Author: BEX Staff

Sales Transactions  1. MHP #1, LLC, an affiliate of the Vanderhoot Family Trust purchased Desert Pueblo Mobile Home Community, a 55+ community with 418 spaces with 30 park owned homes, and approximately 70 spaces being used for RV parking on 56.5 acres at 1302 W. Ajo Way, Tucson, for $30M. Derek Harris of HARRIS Manufactured Housing & Commercial Brokerage represented both the buyer and seller, a family trust from Redwood, California.  2. An undisclosed buyer purchased Desert Willow, a 280-unit multifamily property at 2025 W. Indian School Road, Phoenix, for $20.7M. Pete Te Kampe, first vice president investments in Marcus & Millichap’s Phoenix office, had the exclusive listing to…

By Tasha Anderson for AZBEX  Withey Morris, PLC, on behalf of owner, Howard A. Keyes with Keyes Automotive, recently submitted plans to the City of phoenix for the development of a new automotive dealership to be located just north of the NEC of 21st Avenue and Bell Road.  The 2.15-acre site is currently zoned R-5 for multifamily residential. The California-based auto dealer wishes to rezone the property to C-2 for intermediate commercial and is requesting a Special Use Permit to allow for automobile sales.  The 21st Avenue and Bell Road Automotive Dealership is proposed to be approximately 63.5KSF and will include a new showroom/sales building, parts storage area, service shop and…

Budget, Policy & Stimulus News  Peoria to receive $20M in CARES Act funds  The City of Peoria is about to see some financial relief come its way to address the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. The State of Arizona has received $441M in direct, flexible funding to be disbursed to cities, towns and counties that did not receive direct federal funding thanks to the Federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act. Of that, Peoria is due $20.2M, which will be paid back to the city in reimbursements. (Source: Peoria Independent)  Board Allocates $399M for COVID-19 Response and Recovery  Maricopa County is injecting nearly $400M into the local economy to help combat COVID-19. The…

By Suzanne Adams-Ockrassa for Pinal Central  Another electric vehicle company was scouting for locations for a factory and technical center in Arizona last week and Casa Grande was on its list of spots to check out.  Electra Meccanica, a Vancouver, Canada-based electric vehicle company, is checking out possible factory locations in seven states: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas, according to a press release from the company.  The company makes the electric Tofino sports car, an electric two-seater eRoadster and is working on a single-seat, three-wheeled electric commuter vehicle called the Solo.   The new factory would work with the company’s manufacturing partner, Zongshen Industrial Group in Chongqing, China. The U.S.…

Source: Marcum LLP  The Marcum Commercial Construction Index for the first quarter of 2020 reports an industry suffering the adverse effects of COVID-19.  Construction employment fell by nearly one million jobs from March to April 2020, a decrease of 12.8 percent. The industry’s unemployment rate increased from 6.9 percent in March to 16.6 percent in April, the highest level since early 2012.   The index is produced by Marcum’s National Construction group.   “Typically, construction is protected in the early months of a recession, as months of backlog acquired over prior periods allow contractors to continue working even as the broader economy slows down. That was not the case this time around,” wrote Anirban Basu, author…

Groundbreakings  1. Pinal County has broken ground on their new 52KSF, five-story Attorney’s Office Building. This new facility will consolidate all County Attorney’s and their staff under one roof that are currently located in multiple properties around the county. The project is expected to be complete around July 1st, 2021. DLR Group is the architect and FCI Constructors, Inc. is the general contractor.  2. JLL Capital Markets announced that it has arranged construction financing and joint venture equity for the development of Cabana on 99th, a 286-unit, garden-style multi-housing project at NWC of 99th and Missouri Avenues. The 172.5KSF is expected to be complete in 2021.  Progress Reports  3. Willmeng Construction, Inc. and developer Trammell Crow Company recently…

By Tasha Anderson for AZBEX  A new mixed-use development is being proposed approximately one mile from Westgate Entertainment District at the SEC of Glendale and 83rd Avenue.  Planning consultant, Jon M. Froke Urban Planning, LLC, on behalf of property owner, Rightstart Subsidiary, LLC, recently submitted preliminary plans to the City of Glendale and is requesting to rezone the approximately 8.23-acre vacant site from Neighborhood Shopping Center to Planned Area Development in order to allow general commercial and high-density residential uses. They are also requesting a General Plan Amendment from Planned Commercial to Corporate Commerce Center.  The intended mixed-use development, dubbed G83 Plaza, is proposed to complement the nearby Westgate Entertainment District and surrounding…

Budget News  Scottsdale CARES Act Allocation Estimated at $29M  More than $29M in CARES Act funds may soon be coming to Scottsdale. The municipality has a planned conversation on June 16th to discuss and provide direction for funding of city programs and key funding areas, and amounts of funding for those programs and key funding areas; contingent on the city receiving federal CARES Act funds from the state. (Source: Scottsdale Independent)  Gilbert Could OK Budget That Increases Spending  The Town of Gilbert’s budget-makers project $178.9M in revenue to its general fund, which is $244K less than the $179.1M in annual revenue expected when this…

By Mara Knaub for Yuma Sun  Yuma officials are not giving up the dream. The city is again applying for a federal grant to convert the historic Hotel Del Sol into a multimodal transportation hub.  City Council unanimously adopted a resolution supporting the application for a Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development Transportation Discretionary Grants program to complete the development of the transit center.  The city has long presented the project as an effort to provide the community with alternate methods to get to and from school, work and daily events as well as a way to create opportunities for economic revitalization in the region.   According to a staff report,…

By Erin Brassey for The Glendale Star  Peoria Unified School District will ask voters to approve a 13 percent budget override and $125M bond in November.  The 13 percent override will continue to provide important funding for the district, said Michelle Myers, PUSD’s CFO.  Voters approved the current 13 percent override in 2015. But an increase to 15 percent narrowly failed last fall.  PUSD voters first approved a 10 percent override in 1996 and renewed it in 2001, 2006 and 2012. In 2015, voters approved a 13 percent override. The authorization lasts for seven years and phases out over the last two years…