acre former mining and landfill site. The National Hockey League would build and operate the 16,000-seat arena. Coyotes representatives estimate the overall project could generate $5.9B in direct spending and $154M in net new tax revenue over…

By Salt River Project On the heels of announcing signed agreements for three new solar power plants in Arizona, Salt River Project has announced its largest standalone solar power plant to soon be under development northwest of Flagstaff. The solar plant, “CO Bar Solar,” is scheduled to be commercially operational in 2024 and will deliver a total of 400MW of renewable energy to SRP customers. Clēnera, a developer of large-scale solar and storage projects, and a subsidiary of Enlight Renewable Energy LTD, will construct and operate CO Bar Solar. This development is one of many projects to help SRP meet…

The Gilbert Town Council is considering new agreements concerning a planned 25-acre water park for Gilbert Regional Park. Cactus Surf Park LLC has replaced The Strand @ Gilbert LLC as the project developer. The project has been on hold since at least December 2020. Changes under review by Council include adjusting lease agreements and revising the timeline for development. The construction start deadline has been shifted to June 30th, 2022, causing the planned opening date to shift from August 2022 to February 2024. (Source)

The Home Matters Arizona Fund has announced a third round of grants totaling $851K as part of its plan to distribute $100M over two years in support of affordable housing development in the state. The latest recipients are Native American Connections ($500K) for the 217-unit The Moreland in Phoenix and Housing Solutions of Northern Arizona, Inc. ($351K), for the 44-unit JoJo’s Place in Flagstaff. Development costs for The Moreland are estimated at $51.6M, while JoJo’s Place is expected to cost $5.85M. The Moreland is Native American Connections’ redevelopment of the City of Phoenix’s Deck Part Vista apartment community. The planned…

By The American Institute of Architects The Architecture Billings Index recorded its seventh consecutive positive month, according to a new report from The American Institute of Architects. The ABI score for August was 55.6, up from July’s score of 54.6. Any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings from the prior month. During August, scoring for both the new project inquiries and design contracts moderated slightly but remained in positive territory, posting scores of 64.7 and 56.6 respectively. “The surge in design activity continued in August, signifying an expected upturn in construction activity in the fourth quarter and continuing…

By U.S. Chamber of Commerce In the face of escalating challenges including worker shortages, materials shortages, and rising costs, commercial construction contractors are seeing a slowdown in the pace of their recovery from the pandemic, according to third quarter data from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Commercial Construction Index. Almost all (92%) contractors report some level of difficulty finding skilled workers, but this quarter, 55% indicate high levels of difficulty – a jump of 10 percentage points from Q2. The lack of workers has caused 42% of those contractors reporting difficulty finding workers to turn down work, up from 35%…