Author: BEX Staff

Awards & Accolades  1. Sundt Construction, Inc. and its joint venture partner Kiewit continue to earn awards for their work on the Ina Road Traffic Interchange. The two and a half year project was recently awarded the 2020 “Public Works Projects of the Year” by the Arizona Chapter of the American Public Works Association (APWA) in the category of Transportation: over $75M and the 2019 Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) Partnering Award.  2. The Angela, a luxury residential community developed by StreetLights Residential and managed by Alliance Residential Company, was recently recognized in the ORA™ Power Rankings by J Turner Research and Multifamily Executive as the number one property in the state of Arizona for online reputation.  Groundbreakings  3. Ground was…

By Tasha Anderson for AZBEX  Preliminary plans for a new “luxury casita” development to be located on the west side of Catalina Highway, just north of Tanque Verde Road, have recently been submitted to the City of Tucson.  The Planning Center, on behalf of property owner, Saunders Amos, LLC is requesting to rezone the approximately 12.44-acre property at 9125 E. Catalina Highway, from SR and RX-1 to R-2 zoning in order to allow for the development of the multifamily complex, to be called Catalina Highway Casitas.  Catalina Highway Casitas is planned as a gated single-family for rent community made up of 126 casita-style residential…

Policy & Stimulus News  Tucson OKs $96M Crisis Funding Distribution Plan  A plan to distribute $95.7M in federal CARES Act funding to help Tucson recover from the impact of COVID-19 has been approved by the city council. The plan includes $22M in community aid, $38M in funding for the continuity of city operations and services and $33M in reserves in anticipation of a potential resurgence of the coronavirus. (Source: Arizona Daily Star)  Economic News  Housing Market Possibly Seeing Rebound  Regional real estate expert Jim Belfiore said the housing market saw a 40 percent drop in new homes sales the past 60 days — and that may be the bottom point of…

Source: Independent Newsmedia  Glendale annexed its largest property in two and a half years, adding a 234-acre property that is planned to bring 4MSF of industrial space to the city.  The Park 303 property is spread over three parcels east of Loop 303 and on either side of Glendale Avenue.  An economic study estimated the property will net $860K in revenue each year to the city. City Manager Kevin Phelps noted that these estimates are not exact because the city does not yet know what business types will be built there. The study assumed 50 percent warehousing and 50 percent manufacturing on the property.  …

Source: Maricopa County Planning and Development  There’s not a lot of good economic news out there these days, but data from Maricopa County Planning and Development Department shows some encouraging signs for the nation’s fastest-growing county.  Building permit submissions are up substantially year-over-year, with a greater percentage of these being completed online.    Planning and Development reports 1,371 permit applications were submitted in April 2020 compared to 1,141 in April 2019, a 20 percent increase. Permit submission numbers have grown every month so far in 2020.    “We know the economic impact of this crisis is far from over and we are seeing impacts across all industries,” said Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chairman Clint Hickman.  “What this data represents to me, though, is a…

By Ellie Borst for Cronkite News  Phoenix dipped slightly in a national ranking of solar power capacity, even as the total amount of power generated and the power per person increased from last year, according to a national report.  The “Shining Cities” report by Environment America said Phoenix’s 272.4MW of solar capacity was fourth-highest in the nation last year, down one place from the year before, while the 164 watts per capita was good for eighth place, a drop of two spots.  Still, the city ranked again as a “solar star” for its overall capacity, which Mayor Kate Gallego called a testament to the city’s dedication to solar power.  The…

Giving Back  1. The Sundt Foundation donated $26K to two Southern Arizona nonprofits and $100K to aid five Valley nonprofits to address the increased need due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona and Interfaith Community Services both received $13K in aid relief. Matthew’s Crossing, Aster Empowered, Midwest Food Bank, Chrysalis and Community Alliance Against Family Abuse each received $20K in relief aid.  Awards & Accolades  2. Terracon, an engineering consulting firm, is pleased to announce that Eric Lyding has achieved the certification of Professional Engineer. Lyding, PE, is a project manager for Terracon’s Environmental Department. He is responsible for projects throughout the Western U.S., mainly in Arizona.  3. The University of Arizona Center for Innovation (UACI) was selected by the U.S. Department of…

Sales Transactions  1. Valwood Mesquite LLC purchased Mesquite Corporate Center, a 79.5KSF, two-story, Class A office building at 14646 N. Kierland Boulevard, Scottsdale, for $19.471M. The Ron Schooler and Ken Elmer Team from Commercial Properties, Inc./CORFAC International’s Scottsdale office represented the buyer.  2. Marcus & Millichap announced the $12.85M sale of Ocotillo Apartments, a 173-unit apartment complex at 1780 W. Missouri Avenue, Phoenix. Rich Butler, a Senior Vice President Investments in Marcus & Millichap’s Phoenix office as well as Sean Connolly, a multifamily specialist negotiated the sale on behalf of both the buyer and the seller.  3. Wentworth Property Company purchased Southern Pavilion Self Storage of Mesa, a 483-unit, 47.9KSF self-storage facility in…

By Tasha Anderson for AZBEX  The City of Chandler has voted to continue a discussion to allow the development of a new long-term residential care facility to June.  Assisted Living provider, Everlasting Community Services is requesting to rezone the 4.8-acre site at the NWC of Chandler Boulevard and Juniper Drive to an Amended Planned Area Development to allow for the facility. They are also requesting site layout and design approval.  According to the city’s May 6th Planning and Zoning Meeting documents, “the site was initially zoned in 2001 for a custom mixed list of light industrial, commercial, and office land uses as part of the larger 30-acre Stellar…

Policy & Stimulus News  Gov. Ducey Announces Nearly $600M in Local Relief Funds  The Governor’s Office is providing nearly $600M in coronavirus relief and recovery dollars for local Arizona governments and nonprofits as part of a funding plan announced by Governor Doug Ducey. The plan includes $441M in direct, flexible funding to local cities, towns and counties that did not receive direct funding earlier this year from the federal government. Local governments, tribal communities, schools and more will be eligible for expedited reimbursements from the Federal Emergency Management Administration for coronavirus-related expenses, including purchases of testing supplies, PPE and more. (Source: Office of the Governor)  Economic News  Pinal…