Author: BEX Staff

By Jim Walsh for East Valley Tribune Technology giant Google is coming to Mesa, lured by a tax incentive agreement to build a massive data center in the emerging Elliot Road Technology Corridor. The Mesa City Council is primed to approve the Google development agreement at its meeting on Monday night. Mayor John Giles said there are still elements of the project that need to be worked out – such as Google buying the property, 186 acres located at Elliot and Sossaman roads in southeast Mesa. Giles said Google’s decision to build the data center in Mesa means that the…

Giving Back 1. Tech Parks Arizona developed Racing the Sun, a hands-on STEM program for high school students, eight years ago to promote workforce development. After incubating the program and establishing good momentum, Racing the Sun is transitioning over to SARSEF-Southern Arizona Research, Science, and Engineering Foundation in order to grow the program and best serve the region. Racing the Sun is a solar go-kart competition that challenges high school students to design, build, test, and ultimately race their solar-powered go-karts. Awards & Accolades 2. The Urban Land Institute Arizona District Council (ULI Arizona) was recently awarded a $20K grant…

Sales Transactions 1. Acacia Capital Corporation recently purchased Sonoran Vista, a 264-unit Class A multifamily community at 9340 E. Redfield Rd, Scottsdale, for $67M. CBRE’s Tyler Anderson, Sean Cunningham, Asher Gunter and Matt Pesch of Phoenix Multifamily Institutional Properties represented the seller, Aukum Group. 2. MIG Real Estate recently purchased Del Sol Apartments, a 168-unit multifamily community in Scottsdale, for $34.5M. Steve Gebing and Cliff David with Institutional Property Advisors (IPA), a division of Marcus & Millichap, represented the seller, Aukum Group, and procured the buyer. 3. 5631 W. Colter St. LLC, an entity formed by Next Round Asset Management…

By Bob Burns for Fountain Hills Times The Fountain Hills Town Council voted June 18 to approve the next stage toward the launch of the Arizona Dark Sky Discovery Center in Fountain Hills. The 6-0 unanimous vote was to authorize the use of town-owned land adjacent to the Centennial Circle next to the Cutillo Civic Plaza. Joe Bill, president of the board of directors for the project, brought the council up to date on plans for the discovery center non-profit corporation before the vote. Bill said the long-term lease of the property is contingent on a successful fundraising effort to…

By Tasha Anderson for AZBEX The City of Goodyear recently approved a rezoning request for approximately 8.19 acres located east of the SEC of Bullard Avenue and McDowell Road in Goodyear, for the development of a new senior living community. The request, approved at Goodyear’s June 24th City Council meeting, was to rezone the site from General Commercial to Multifamily with Planned Area Development Overlay. The developer, Sparrow Partners, is proposing to develop a “high-quality, 180-unit multifamily community designed to accommodate active adult living with appropriate amenities.” The 55+ community will consist of 124 one-bedroom units and 56 two-bedroom units…

Source: Trammell Crow Company Trammell Crow Company (TCC) announced plans for a new Class A speculative commerce park in Metro Phoenix. The project will sit on 48 acres and be comprised of one to three buildings totaling approximately 700KSF. The site is located on the Gila River Indian Community (GRIC), at the SWC of Loop 202 and 40th Street and positioned along the new South Mountain Loop 202 Freeway currently under construction with completion slated for by the end of the year. Construction of TCC’s commerce park is scheduled to commence in December 2019 and be complete September 2020. “The…

Awards & Accolades 1. Achen-Gardner’s Downtown Chandler Canal Restoration Project has won the Project of the year Award from Arizona APWA in the Historical Restoration/Preservation, Less Than $5M category. Groundbreakings 2. Thompson Thrift Retail Group has begun construction on the first phase of Sunrise Promenade, an 8.5-acre retail project just south of the SEC of Lake Pleasant and Happy Valley. Phase I of the project will consist of approximately 20KSF of retail space plus a 22KSF Aldi grocery store. Phase II will accommodate up to an additional 45KSF of retail space and be jointly marketed by Tyson Switzenberg and Tim…

By Rebekah Morris for AZBEX The last two parts in the series on rising construction costs focused on labor and materials specifically. Beyond tracking the most direct inputs of increased cost of labor and materials is the nuanced and indirect cost increases. We’ll attempt to explore some of the market conditions also playing into this trend in this piece. Demand is Outpacing Supply Ask anyone in the construction industry how things are going and you’re very likely to get some variation of the response ‘Very Busy’. More precise descriptions include: at or near record levels of both revenue and backlog…

By Rebekah Morris for AZBEX This five-part series has touched on the specifics of why construction prices have been increasing so fast in the last 12-18 months. This piece summarizes a few options for solutions on how to handle a price that is significantly over the budget price. Understand the reasons for the overage. It’s now been well documented that every aspect of the construction sector is experiencing high levels of activity and that total prices have increased substantially since the beginning of 2018. Now a year and a half later, budget numbers created before the recent run-up are not…

Giving Back 1. In an effort to support military service members, TDIndustries partnered with Operation Gratitude, a nonprofit group that provides care packages to deployed troops, new recruits and veterans. Across its seven locations in Texas and Arizona, TD donated 500 pounds of supplies and assembled 600 survival bracelets. The supplies include toiletries, batteries, snacks, weather-appropriate accessories and comforts from home. Awards & Accolades 2. Sundt Construction, Inc. has again been named a CEO Cancer Gold Standard™ employer for 2019. This accreditation is given by the CEO Roundtable on Cancer, a nonprofit organization of leading CEOs. To earn the CEO…