Author: BEX Staff

Giving Back  1. Harvard Investments, developer of Cadence at Gateway, recently thanked Dignity Health Arizona General Hospital Mesa healthcare heroes by delivering fresh meals from two local favorite Mesa restaurants, Handlebar Diner and Native Grill & Wings.  2. Director of Marketing, PR & Administration with SVN Desert Commercial Advisors, Melissa Swader has recently launched a national Facebook group called Women in Commercial Real Estate, to give women in CRE a platform to help elevate their business and brand.  Boards & Commissions  3. Sean Ray, Director of Craft Workforce Development for Sundt Construction, has been named vice-chairman of the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) National Workforce Development Committee (WFD). He has been an…

Sales Transactions  1. NAI Horizon’s Lane Neville and Logan Crum negotiated a sale of the Corbins Electric corporate headquarters, a 52.7KSF industrial building at 4829 S. 38th Street, Phoenix, for $7M. NAI Horizon represented the buyer, Staffield Family, LLC. The seller, ML Commercial Properties, was represented by Clint Hardison and Blake Hardison with Keyser.  2. Marana Unified School District purchased the property at 8333 N. Silverbell Road with approximately 7.5-acres of excess land in Marana, Arizona for $4.2M. The property consists of a one-story, 35KSF urgent care building on one parcel of land with approximately 138.1KSF of land and an additional 4.3-acres of vacant land. John Barnes and Michael Milic,…

By Rebekah Morris for AZBEX  Transferring business development and interview skills from predominantly face-to-face to entirely virtual has presented the market with new challenges. At the Virtual Leading Market Series on May 13th, 2020, Rebekah Morris, Founder and President of BEX discussed the topic with a panel of industry leaders to see how they are handling this very abrupt and impactful switch. Panelists included Russ Sanders, Principal, SmithGroup, Wendy Springborn, Engineering Services Manager for the City of Tempe, and Hilari Weinstein, President of High Impact Communications.  Logistics and Basic Delivery of a Virtual Interview  From the various platforms available, to the lighting, audio quality and the inevitable glitches with technology, the most important piece of advice from the panel was to practice. Sanders and…

Policy & Stimulus News  Work Ongoing to Resolve Trump, Congress Relief Divide  President Donald Trump and congressional leaders have pitched a number of proposals they argue are essential to a new coronavirus relief plan to combat the effects of the pandemic. The result: A grab bag of ideas without a deal. Discussions are ongoing between the two sides. (Source: AZCentral)  Economic News  GPEC Shifts Focus to Navigate Downturn  The pandemic has caused the Greater Phoenix Economic Council to shift some of its focus from pitching the Valley as an attractive place for businesses to working with its member organizations to create economic acceleration plans to work through the downturn, according to Chris Camacho, GPEC president and CEO. (Source: Phoenix Business…

By Tasha Anderson for AZBEX  Ryan Companies has recently submitted plans to the City of Scottsdale for another assisted living facility under the Acoya name, this one to be located at the SWC of Shea Boulevard and 74th Street.  The North Scottsdale facility, called Acoya Scottsdale at Troon, that Ryan Companies is currently constructing at 10455 E. Pinnacle Peak Parkway, began in 2018 and is expected to be complete in Fall 2020.  The recently submitted plans are for Acoya Scottsdale at Shea, and the project is proposed as a high-end 161-unit senior residential development which will include a mix of 136 independent and assisted living units and 25 memory care units.  The site currently houses a retail center, gas station, car wash and…

Source: Zoom  Zoom has announced it will open two new research and development centers — one in the greater Phoenix area and one in Pittsburgh.   Zoom will immediately begin recruiting software engineering talent in these areas. Employees will work from home until the offices are built and COVID-19-related isolation has abated, expected for fall 2020. While the company has not finalized the office locations, Zoom is looking for space near Arizona State University and Carnegie Mellon University, both of which have exceptional engineering programs. These two centers will add to Zoom’s existing R&D and support Zoom’s engineering leadership.  “Both Phoenix and Pittsburgh have incredibly well-educated, skilled, and diverse talent…

By Mara Knaub for Yuma sun  The Yuma City Council scrutinized the Capital Improvement Program plan for 2021 in a roundtable discussion.  The CIP budget, at $51.4M, is more than last year, but the city expects 45 percent of the costs to be recovered through grants, reimbursements and private-public partnerships.  City Engineer Jeff Kramer noted that the needs are greater than the available resources, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Deputy Mayor Karen Watts thanked the staff for handling the “monumental task” of creating a budget in an “unprecedented year” that included a pandemic and shutdown of businesses.   City Administrator Phil Rodriguez explained that the purpose of the roundtable discussion was to gather feedback from the council members and make sure it’s consistent with…

Progress Reports  1. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, George Oliver is making thoughtful changes to build tenant confidence and position its latest redevelopment project, The Alexander, now under construction in downtown Chandler, as a premier “new normal” work environment. New COVID-19-related design enhancements include “touchless” accessibility throughout, featuring 10-foot sliding glass entry doors, motion sensor restroom doors and fixtures, and touchless drinking fountains. All strategic upgrades will be completed within the original development timeline, keeping the project on-track for delivery to the market by the fourth quarter of this year.  Completions  2. The design-build team of WSM Architects, The Weitz Company and Gannett Fleming recently completed construction on the $12M Public Works…

By Tasha Anderson for AZBEX  Greystar Development & Construction is looking to develop a new 55+ apartment community at the NWC of Recker Road and Somerton Boulevard in the Cooley Station area of Gilbert.  The Town of Gilbert heard a request for site plan approval for the project, named Greystar Active Adult Apartment Homes, including approvals for landscape, grading and drainage, elevations, floor plans, lighting, colors and materials at its May 6th Planning Commission study session.  The development is proposed as a premier 55+ gated active adult apartment community consisting of 201 dwelling units in a mix of one- and two-bedroom floor plans. The project has three building types: a…

Economic News  Housing Markets may be Recovering  In the face of the COVID-19 crisis, reports from the last month indicate the real estate market is faring considerably better than many industries, especially in Tucson. Long Realty reports new pending real estate sales in the Tucson Metro Area are up 9.3 percent from last week, but still down an average of 13.5 percent from before the COVID-19 shutdowns. (Source: Inside Tucson Business)  Homebuilders’ April Not as Painful as Expected  While homebuilders were expecting a strong selling season this spring before COVID-19 hit, the impact of stay-at-home orders wasn’t as painful as expected as they pivoted to…