Author: BEX Staff

Groundbreakings 1. Developer the Pederson Group will start construction soon on The Trailhead, a 45-acre mixed-use project. The construction will include 336-unit apartments, a Safeway grocery store, restaurants, retail space and a 15KSF church. Components will deliver in phases, with the Safeway and most shops expected in late summer or early fall of next year. 2. On behalf of ViaWest Group, Stevens-Leinweber Construction has broken ground on the final phase of Goodyear Crossing Industrial Park. With the Phase II building comprising 86.9KSF, the 500KSF overall development is designed to fill the gap in metro Phoenix’s mid-size Class A industrial inventory. Stevens-Leinweber Construction serves as…

A plan from Left Lane Development could breathe new life into the iconic Punchcard Building site at Central Avenue and Osborn Road, as well as deliver a new structure to round out the project. Left Lane plans to buy the building – also known as the Phoenix Financial Center – and convert it into a boutique hotel with retail and apartments. The company will also construct a second building with a rooftop deck and spa. Developed as an 18-story office building with two 9KSF rotundas, the building is now mostly vacant. Office to residential conversions are often difficult, but Left…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX A pair of requests scheduled before the Maricopa County Planning and Zoning Commission could bring the Phoenix area’s first new large-scale movie production studio closer to reality. Desert Studios is proposing a multi-phase, $900M development on 320 acres north of Interstate 10 and 339th Avenue in the Tonopah area. According to the project narrative, “The Desert Studios Complex is envisioned as a production hub to include services for all aspects of movie and TV production. Although a site plan for the Property has yet to be fully developed, it is envisioned to contain numerous studios/sound…

Developer Venue Projects has submitted a request to rezone 2.57 acres at the SWC of Highland Avenue and 14th Place in Phoenix from single-family residential to Planned Unit Development. The company plans to create a mixed-use residential and commercial development on the site of a former mobile home park. Wonderview at Highland will have 42 residential units split across a combination of single-story duplexes and two-story buildings with eight units apiece. The northern portion of the property would have three office buildings, one of which would be occupied by the developer. A food and beverage space that could be used…

Arizona’s Water Infrastructure Finance Authority has dropped a plan to work with an Israeli firm on building a $5.5B desalination plant on Mexico’s Sea of Cortez. Under the plan, IDE Technologies would have built a desalination plant on the Puerto Peñasco coast and then delivered water via a 200-mile-long pipeline into the Central Arizona Project canal system. The WIFA board decided last December to start work on creating a formal agreement with IDE Technologies. That decision faced a wide array of criticism, as many felt the decision was rushed and not subject to sufficient public scrutiny. There was also significant…

Awards & Accolades 1. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Arizona Properties raised nearly $10K in partnership with The Sunshine Kids at its inaugural golf tournament in Scottsdale. The money raised is used to assist children in Arizona who are battling cancer through experiences including trips and group activities. Boards & Commissions 2. Paradise Valley Town Council appointed Bob Brown to the Planning Commission with a term ending March 2026. This new appointment will create a vacancy on the Board of Adjustment, where Brown served for two years. Company News 3. After several years of working in the Phoenix market, Clune Construction has…

Sales Transactions 1. CaliberCos Inc. sold the Northsight Crossing retail center in Scottsdale to Hunt Retail Investments, LLC for $27.4M. Brokers on this transaction were Cushman & Wakefield, Caliber Realty and Platinum Advisors. 2. Peter Sun of Five Star Inn One LLC and Lily Hsue of Five Star Inn Two LLC purchased the 3 Palms Hotel, a 130-guestroom property in Tempe for $23M. The seller was Roger Abbot. James Meng of Colliers handled the negotiation and transaction. 3. CBRE’s Geoffrey Turbow, Gary Cornish, Charlie Von Arentschildt and Sean Spellman arranged the $16M sale of McDowell Mountain Business Park II in…

The historic Pratt-Gilbert Building at the SWC of Madison Street and Central Avenue in Phoenix is planned for a makeover that will renovate the structure into a modern mixed-use development. Aardex Corporation’s plan is designed in two phases. In the first, the single-story structure will be renovated to feature 30KSF of retail and restaurant space. The second phase could replace an existing 20.8KSF office building and create a 245-unit, 14-story residential tower, as well as another 7.2KSF of retail facing Central. Phase II plans are still in development and may change depending on community and stakeholder wishes. The developer plans…

AZ Construction Career Days will run Nov. 1 and 2 at the Arizona National Guard Armory, Papago Site, at 5636 E. McDowell Road in Phoenix. Students should arrive at 8 a.m. on both days. Construction Career Days is presented by the Association for Construction Career Development. There are a total of 78 construction companies sponsoring the event, which works to show high school students potential career paths in construction. The event highlights new tools and technology and provides hands on experience. Registration information is available here. (Source)

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX More than 200 stakeholders in Arizona’s public works and infrastructure community packed the conference center at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Phoenix Tempe on Wednesday for the BEX Companies’ 2023 Public Works Conference. Attendees were treated to project and process details from a who’s who of agency leaders and public officials who shared their visions and challenges across the half-day event. Following brief introductory remarks by event emcee Amanda Elliot, redevelopment program manager for the Town of Gilbert, the presentations, panels and market news came at a steady clip for the rest of the day.…