Author: BEX Staff

By American Institute of Architects It has now been nearly two years since (architectural) firms saw sustained growth. However, clients are still expressing interest in new projects, as inquiries into work have continued to increase during that period. However, those inquiries remain challenging to convert to actual new projects in the pipeline, as the value of newly signed design contracts declined for the fifth consecutive month in August. Business conditions softened in all regions of the country in August, with firms located in the West reporting the softest conditions for the second consecutive month. Billings were flat at firms located…

PulteGroup has submitted plans for a 6,355-acre master-planned development in north Phoenix. The land belongs to Arizona State Land Department and is south of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s plant, just west of Interstate 17. A land auction will be required but has not yet been scheduled. Documents show the developer is requesting a maximum of 19,247 dwelling units, ranging from single-family to high-density apartments. The site contains six “master development parcels” that each carry a variety of land uses. The parcel closest to TSMC is called the “innovation corridor” and could potentially include employment, manufacturing and regional commerce. Residential units…

By CJ Jorgensen for AZBEX The City of Buckeye’s Planning & Zoning Commission recommended approval of a minor General Plan amendment and rezoning for the proposed Ventana Ranch South master-planned development at its Oct. 8 meeting. The minor General Plan amendment and rezoning requests were submitted concurrently with one another. A 55.1-acre portion of the overall parcel will be changed. The land sits at the NEC of West Southern Avenue and South Watson Road. Prior to the amendment, the land was designated as Neighborhood. The proposed changes would consist of approximately 11.2 acres remaining Neighborhood while approximately 43.9 acres change…

By Western Retail Advisors Phoenix-based retail brokerage specialist Western Retail Advisors has announced the completion of a 20.45-acre, $14.4M land acquisition in San Tan Valley, purchased for the development of a 318-unit apartment project. Jake McClaughry and Brian Gausden of Western Retail Advisors represented the property buyer, Z Modular, a division of Zekelman Industries. Matt Rinzler of Insight Land and Investments represented the property seller, Diversified Partners. The San Tan Valley land site sits at the SEC of Gantzel Road and El Parque Lane. It is surrounded by single-family housing and is walkable to major national retailers and restaurants. It…

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has announced Queen Creek will be one of seven U.S. and 10 international communities where the next round of new LDS temples will be built. There are currently six completed temples in the state, three of which are in the Valley. A seventh temple was announced for Yuma in April. The state’s oldest LDS temple is in Mesa. The structure was dedicated in 1927 and underwent a three-year, multi-million-dollar renovation that culminated in a rededication in 2021. Church officials said Queen Creek’s reputation as a family-friendly community, the area’s significant growth and…

What kind of landing the current collection of economic difficulties and the processes used to try to correct them will result in appears to be largely anyone’s guess at the moment. The Federal Reserve, economists, companies and players involved in business and the financial markets have mostly been aiming for a “soft landing,” in which inflation gradually decreases without triggering a recession or large-scale unemployment, as would happen in a “hard landing.” There exists, however, the possibility of “no landing,” in which inflation lingers but economic growth and employment remain strong, giving the Fed no room for additional interest rate…

Groundbreakings 1. A groundbreaking ceremony was held for the new four-story, 130KSF Sun Life Health Education and Medical Campus in Casa Grande . The $67M development will potentially provide up to 200 new jobs. The 10-acre project is expected to be completed in 2026. 2. DXD Capital has begun construction on a new ExtraSpace Storage, a Scottsdale self-storage facility. The 706-unit project is near Loop 101 and Shea Blvd. TLW Construction is the general contractor of the 94KSF project. 3. Sun State Builders announced construction is now underway in Glendale on a ground-up build for WorkBay. It is a complex…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX Construction costs in Phoenix continued to increase in Q3, but they rose less on a Year-over-Year basis than any of the other cities tracked in the newly released “North America Quarterly Construction Cost Report” from Rider Levett Bucknall. RLB’s comparative cost index shows Phoenix with an annual percent change of 3.88% over the year from July 2023-July 2024. The next closest city was Denver at 4.01%. Chicago saw the largest percent change at 6.73%, followed by Boston at 5.87%. In his introduction to the report, RLB North America President Paul Brussow writes U.S. construction cost…

TWC Appleby Road, LLC is requesting that Maricopa County rezone 16.6 acres for a light industrial project. Currently, the site is zoned RU-43, which permits one dwelling unit per acre. The developer is requesting a switch to light industrial zoning with an Industrial Unit Plan of Development Overlay. The City of Chandler’sGeneral Plan designates the site as employment and industrial. The zoning change conforms with the Airpark Area Plan. The parcel is located on a County island on Appleby Road, approximately a quarter mile east of Arizona Avenue, near Chandler Municipal Airport. Development would begin east of the Southern Pacific…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX – BEXclusive HonorHealth Shea has submitted plans to the City of Scottsdale for a new parking garage at its campus on 90th Street north of the Mustang Library. The four-story garage will feature 466 parking spaces and is planned to help resolve ongoing parking difficulties for users of the HonorHealth Labor and Delivery building. According to the submitted narrative, “This existing condition triggers traffic issues associated with the 90th Street traffic lights, the hospital entrance and patient dropoff, and the nearby private parking lots. With the construction of this garage, HonorHealth plans to alleviate the…