Author: Roland Murphy

A trio of entities tracing back to Arizona real estate economist and consultant Elliott Pollack has requested a rezoning in Surprise that will establish a master planned residential and employment development spanning 422 acres. The companies named in the project narrative are: Buena Vista Holdings, LLC; 100 Acres Partners, LLC, and TMP Investment Properties, LLC. Elliott Pollack, CEO of Elliott D. Pollack & Company, and company President Rick Merritt are identified as the owner contacts. According to the City staff report, the request seeks to rezone “approximately 422 acres from Buena Vista Ranch Planned Area Development (PAD) and Rural Residential…

With the BEX 2026 Mid-Year Update event coming up in a couple of weeks, everyone at the company is down the data-crunching rabbit hole, focused on prepping and polishing our market and sector information for presentation. Given the general vibe around the office, and the general slowdown in board/commission/council activities and new project submissions this time of year, I decided to take a look at the Industrial sector and see if anything in particular grabbed my attention for this issue’s front page. It did. The DATABEX project database launched slightly more than 10 years ago, and it has evolved and…

The Goldwater Institute is suing the City of Phoenix to stop a planned land sale to Pennrose, LLC for the development of an affordable housing community on a property currently owned by the City. According to an area news outlet, the complaint alleges the planned sale violates the Gift Clause of the Arizona Constitution, as well as a state law regulating housing requirements. The lawsuit was filed in Maricopa County Superior Court late last month. Goldwater asserts in its complaint the City violated the Gift Clause by agreeing to sell the 0.4-acre property at 1016 N. 2nd St. to Pennrose…

BB Living and Cachet Homes, the developers behind the proposed 209-unit Shalimar multifamily and Build-to-Rent development at Country Club Way and Southern Avenue in Tempe, have withdrawn their development application package. The withdrawal notice was submitted to the Tempe Community Development Department by project representative law firm Gammage and Burnham in a May 26 letter. The developers had worked to secure approval of rezoning and other accommodations for the 44-acre site for more than two years. In addition to BB Living’s planned 209-units, Cachet Homes intended to build 68 traditional single-family homes as well. BB Living entered into an agreement…

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX Arizona legislators are once again looking to change how cities and counties around the state deal with zoning issues and to undercut the degree to which opposition groups can interfere with the zoning process. Legislators have made various attempts in the past to reduce or eliminate municipal control of zoning, particularly as it applies to multifamily residential developments, but their efforts have either been withdrawn, failed to pass or met with gubernatorial vetoes. The latest measure under consideration, Senate Bill 1352, was proposed by Sen. David Gowan. Under the bill, zoning would be reclassified under…

By Roland Murphy This week, the Surprise Planning and Zoning Commission will consider a rezoning request from RVi Planning + Landscape Architecture on behalf of two property owners to rezone a pair of 40-acre parcels from rural residential to allow for more dense housing development. Both sites were originally included in the planned area development for Surprise Foothills, a 1,040-acre master site roughly bounded by Pinnacle Peak Road/Deer Valley Parkway/Central Arizona Project Canal in the north, 243rd Avenue to the west and 235th Avenue to the east. Since the PAD was created, however, the City of Surprise eliminated the creation…

The Tempe City Council has approved a new 189-unit student housing development from Aptitude Development on 1.4 acres at 1057 E. Apache Blvd. The Marshall at Tempe will remove an existing 72-room hotel currently occupying the site and replace it with a seven-story mid-rise, mixed-use, student-focused apartment community, according to documents on file with the City of Tempe. The developer is requesting a design review, General Plan amendment, rezoning and Planned Area Development overlay to allow the project’s construction. According to documents submitted to the City of Tempe, the planned unit mix breaks down as 20 studios, 12 one-bedroom, 83…

As the Valley and national residential markets continue to evolve toward greater diversity in housing types than the traditional split between freestanding housing and clustered garden- or high-rise-style apartments, the West Valley’s appetite for townhome-style developments is getting a boost of more than 450 units between two proposed developments. Both projects are scheduled for hearings this month. Bell 115th In Surprise, Family Development is proposing an 82-unit townhouse community on 6.85 acres near the NEC of Bell Road and 115th Avenue. The plan is accompanied by a rezoning request from Planned Area Development/Commercial to PAD/Residential High Density on three parcels/portions…

Wood Partners is planning to develop its third Alta-branded apartment community in Chandler. Alta Uptown will deliver 425 units on an 11.66-acre infill site at the SEC of Arizona Avenue and Corporate Place, slightly more than half-a-mile south of Elliot Road. The developer has requested rezoning from Regional Commercial to Planned Area Development, along with approval for its preliminary development plan with a mid-rise overlay and the preliminary plat. The Chandler Planning and Zoning Commission recommended the requests for approvals in its June 1 meeting. The proposal will now go to the City Council for a hearing and vote. Wood…

Last month, the City of Maricopa voted unanimously to sell three parcels next to Copper Sky Regional Park to S3 BioTech LLC so the developer can move ahead with plans to build a medical campus. At the time, it was reported the company was planning a specialty emergency hospital with 25 beds and at least 100KSF of space for medical services, ambulatory surgeries, lab and office space. Other planned uses for the space included apartments/condos, a sports stadium, training facility and a physical therapy center. After filing a public records request and receiving the Planned Area Development overview we are…