Author: BEX Staff

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX A long-planned mixed-use residential development in south Phoenix may get a new life under recent requests submitted to the City of Phoenix. Matrix Equities requested and received a rezoning at the SWC of 59th Avenue and Dobbins Road in 2022 for a development featuring a planned retail center, 207 traditional multifamily units and 197 Build-to-Rent units. The plan was collectively known as Matrix at Dobbins. (AZBEX; July 12, 2022) The DATABEX project database shows Phoenix City Council approved the rezoning request with stipulations in November 2022. In December 2022, a request was filed to divide…

Giving Back 1. The Arizona Registrar of Contractors hosted its fifth annual Construction Science Technology Apprenticeship Fair and VIP Summit at Chase Field in Phoenix on April 23. The event connected students, members of the United States Armed Forces and veterans with construction companies recruiting for apprenticeship positions and job openings. The VIP Summit brought together industry leaders, policymakers and educators to discuss workforce development, industry challenges and the BuildItAZ Initiative. Awards & Accolades 2. The Arizona Association for Economic Development presented its annual Economic Development Distinguished by Excellence Awards. In the order they were listed, 2026 EDDE award recipients…

Sales Transactions 1. Panattoni Development Company Inc. purchased a 25-acre office property at 2750 S. Priest Dr. in Tempe for $37.5M from JDM Partners. Newmark’s Erin McClure, Chris Marchildon, Gary Cornish and Nico Burgarello represented the seller, while Panattoni represented itself. JLL’s Steve Larsen and Jason Moore will handle leasing. Panattoni plans to demolish the existing buildings and redevelop the site into two one-story industrial buildings: 354.8KSF of warehouse, industrial and manufacturing space, 88.7KSF of office space and 373 parking spaces. Wespac Construction is the general contractor and Ware Malcomb is the architect for the redevelopment. 2. Transdien Engineering Co.…

Groundbreakings 1. Site work has begun on Beale Infrastructure’s Project Blue data center campus near Houghton Road and I-10 in Tucson. The work includes clearing and grading for early-stage site development, and the project is expected to be operational in 2028. 2. The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa has begun a multi-phase renovation at its resort property on the border of Scottsdale and Phoenix. The project includes updates to the lobby, meeting and event spaces, pool areas and food and beverage spaces. PCL Construction is the general contractor. Houston/Tyner is the architect, and The Johnson Studio and HBA are the…

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Scott Blaney has ruled the Arizona Department of Water Resources overstepped when it altered the process used to identify if the area groundwater supplies were sufficient to support development of new homes without undertaking a formal rulemaking process. ADWR changed its policy in 2023. Previously, the Department used hydrology reports submitted by developers to certify a planned development had sufficient water supplies to last 100 years, as required under the 1980 Arizona Groundwater Management Act. The Department changed its policy after a model-based study estimated the entirety of the Phoenix Active Management Area had nearly…

The Coolidge City Council voted unanimously to start the process of planning an expansion of the City’s wastewater treatment plant in its April 13 meeting. The vote followed a presentation by Public Works Director Benjamin Navarro, who explained Coolidge’s ongoing growth will make the project necessary in the coming years. The current wastewater treatment plant has a total capacity of two million gallons/day and is generally running at about 55% capacity. When use reaches 90% capacity, or 1.8MGD, a so-called “trigger point” will be reached. Navarro said it is necessary to begin planning now to start construction of a new…

By BEX Staff for AZBEX An eight-building industrial park totaling 97KSF has been proposed for 7.5 acres at 16700 N. Porter Road in Maricopa. The site is roughly three-tenths of a mile between West Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway to the north and West Sonoran Desert Parkway to the south. An area news outlet cited a submitted project narrative and said the plan includes both small-bay industrial components and individual industrial buildings that will be available for lease or purchase. Potential uses include light manufacturing, distribution, office and retail. Four of the buildings are planned at 6KSF apiece. There are two planned…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX The City of San Luis Planning and Zoning Commission voted to recommend approval of a minor General Plan amendment and rezoning for Colibri Townhomes, a proposed 62-unit single-family attached residential plan on 6.71 acres on County 24th Street east of South Avenue E. The requests from local area developer Riedel Holdings LLC covered changing the five-parcel site’s land use from Commercial to Medium-Density Residential and the zoning from Community Commercial (C-2) to Medium-High Density Residential (R-2). The parcels are located at 4702, 4740, 4766, 4790 & 4810 County 24th Street, in San Luis and are…

The Pinal County Planning and Zoning Commission has recommended approval of a rezoning and planned area development overlay for the 3,385-acre La Osa Project site near Red Rock. The recommendation advances a request to rezone 2,393 acres to I-3 Industrial from General Rural. Proposed open space totals 992 acres. The PAD overlay applies 33 stipulations to the total acreage. La Osa is the largest proposed data center and energy site in the area and received approval of a Comprehensive Plan amendment from the Pinal County Board of Supervisors last year. The property is situated south of Eloy and lies south…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX Employment in the Arizona Construction sector continued its trend of give and take in February, adding 2,900 jobs over the month after reporting a decrease of 2,200 in January, according to the latest report published by the Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity. The January number was revised from its originally reported 221,000 in the January report to 220,500 in the latest version. The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased to 4.6%. The national unemployment rate increased to 4.4%, up from 4.3% in January. In February 2025, Arizona had a seasonally adjusted rate of 4.2%. The…