Author: BEX Staff

By Associated Builders and Contractors Associated Builders and Contractors has reported its Construction Backlog Indicator rose to 8.2 months in February, according to an ABC member survey conducted from February 22nd to March 3rd. This is up 0.7 months from January’s reading, but is still 0.7 months lower than in February 2020. ABC’s Construction Confidence Index readings for sales, profit margins and staffing levels also increased in February. All three indices are now above the threshold of 50, indicating expectations of growth during the next six months, but below February 2020 levels. (Source)

By CBRE Driven by demand from cloud service providers and large tech companies, Phoenix saw the sixth-most data center leasing in North America in 2020, according to CBRE’s latest North American Data Center Trends Report. Year-over-year net absorption in Phoenix was 17.5MW megawatts in 2020, up 38 percent from 2019, despite 9MW of new supply coming online last year. The metro’s vacancy rate of 6.7 percent at the end of last year is the lowest since 2016, while average asking lease rates remained steady in 2020 at $115. Phoenix has seen increased demand for investment in and development of freestanding…

Groundbreakings 1. The Related Group announced the groundbreaking of Town Deer Valley, a 388-unit multi-family luxury residential apartment homes at 24032 N. 19th Avenue, Phoenix. The project’s design firm is Gary Todd Architects and the general contractor is GCON. The first residential units will be available in the second quarter of 2022 with the grand opening slated for fall of 2022. 2. The Arizona Department of Transportation is starting a project to replace the Interstate 40 bridges over Business 40, which connects the interstate to Historic Route 66 in west Flagstaff. The project, which is approximately three miles west of…

By Tasha Anderson for AZBEX The City of Phoenix owns a parcel at the SWC of 24th Street and Broadway Road, and is looking for some fresh ideas for future development. A Request for Information was recently issued on the city’s website, seeking help to determine, “how best to creatively approach a possible future solicitation for development of the Site so results are market viable and beneficial to the surrounding neighborhood, the City, and the developer.” The RFI goes on to state that, “responses to this RFI will be used to ascertain if market conditions support the issuance of a…

Budget, Policy & Stimulus News Senate Passes Relief Package The U.S. Senate this weekend passed the $1.9T COVID-19 stimulus and relief bill backed by the Biden Administration. The vote was 50-49 along party lines. The legislation extends emergency unemployment benefits and provides most Americans with direct payments of up to $1,400, along with funding for a range of other stimulus programs. Republicans in both the House and Senate decried to overall cost of the bill and the inclusion of significant non-COVID-related spending. Amendments submitted to address Republican opposition were largely rejected. The measure now returns to the House, which is…

ViaWest Group announced it has purchased 10 acres of land near Sky Harbor International Airport. The parcel is located at the NWC of S. 48th Street and the San Fran Canal and is in a Federal Qualified Opportunity Zone. This is ViaWest Group’s third OZ purchase in the last two years and the company continues to pursue additional industrial, office, multifamily, and land deals in the Southwest. ViaWest plans to build a class A industrial building on the land, Airport48 Industrial. Construction is set to begin Q3 of 2021 with a delivery of Q2 2022. There are currently two prominent,…

By Associated Builders and Contractors The construction industry lost 61,000 jobs on net in February, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. During the last ten months, the industry has added 805,000 jobs, recovering 72.3 percent of the jobs lost during the earlier stages of the pandemic. Almost all of the job loss was in nonresidential construction, a segment in which employment declined by 60,800 jobs on net in February. Nonresidential specialty trade contractors and heavy and civil engineering both experienced significant job losses, losing 36,700 and 20,800 jobs,…

Awards & Accolades 1. AZ Big Media issued the Top 10 Architecture Firms in Arizona based on public voting for the 2021 edition of Ranking Arizona. They are: Six Architects or Fewer: Cawley Architects LGE Design Group HDA Architects dpa architects ADM Group Bar Napkin Productions Ideation Design Group K&I Architects Merge Architectural Group FM Solutions Seven Architects or More: Corgan Cuningham Group Architecture SmithGroup DAVIS triARC architecture & design Gensler SPS+ Architects Gould Evans Orcutt | Winslow SAWBACK PLLC 2. AZ Big Media issued the Top 10 Brokerage Firms in Arizona based on public voting for the 2021 edition…

Sales Transactions 1. JLL Income Property Trust bought the Lotus Project, a four-building, 474KSF, Class A distribution center complex in Chandler for $91M, from Conor Commercial Real Estate. JLL Income Property Trust is calling the development the Southeast Phoenix Distribution Center. 2. Logan Capital Advisors purchased The Bungalows on Jomax, a 141-unit garden-style, horizontal, low density, single-family and build-for-rent community at 27441 N. Black Canyon Highway, Phoenix, for $42M, from Bungalows on Jomax, LLC. Senior Managing Directors Mark Forrester and Ric Holway, Senior Director Dan Cheyne and Director Andrew Curtis of Berkadia’s Phoenix office completed the sale on behalf of…

By Tasha Anderson for AZBEX The first BEX Virtual Leading Market Series topic of 2021 was Healthcare and more than 200 people logged on Wednesday, March 3rd, to hear about current and future opportunities in Arizona Healthcare construction, and, as an added bonus, got to watch two cats duking it out in the background. Because it’s not a virtual meeting without at least one pet getting involved, am I right? The panel consisted of Mark Barkenbush, Vice President Facility Services for Banner Health; Steve Eiss, Vice President Construction & Real Estate Development for Northern Arizona Healthcare; Peter Gray, Associate Vice…