Author: BEX Staff

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX While some jurisdictions are racing to curtail data center development, it appears to be a booming sector for upcoming planning in Pinal County. During the same July 17 work session that saw discussion of the Vermaland La Osa Employment Center master plan, which has the potential to become the largest data center site in the state, the Pinal County Planning and Zoning Commission also reviewed a plan from IDM Companies for a data center development on 215 acres at Selma Highway and Midway Road near Casa Grande. IDM is requesting a major Comprehensive Plan amendment…

By BEX Staff for AZBEX Skyline Towns, a proposed 100-unit gated townhome community, was recommended for approval by the Apache Junction Planning and Zoning Commission during its July 22 meeting. The proposed townhome development, located on a 9.4-acre site at the NWC of Winchester Road and Junction Street, is set to include five three-plex and 17 five-plex buildings. The site plan lists Bela Flor Communities as the developer, while Reese Anderson of Pew & Lake is providing legal representation. EPS Group, Inc. is listed as the civil engineer, landscape architect and planner. Each building will be two stories, with a…

Groundbreakings 1. Rust Land Management has broken ground on Palomino Ridge, a 66-acre subdivision in Maricopa that will add 226 homes between Maricopa Meadows and the Union Pacific Railroad. Dream Finders Homes is building the project. 2. Petrified Forest National Park will begin a multi-year restoration of the Painted Desert Community Complex in September. Stronghold Engineering is leading the project, which will rehabilitate the northern visitor center and park headquarters to address structural issues, improve accessibility and restore historic design elements. The project is funded through the Great American Outdoors Act. 3. The Phoenix Zoo has broken ground on two…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX The next round is chambered in an ongoing battle over a north Scottsdale healthcare campus: Banner Health has submitted its rezoning and conditional use permit requests for 31.5 acres for the property at the NEC of Mayo Blvd. and the Miller Road alignment. At first blush, it looks like a straightforward step by the state’s largest private employer to develop the second phase of a long-planned project. Phase I, which consists primarily of a 119KSF medical office building, is currently under construction. However, since it was first announced, rival healthcare giant HonorHealth has gone to…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX Affordable housing developer Dominium has successfully closed on a roughly 26-acre site for Allasso Ranch, a planned 304-unit Build-to-Rent community south of Happy Valley Road and 147th Avenue in Surprise. The site is zoned R-3 multifamily, which is the correct type for this development, according to the site plan. The maximum allowed density is 11.9 units/acre. Allasso Ranch will come in at 11.88 if built as planned. The planned unit mix calls for 152 three- and 152 four-bedroom units. Both unit counts are planned with eight units in single-story and 144 units in two-story buildings.…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX The raising of Bartlett Dam could be the next step of the Verde River Water Storage project, and upcoming public meetings will give residents the opportunity to offer input. The project is part of an effort by Salt River Project, the U.S. Department of the Interior, the Bureau of Reclamation, the cities of Avondale, Buckeye, Chandler, El Mirage, Glendale, Goodyear, Mesa, Peoria, Phoenix, Scottsdale, Surprise and Tempe, the towns of Cave Creek, Queen Creek and Gilbert, and other agencies and bodies to protect Arizona’s water supply, according to local news reports. The Verde River Reservoir…

Giving Back 1. Achen-Gardner recently donated more than 3,800 water bottles to the City of Tempe to support the HOPE homeless outreach team. On one of the hottest days of the year, the company’s employee-owners unloaded two pallets of water to the Escalante Community Center. Awards & Accolades 2. Micah Miranda, Economic Development Director for the City of Chandler, was named Policymaker of the Year by the Association for Career Technical Education of Arizona. He was honored during the ACTE’s annual conference in Tucson for advancing career and technical education partnerships across the state. Miranda has served in his current…

Sales Transactions 1. Fairfield Residential acquired a three-property multifamily portfolio totaling 907 units from Sunroad Enterprises for $244.8M. The portfolio includes Lazo Apartments in Chandler, a 346-unit complex that sold for $100M; Zone Apartments in Glendale, a 308-unit complex that sold for $81.75M; and Zone Lux, a 253-unit community in Glendale that sold for $62.5M. 2. Pillar Communities and Private Portfolio Group acquired Huxley Scottsdale, a 192-unit luxury multifamily community in north Scottsdale, from High Street Residential. CBRE represented the seller. Media outlets reported the sales price as $76M. 3. The Dinerstein Companies acquired University Valley, a four-story student housing…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX Red Oak Development Group is planning to build an 83-unit condo project at 2951 S. Masonic Lane at the SWC of Zuni Drive and Lone Tree Road in Flagstaff. The Flagstaff Planning and Zoning Commission met July 23 to discuss the developer’s request to rezone the 13.44-acre property from Rural Residential within the Resource Protection Overlay Zone and Suburban Commercial zone within the RPO to Medium Density Residential zone within the RPO. The Commission voted to recommend approval. Staff had recommended the Commission approve the request to be forwarded to the City Council for a…

By BNSF Logistics Park Phoenix BNSF is working hard to make sure Logistics Park Phoenix meets Arizona’s needs. To that end, and in coordination with Supervisor Debbie Lesko and the District 4 office, we’ve asked the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to move the upcoming vote on the Major Comprehensive Plan Amendment for the project from Aug. 20 to Nov. 5. This continuance will allow the rezoning and Comprehensive Plan Amendment applications to be heard together. The Board of Supervisors will vote on this continuance request at the Aug. 20 meeting. In the meantime, BNSF will continue working closely with…