Author: Roland Murphy

The Buckeye Planning and Zoning Commission has recommended approval of a set of requests that will expand and change the planned uses in and around the Westpark Community Master Plan. Included in the submission materials are some of the first major details about TS35, a planned 120-acre, more than $1B energy transmission capacity plan from Arizona Public Service. The primary Westpark request is a Community Master Plan Amendment and covers a total of 1,948.2 acres. According to the staff report, “The proposed amendment area consists of approximately 274.8 acres currently located within the Westpark CMP, approximately 741 acres currently located…

Growth in the Arizona Construction industry is broad-based, but larger players are having an easier time securing funding and bringing their projects online than their smaller counterparts. This was one of the conclusions presented at the June 24 BEX 2026 Midyear Update on Arizona Construction. This year’s event was held at the Phoenix Art Museum and presented to more than 225 registered attendees. BEX Founder and President Rebekah Morris, Senior Market Researcher Andrea Howard and Market Researcher Jaden Schneider all shared their individual findings and conclusions on the various trends affecting construction across the nine sectors BEX tracks. Economic Factors…

Employment in the Arizona Construction sector dramatically led those with gains in May, posting an increase of 2,700 positions, according to the latest report published by the Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity. The jump in employment cut the sector’s year-over-year losses down to 900. The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate, however, nudged up to 4.8% after sitting at 4.7% for March and April. The national unemployment rate held the 4.3% rate seen in March and April. In May 2025, Arizona had a seasonally adjusted rate of 4.3%. The national rate was also 4.3%. Month-over-month, Arizona’s not-seasonally adjusted total nonfarm employment…

The latest CommercialCafé U.S. Office market report shows a commercial real estate sector still in flux, particularly in the West region, as the technology industry undergoes massive layoffs and the post-pandemic flight to quality continues to disproportionately impact older assets. Metro Phoenix, however, has been less impacted than other markets, particularly in the West, even though it remains behind in terms of square footage valuations. The report says, “The commercial real estate sector is experiencing a pronounced division between property types, with deep discounts and mounting distress heavily concentrated among assets that cannot adapt to evolving tenant demands. Specifically, out…

In a June 3 study session, the Gilbert Planning Commission/Design Review Board met to discuss a proposed cold storage warehouse facility for AEJ Desert Enterprise on nearly five acres at 455 E. Baseline Road. The property is part of the Cardon Meadows/Horizon Engineering Industrial Park Planned Area Development. The planned project will require a master site plan amendment within the larger 10.76-property. According to the staff report, the property was originally developed for a 35.8KSF Phoenix Newspapers Inc. distribution warehouse that has since been vacated. The new development will demolish the current structure and build a new warehouse facility centered…

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…