Author: BEX Staff

By Rebekah Morris for Arizona Builder’s Exchange Go for a drive any Saturday morning through commercial construction hotspots like Downtown Tempe or between the 7s (Ave & St in Phoenix), and you’ll see crews racing through framing and other trades visible from the street. Market sectors from highways and transit to multifamily and industrial are seeing high levels of activity. Then why are companies like CSW Contractors, McGough, Turner Construction and Johnson Carlier seeing staff reductions? It’s complicated. Bad Deals Back East One day in last month CSW Contractors unexpectedly ceased operations, laying off approximately 200 people in the Phoenix…

Awards & Accolades 1. Phoenix Business Journal has published its list of Phoenix Area Luxury Apartments, ranked by unit count. Number 1 was Optima SonoranVillage in Scottsdale at 592. Groundbreakings 2. Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament broke ground on its Phoenix-area location at the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community’s Talking Stick Entertainment District. 3. The intersection of Piceno Drive and Cadena Avenue will be part of street improvements stated to begin this month in Plaza I, one of the oldest neighborhoods in San Luis. 4. Pilkington Commercial Company hosted a groundbreaking ceremony at the site of the future 30KSF MPW…

By Roland Murphy for Arizona Builder’s Exchange An intersection that could once only be (charitably) described as, “Gritty,” is the latest planned development spot spurred on by light rail and associated urban renewal projects. United Capital Partners, LLC and VIVO Development Partners are proposing to create the C17 luxury multifamily project on the SWC of 17th Avenue and Camelback Road. The proposal calls for 330 market rate units in a building with a 9.8KSF footprint. The luxury component will consist of six floors of residential over two levels of podium parking, 4KSF of ground floor gallery/retail and 30KSF of amenity…

By Tasha Anderson for Arizona Builder’s Exchange Last month, AZBEX began the Leading Market Series, a new monthly event that focuses on a specific market sector and brings in top owners for a panel discussion on what they have in the works. While higher education was the topic of choice for March, this time attendees gathered at the DoubleTree by Hilton on Thursday, April 5th for an update on the healthcare market. The presentation began with a brief glance into the state of the healthcare market as of the end of 2017, using information collected from the AZBEX Database. “Healthcare…

Sales Transactions 1. Greystone announced it has provided a $35.8M Fannie Mae DUS loan for the acquisition of Aldea at Estrella Falls in Goodyear. The transaction was originated by Tim Thompson in Greystone’s San Francisco office, with Mark Paskill of Melvin Mark Capital Group acting as correspondent on the deal. Located in southwest Phoenix, Aldea at Estrella Falls comprises 328 apartments. 2. Half of the condominium units at the Timberline Place Condominiums were sold in a bulk sale for $18.75M. The 102 units were valued at $182K/unit, are mostly occupied by renters who are on leases, and will stay in…

By Roland Murphy for Arizona Builder’s Exchange JLL Project and Development Services recently released its U.S. and Canada Fit Out Guide: Office Cost Benchmarking Report, and Phoenix rates well compared to most other markets. For the purposes of the study, JLL assigned “fit out” guidelines as a space “in its second generation and will be provided by the landlord in a condition ready for tenant improvements.” To assemble the data, JLL looked at 2,800 project budgets in 59 markets across 17 industries. In 2017, the report states, approximately 69MSF of new office product was delivered to market in the U.S.…

Gilbert’s Planning Commission/Design Review Board is considering a proposal to develop an 87-unit congregate care facility on 2.6 acres at the SWC of Gilbert Road and Hackamore Avenue. The Bellazona Wellness Center is proposed as a two-story 58.8KSF facility intended to provide a variety of medical services, including memory care and short- and long-term rehabilitation services. According to the project overview, “The proposed development site is to be completed in a single phase and includes numerous common amenities available to patients, including outdoor garden spaces, activity rooms, barber/beauty salon, coffee and snack bar, quiet rooms, and indoor and outdoor dining…

Groundbreakings 1. The Eloy City Council approved a guaranteed maximum price of slightly more than $7.6M to build the new City Hall, and the project is scheduled for a groundbreaking ceremony April 19. Total budget is $9.9M, and the builder is CORE Construction of Phoenix. Completion is targeted for February. 2. The Salvation Army Metro Phoenix broke ground on the $3.5M Mike Michaels Activity Center. The center will serve multiple functions in providing an outlet for play for families as well as helping them with short- and long-term housing and economic goals. Progress Reports 3. After completing renovations and upgrades…

By Roland Murphy for Arizona Builder’s Exchange For most Arizonans, Spring means warmer temperatures, baseball and seasonal allergies as the desert starts coming into full bloom. For AZBEX, it means easing (we hope) back into a heavy Public Sector project focus as towns, counties, universities and state agencies start discussing and evaluating their upcoming five-year Capital Improvement Project plans. The past couple of weeks we saw a few stories trickle in from around the state. In starting to put today’s (April 3) issue together, there were four. The deluge is, apparently, starting. Rather than bombard our readers with stories from…

By Jane Stewart for Arizona Builder’s Exchange The City of Chandler may soon see a new light industrial development known as The Lotus Project. The concept, and a rezoning request, went before the City’s Planning and Zoning Commission for approval at its March 21st meeting. The project site is approximately 52.7 acres located at the SWC of Frye Road and Roosevelt Avenue, north of the Loop 202 Santan Freeway and west of Kyrene Road. The applicant, Sven Tustin with Conor Commercial Real Estate, made the request for “rezoning from Planned Area Development for Industrial to PAD (Light Industrial and General…