Author: BEX Staff

By Adrienne St. Clair for Arizona Builder’s Exchange Virtua Encanto Townhomes, LLC has submitted a project proposal to the City of Avondale to build Encanto Townhomes at Palm Lane — a 116-unit townhome development at the SWC of Avondale and Encanto boulevards. The 8.5-acre (6.9 net acres) site once housed a farm house and accessory building but has been vacant since 2008. The city’s General Plan 2030 sets the site for commercial and office uses, but the project proposal states that because of the site’s location, shape and size, there has been no interest in the property for office space.…

Giving Back 1. Valley Partnership has successfully completed its 2018 community project at Sunshine Acres Children’s Home in Mesa. More than 250 volunteers built a park, a garden, a football field and a playground in less than four hours. Valley Partnership was also able to raise more than $100K in goods, services and monetary donations for this project. 2. The Arizona Community Foundation and its donors announced grant, scholarship and loan distributions for the second quarter of its fiscal year. Between July 1 and September 30, 2018, a total of almost $15.8M was awarded from funds of the Arizona Community Foundation and its six…

Groundbreakings 1. APEX Motorsports broke ground on its car club facility in Maricopa. Completion and opening are planned for early 2019. 2. A ceremonial ground breaking was held on Mercy Medical Commons II, a 56KSF medical office building across from Dignity Mercy Gilbert Medical Center. MedProperties Group of Chicago is developing the project, which will house The CORE Institute in 20KSF. 3. Ryan Companies, Cadence Living and an affiliate of private investor Starwood Capital Group have jointly announced a new senior living community in Scottsdale. Construction is now underway for Acoya Scottsdale at Troon, which will have 135 independent and assisted living…

By Adrienne St. Clair for Arizona Builder’s Exchange The City of Glendale Planning Commission has approved a request from Shea Connelly Development, LLC to build an apartment complex at the SWC of Alice Avenue and 67th Avenue. The new Golden Lane Apartments will feature a contemporary design “with strong building forms, punched windows and flat roofs,” according to Glendale city documents. The development will consist of eight three-story buildings and a single-story community center. There will be 48 one-bedroom, 120 two-bedroom and 24 three-bedroom units — 192 market rate units altogether — which will vary from 690SF to nearly 1200SF.…

By Adrienne St. Clair for Arizona Builder’s Exchange Platinum Paint and Body has submitted a proposal to the Town of Gilbert to build an auto collision repair facility within the Depot at Power Ranch, a commercial subdivision just west of the NWC of Power and Pecos Roads. The new facility will be a 45KSF two-story indoor auto repair shop. The first floor will be the auto body shop, which will feature 24 service bays, and the second floor will be office space. The service bays will be accessed via 10 roll-up doors located on the east, north and west sides…

Sales Transactions 1. CBRE arranged $22.8M in debt financing for the recent acquisition of Missouri Falls, a class A office building in Phoenix. The property is 87 percent leased. Dana Summers, Bruce Francis, Shaun Moothart, Bob Ybarra and Doug Birrell of CBRE’s Debt and Structured Finance team arranged the 10-year full-term interest only loan for the buyer, El Dorado Holdings, Inc., which purchased the property for $41.4M. 2. The 261-room Gainey Suites Hotel in Scottsdale was sold by Gainey Hotel Co. LLC to Hospitality Properties Trust for $36M in October, according to Maricopa County records. The hotel has been rebranded as Sonesta Suites Scottsdale Gainey Ranch. 3. FAE Holdings 490296R, LLC,…

By Adrienne St. Clair for Arizona Builder’s Exchange The City of Chandler Planning Commission approved a development plan this week from Global Senior Housing, with Cadence Senior Living, to build a new senior living center at the NWC of Arizona Avenue and Queen Creek Road. The 7.49-acre property currently sits vacant. It’s surrounded by single-family residential homes to the north, residential condos to the west and two streets to the east and south. According to city documents, the surrounding area was zoned for Community Commercial uses back in 1997 and then expanded to include more property, like the site in…

Awards & Accolades 1. AZCREW presented $10K in scholarships to a pair of Arizona State University Master of Real Estate Development students. The scholarship winners – Marjorie Wakefield and Santiago Fajardo – were announced at AZCREW’s annual Black & White Affair, Oct. 24. 2. U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers recognized Withey Morris PLC in its 2019 edition of “Best Law Firms”. For several consecutive years, Withey Morris has earned top tier recognition in the following practice areas: National — Land Use & Zoning Law, and Metropolitan Phoenix — Land Use & Zoning Law, Government Relations Practice and Real Estate Law.…

Awards & Accolades 1. The Walsh Group/Archer Western has been ranked No. 1 Wastewater Treatment Contractor and No. 1 Water Treatment and Desalination Plant Contractor by Engineering-News Record. They have been ranked as the No. 1 Water Treatment and Desalination Plant Contractor since 2014 and No. 1 Wastewater Treatment Plant Contractor since 2016. 2. Architectural Digest recognized Phoenix’s historic Orpheum Theatre on its 2018 list of most beautifully-designed theaters in each state. The Orpheum Theatre, designed by architects Lescher & Mahoney, opened as a vaudeville house in 1929.  It was the last major construction project in Phoenix before the Great Depression. 3. The Arizona Community Foundation,…

By Tasha Anderson for Arizona Builder’s Exchange The latest hot topic on the AZBEX Leading Market Series list was Senior and Assisted Living, and attendees gathered at the DoubleTree by Hilton Tempe on Thursday, November 1st, to gain insight into the market and how development is adapting to the needs of a generational shift. AZBEX President Rebekah Morris began the presentation by once again giving attendees a brief overview of the market with analytics taken from the AZBEX Database. “There are a ton of players in this space,” Morris began as she noted the top owners in the senior living…