Author: BEX Staff

By Roland Murphy for Arizona Builder’s Exchange After a tenacious lobbying attempt to persuade Mesa planners to revise a 30-year-old land use designation that never bore fruit, negotiations with city staff have resulted in a turnaround for developer Bela Flor Communities, LLC. The company is moving with its intent to build its proposed mixed-density residential community Bella Encanta at Hampton Avenue and Crismon Road. A narrative and request submitted in July by Pew & Lake, PLC, on Bela Flor’s behalf sought a change in the designation from Employment to Neighborhood Suburban. As originally proposed, the project would have consisted of…

By AZBEX Staff for Arizona Builder’s Exchange Plans to develop the $200M GrandeVita, a BioCity Enterprise, project in Mesa have advanced. On December 10, the City of Mesa moved forward a plan for the 20-acre, multi-use, campus-style community at Crismon Road and Hampton Avenue. (AZBEX, Oct. 19) Mesa planners previously approved a zoning request for the development in October. The site was approved to be rezoned from Light Industrial to Limited Commercial. According to the proposal, the unique and wide-ranging uses of the property also required the developer to request a Planned Area Development overlay, a Council Use Permit and…

Boards & Commissions 1. AZCREW has named Jennifer Cranston, shareholder, Gallagher & Kennedy, its president for 2019. Other officers for 2019: Cindy Winters, Eagle Commercial Realty Services, past president; Dana McDonald, North American Title Company, membership; Lorna Banister, Ballard Spahr, sponsorship; Lindsey Carlson, Colliers International, programs; Lisa Tinnion, CIS, and Amber Coleman, CBRE, public relations; Francine Moore, Macerich, special events; (Cindy) Winters, legacy; Heather Fox, Wells Fargo, foundation; Terry Martin-Denning, NAI Horizon, treasurer and president elect; and Mara Atwell, VEREIT, secretary. 2. Jennifer Hall, Rose Law Group senior project manager, has been named chair of Paradise Valley Village Planning Committee. Company News…

Awards & Accolades 1. The Arizona Masonry Guild recently presented its Excellence in Masonry Architectural Award to Somerton for its new City Hall building, which opened in 2017. Groundbreakings 2. HonorHealth recently broke ground on its sixth hospital. The three-story, 210KSF HonorHealth Sonoran Medical Center will be built on the campus that currently houses the Sonoran Health and Emergency Center at Interstate 17 and Dove Valley Road in north Phoenix. Progress Reports 3. As the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway advances, bridge girders have recently been installed at two of the 14 planned traffic interchanges, marking the first time on this Arizona Department of…

By Tasha Anderson for Arizona Builder’s Exchange As the end of the year rolls around, it’s customary to reflect on the current state of things and look toward the future to see what possibilities lie ahead. This month’s AZBEX Leading Market Series did just that as attendees gathered at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Tempe on December 6th, to gain insight into the present and future state of the multifamily market. AZBEX President Rebekah Morris began the presentation by giving attendees an overview of just how large and diverse the multifamily market is, using analytics from the AZBEX Database. “Projects…

By Roland Murphy for Arizona Builder’s Exchange Despite ongoing challenges and concerns in various parts of the Valley, the economic growth generated as a byproduct of the Light Rail’s introductions and various expansions have proven impossible to deny. Valley Metro last week released, “Building Communities and Enhancing Lives: A Quality of Life Report,” detailing the positive impacts the program has had over the course of its operations. According to the report and its accompanying announcement, to date there has been $11B of investment and 35,000 jobs created within one-half mile of the 26-mile corridor. Service started with the original 20 miles…

Sales Transactions 1. Greystar Real Estate Partners, LLC, announced the acquisition of the three-property, 845-unit Acacia portfolio on behalf of its real estate funds. Acacia Capital hired CBRE’s team of Sean Cunningham and Tyler Anderson to sell two of the properties: the 316-unit Chandler Court at 3800 W. Chandler Blvd., in Chandler, and the 341-unit Vista Montana at 3225 E. Baseline Road, in Gilbert. Cushman & Wakefield’s team led by Jim Crews brokered the third deal, the 186-unit River Ranch property at 6152 W. Oakland St., also in Chandler. Total consideration was reported at $149M. 2. A $92.5M industrial complex purchase is the latest addition to Prologis…

By Rebekah Morris for Arizona Builder’s Exchange Inefficient contracts… Lack of oversight and documentation… Resistance to market trends… These are a few of the issues plaguing one of the poorest public school districts in a state that Governing.com has ranked 49th in per pupil funding as recently as June 2018. Forty-five million dollars in bond funds are just beginning to be expended in Alhambra Elementary School District. The $45M bond passed by voters in 2017 is dedicated to new gymnasium buildings, a new performing arts center, renovations to libraries, classroom spaces, and general building needs. Before 2017, the district had…

By Roland Murphy for Arizona Builder’s Exchange A few months ago, AZBEX received an anonymous tip about the Alhambra Elementary School District undertaking a series of projects for new gymnasiums and other facilities projects. In a rare move, the district was looking at a mix of low bid and Alternative Project Delivery Methods. As many of our readers know, we stirred up a figurative hornet’s nest almost exactly a year ago when we published our K12 Market Study. Very long story short, we did the first and, to date, only in-depth study of the market sector in the state and…

By Adrienne St. Clair for Arizona Builder’s Exchange Transportation planners for Maricopa County are getting an early start on plans to extend Prop. 400 – a 0.5 percent sales tax increase approved back in 2005. Not only did they unveil their new “Imagine” proposition at the December APA/ASLA Networking Event Wednesday, Dec. 5, but they delivered the preliminary planning presentation nearly seven years before Prop. 400 will actually expire. Leading the presentation was Audra Koester Thomas from the Maricopa Association of Governments. She said the deadline for the new extension isn’t far away at all, but “really overnight for us.”…