Author: BEX Staff

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…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX The Somerton City Council has approved the requested rezoning and general plan amendment to allow development of a new 120-unit apartment community on a 7.6-acre parcel at the SWC of Main Street and Parkview Avenue. The developer, YEPCO, LLC, traces back to Brian L. Hall, owner of Hall’s General Contractors. Hall’s has been involved in several projects in the area, including as GC on the 103-unit expansion of Desert Sky Townhomes and as GC and developer on the 84-unit 24th Street & Avenue 9E Apartments, both in Yuma. The new zoning establishes the property for…

By Associated Builders and Contractors Construction input prices increased 0.5% in April compared to the previous month, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Producer Price Index data. Nonresidential construction input prices increased 0.6% for the month. Overall construction input prices are 2.3% higher than a year ago, while nonresidential construction input prices are 2.2% higher. Prices increased in 2 of the 3 energy subcategories last month. Crude petroleum prices were up 10.6%, while unprocessed energy materials prices increased 8.2%. Natural gas prices were down slightly by 0.9%. “Construction input prices jumped half…

By Associated Builders and Contractors Associated Builders and Contractors reported its Construction Backlog Indicator increased to 8.4 months in April, according to an ABC member survey conducted from April 22 to May 6. The reading is down 0.5 months from April 2023, but expanded 0.2 months from the prior month. Backlog declined on a monthly basis for the largest and smallest contractors by revenue and grew for those with $30M-$50M and $50M-$100M in annual revenues. On an annual basis, only contractors with $30M-$50M in annual revenues have experienced an increase in backlog. ABC’s Construction Confidence Index readings for sales and…

Groundbreakings 1. The Water Services team with McCarthy Building Companies Inc. recently began construction on the City of Phoenix Deer Valley Water Treatment Plant in north central Phoenix. The two-phase, $37.2M rehabilitation project focuses on updating the solids treatment portion of the plant, which intakes and filters water from the Arizona Canal, to increase plant efficiencies. The project also includes the addition of a new electrical building at the site. 2. Rockefeller Group and Mosaic broke ground on Corsica Villas, a 152-unit Build-to-Rent townhome community in Phoenix. The community will have two locations, with the first 68 townhomes being on…

The controversy over the City of Glendale’s planned Black Lot Parking Garage is carrying over into the City budget. Plans for the 3,864-space parking structure to primarily serve VAI Resorts’ new development near State Farm Stadium are on hold at the moment. State Farm Stadium and the Arizona Cardinals sued the City to stop the development, alleging it infringed on agreements to provide the Cardinals use of the parking lot intended for the garage site. A Maricopa County Superior Court judge agreed, and Glendale is currently appealing the ruling. The Glendale Fiscal Year 2025 budget, however, has $93.6M in general…