Author: BEX Staff

By BEX Staff for AZBEX Major land use changes proposed for the 141-acre Oro Valley Town Centre area, formerly known as Rooney Ranch, near Pusch View Lane and Oracle Road have been approved by the Oro Valley Town Council. The highly visible undeveloped desert parcel has been the subject of extensive planning and debate over the years. In its May 6 meeting, the Town Council approved a General Plan amendment and rezoning request to move the latest plans forward. According to materials accompanying the Council’s consideration, Oro Valley initiated the amendment and rezoning process last year and began working on…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX The next evolution of the Bella Storia master plan is underway, following a recent master site plan and an associated component review of the 12.96-acre Bella Storia Commercial plan by the Gilbert Design Review Board. Bella Storia is a nearly 80-acre master planned site at the NWC of Power and Williams Field roads. The development vision includes single-family, multifamily, restaurants, retail and other commercial components. The overall project dates back to 2022, and AZBEX was the first outlet to report on plans for the multifamily component early last year. (AZBEX; Feb. 4, 2025) The 13-acre…

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Michael Herrod has upheld the Arizona law that will enable Axon Enterprise’s construction of a new $1.3B corporate headquarters campus near Hayden Road and Loop 101 in north Scottsdale. AZBEX has led coverage of the Axon project and its controversies. Our reporting is available here. After the project won approval from the Scottsdale City Council, an opposition political action committee called Taxpayers Against Awful Apartment Zoning Exemptions collected signatures to put the matter before voters in a referendum. The group was particularly opposed to the project’s inclusion of nearly 2,000 multifamily units. The newly installed…

As officials in Lake Havasu City consider their Fiscal Year 2026-2027 budget and five-year Capital Improvement Plan, water and wastewater projects are assuming a prominent role. Current discussions center around a budget estimate of $46.5M for water and $34.4M for wastewater projects originally presented in an April work session. A water main replacement program is estimated at approximately $20M. Of that total, $3.5M has already been spent, and $4.5M more is planned over the next fiscal year. FY 2026-2027 will also see $1M for advanced metering infrastructure, which has a total estimate of $7.5M over the five years. Another $3.57M…

Giving Back 1. Salt River Project crews connected 13 families to electricity in the western Navajo Nation this spring through the Light Up Navajo VII initiative. To electrify the 13 homes, SRP crews worked a combined 3,753 hours over two weeks, installing 108 primary poles, 25 secondary poles and 10 transformers, and stringing 91,866 feet of wire. Company News 2. Okland Construction announced the company has transitioned to partial employee ownership through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan, “expanding ownership to include the people who help make this company what it is.” 3. Chapman Lindsey Commercial Real Estate Services LLC has…

Sales Transactions 1. Bonesta Inc. purchased three assisted living facilities from Sante Partners in a portfolio transaction totaling $75.61M. The properties were: Santé of North Scottsdale, a 52.4KSF facility at 17490 N. 93rd St. in Scottsdale, which sold for $27.21M; Santé of Mesa, a 48.3KSF facility at 5358 E. Baseline Road in Mesa, which sold for $24.29M, and Santé of Surprise, a 49.9KSF facility at 14775 W. Yorkshire Dr. in Surprise, which sold for $24.11M. 2. U.S. Merchants purchased a 454KSF industrial building at 13401 W. Sweetwater Ave. in Surprise for $63.89M from Mohr Capital. The property is part of…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX The Goodyear Planning and Zoning Commission reviewed a request from developer Wealth Hospitality to rezone and amend the development guidelines for a 35-acre site near the NEC of McDowell Road and Bullard Avenue to allow the development of a four-story, 241-room dual-branded Hilton Garden Inn & Homewood Suites hotel project. The Commission recommended approval in its May 6 meeting. The 4.92-acre hotel site lies within the 16.57-acre West Parcel of the overall Palm Valley Promenade Planned Area Development. Current development guidelines have a three-story height maximum. The request would remove the three-story restriction to allow…

By BEX Staff for AZBEX The Phoenix office of JLL announced this week that it will market the 2,500-acre Grand View Arizona master plan in Buckeye. JLL’s announcement describes Grand View Arizona as “an infrastructure-rich, fully entitled, 2,500-acre mega site… With the scale to accommodate large-scale, sophisticated manufacturing uses, the project is projected to become a leading employment district, generating over $1B in economic impact as it transforms the landscape of industrial and economic growth in the region.” JLL’s Marc Hertzberg, Anthony Lydon, Greg Matter, John Lydon and Nicole Marshall are marketing the land for immediate development, according to the…

The Bullhead City Council was recently presented with an updated vision for future development at Laughlin Ranch. The existing Laughlin Ranch community is a residential development centered around a golf course. A planned future development south of Laughlin Ranch Blvd. is now being considered as a combination of residential and light industrial uses. Diversified Future Founder and Managing Partner Shelby Duplessis provided the overview in a recent workshop. She said the original plan for a second golf course and 1,500 acres of residential development is now being envisioned for more than 2,500 acres of light industrial use. The plan would…

Elevated borrowing costs, slowing construction starts and higher regulatory scrutiny of CRE concentration risks have U.S. banks maintaining a decrease in construction lending, a new report has found. CRED iQ’s data shows lending for construction and development continuing to shrink, even though broader market conditions are showing signs of stabilization. Construction and development loan balances fell to $456.3B, a 5.7% year-over year drop. The decrease marks the sixth quarter in a row in which banks construction lending has contracted. Lending’s most recent peak came in Q4 2023, reaching $505.5B. Banks have since reduced their exposure due to elevated interest rates,…