Author: BEX Staff

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX – BEXclusive Merit Partners has changed a plan submitted last year for a roughly 43-acre site at the NWC of Crismon and Pecos roads from potential distribution, logistics, warehousing, manufacturing and similar uses to a new data center campus. The developer will face hearings before several Mesa bodies this month to effect the change. The updated plans change the name from Legacy Business Park to Merit Legacy Technology Park and overhaul the entire scope of the development. Last August, Merit Partners initiated an annexation and rezoning process for the Legacy Business Park site “to provide…

The size of a planned hotel development in Sedona’s Uptown area will rest with the Sedona City Council this week as it hears a zoning request on the project. Dutchman’s Cove LLC (Mike Stevenson, Jennifer May and Colleen TeBrake) has requested that Council revert zoning on six parcels the company is purchasing from Axys Capital next to Oak Creek and the Sedona Arts Center. The parcels were originally zoned general commercial, with the parts situated on the bank of Oak Creek zoned for single-family use. In 1998, Council rezoned the parcels as planned development. That zoning was continued under a…

By BEX Staff for AZBEX New data for construction wage growth shows Arizona’s two major metropolitan areas are among the Top 15 cities tracked. The report by Construction Coverage shows Tucson construction workers saw wages increase by 5.7% over the last five years, placing the city at Number 7 nationwide. Phoenix, meanwhile, came in at Number 15, with construction wages increasing 3.1%. California’s San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro saw the highest construction wage growth at 8.7%. By state, Arizona ranked Number 7, showing construction wage growth of 3.2%. Maine took the top spot at 6.2%. The average construction and extraction industry…

Giving Back 1. The Rosendin Foundation completed its second year of TRF Camp Build, a nationwide program to help middle schoolers explore their interest in building and craftsmanship. Sponsors and donors include Rosendin, MPS, Milwaukee Tool, DEWALT, United Rentals, Border States, Graybar and Sherwin Williams. Awards & Accolades 2. Site Selection magazine named Maricopa County the best in the country for economic development. Promotions 3. Ryan Companies has promoted Steve Stecker to Senior VP of Project Development, Healthcare. 4. Avison Young announced the promotion of Mark Seale to Market Leader from Principal and Director of Brokerage Services. New Hires 5.…

Sale Transactions 1. CBRE negotiated the $79M sale of Alta North Central, a 229-unit multifamily community in Phoenix. Asher Gunter, Matt Pesch, Sean Cunningham and Austin Groen of CBRE represented the seller, an undisclosed institutional fund manager. Troy Tegeler and CJ Connolly of CBRE Debt & Structured Finance Team arranged financing for the buyer, Christiansen Ventures LLC. 2. Green Bay Packaging, Inc. has paid $16.5M for an 80-acre site near the SWC of Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway and Ethington Road in Casa Grande. Seller Auza Ranches LLC was represented by Land Advisors Organization. Green Bay Packaging has not yet announced its…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX More than 200 attendees made their way to south Phoenix’s Desert Willow Conference Center Wednesday for the 2024 BEX Private Development Summit. While Desert Willow was a new venue, event attendees were treated to the same diversity of topics, panelists and data they have come to expect from a BEX industry conference. Introduction: Arizona Construction by the Numbers After a brief welcome and introductory remarks from program emcee Michael Martella, senior economic development manager for the Town of Gilbert, BEX President & Founder Rebekah Morris went into her trademark overview of market trends and economic…

The City of Tempe is soliciting a partner to demolish the existing Tempe Performing Arts Center building at 124 E. Sixth Street and replace it with a new high-rise mixed-use tower. Tempe issued a Request for Qualifications in July to redevelop the 0.62-acre City-owned site. The desired product is a mixed-use building with residential units, up to 50KSF of office space and some amount of ground floor commercial area. (See page XX) The City has said it will support heights of more than 250 feet and would like to see 20% of the residential units targeted toward tenants with incomes…

By Brooks Rehabilitation Brooks Rehabilitation, a leader in treating patients after life-altering brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, strokes and other complex conditions, will open an inpatient rehabilitation hospital on Mayo Clinic’s Phoenix campus. The new hospital will join Brooks’ network of three existing inpatient rehabilitation hospitals in Florida. The expansion into Arizona sets the stage for new growth, innovation and exceptional clinical outcomes and further demonstrates Brooks’ vision to redefine post-acute rehabilitation. The rehabilitation hospital will reside on eight acres adjacent to Mayo Clinic’s Phoenix hospital, near the Arizona State University Health Futures Center. The estimated $70M project will begin…

Yardi Matrix reports the metro Phoenix multifamily market saw a modest gain of approximately 0.6% in July. Austin and Raleigh saw similar increases after all three cities saw rents decline throughout 2023 and much of 2024. In total, 24 of Yardi Matrix’s top 30 cities tracked saw rents increase in July. All those cities had previously seen rent growth turn negative due to large volumes of new deliveries and a decrease in occupancy. Yardi Matrix warned, however, that continued new units coming online in the next 15-18 months could keep rent growth uncertain. Nationwide, only two metro areas reported year-over-year…

Groundbreakings 1. The Arizona Department of Transportation began the $200M Loop 202 Santan Freeway widening project between Loop 101 and Val Vista Dr. in Chandler and Gilbert. The project is scheduled under the Regional Transportation Plan managed by the Maricopa Association of Governments. 2. Fueled by the brisk leasing activity at its 251-unit FirstStreet Ballpark Village multifamily community in Goodyear, which is expected to deliver this October, Harvard Investments recently broke ground on the 222-unit FirstStreet Skyline community in Buckeye. FirstStreet Skyline is expected to start pre-leasing before the end of 2025. Progress Reports 3. McCarthy Building Companies placed the…