Author: BEX Staff

By National Association of Home Builders A lack of existing inventory that continues to drive buyers to new home construction, coupled with strong demand and mortgage rates below last fall’s cycle peak helped push builder sentiment above a key marker in March. Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes climbed three points to 51 in March, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index released today. This is the highest level since July 2023 and marks the fourth consecutive monthly gain for the index. It is also the first time that the sentiment…

Awards & Accolades 1. The University of Arizona’s historic Chemistry Building received a LEED Silver level certification following a $42M renovation and construction project. The Chemistry Building received the Engineering New Record Southwest Best Renovation/Restoration Project Award and the AIA Arizona Kemper Goodwin Collaboration Award. Shepley Bulfinch was the architect. Green Ideas Building Science Consultants managed the LEED certification process and completed the required energy modeling. Groundbreakings 2. Developer 3Edgewood LLC broke ground on a two-story, nearly 33KSF office building at The Grove in Phoenix. LGE Design Build/Group is the architect and general contractor. Expected completion is set for the…

The 2024 RED Awards celebrated the year in the commercial real estate industry in Phoenix with a sold-out ceremony at Chateaux Luxe. A complete list of RED Award winners follows. All project and company names appear as originally published on AZBigMedia.com. Winners of the 18th RED Awards include: Organizations of the year Architecture firms of the year: Butler Design Group; Subcontractor of the year: DP Electric; General contractor of the year: Stevens-Leinweber Construction, and; Developer of the year: ViaWest Group. Higher education project of the yearG. Michael Hoover KAPBCS Training Center Developer: Sundt Construction; General contractor: Sundt Construction; Architect: Architekton,…

The Buckeye Planning and Zoning Commission has approved the first of three preliminary plats for North Star Ranch, a master-planned community north of the Central Arizona Project Canal between the alignments for 275th and 255th Avenues in Buckeye. The Commission’s approval of the first preliminary plat covers 2,184 single family lots on 756 acres of the 2,818-acre site. The overall master plan was approved by the Buckeye City Council last month and includes nearly 10,000 residential units mixed between single- and multifamily, with 86% of the acreage dedicated to neighborhood residential. Other planned uses include light industrial and commercial/retail. Community…

By Arizona Commerce Authority FrameTec, a building component manufacturing plant and building framing services company, has announced plans to build a truss and wall panel manufacturing facility in Casa Grande. EDITOR’S NOTE: AZBEX was the first outlet to report on FrameTec’s Arizona plans last September. The new facility will consist of two plant buildings, with the first phase of construction commencing in summer 2024. The first plant is expected to be operational in 2026 followed by the second plant in 2027 and create more than 400 total new jobs. Representing a $150M capital investment, FrameTec’s Casa Grande facility will be…

Rare Earth LLC has filed a lawsuit against the City of Glendale claiming the City violated its procurement rules when it awarded a bid to purchase a City-owned site by the Agua Fria River to a competing firm. Rare Earth, a Glendale-based mining and gravel company, alleges in a Maricopa County Superior Court complaint filed in November that Glendale set up its solicitation process to favor M.R. Tanner Construction’s bid for the 48-acre property between Glendale Avenue and Bethany Home Road over its submission. It also claims the terms of the contract between Tanner and Glendale do not follow those…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX A collection of owners led by Emmerson Holdings has requested a rezoning of 880 acres in Surprise to allow the development of a new master-planned community called Desert Trails. The Surprise Planning and Zoning Commission will hear the requests March 21st. The Desert Trails property lies on both sides of Deer Valley Road between 219th Avenue and the alignment of 211th Avenue. The northern boundary sits on the Pinnacle Peak alignment, and the southern is generally half-a-mile south of Deer Valley. The property is currently zoned Planned Area Development and Rural Residential. The current request…

The U.S. Department of Labor has determined subcontractors misclassified 227 workers’ employment and job statuses on the Northwest Light Rail Extension project in Phoenix and has recovered slightly more than $607K. The Wage and Hour Division said the subcontractors incorrectly classified trades workers as general labors under the prevailing wage rule. In January, the City of Phoenix passed its own prevailing wage ordinance to bring wages on City-funded projects in line with skilled union workers. The Goldwater Institute has filed a lawsuit challenging the local ordinance, saying it violates Arizona law on two points. The recently announced federal actions are…

By Associated Builders and Contractors Construction input prices increased 1.4% in February compared to the previous month, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Producer Price Index data. Nonresidential construction input prices increased 1.3% for the month. Overall construction input prices are 1.5% higher than a year ago, while nonresidential construction input prices are 1.8% higher. Prices increased in two of the three energy subcategories last month. Crude petroleum input prices were up 7.5%, while unprocessed energy materials were up 3.6%. Natural gas prices declined 7.2% in February. “For the last several…

Giving Back 1. Lokahi Teams announced the first annual Fundraiser Carnival to be held at Dobson High School in Mesa. The fundraiser will help young individuals overcome obstacles to sports participation by providing the necessary financial support. Awards & Accolades 2. Rick Butler and Jeff Cutberth, partners at Butler Design Group for 28 years, have both been named recipients of NAIOP Arizona’s 2023 Award of Excellence. The ceremony will be held April 25th at the JW Marriott Camelback Inn. 3. TREND Report has announced the recipients of the 2023 Best-in-Class Broker® Awards for the second year, recognizing professionals who perform…