Author: BEX Staff

Groundbreakings 1. FatCats Entertainment started construction on a new 64.1KSF family entertainment center at 5740 E. Longbow Marketplace, Mesa. The $11.5M project will include eight theaters, 20 bowling lanes, arcade, nine-hole glow in the dark mini golf, party room, virtual reality area, bar and restaurant. TK International is the architect and A.R. Mays is the general contractor. Construction is expected to be complete in November. 2. Park 10 Development started construction on Park 10 Shops B at 10321 W. McDowell Rd, Avondale. The project includes construction of an 8.1KSF shell for a Portillo’s restaurant and four acres of site work. Butler Design…

By Tasha Anderson for Arizona Builder’s Exchange A Planned Unit Development proposal has been submitted to the City of Phoenix to develop a 221-unit luxury multifamily community in north Phoenix called LCG Kierland. The developer, Leon Capital Group, is planning to build the 6-story rental community at the southeast corner of 71st Street and Tierra Buena Lane. According to materials submitted to the Phoenix Planning & Development Department, the project “is focused on a ‘modern suburban’ feel, similar to the experience of Kierland Commons and following a development trend that has reinvented 71st Street with quality pedestrian edges, elimination of…

By Raquel Hendrickson for inMaricopa.com With a high school already more than 200 students over capacity, Maricopa Unified School District is making moves for short-term solutions while weighing options for the long term. In a special meeting Wednesday, the governing board approved placing eight almost-new portable buildings on the east side of campus to accommodate 16 classrooms. As planned, the portables would take up about 24 parking spaces that are rarely used. The governing board followed the recommendation of Principal Brian Winter and rejected an option that would have placed all the portables in the stadium parking lot, a plan…

Sales Transactions 1. Institutional Property Advisors, a division of Marcus & Millichap, announced the sale of Monterra Apartment Homes, a 258-unit multifamily property in Phoenix. The complex sold for $37.2M. IPA Senior Managing Directors Steve Gebing and Cliff David represented the seller, Weidner Apartment Homes, and procured the buyer, an institutional investment manager. 2. Atlantic Development & Investment has sold Sonora Vista, a 184-unit affordable community at 9736 E. Balsam Ave, Mesa, to Dominium for $22.5M. The sale was a 1031 tax-deferred exchange. 3. Commercial Properties, Inc./CORFAC International has announced the sale of The Grove on Palm Lane, a 75.4KSF multifamily property at the…

By Tasha Anderson for Arizona Builder’s Exchange Long-awaited plans for the Copper Sky Development have finally been revealed. Maricopa Economic Development Director, Denise Airheart presented plans for the $146M, mixed-use development adjacent to the Copper Sky Regional Park at the City Council special meeting on Wednesday, January 9th, and again at the City Council regular meeting on Tuesday, January 15th. According to Airheart, the 18.3-acre development will be comprised of five separate components, including: La Quinta Inn Hotel Senior Housing Mixed-Use Project One Mixed-Use Project Two Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd Improvements The first component, a $10M, four-story La Quinta…

By Tasha Anderson for Arizona Builder’s Exchange Arizona’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased to 4.8 percent in December, up from the November rate of 4.7 percent, according to the latest report published by the Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity. The national rate increased to 3.9 percent. In December 2017, the state had a seasonally adjusted rate of 4.7 percent, and the national was at 4.1. The state had a net loss of 5,900 non-farm jobs over the month, which is different from the post-Recession (2010-2017) average gain of 5,600 jobs. Education and Health Services had the largest increase with 800.…

AZBEX Staff Announcements 1. Corwyn Geiger – New Hire We are very excited to announce that Corwyn Geiger has joined the AZBEX team as Account Manager. Corwyn will be spreading the word about our products and services and how they can improve business for those working in the A/E/C arena while taking care of current clients. In his previous roles, he has worked in outside sales and as District Manager for Industrial Facilities Services. Corwyn has a Business Management degree from University of Tennessee-Martin and 15 years of experience in Account Management that he will be bringing to the AZBEX team.…

Groundbreakings 1. Scottsdale-based 1784 Capital Holdings, LLC, has broken ground on its Gold Dust Self Storage project at 7245 E. Gold Dust Ave. The former Macaroni Grill location will be home to a high-end self-storage facility that is scheduled to open at the end of 2019. 2. Andersen Corp., a Minnesota-based window and door manufacturer, recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for the company’s new manufacturing facility at the Goodyear Crossing Industrial Park in Goodyear. As the lead developer, designer and constructor of the project, The Opus Group expects the building shell to be completed in October 2019, and Andersen aims to…

Forecast Event Shows Impending Doom Seems Highly Unlikely By Roland Murphy for Arizona Builder’s Exchange 2018 was an excellent year, if not quite as excellent as experts predicted at the outset. 2019 will also be excellent, if, perhaps, somewhat less so than the year that preceded it. After that, things will taper off, but it won’t be another end of the world scenario. Such was the theme of the AZBEX 2019 Construction Activity Forecast, held Jan. 10 at the Tempe Center for the Arts. If any of the nearly 300 attendees came expecting bombshell developments about the construction market as…

Those who attended the AZBEX 2019 Construction Activity Forecast on January 10 got a preview of an important company change for 2019. The Arizona Builder’s Exchange has announced we are rebranding and will be known as BEX. AZBEX Vice President of Operations, Rachel Pratt, took attendees down memory lane, from 2010 with President and Founder, Rebekah Morris’ first issue of the Digital Magazine, a six-page, black and white newsletter she gave away for free, to Morris hiring the first employee (Rachel), and beyond. In 2015, events were added to cover both the public and private sectors of development: The Private…