Author: BEX Staff

Faced with a shortage of heavy equipment drivers to serve the projects in its pipeline, Gila County has implemented a new approach to workforce development. County public works officials developed a plan that overhauls the system for hiring, training and promoting public works employees. The plan relaxes existing hiring requirements and then ensures new hires get the training they need to advance in their positions. A federal commercial driver’s license requires both classroom and behind-the-wheel training. Under the new program, Gila will hire drivers without a license in place, give them on-the-job training, require passing the written test within three…

By Associated Builders and Contractors The construction industry added 11,000 jobs on net in September, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. On a year-over-year basis, industry employment has increased by 217,000 jobs, an uptick of 2.8%. Nonresidential construction employment decreased by 1,300 positions on net, with contraction in 2 of the 3 subcategories. Nonresidential specialty trade lost 3,300 positions, while nonresidential building lost 200 jobs. Heavy and civil engineering added 2,200 jobs. The construction unemployment rate decreased slightly to 3.8%, while unemployment across all industries remained unchanged at…

Giving Back 1. Nonprofit Homeward Bound and McCarthy Building Companies recently celebrated the completion of a laundry room renovation at the Thunderbird’s Family Village on West Colter Street in Phoenix. Called the “Loads of Love” project and enabled by an in-kind donation from McCarthy, the project will improve the quality of life for Homeward Bound residents. Awards & Accolades 2. The Arizona Masonry Council hosted the 2023 Excellence in Masonry Architectural Awards. Category winners are: Monument/Entry Way Citation Awards: Jorde Farms North Entry Monument, Combs Ranch Monument/Entry; Residential Perimeter Walls Citation Award: Alamar Perimeter Walls; Residential Citation Awards: Lot 16…

Sales Transactions 1. KKR & Co., Inc. sold The District at Scottsdale, a 332-unit luxury apartment complex, for $161.5M to Fairfield Residential. The complex includes a four-story residential building and two clubhouses totaling more than 382KSF. 2. Brookfield Corp.’s 1.1MSF Park Place Mall in Tucson has sold for $87M in a foreclosure auction. Pacific Retail Capital Partners has been appointed to manage and lease the property. 3. Lafferty Development has completed the second stage of its two-stage, $55M sale of 2051 Apartments, a 200-unit development in Prescott. The buyer was Kodiak 2051 Operator LLC. Lafferty was represented by Todd Braun…

Cactus Portable Pods, a subsidiary of Portable On Demand Storage, or PODS, will build a 100KSF warehouse facility on 7.82 acres at 1901 W. Cooper St. The facility will serve to house portable, climate-controlled moving and storage pods. Construction is expected within the next two years. (Source)

By BEX Staff for AZBEX The Casa Grande Planning and Zoning Commission will consider three major multifamily projects in its meeting this week. The first project under consideration is known as FLATZ 387. P&Z will consider a major Planned Area Development amendment to a 10.33-acre location in the McCartney Center PAD from commercial land use to multifamily to allow the creation of a 247-unit apartment community. Developer Z Modular has selected STG Design as the project architect. No general contractor or construction timeline have been announced. The second development is a rezoning request from Maximillian Investment Company to change 18.5…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX – BEXCLUSIVE On a 7-0 vote, the Buckeye Planning and Zoning Commission has approved a site plan for 29SC Apartments, a 408-unit development planned for the SEC of 255th Avenue and MC 85. The 15.94-acre site had previously been platted as Roers at Buckeye 29. According to the submitted narrative, the site was zoned Downtown Commercial in 2021. Multifamily development is permitted under the current zoning. The proposed development is planned for 408 garden style apartments distributed across 15 buildings. The planned mix is 126 one-bedroom, 226 two-bedroom and 56 three-bedroom units. Sizes will range…

Creation Equity and LGE Design Build are planning a three-building, 268.8KSF industrial development on 16 acres near the SEC of Elliot Road and Hardy Drive in Tempe. The site is currently occupied by a vacant two-story office building called the Elliot Corporate Center. The proposal for Elliot and Hardy would deliver 215KSF of warehouse space and 53.8KSF of office, according to project documents. The property is currently owned by ECC Asset Acquisition Company LLC. The project is represented by Gammage & Burnham. (Source)

Ridgehouse Capital has proposed a 235-unit, seven-story apartment community at 514 E. Lincoln St. in downtown Phoenix. The development joins nearly a dozen others in a pipeline of nearly 3,200 units within a mile of Chase Field stadium. Plans for the 1.6-acre site include 235 apartments, a retail gallery, an amenity deck with a swimming pool, a dog park and a leasing office. A subsidiary of Ridgehouse previously paid $9.5M for the property. Ridgehouse has chosen VE Design Group as the design firm and uses Mission Constructors, its internal general contractor, to build its communities. (Source)

By Associated Builders and Contractors The construction industry had 350,000 job openings on the last day of August, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. JOLTS defines a job opening as any unfilled position for which an employer is actively recruiting. Industry job openings decreased by 3,000 last month but are up by 5,000 from the same time last year. “The number of open, unfilled construction positions declined in August but remains higher than both one year ago and the pre-pandemic level,” said ABC…