Author: BEX Staff

A housing development reform measure aiming to increase supply and improve affordability is going to the desk of Gov. Katie Hobbs. Last week, the Arizona House approved HB 2721, which will require cities with populations greater than 75,000 to allow the development of duplex, triplex, fourplex and townhome units under single-family zoning within a mile of their central business districts. Under the so-called “middle housing bill,” they will also have to allow at least 20% of new single-family developments larger than 10 acres to be zoned for those uses. The House also passed HB 2720, which will require those cities…

Earlier this month, the Economic Development Advisory Board for the City of Mesa heard a presentation from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business Policy’s Geanluca Lorenzon discussing ideas to enhance growth in the city’s downtown. Lorenzon’s primary suggestion was the creation of a “special regulatory corridor” that would focus on increasing density, creating more active frontage and improving the ease of building. He said downtown development should be extended westward along Main Street and the nearby areas. Among the specific suggestions were: Using mixed-use zoning to promote density along light rail; Adding grocery stores in the downtown area, possibly…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX Arizona’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell from 3.8% to 3.6% from March to April, according to the latest report published by the Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity. The national unemployment rate increased over the month, rising to 3.9% from 3.8%. Last April, Arizona had a seasonally adjusted rate of 3.6%, while the national rate was 3.4%. The Arizona Construction was unchanged over the month. Arizona had a not-seasonally adjusted gain of 12,900 in nonfarm employment in February. “Prior to the pandemic (2010-2019), NSA nonfarm employment gained 9,500 jobs on average in April,” the report states.…

On a unanimous vote, the Phoenix Transportation, Infrastructure and Planning Subcommittee has approved a new light rail line along Indian School Road. With that approval comes a reallocation of $153M in transit funds that had been planned for a different line along Camelback Road that was dropped years ago. Expenditures for preliminary engineering and community feedback will not start until 2036 if the Indian School Road line earns the approvals it needs from the Phoenix City Council, Valley Metro and the Maricopa Association of Governments. Expected benefits from the new line include improving access into the Maryvale portion of Phoenix,…

While some commercial real estate fund managers are taking the current market doldrums as an opportunity to snatch up assets, others are moving away from property ownership to minimize obligations and liquidity risks. Before 2023, Starwood Real Estate Investment Trust had never drawn into its credit line. Following a wave of redemption requests starting in 2022, the REIT has since drawn more than $1.3B of its unsecured credit of $1.55B. In 2023 Starwood investors withdrew $2.6B. The Financial Times reports Starwood will run out of both cash and credit later this year if it does not sell more properties or…

Giving Back 1. Catholic Charities received a free solar-covered parking structure through Salt River Project’s Solar for Nonprofits program. Catholic Charities’ Phoenix location will reduce energy costs by 25% with the new system, allowing more funds to go toward programming. 2. Junior Achievement received a $700K federal grant for renovations at BizTown, a mock town to allow kids to learn finance management, in Tempe. The renovations will help fund new technology, floors and HVAC updates. Renovations are expected to be completed over the summer. 3. The Rosendin Foundation has announced this year’s TRF Camp Build will run June 3-June 7…

Sales Transactions 1. HP AZB Investments LP, a joint partnership between Henderson Park and Pyramid Global Hospitality, purchased the famous 28-acre resort property The Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix from Blackstone Inc. for $705M. 2. Will Strong, Kirk Kuller, Michael Matchett, Molly Hunt and Dean Wiley of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller, Flint Development, in the $118.65M sale of Tucson Commerce Center, an 806.6KSF industrial/logistics building in Tucson. Bridge Investment Group purchased 504.2KSF of Building II and Building III of the centers. An undisclosed buyer purchased the remaining 302.4KSF of Building I. 3. Tom Adelson and Erin McClure of Newmark…

By BEX Staff for AZBEX An upcoming Arizona State Land Department auction of more than 2,340 acres southwest of Interstate 17 and Carefree Highway, adjacent to the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company campus, has drawn a short but impressive collection of qualified bidders. The minimum bid price for the site is $56.28M, although a much higher final bid is likely. A report issued last month by Gruen Gruen + Associates identified the qualified bidders as: Mack Real Estate Group, W Holdings, which is a land company affiliated with the Wolfswinkel Family, and ViaWest Group. MREG submitted an application to purchase the…

By Design-Build Institute of America The Design-Build Institute of America commends the U.S. Congress for passing the bipartisan Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act, which includes a pilot program for Progressive Design-Build. This provision, expected to be signed into law, marks a significant step forward for the design-build industry. In addition to supporting the inclusion of the PDB pilot program, DBIA provided valuable resources to Congress during the process, including the DBIA Progressive Design-Build Deeper Dive and Universal Best Practices. “DBIA is committed to promoting the value of design-build project delivery and advocating for its effective integration at all government levels,”…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX No matter how much spin some analysts might want to put on the state of the U.S. commercial real estate sector, the casual observer, and most observers at ground level, have to squint and cock their heads to the side a little if they want to see the current cup as half full. Hyperbole is rarely justified. The sky is almost never actually falling, but it’s also just about never completely filled with sunshine and rainbows either. Still, recent news continues to reward the pessimist’s perspective more than those who have continually been saying a…