Author: BEX Staff

By Rebekah L. Sanders for The Arizona Republic The Arizona Diamondbacks want a stadium smaller than Chase Field to provide a more “intimate” experience for fans, surrounded by a major shopping and dining complex that could rival Glendale’s Westgate Entertainment District in size, according to a team wish list obtained by The Arizona Republic. The Diamondbacks’ “expression of interest” proposal is the first public glimpse of the team’s priorities if it leaves or renovates the 21-year-old ballpark in downtown Phoenix. The team last year negotiated the option to leave the stadium early, as soon as the 2022 season, in exchange…

Groundbreakings 1. Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix has scheduled a groundbreaking in Cave Creek on Nov. 17. The $18.5M expansion will include classrooms, administrative offices, and community center encompassing 43KSF. The design of the new building was handled by Phoenix Design Group LLC, and the general contractor for the expansion project is Forefront Development LLC. 2. The Phoenix Suns’ head coach Monty Williams, GM James Jones, team owner Robert Sarver, team president Jason Rowley, RED Development managing partner Mike Ebert and Phoenix councilman Sal DiCiccio of District 6 have broken ground on the new Suns Practice Facility. 3. Gila Bend…

By Tasha Anderson for AZBEX A new multifamily residential project is being proposed for the 55-acre Val Vista Square Mixed-Use Development in Gilbert. The property, owned by Gilbert Growth Properties, LLC and located north of the Loop 202 San Tan Freeway on Val Vista Drive, currently houses a 60KSF Veterans Administration Medical Clinic and a 9KSF Unison Bank. In December 2018, The Town of Gilbert’s Planning Commission approved a 20.4KSF ALDI grocery store for the site as well. Now Gilbert Growth Properties, LLC has returned to the town’s November 6th Planning Commission study session with a minor General Plan Amendment…

Awards & Accolades 1. The Arizona Association for Economic Development (AAED) has presented seven Golden Prospector Awards recognizing excellence, innovation and creativity in economic development. The City of Goodyear won two of the awards, one for attracting Andersen Corporation to the city as the deal of the year and one for its website, “Goodyear Economic Development.” Other websites earning Golden Prospector Awards were the City of Mesa’s “SelectMesa.com,” the City of Prescott’s “PrescottBiz.com” and the City of Surprise’s “AZTechCelerator.com.” The City of Eloy was recognized for its marketing brochure, “Intersection of Value, Location and Opportunity,” and Pinal County’s multimedia promotion…

Sales Transactions 1. Vital Pharmaceuticals, the maker of Bang Energy drinks, bought a nearly 400KSF manufacturing plant in Phoenix near 43rd Avenue and Buckeye Road. The company bought the building for $53.32M and plans to invest more than $260M in Arizona operations. Sky Groden, Pat Harlan and Kyle Westfall with JLL represented Vital Pharmaceuticals in the deal, and Rob Martensen with Colliers International represented the seller, Cohen Asset Management. 2. S2 Capital purchased the 320-unit multifamily community FIVE46, located at 546 S. Country Club Road in the Mesa submarket of Phoenix, for $46M. CBRE’s Tyler Anderson, Sean Cunningham, Asher Gunter…

By Rebekah Morris for AZBEX Nearly $1.3B in school bonds were approved by Arizona voters across the state in 20 different school district bond elections. The vast majority were decided in Maricopa County with Pinal County coming in as a far distant second. Adequate education funding has become a trending topic through media coverage, increased attention brought by the Governor and legislature, and movements such as the Red for Ed protests by teachers in April of 2018. Funding for maintenance of existing and construction of new education facilities has been largely left up to the individual districts, who, in turn,…

By Cindy Barks for Daily Courier Yavapai County could be poised within the next four months or so to borrow upwards of $68M to pay for a new jail in Prescott. And if that occurs, initial site work could be underway at the chosen jail location along Prescott Lakes Parkway by about July 2020. During a study session in Prescott Wednesday, Nov. 6, the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors heard a report from Stifel Public Finance consultants about the process necessary for a bond issue to finance the estimated $68.5M cost of a new 144-bed jail. While the supervisors took…

Source: AZ Big Media Arizona senior Sen. Kyrsten Sinema helped secure $24M from the U.S. Department of Transportation for the City of Phoenix to advance the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport Northside Rail Expansion. “The trenching of the Union Pacific railroad track on the north side of the airport is essential to our Airport Development Plan and the expansion of the Air National Guard at Sky Harbor. We appreciate the support of our Congressional delegation and the US Department of Transportation on this project,” said Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego. The Phoenix metro area is one of the fastest growing regions in…

Source: AZ Big Media An Arizona State University engineering professor is trying to promote a method of speeding up the Valley’s endless construction projects that can reduce years to months and months to weeks. Transportation experts say the economic, safety and transit benefits could be huge. Barzin Mobasher’s magic bullet is made of fiber-reinforced concrete. Mobasher and his team have come up with a certain set of calculations engineers can use to simplify working with the material. Annually, worldwide, 10 billion tons of concrete are used: more than one ton for every man, woman and child on the planet. It’s…

Source: Cushman & Wakefield Cushman & Wakefield, a leading real estate services firm, has released a report that reveals corporate perceptions of the value of flexible workspace and coworking strategies. Cushman & Wakefield partnered with CoreNet Global, a worldwide association of corporate real estate executives, to survey more than 550 key commercial real estate (CRE) executives at organizations around the world. Participants were asked about their general perceptions of the coworking sector, the pros and cons of using coworking, expected impacts on cost, and past and future employee utilization of flexible office spaces. Key findings of the report include: Nearly…