Author: BEX Staff

The City of Prescott is considering a nearly 70% increase in home construction impact fees. City Council held a study session earlier this week and then unanimously voted to hold a hearing in August and scheduled a vote to approve or reject the measure in its Oct. 8 meeting. Councilmembers said the increases were necessary because Prescott has not incrementally adjusted fees over time as it could have done. Members and staff from Raftelis—the City’s financial consultant—said the increases in both utility and non-utility fees were necessary to meet needs listed in the City’s Capital Improvement Plan and to address…

By Associated Builders and Contractors Associated Builders and Contractors reported its Construction Backlog Indicator increased to 8.4 months in June, according to an ABC member survey conducted June 20 to July 3. The reading is down 0.5 months from June 2023. The entire decline in backlog observed over the past calendar year is attributable to the Middle States and Northeast. Backlog in the South and West regions was unchanged between June 2023 and June 2024. ABC’s Construction Confidence Index readings for sales and staffing levels fell slightly in June, while the reading for profit margins improved. All three readings remain…

Awards & Accolades 1. Wespac Construction, Inc. announced that Rio Yards, a 157KSF office shell at Novus Innovation Corridor in Tempe, was awarded LEED Silver Certification by the USGBC. 2. Mesa’s 28KSF Gateway Library has won a 2024 Library Interior Design Award from the Commercial Interior Design Association and the American Library Association. The library was designed by Richärd Kennedy Architects and White Baux Studio Interior Design. Groundbreakings 3. American Battery Factory, Inc., a spinoff of Lion Energy, has broken ground in preparation for starting construction this fall on the $1B gigafactory in Tucson. The facility has a power-supply agreement…

The Mesa City Council will meet this week to discuss entering into a memorandum of understanding with a developer to build a new 100-unit apartment complex and multistory parking garage on the site of a City-owned surface parking lot at the SEC of Pepper Place and MacDonald. Developer Habitat Fenix, LLC submitted an unsolicited proposal to the City to develop Eco Mesa East on Mesa’s “Green Lot,” a 105-space surface parking facility. Habitat Fenix is a partnership between Habitat Metro—developer of the existing Eco Mesa apartment community—and Fenix Private Capital Group. Eco Mesa was built on the City’s former “Purple…

The Aztec-themed Fry’s Electronics store at Thunderbird Road and Interstate 17 will make way for the new home of the Phoenix Police Department’s Cactus Park Precinct and a new fire station. The City of Phoenix has not disclosed how much it is paying for the 12.5-acre property, but the Maricopa County Assessor’s Office lists the full cash value at $20.8M and a limited property value of $16.5M. The purchase is made possible, at least in part, by voter approval of a $500M bond package last November, which included $214M for police, fire, streets and pedestrian infrastructure. Officials say the existing…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX Developer MK Company, Inc. (operating as Canoa Preserve Development Partners LLC) is requesting a conditional use permit that will allow for a 48-room resort development on 30 acres near Continental and Green Valley in Pima County. The property is part of the Canoa Preserve Final Plat and lies east of South Camino de la Canoa, approximately two miles south of Whitehouse Canyon Road and one mile east of Interstate 19. Platted but vacant subdivisions are located to the north, south and east, while the land to the west is undeveloped, according to the Pima County…

The Coronado National Forest and its partner nonprofit group Friends of Sabino Canyon will hold an open house on July 11 to present plans for a new Sabino Canyon Visitor Center. The event runs from 4:30 p.m.- 6:30 p.m. on July 11 at the Sheraton Tucson Hotel and Suites on East Grant Road. The partners say the current facility is outdated and inadequate to serve Sabino Canyon’s roughly one million annual visitors. The updated center will be built behind the current location and will be a “multi-generational” development with the capacity to serve more than 30 Forest Service employees and…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX In its North American Quarterly Construction Cost Report for Q2, Rider Levett Bucknall shows metro Phoenix costs rose 4.17% between April 2023 and April 2024. Phoenix was 10th out of the 12 metro areas analyzed in the report. Chicago led the nation with a year-over-year increase of 7.67%, followed by Seattle at 6.53%. San Francisco saw the lowest increase, coming in at 4.00%. For Q2, the Phoenix area saw an increase of 0.94%. Q4 2023 had an increase of 0.83%, while Q1 2023 was last year’s highest for the local market at 1.36%. Key national…

Giving Back 1. The Sundt Foundation, along with subcontractor E&K of Phoenix and other partners, collaborated to renovate The Foster Alliance’s (formerly Arizona Helping Hands) space in Phoenix and provide a two-phase expansion. Using plans created by Corgan, E&K of Phoenix and their partners secured the contracts and permits, provided all the parts and labor, and delivered a comfortable shopping experience for foster families. Phase II will create a volunteer center for the Alliance. While Sundt and E&K of Phoenix were working on the retail facility, Sundt Transportation Group spent two days fixing a long-standing sewer issue. Since the work…

Sales Transactions 1. Pine Tree and a state pension fund partner have paid $91M for Arrowhead Crossing, a 362KSF retail center near 77th Avenue and Bell Road in Peoria. Pine Tree will now manage the property. 2. Represented by Nick Miner of ORION Investment Real Estate, Arileus Capital purchased Superstition Marketplace—a 54.4KSF retail center near Superstition Springs Mall in Mesa—for $11.6M. The seller was Superstition Marketplace LLC. 3. 22 Kendrick, LLC has sold a two-building, 25KSF office complex at 850 and 858 W. Elliot Road in Tempe to Hana Koa, LLC for $6.2M. The seller was represented by Steve Berghoff…