Author: BEX Staff

By Sammy Williams for AZBEX The Town of Gilbert council met September 19th to approve a zoning change for the proposed ACES of Gilbert special education campus on the SEC of Bluejay Drive and Galveston Street (near the NWC of Williams Field and Power Roads). The meeting followed the unanimous recommendation of the town’s planning commission to rezone the 4.8-acre site from Business Park to Neighborhood Office. ACES (Austin Centers for Exceptional Students) is the largest private provider of special education services in Arizona and operates schools in Peoria, West Phoenix and Tempe. This will be the second ACES campus in Gilbert,…

By Tasha Anderson for AZBEX Developer, Quyp Development Services requested site plan approval for Heritage on Dysart, a multifamily residential development to be developed on 9.55 acres south of Elm Street and east of Dysart Road in Surprise. The City of Surprise heard and approved the request at its September 19th Planning and Zoning Commission meeting. The project is planned as a 120-unit townhome development consisting of two-story townhomes ranging from 1.5KSF-1.8KSF. Models are 3-bedroom/2.5-bathroom units with either side or patio entry and private patios. Some 2-bedroom options will also be available. The design is a mix of Mid-Century modern…

By Suzanne Adams-Ockrassa for Casa Grande Dispatch Lucid Motors has submitted its site plan to the Casa Grande Planning and Development office for review, according to Casa Grande Economic Development Director Richard Wilkie. Wilkie said he expects the company to break ground before the end of the year, although some grading work has been done at the site. He also still has some hope for the PhoenixMart and Dreamport Villages projects. PhoenixMart was planned as a 1.5MSF wholesale center that was slated to hold more than 1,800 showrooms where businesses could showcase and sell their products. Dreamport was proposed as…

Source: Federal Aviation Administration U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao announced that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will award $986M in airport infrastructure grants, the fifth allotment of the total $3.18B in Airport Improvement Program (AIP) funding for airports across the United States. “This significant investment in airport improvements in Arizona will fund construction and rehabilitation projects that will help maintain high levels of safety in U.S. aviation,” said Chao. The Arizona grants include the following awards: Two grants totaling $21,917,300 to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport–$21,375,000 for apron reconstruction. An apron is an area where aircraft park, load and…

Awards & Accolades 1. The American Planning Association (APA) has named Pioneer Park in Mesa, one of six Great Public Spaces on APA’s annual Great Places in America list, which starts the countdown to National Community Planning Month in October. Groundbreakings 2. Evergreen Devco Inc. has started construction on its latest 172KSF multitenant retail center, called the Post at Cooley Station, which will be built at the SEC of Recker and Williams Field roads in Gilbert. The project is expected to complete construction in the third quarter of 2020. Butler Design Group, Optimus Civil Design Group, Kraemer Engineers and Laskin…

by Adam Baugh for Withey Morris, PLC There is a phrase everybody knows: Buyer Beware. Ironically, one of the fatal mistakes a developer can make is purchasing an online zoning summary report (ZR) from a national vendor and assume that covers the breadth and depth of a site’s zoning entitlements and issues. Due diligence in a box, as I like to call it, is purchased online and prepared by out-of-state vendors offering to summarize the zoning and permitting entitlements for a property. The purpose is to give buyers awareness and comfort regarding the entitlement history of the asset. They also…

By Tasha Anderson for AZBEX Phoenix Union High School District is looking to revamp several of their auditorium and athletic facilities across four school regions in Phoenix. In order to accomplish this, PUSD has recently issued four Requests for Qualifications, one for each region, to obtain Construction Manager at Risk Services for the modernization projects. According to the RFQs, the auditorium renovations will include the replacement of stage flooring, stage and house lighting along with lighting controls and A/V, and seating and flooring, as well as renovations to the lobby and restrooms and addressing ADA deficiencies. The outdoor athletic fields…

By Mark Carlisle for Independent Newsmedia Litchfield Park’s Planning & Zoning Commission and City Council are considering what types of businesses and other land uses to permit in the planned downtown City Center project. By the end of the year, City Council will take action on new general plan and zoning designations that will outline allowed land uses and design guidelines for the planned downtown commercial and entertainment center. By law, any major general plan amendment must be acted on by City Council in the same calendar year it is proposed. Planning consultant Jason Sanks said the general plan designation…

By Fara Illich for DTPHX Since 2016, technology and coworking companies have leased 620KSF of office space in Downtown Phoenix – a 1.7-square-mile area that many thought would never attract tech. For decades, companies looking to open or relocate passed over downtown for places like Chandler, Scottsdale or Tempe. The popularity of suburban office parks in the ‘80s and ‘90s didn’t help. A pervasive stigma lingered over downtown, and even after that began to turn around in the 2000’s, some developers and commercial real estate brokers still pigeonholed Phoenix’s urban core as a place with no parking, amenities or workforce.…

Awards & Accolades 1. The Walsh Group is ranked as the No. 1 Water Treatment and Desalination Plant Contractor in the United States, according to the 2019 rankings from Engineering News-Record (ENR) magazine. The company has been listed as the top-ranked water treatment and desalination plant contractor since 2014. 2. Dr. Sheila D. Harris, Founding Director of the Arizona Housing Finance Authority and former Deputy Chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, has been named International Member of the Year of Lambda Alpha International. Company News 3. ReStore Agency is partnering with industry leader Colliers International in Arizona,…