Author: BEX Staff

Sales Transactions  1. Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. purchased the newly constructed, 105-room Hyatt House and 154-room Hyatt Place at 601 E. 6th Street, Tempe, for a gross purchase price of approximately $64.6M. The hotels are part of the initial phase of the Novus Innovation Corridor.  2. Tides on 19th Partners, LLC purchased Nineteen Apartments, a 236-unit, garden-style apartment community at 4802 N. 19th Avenue, Phoenix, for $27M. Brian Smuckler, Jeff Seaman, Derek Smigiel and Bryson Fricke of CBRE in Phoenix represented the seller, Camelback at the Stop, LLC, and the buyer.  3. Taurus Investment Holdings, LLC purchased Avenel on 16th Apartments, a 200-unit apartment community near 16th Street and Indian School Road, Phoenix, for…

By Rebekah Morris for AZBEX  The diversity of East Valley cities was on full display at the August 12th, 2020 Leading Market Series discussion hosted by BEX. Economic development directors from the cities of Mesa and Scottsdale, along with the Town of Queen Creek, identified their unique challenges and goals in bringing in new employers to their municipality, especially during a time when typical face-to-face meetings and travel are not happening.    Panelists included: Doreen Cott, economic development director for the Town of Queen Creek; Lori Collins, deputy director of economic development for the City of Mesa, and Rob Millar, economic development director for the City of Scottsdale. The discussion was moderated by Rebekah Morris,…

Economic News  80 Percent of Retail Tenants Paid July Rent  Fewer than 60 percent of national brand retail tenants paid their rents in May, but 80 percent mailed the checks in July, according to the Datex Tenant Track of more than 1,000 shopping centers and tens of thousands of retail stores. (Source: Real Estate Daily News)  Alternate CRE Lending Dries Up  Lending for commercial real estate deals through commercial mortgage-backed securities and other nonbank, non-life company sources has nearly ground to a halt, according to a new lender survey by CBRE. (Source: Bisnow)  80 Percent of Apartment Renters Paid in August  A total of 79.3 percent of apartment households made full or partial payments by August 6th, according to the National…

By Corina Vanek for Phoenix Business Journal  A developer of high-end extended stay hotels bought 4.5 acres of land in north Phoenix to develop the company’s first Arizona hotel property.  WaterWalk purchased the site at 19th Avenue and Pinnacle Peak Road for $2.14M from the Alter Group. Trask Switzenberg and Chuck Wells of Kidder Mathews represented WaterWalk.  “The continued rapid expansion in the Deer Valley submarket, coupled with the site lying in an opportunity zone, led to our client’s confidence in moving forward with the transaction, even amidst the current economic climate,” said Switzenberg.  The site also includes a 0.75-acre retail pad that Switzenberg and Wells will also market.  Read more at Phoenix Business Journal. 

By Mark Cowling for Florence Reminder & Blade-Tribune  Florence Copper is a step closer to full-scale commercial production with state environmental regulators issuing a draft permit for public comment and scheduling a virtual public hearing for September 9th.  The company has been mining copper on a small scale for more than a year in a test phase. The company said in a statement that this testing period has confirmed “every production and environmental protection expectation” and the state’s draft permit “reflects that achievement.” The draft permit says the facility is in compliance with its existing permit.  The draft Aquifer Protection Permit will now undergo…

Source: Arizona Department of Transportation  The Arizona Department of Transportation has been granted environmental approval to continue moving forward with plans to improve two key corridors in the Tucson area.  ADOT issued a Finding of No Significant Impact after completing a Final Environmental Assessment for the Interstate 10/State Route 210 study in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act. The Final Environmental Assessment includes comments from the community received during and after public meetings in 2018 and a public hearing in 2019. The document is posted at azdot.gov/i10sr210study.  The study reviewed two highways within the Tucson metro area:  I-10 from the I-10/I-19 interchange to Kolb Road  SR 210 (Barraza-Aviation Parkway)…

By Angela Gonzales for Phoenix Business Journal  In an effort to bring more affordable housing units to Arizona, a group of health care CEOs have gotten together to create a $100M fund to help finance these construction projects.  So far, Aetna, Dignity Health and UnitedHealthcare have committed $35M in below-market debt that can be used by this fund to support projects to increase the number of affordable housing units, said Joe Gaudio, CEO of the west region for United Healthcare Community & State.  Another $2M in charitable grant funding has been earmarked by several other health care providers, including Arizona Complete Health, Banner-University Health Plan, Care1st Health Plan Arizona, Health Choice Arizona, Magellan Complete Care of Arizona, Mercy Care,…

Progress Reports  1. Construction on La Quinta continues at John Wayne Parkway/Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard next to Copper Sky. The four-story building will have 89 rooms and occupy 56KSF. It is expected to employ 20.   2. The joint venture, Willmeng Construction Inc. and Fann Contracting, recently celebrated the topping out of the new 18KSF passenger terminal at Prescott Regional Airport Ernest A. Love Field. Final completion is expected in March 2021.   Completions  3. 7180 Optima Kierland opened the 12-story residential high-rise tower. The award-winning, green-building design created by David Hovey, Jr., AIA, president and principal architect of Optima.  4. The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office recently moved into the new six-floor office building that was formerly the site of…

By Rebekah Morris for AZBEX  Arizona is the location of many planned mega projects, each valued at $1B+ total construction cost. Perusing DATABEX for a current list reveals 27 such projects.   Come along as we recap the largest projects going on in the state. One caveat to mention upfront; Since BEX covers the commercial and infrastructure markets, single-family residential is specifically excluded. Also excluded are projects on hold or canceled.  Data Centers & Master Planned Campuses Prevalent  Looking at the types of projects on the list includes a heavy concentration of both master planned campuses and data centers. Data centers are typically valued at a very high capital investment, although most of…

Budget, Policy & Stimulus News  Phoenix Has $9M+ Left for Business Grants  With more than $9M still left sitting idle in a Phoenix grant program set up to help small businesses amid the COVID-19 pandemic, city officials are looking to expand its eligibility parameters to get more of the money moving out the door. The Phoenix Small Business Resiliency Grants Program was created with nearly $14M in funding from the CARES Act to help small businesses navigate through the coronavirus pandemic. (Source: Phoenix Business Journal)  Assistance Applications Open for Rental Property Owners  Applications are open for Arizona’s Rental Property Owner Preservation Fund, providing assistance to rental property owners across the state who…