DAILY TOP 5

Empire Group of Companies, through its luxury urban infill division Aspirant Development, today announced the official rebranding of its highly anticipated Downtown Phoenix high-rise project from its working name, Astra, to Arro – a landmark mixed-use development poised to become the tallest building in Arizona upon completion. Spanning approximately 1.8 million square feet, Arro will introduce a new level of scale and sophistication to Downtown Phoenix, anchored by

In a market that Yardi Matrix vice president Jeff Adler describes as “muddling through,” the best‑performing assets are not the gleaming Class A towers or the deeply discounted Class C walk‑ups. The segment carrying much of the income statement right now is the middle of the stack. “From a demographic standpoint, Class B will probably outperform A and C,” Adler said on a recent Yardi Matrix multifamily outlook podcast, citing how demand and stress are distributing

Arizona State University started construction this month on a classroom building for a new medical school it expects to open in two years in downtown Phoenix. The 200,000-square-foot building at the corner of East Pierce Street and North Fourth Street will house the John Shufeldt School of Medicine and Medical Engineering, the first medical college operated by Arizona State. The five-story facility will also be occupied by the university’s School of Technology for Public Health and programs

Humana has signed a new lease at a Class A Phoenix office complex as the office market recovers. The health insurance giant signed a roughly 5,000-square-foot office lease at the mid-rise Biltmore Center at 2398 E. Camelback Road, significantly downsizing from its office nearby. It signed the lease in Q4 2025, Colliers’ Senior Executive Vice President Phil Breidenbach told the Business Journal. Breidenbach and Matt Baniszewski of Colliers are listing agents for the

Arizona’s growing role in the global semiconductor industry received another boost this week as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) reported powerful financial and revenue results and confirmed continued expansion plans tied to its Arizona operations. The world’s largest contract chipmaker announced first-quarter 2026 revenue of NT$1.13 trillion (about $35.9 billion), representing a 35% increase compared with the same period last year. Net

A prominent Arizona landowner’s plan to turn more than 3,300 acres of vacant desert land in Pinal County into a future data center hub with its own power-generating facilities is moving forward. After a lengthy Q&A session with Pinal County’s Planning and Zoning Committee members at an April 16 meeting, the committee ultimately voted 7-2 to recommend approval for rezoning the site. The applicant and landowner, Vermaland LLC, is calling the

Associated Builders and Contractors reported its Construction Backlog Indicator rose to 8.6 months in March, according to an ABC member survey conducted March 23 to April 6. The reading is up 0.5 months from February and up 0.1 months from March 2025. The 15% of ABC member contractor respondents under contract to perform work on data centers had significantly longer backlog (10.6 months) than the 85% of contractors who are not

The Phoenix metro area, which already boasts a robust hotel pipeline, is expected to experience continued growth in this sector through 2026, hospitality development executives said at Bisnow’s Phoenix Hotels, Resorts and Wellness Summit. “This year alone, the hotel industry is going to generate $1.1B in tax revenue” for the metro area, Haleigh Hildebrand, American Hotel and Lodging Association vice president of public affairs, said at the event held

A report from the Urban Institute asks a provocative question: Is your state better off now than it was 50 years ago? It looks at median household income across the country, and it turns out that, by that metric at least, Arizona is better off now than it was half a century ago. The median household income here in 1970 was just north of $48,000. In 2023, it was more than $77,000 — a more than 60% increase. That was one of the biggest jumps in the country. Sean Ewen is a research economist

The U.S. apartment market is poised to make strides toward recovery this year as leasing remains robust, the multifamily pipeline stays tight and homebuilders are slow to develop single-family housing stock, according to first-quarter industry data. Renters are expected to absorb between 250,000 and 300,000 apartment units this year if demand remains stable, according to a Cushman & Wakefield report released this week. While the first-quarter absorption total of 65,200 units was

The first residents are set to move in at Shorehaven, a three-tower, mixed-use development that adds to recent apartment activity in Tempe, Arizona. The entire development spans 722 units across studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. First move-ins are scheduled for April 15 for the first of the three towers. That first phase represents 248 apartment units. Monthly base rents start at $1,650 and go up to north of $4,100. Silverstein Properties, the developer of

A mixed-use project in Deer Valley from Sunbelt Investment Holdings is progressing into its next phase with new apartments and an Aldi grocery store in the works. Bell 17 Business Center is located off Interstate 17, along Bell Road and 19th Avenue, and right across from the Turf Paradise racetrack. San Diego-based Sunbelt acquired the roughly 90-acre site through an Arizona State Land Department auction back in 2018, paying $26,500,000. The first phase included building out

A Maricopa County Superior Court judge dismissed a lawsuit aiming to halt construction of a $300 million Old Town Scottsdale development. The suit, filed by residents of the Gateway at Main St. Plaza Condominium Association against the city and developer ARC Scottsdale Holdings, sought to invalidate an agreement between the then-president of the association and the city and developer. The project, called Museum Square, is planned near Second Street and Goldwater Blvd. in

Do you love the community in which you live? Now, you can help cast a spotlight on your amazing city or town. AZ Big Media is asking its readers to vote for the best place to live in Arizona. Results will be published in the July 2026 issue of Az Business magazine. Voting closes April 30, 2026. Identifying the best place to live in Arizona is crucial for ensuring a high quality of life, financial stability, and overall well-being. Arizona offers diverse living environments, from bustling urban

Vestar, the Phoenix-based developer of Desert Ridge Marketplace, Tempe Marketplace and Verrado Marketplace, is eyeing about 370 acres in north Phoenix for mixed-use retail development. Vestar has applied to buy two sites, about 187 and 181 acres each, from the Arizona State Land Department. Both sites are along Interstate 17 near Dove Valley Road. The sites are contiguous, connected by a small strip of land along I-17. Auctions for both parcels are scheduled for

A Michigan-based developer has entered the Phoenix market with a new portfolio of properties in the Deer Valley area. Martin Commercial Properties plans to spend about $100 million to acquire and develop new small-bay industrial projects in the area and has already closed on three properties with two more planned, according to Cutler Martin, managing director of Martin Commercial Properties. In December the firm acquired about 6 acres of

The first residents are set to move in at Shorehaven, a three-tower, mixed-use development that adds to recent apartment activity in Tempe, Arizona. The entire development spans 722 units across studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. First move-ins are scheduled for April 15 for the first of the three towers. That first phase represents 248 apartment units. Monthly base rents start at $1,650 and go up to north of $4,100. Silverstein Properties, the developer of

Location: 7000 E. Shea Blvd., on the northern block between 70th Street and 71st Place, in Scottsdale. Description: Construction of the large mixed-use development called Cosanti Commons is in full swing. High Street Residential, a commercial real estate developer, is leading the project that will include nearly 200 apartments in a three-story building and 79,200 square feet of commercial space. When complete, the roughly 9-acre complex will sit beside

Phoenix’s industrial real estate market entered 2026 with strong momentum, fueled by innovation-driven economic growth, major semiconductor investment and steady demand from logistics and advanced manufacturing companies, according to a report from Kidder Mathews. While construction activity has slowed, leasing activity and absorption levels suggest the Valley’s industrial sector remains one of the most dynamic in the nation. During the

While interstate moves might be declining nationally, Arizona continues to draw more residents than it loses to other states — ranking the state No. 4 for domestic migration. Arizona drew roughly 51,387 more newcomers than it lost to the rest of the country in 2024, a new analysis shows. At the national level, interstate migration fell to 2.1% of the U.S. population in 2024, down from 2.3% in 2023 and 2.5% in 2022 — indicating that the pandemic-era relocation

Developers are eyeing a 2,300-acre regional industrial hub. The Buckeye City Council has approved the rezoning of a 2,271-acre site, allowing for the development of Grand View Arizona, a rail-served regional industrial hub with complementary commercial, single-family and multifamily uses. Grand View Buckeye LLC and Verrado 310 LLC own the land. The two entities are linked to the Vanderwey family, according to the Phoenix Business Journal. An earlier proposal for

A development that will include a WinCo grocery store, retail and industrial buildings near Interstate 10 and Florence Boulevard in Casa Grande is moving forward, despite an initial recommendation of denial from the Planning Commission. The Casa Grande City Council unanimously voted in favor of the project at its first hearing on April 6. It will be before the council for a final approval vote April 20. The project’s developer is Arizona Land Consulting, led by

A prominent local landowner gained approval for a mixed-use project in Casa Grande after tweaking initial rezoning requests to make it clear the site would not become a major residential development or a data center. Casa Grande City Council approved a request from Arizona Land Consulting to rezone a 273-acre site at the northwest corner of Interstate 10 and Florence Boulevard from urban ranch to planned area development (PAD) during an April 6 meeting. The new zoning will

The first three months of 2026 were the most active period for office landlords since before the pandemic. Office tenants signed roughly 120M SF in new leases in the first quarter of the year, a 25% increase compared to the first quarter of 2025 and the highest quarterly total since 2018, according to a CoStar report. The surge was largely driven by a higher volume of smaller leases — a trend that emerged after the pandemic. The number of leases signed hit its highest point going back a