Author: BEX Staff

Sales Transactions  1. Western Wealth Capital acquired Onnix Apartments, a 659-unit multifamily property at 1500 E. Broadway Road, Tempe, for $117.5M. The seller was Bridge Investment Group Partners. Institutional Property Advisors Arizona’s Cliff David and Steve Gebing handled the transaction.  2. An entity affiliated with Cortland Partners acquired The Angela, a 253-unit Class A multifamily community at 2727 E. Camelback Road, Phoenix, for $117M. CBRE’s Tyler Anderson, Sean Cunningham, Asher Gunter, Matt Pesch and Mark McFate represented the sellers, StreetLights Residential and Nexpoint Advisors.  3. Tides Equities LLC purchased the 472-unit Midtown on Main apartment complex at 2121 W. Main Street, Mesa, for $86.5M.  4. An undisclosed buyer purchased Elux at Tramonto, a 138-unit garden-style multifamily property at 35035 N.…

By Tasha Anderson for AZBEX  Arizona’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased to 6.7 percent in September 2020, from August 2020, according to the latest report published by the Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity.   The national rate decreased to 7.9 percent from 8.4 percent in August. In September 2019, the state had a seasonally adjusted rate of 4.6 percent, and the national was at 3.5 percent.  The state had a net gain of 30,200 non-farm jobs over the month. “Historically (2010-2019), Nonfarm employment has averaged a gain of 28,700 jobs in August,” the report states. Government had the largest net gain with 10,800 jobs, followed by Leisure & Hospitality with a gain of 7,000. Construction reported no gains or losses for the month.   Trade, Transportation & Utilities took the top spot in job gains from September 2019 to September 2020 with a total of 14,900, while Leisure & Hospitality took the top spot in job losses over the year with 56,000. Construction reported a 3,300 job loss over the year.  The Construction…

Budget, Policy & Stimulus News  SBA Makes Some Smaller Loan Forgiveness Easier  The Small Business Administration released a streamlined Paycheck Protection Program loan forgiveness application for some loans under $50K — but small-business groups and experts say it still leaves many borrowers out in the cold. The new application provides a safe harbor for the smallest of PPP borrowers with one or more employees other than the owners who could not maintain the same level of full-time employees during their loan’s covered period. (Source: Phoenix Business Journal)  Economic News  CRE Rebound May Be Taking Hold  According to SIOR’s monthly Snapshot Sentiment Survey, member transaction volume reached the highest level since…

By Cecilia Chan for Gilbert Sun News  A developer wants to build a gated 207-unit townhome community at the SWC of Lindsay and Germann roads on land zoned for office use.  The applicant, Norris Design, is seeking a minor General Plan amendment and rezoning of the 14.53 acres currently used for agricultural, according to staff at a Planning Commission study session.  The site is located within the Gilbert and Loop 202 growth area, which identifies areas that are particularly suitable for multi-modal transportation and for uses such as residential, office, commercial and industrial, planner Keith Newman said.  He said constraints on the site – such as…

Source: JLL  Despite a sluggish first half of 2020, the Phoenix office market showed signs of growth during the third quarter, posting just over 300KSF of positive absorption.   The Chandler submarket led the way in Q3 with over 176KSF of net gains coming from the finance and insurance sectors. The Tempe submarket was a close second experiencing more than 100KSF of occupancy growth. During the same time more than 219KSF of new construction was delivered in Tempe, 65 percent of which was pre-leased by Infosys and ASU in the Novus Innovation Corridor.   While a slew of companies put sublease space on the market in Q2 due to the uncertainty brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, some…

Groundbreakings  1. Sundt Construction, Inc. recently started expanding the campus of Royal Oaks, a Sun City retirement community. Sundt will help shape Royal Oaks’ newest neighborhood, Inspirata Pointe, by adding four new independent living buildings and new pavilions to the westside neighborhood. On the eastern edge of the campus, Sundt will return to the Friendship House to expand the space and build two new therapy buildings for rehabilitation and wellness services.  Progress Reports  2. Mountain Pacific Opportunity Partners, in partnership with Banyan Residential, announced the closing and commencement of vertical construction for the $50M Banyan Washington, a 223-unit multifamily development at 5321 E. Washington Street, Phoenix. The project broke ground in…

By Tasha Anderson for AZBEX  A new Class A multifamily development is being proposed for an 11.01-acre site at Black Canyon and Dynamite Boulevard in Phoenix.   Developer, DHI Communities, part of the D.R. Horton homebuilding company, recently submitted plans to the City of Phoenix and is requesting rezoning the property from S-1 (Farm or Ranch Residence) to R-3A (Multifamily Residence District) in order to develop the apartment complex, called Ascend at Dynamite & Black Canyon. Two large lot single-family homes currently sit on the property.  Ascend at Dynamite & Black Canyon is proposed as a 260-unit apartment complex comprised of 130 one-, 114 two- and…

Budget, Policy & Stimulus News  Tempe Launches $1.1M Small Business Grant Program  The City of Tempe has allocated $1.1M to create the Tempe Small Business Grant Program to help businesses impacted by COVID-19. The program will assist small businesses with up to $10K in funding. Awards are based on $1,300/per full-time employee, up to a maximum of $10K. (Source: City of Tempe)   AZ Supreme Court Refuses Eviction Ban Case  The Arizona Supreme Court won’t overturn the order by Gov. Doug Ducey blocking residential evictions. Justices spurned a request by the Arizona Multihousing Association to review the governor’s actions and determine if he is within his legal rights in saying that landlords could not oust tenants who have not been paying…

By Joe Dyton for The Broker List  Mall owner Simon Property Group and Amazon are in talks to turn J.C. Penney and Sears stores into distribution centers, according to The Wall Street Journal. Both department store chains filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and closed stores across the country. Simon malls have 63 J.C. Penney stores and 11 Sears, according to the company’s May public filing. The number of stores Amazon is interested in has not been reported.  A potential deal falls in line with Amazon’s plans to create more distribution hubs close to residential to accelerate deliveries. It goes against Simon’s and other malls’ business model however, which is rely on anchor department stores to…

By Peter Aleshire for Payson Roundup  Gila County is seeking a bond issue to pay off a $15.6M debt to the state retirement system for sheriff’s deputies, detention officers and dispatchers, Supervisor Woody Cline told the Payson Tea Party during a recent campaign appearance.  Cline said the bond issue would allow the county to finance its current estimated debt to the Public Safety Personnel Retirement System at less than 3 percent annual interest — much below the 7.3 percent interest the retirement system is currently charging the county to cover the estimated unfunded balance.  The bond issue could save the county $7M over the next 15 years, he said.…