DAILY TOP 5

For years, the Phoenix office market has been defined by questions surrounding remote work, rising vacancies and shifting tenant demands. But new data suggests the narrative is beginning to change. According to CommercialCafe’s May 2026 Office Market Report, Phoenix is quietly emerging as one of the healthiest office markets in the western United States, with declining vacancy, rising lease rates, strong investment activity and a measured development pipeline that positions the metro well for continued recovery. Among the largest office

Developers are gearing up to tear down another structure near the former Metrocenter Mall as the area undergoes a significant redevelopment. The city of Phoenix on June 11 issued a permit for the full demolition of a 118,970-square-foot office building located at 9630 N. 25th Ave. The 6.43-acre property off Interstate 17 includes one building completed in 1993, according to real estate database Vizzda. It went into bankruptcy before Utah-based Okoa Capital acquired it in April 2024. The current property owner’s plans are unclear

Banner Real Estate Group (as Portland Street Phoenix Apartments LLC) is planning a 21-story, 320-unit multifamily tower with 5.5KSF of retail on 1.6 acres at 1101 N. 1st St. in Phoenix. The 493KSF building in the Roosevelt Row area will feature four parking levels, with amenity areas on floors one, five and 21. Planned amenities include a pool deck, terraces, a dog run and wash, a sports court, a community area, workspaces and a bicycle room. The City of Phoenix issued a preliminary approval during a May site plan

Construction starts across the single-family and multifamily sectors. Chart and data courtesy of the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies “The state of the nation’s housing is, in a word, subdued,” said Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies’ Senior Research Associate Dan McHugh during a webinar on Wednesday. The discussion accompanied the release of the JCHS State of the Nation’s Housing 2026 report. “Construction is down, home sales are flat and costs and cost burdens are up against that backdrop

The Federal Reserve held its benchmark rate flat Wednesday at its first meeting under Chairman Kevin Warsh in a widely expected decision that comes amid rising prices and the U.S. and Israel’s war with Iran.  The unanimous vote to keep the benchmark rate at 3.5% to 3.75% signals that the central bank continues to focus on fighting inflation, a battle that has tilted further against it after the war in Iran sent energy costs soaring. The central bank rewrote the statement it publishes along with each vote to be shorter and to strip out

Despite rising inflation, ever-shifting tariffs and higher energy costs, U.S. retailers posted higher profits and expanded margins in the first quarter. The Census Bureau’s latest Quarterly Financial Report, which covers retail corporations with at least $50 million in assets, showed that first-quarter after-tax profits grew at a meaningfully faster rate than sales. Seasonally adjusted after-tax profits totaled $64.5 billion in the first quarter, up 7% from the fourth quarter of 2025 and nearly 40% above year-ago levels. Sales increased to $1.126 trillion, rising

A small group of dominant players increasingly dominates physical retail, says Placer.ai in a new white paper. Walmart, Target, Costco Wholesale and Dollar General span grocery, essentials and discretionary categories at a scale none of their rivals can match.  Titled Physical Retail in 2026: How the Giants Are Winning, the white paper examines how Walmart, Target, Costco and Dollar General are performing in 2026, and what their trajectories reveal about broader retail trends. “Understanding their visitation patterns sheds light on

A sprawling industrial park planned in a prominent Buckeye industrial corridor appears to be back in the works after the property traded hands. Indiana-based developer Scannell Properties acquired just shy of 130 acres off State Route 85 and Southern Avenue in a deal that closed June 12, according to real estate database Vizzda LLC. It bought the site from Arizona Land Consulting for $32,493,473. Back in 2022, Phoenix-based industrial developer Atlas proposed and received the city’s approval to build an industrial park with

Location: 19195 N. 73rd Way, just north of Loop 101 and east of Scottsdale Road in Scottsdale. Description: A new apartment community with 280 luxury units will soon join the sprawling master-planned development called One Scottsdale. Developed by the Denver-based Grand Peaks Properties, the five-story building will include a mix of studios and one-, two- and three-bedroom homes. Next to the tower will also be a six-story parking garage — one below ground and five above — that will provide a total of 474 parking

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

Tri Pointe Homes and Pulte Homes, two of the largest homebuilding companies in the U.S., announced the acquisition of 274 gross acres within the Aloravita planned community in Peoria, Arizona. The acquisition, completed through a 50/50 joint venture between Tri Pointe Homes and Pulte Homes, follows a successful Arizona State Land Department public auction held on October 17, 2024. The purchase price was $63 million. “Aloravita represents an exceptional opportunity to bring new housing to

A $613 million Arizona Department of Transportation project to extend loop 303 southward in the West Valley city of Goodyear got underway Monday and is expected to continue for about four years. The work will extend the 303 from Van Buren Street to Maricopa County 85, and it will prepare the way for a connection with the planned State Route 30, which will serve as a reliever for Interstate 10 by stretching through the southwest portion of the Valley from Loop 303 to Loop 202. ADOT said much of the new

Plans are moving forward for a new family and adult entertainment destination at Copper Sky Regional Park, bringing a unique mix of recreation, dining, social experiences and community gathering spaces to the city of Maricopa. The development team has released a new conceptual rendering and is inviting residents to help shape the development through a brief community survey. The proposed project, currently dubbed Maricopa Entertainment Center, will feature approximately 25,000 square feet of indoor attractions

Retail has undergone significant changes in recent years, adapting to evolving market needs, economic shifts and consumer behavior. One way to keep these spaces in demand is to look beyond traditional formats where shopping alone was the primary activity and attraction. While dining and entertainment options play an important role, the emerging focus is on family- and children-oriented environments. A strategy that transforms retail, as well as mixed-use destinations, into communities. Demand for experiential

Phoenix gets top marks nationwide for its micro-vacation amenities ranging from affordable lodging to pleasant weather. There were 49,050 Google searches (based on the average number of searches per month) for “Phoenix weekend trip,” highlighting the city’s appeal as a hot spot for a quick weekend getaway for workers due to factors such as hotel cost, number of attractions, weather reliability, local accessibility and ‘weekend trip’ search volume. That helped Phoenix rank No. 1 in a survey by Blink

Hotel investors are concentrating capital in luxury and upscale leisure properties while new development remains difficult as financing costs remain elevated and underwriting standards tighten, Walker & Dunlop says in its inaugural Hospitality Outlook, “Capital, Divergence, and the Search for Durable Returns.” The outlook finds a widening divide across the lodging sector with performance increasingly determined by asset quality, location and traveler demographics rather than broader market trends

A new MoveBuddha report, “Renter Nation: America’s Fastest-Growing Rental Markets,” analyzes renter-occupied housing growth across 889 U.S. metro and micro areas from 2019–2024 to identify where rental demand is accelerating fastest in America. Arizona emerged as one of the country’s standout rental growth stories, with Flagstaff ranking among the fastest-growing renter markets nationwide. Key Arizona findings: Flagstaff, AZ ranked #13 nationally for renter growth

Arizona experienced positive year-over-year job growth for the first time in eight months, according to a new report. The Common Sense Institute Arizona released a report showing that Arizona gained 13,300 jobs year over year in April. This marked the first time since August 2025 that Arizona saw positive year-over-year job growth. Arizona grew by 0.41%, ranking 12th in America, the report said, adding that the state’s job growth outpaced the national average of 0.16%. The April job numbers are more positive than the March

Commercial mortgage lenders are locked in their fiercest competition on record, a development that is reshaping the financing environment for US property owners and creating new opportunities for mortgage brokers working in the commercial space. Global credit competition soared to an all-time high in April 2026, fuelled by a massive wave of refinancing and large loan placements, according to JLL’s newly launched Global Credit Intensity Index. The index draws on JLL’s proprietary dataset of nearly $9 trillion in investment sales bids and

Waymo is expanding its presence in Arizona with a large land purchase northwest of Phoenix. The autonomous vehicle producer purchased the 5,500 acres of land in Wittmann from Route 14 Investment Partners LLC for $220 million. Waymo says it’ll test its robotaxis at the site, which Chrysler and Apple have also used for vehicle testing. Waymo said in a social media post “This investment gives our teams dedicated urban and freeway tracks to validate software in a

Patrick Banger, Glendale’s new city manager, says he’s proud to lead the community into its next chapter. During the week of June 15, the City of Glendale will unveil the results of the nearly $100 million Downtown Campus Reinvestment Project, anchored by a reimagined city hall, council chambers and E. Lowell Rogers Amphitheater. The 113-year-old Murphy Park, preserved, takes center stage. The project is more than cosmetic; it’s strategic. The move helps city officials

The Valley’s first Seafood City Supermarket is set to open later this summer at Chandler Fashion Center. The Filipino supermarket chain will be opening in a 65,000-square-foot space on the southwest side of the mall, in the former Sears space. The plan is to open in mid-July, and the company has started its hiring process. Seafood City said it is looking for more than 100 employees for its first Arizona location. It is not just hiring workers for the flagship grocery part of the

A 2.5 million square foot residential and commercial development marketed as the region’s first Urban Resort Village is coming to a suburb north of Tucson. The mixed-use district will be walkable and integrate residences, retail, dining, hospitality, entertainment, office, wellness, and public gathering spaces. The project includes an upscale apartment complex The Astrie, which is slated to open June 2026, and a hotel, a Tempo by Hilton Hotel, which is anticipated

Developers are nearing the finish line on a rare office-to-residential conversion that’s transforming a longtime eyesore on one of Phoenix’s prominent high-profile intersections into luxury apartments. One Camelback has long sat idle and unfinished behind construction fences. A previous developer embarked on the project in 2020 with the hopes of turning the 1980s-built bank building into destination living in the middle of one of Phoenix’s top employment corridors