Author: BEX Staff

Groundbreakings 1. Construction officially began June 8 on The McMillian Mesa veterans home facility in Flagstaff, during a groundbreaking hosted by the Arizona Department of Veterans’ Services (ADVS). 2. Ground recently broke on phase II of Sagewood, a northeast Phoenix community for seniors who want to age in place, which is jointly owned by Life Care Services Corp. and Westminster Capital Inc. The plans for Phase II of construction will cost $100M and is expected to be completed by the end of 2020. The architect is Todd & Associates, while the project is being built by The Weitz Co. 3.…

By Rebekah Morris for AZBEX On Thursday, more than 100 attendees at the latest Leading Market Series event listened to a lively roundtable discussion regarding the rising cost of construction and what they predict will continue to happen in the next six to 12 months. Moderator and BEX President and Founder, Rebekah Morris guided the discussion between three types of firms: General Contractors: Mike Bontrager, President of Adolfson & Peterson Construction, Roger Rowley, Pre-Construction Manager for Hunter Contracting; Subcontractors: Mike Greenawalt, Senior Vice President of Rosendin Electric; Brian Scherer, Director of Business Development, Bell Steel; Andy Clarke, General Manager for…

Awards & Accolades 1. Phoenix Business Journal has announced it’s 2019 Top 40 Under 40 Honorees. See the full list here. Some of the honorees include: Julie Garcia, director of preconstruction, Kitchell Rusty Kennedy, vice president, CBRE Yung Koprowski, principal, Y2K Engineering LLC Susan Martinez, regional economic development specialist, Maricopa Association of Governments Cherilyn McCabe, estimator, Mortenson Stephanie McCarty, chief marketing and communications officer, Taylor Morrison Colleen Schwab, senior vice president of marketing and communications, Greater Phoenix Economic Council Julia Staten, project manager, Hensel Phelps 2. Just in time for its 50th anniversary, Kidder Mathews was recently named a Fastest-Growing…

Sales Transactions 1. Virtú Investments sold the 194-unit La Costa at Dobson Ranch at 1820 W Linder Ave, Mesa, for $33.8M to a California-based private investor. Berkadia Commercial Mortgage secured a $22.2M Freddie Mac acquisition loan for the new owner, set to mature in 2026. 2. CBRE negotiated the sale of four Phoenix multifamily communities totaling $12.8M. Brian Smuckler, Jeff Seaman, Derek Smigiel and Bryson Fricke represented the buyer and seller in all four of the following transactions: 400 On Pasadena, a 28-unit contemporary boutique apartment community in Central Phoenix, sold to Wildwood Hills Home Community Trust for $4.25M. The…

By Tasha Anderson for AZBEX The future of the Phoenix Convention Center’s South Building and site rests in the hands of a multidepartment community and stakeholder engagement plan approved by Phoenix City Council on Wednesday. The approximately two-month long engagement plan will gather input into possible expansion, disposition and/or redevelopment of the 286KSF building located on 9.27 acres between Washington and Jefferson streets from 3rd to 5th streets in downtown Phoenix. According to a Rose Law Group Reporter article dated May 9, Phoenix City Council member Michael Nowakowski “said the city could look at public-private partnership for the site that…

Groundbreakings 1. H5 Data Centers has announced a 25KSF expansion to their existing Chandler data center campus. This marks the second phase of the 180KSF facility, and will be complete later this year. 2. Pima County JTED held a groundbreaking ceremony for their new Bridges Innovation Learning Center, a 50KSF building that will train healthcare professionals. 3. The $300M X Phoenix, a high-rise residential project in downtown Phoenix has broken ground. UEB is the general contractor and Shepley Bulfinch and Fitzgerald Associates Architects are handling the design. 4. My Place Hotel has broken ground on the first hotel of its…

By Rebekah Morris for AZBEX National Metrics Leave Much to be Discussed on this Topic This week alone, two national metrics were released regarding the level of construction activity and costs nationwide: Marcum Commercial Construction Index rises 2.1 percent Year Over Year, and the 2019 Q1 Rider Levett Bucknall Construction Cost Report (RLB) notes a national Year Over Year cost increase at 5.73 percent. The report goes on to peg the Phoenix market as experiencing a 6.7 percent annual increase to construction costs. According to Marcum’s Q1 2019 Commercial Construction Index, Anirban Basu, the report’s author and Marcum’s chief construction…

By Connor Dziawura for Peoria Times Paramount, Sony and NBCUniversal are just a few of the entertainment companies that could be coming to the West Valley, if all goes according to plan for a local group. Ruben Arizpe, CEO and founder of East Scottsdale Consulting Inc. recently told Peoria Times he and his business partners are looking to develop a 130-acre film and TV studio campus called Diamond Sky Studio Complex at Loop 303 and Lone Mountain Road, near Peoria’s Vistancia community. In addition to 24 stages, Arizpe said the plans incorporate a “city walk,” which would serve as a…

Giving Back 1. Sundt Construction, in the 10th annual Thirst Aid, has teamed up with St. Joseph the Worker to donate water for persons experiencing homelessness. On May 17th Sundt employee-owners loaded pallets of water onto a semi-truck, donated by Sunstate Equipment, at the company’s headquarters in Tempe then delivered over half a million water bottles to SJW, breaking their previous record of 296,252 water bottles. Awards & Accolades 2. Ranking Arizona has released its annual list of the Top 10 Architecture Firms. The top spot for the three categories are: 11 Architects or More: DAVIS 10 Architects or Fewer:…

Sales Transactions 1. Sansome Pacific joint venture recently completed the sale-leaseback transaction for 11 Cabela’s locations for $324M, in what is believed to be the largest transaction brokered by a digital platform, B+E, to date. Founders of B+E, Camille Renshaw and Scott Scurich, have a background in both traditional real estate brokerage and tech before founding B+E in 2017. 2. Strategic Office Partners, a wholly owned subsidiary of TPG Real Estate Partners, purchased the 117KSF single-tenant fully leased One Chandler Corporate Center from Van Trust Real Estate LLC. CBRE brokers Barry Gabel, Chris Marchildon and Will Mast represented the seller.…