Author: BEX Staff

By Melissa Rosequist for Independent Newsmedia  A lawsuit between Five Star Development — the entity behind the forthcoming Ritz-Carlton Paradise Valley — and the Town of Paradise Valley has emerged in the Superior Court of Arizona, records show.  The June 25th  complaint seeks declaratory judgment on Five Star’s legal responsibilities to pay for the costs of underground drainage structures — a point of contention for both sides within the development agreement — as well as a judgment that it is entitled to credits for plan review fees; and requesting the town must pay $1M toward Five Star’s portion of the cost of street improvements.  Paradise Valley officials believe they have acted fairly,…

Awards & Accolades  1. Here are the Top 10 Green Builders in Arizona, based on public voting for the 2020 edition of Ranking Arizona:  CORE Construction  DPR Construction  Ryan Companies US, Inc.  Kitchell  McCarthy Building Companies Inc.  CHASSE Building Team  Haydon Building Corp.  Layton Construction Co.  The Weitz Company – Green Builders  Adolfson & Peterson Construction  2. Phoenix Business Journal has published their 2020 class of 40 Under 40. The CRE honorees include:  Courtney Beller – Fennemore Craig P.C  Carrie Masters – LGE Design Build  Vanessa Williams – Colliers International  Steve Larsen – JLL  3. CHASSE Building Team has been awarded the 2020 Tempe Chamber of Commerce Large Business of the Year. Barry Chasse accepted…

Sales Transactions  1. DS Tucson Landlord, LLC, an affiliate of SunTrust Equity Funding LLC purchased the 15.6KSF Walgreens at 4685 E. Grant Road, Tucson, for approximately $7M. There were no outside brokers involved in the transaction.  2. A private California investor purchased the 15.1KSF Walgreens at 11951 N. 1st Avenue, Oro Valley, for $5.2M, from Tangerine Valley, LLC. John Barnes of Colliers International in Phoenix handled the transaction.  3. John Schweikert and Chad Tiedeman at Phoenix Commercial Advisors represented the seller in the $4.495M sale of the 25KSF Goodwill at 9060 N. 29th Avenue, Phoenix.  4. Steven Underwood and Chad Tiedeman at Phoenix Commercial Advisors represented the seller in the $2.569M sale…

By Tasha Anderson for AZBEX  A new 10-story building is being proposed as an expansion to the four-building Optima Kierland Center multifamily development currently under construction in Phoenix.  While the original development’s location is 7120, 7140, 7160 and 7180 E. Kierland Boulevard, the expansion’s location will be designated as 7190 E. Kierland Boulevard. 7190 will be located at the site of the current La Maison Interiors building that was purchased by the developer, Optima, back in 2019 according to an article published by the Phoenix Business Journal on August 2nd, 2019.  Optima Kierland Phase II is proposed as a 10-story, 288-unit multifamily development meant to provide a, “unique high quality modern high-rise urban…

Budget, Policy & Stimulus News  State Budget Expecting $700M Hit  Arizona’s economy has performed better than anticipated since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, but the state is still projected to see a $700M shortfall, according to the legislature’s top budget analyst. Earlier estimates had ranged as high as $1.1B. (Source: KTAR)  Economic News  Work from Home May be Fueling Casa Grande Home Boom  The number of permits pulled for the construction of new homes in Casa Grande continues to grow and is even starting to match or even exceed the number of new home permits issued in the City of Maricopa. In addition to the area’s ongoing economic development, the COVID-19 pandemic has fueled demand for…

By Bret Jaspers for KJZZ via San Tan Valley Sentinel  Central Arizona has been booming — more people, more houses, more need for water. There’s also a long-term drought, and less water to buy from the Central Arizona Project canal system. It’s leading Phoenix exurbs to cast about, looking for new buckets.  Other regions of the state say: Don’t come here.  “They want to come and take from the rural counties, which is completely wrong, in my opinion,” said Holly Irwin, a county supervisor in La Paz County. Her district is where the Colorado River runs along lush irrigated farmland and small towns.  Irwin is pushing back…

By Bendix Anderson for National Real Estate Investor  Heading into 2020, a robust development pipeline and rising costs of construction material and labor were major concerns for the multifamily sector. The economic devastation wrought by the COVID-19 shutdowns has put a halt to that, scrambling the projections of economists, developers and contractors.  Developers aren’t exactly finding bargains at the moment, since there’s now also downward pressure on rents and potential returns. The net result is that even as more companies re-open for business most multifamily developers are still hesitating to start big projects or sign big deals to purchase materials. Those big deals that could help establish a…

Awards & Accolades  1. The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com announced that Clear Title Agency of Arizona has been awarded another top ranking on the list of 2020 azcentral.com® Top Companies to Work for in Arizona, for the eighth consecutive year.  2. ABI Multifamily Senior Managing Partner, John Kobierowski, has been selected for the GlobeSt. Best Bosses 2020 award by the editors of GlobeSt. Real Estate Forum, a leading national commercial real estate magazine. Honorees were selected for their influence and accomplishments within the commercial real estate industry.  3. Engineering News Record recently published their ENR 2020 Top 400 Contractors List. ENR subscribers can view the full list here. Sundt Construction, Inc. announced they climbed to No. 52 on…

Sales Transactions  1. Tides Equities teamed with FCP to buy the Tides at South Tempe, a 442-unit apartment complex at 4130 S. Mill Avenue, for $71.5M.  2. Knightvest Capital purchased the Capital Place Apartments, five-story, 292-unit complex at 11 S. 12th Street, Phoenix, for an undisclosed amount. The JLL Capital Markets Investment Advisory team representing the seller, Epoch Residential, includes Mike Higgins, Charlie Steele and John Cunningham.  3. Westcore acquired a 164.5KSF, Class A industrial warehouse on 16.5 acres of land at 2550 N. Nevada Street, Chandler for $38M. The warehouse is fully leased to a leading global e-commerce company. Jeff Chiate Will Strong and Mike Adey of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller, Greenlaw in the transaction, with…

By Tasha Anderson for AZBEX  A new package delivery service facility is being planned at the NEC of Litchfield and Sweetwater Roads in Surprise.  Applicant, Withey Morris, LLC, on behalf of real estate developer, BH DevCo, submitted a request for site plan approval to the city for the approximately 145.5KSF development, called Project Baxter. The Surprise Planning & Zoning Commission heard and recommended the project for approval at its June 18th meeting.  According to the submitted documents, “The package delivery facility will provide a physical location from which a third-party provider fulfills customer orders for ecommerce retailers.” Inventory arriving at this facility will be prepackaged and labeled and are anticipated to be shipped in a…