The Wilf family, the owners of the Minnesota Vikings, plans to build luxury apartments next to Desert Ridge Marketplace in north Phoenix. The Wilfs, through their New Jersey real estate company Garden Communities, plan to develop a 504-unit apartment community on land between Vestar Development Co.’s 1.2 million-square-foot Desert Ridge Marketplace and JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort and Spa. While Garden Communities declined comment on a development
After a surge of multifamily construction in the Valley coming out of the pandemic, demand remains strong as the backlog of new units are rented out. Cushman & Wakefield reports that during the first half of 2026, net absorption reached 12,741 units, calling it “the market’s strongest six-month span since at least 2000.” Helping to compress the vacancy rate is a slower pace of deliveries and new construction. Kidder Mathews notes that units under construction fell 35.45% year-over-year
A prominent zoning attorney is working to set up about 4,695 acres of state land east of San Tan Valley for an unidentified user. Pinal County’s Planning and Zoning Commission will hear a request at its Sept. 17 meeting to designate that land as a “Special District” under an application from zoning attorney Jordan Rose of Rose Law Group, who told the Business Journal she is representing the Arizona State Land Department. The site is currently zoned for employment and
The Arizona economy remains resilient as it navigates evolving conditions, but it is increasingly characterized by mixed labor market conditions and slower growth. The labor market improved from dismal job growth in late-2025, but job gains were concentrated in a few sectors as employers stayed cautious about hiring. Elevated gasoline prices due to conflict in the Middle East caught highly automobile-dependent Arizonans off guard. However, retail sales have continued to grow
One of the nation’s largest homebuilders has secured 444 lots near the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s $265 billion development in north Phoenix. AGWIP Asset Management, land banker for Miami-based Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN), plopped down $60.14 million in cash for the land spanning 132.24 acres near 117th Avenue and the Deer Valley Road alignment on Maricopa County land, according to Tempe-based real estate database Vizzda LLC. Closing on Sept. 15, the seller
Two national firms partnered to purchase a Phoenix ambulatory surgery center as they expand their national healthcare real estate investment platform. A joint venture between Lincoln Property Co. and PGIM acquired the Surgery Center of Gilbert at 6003 E. Baseline Road in Mesa for $10.68 million. The acquisition serves as the entry point into Phoenix’s healthcare real estate market for Lincoln and PGIM’s platform. It “puts a flag in the ground” and positions the partnership to expand
A retail project in Laveen will get a different anchor tenant than originally planned. Target is now on tap as an anchor at the next phase Laveen Park Place – a development underway off the Loop 202 Freeway and Baseline Road from Phoenix-based Kitchell Development. Harkins Theaters was originally slated to anchor the complex under a development plan the city approved years back. “Since the rezoning approval, market conditions have evolved and the previously
Commercial real estate rents are still higher than they were a year ago, but the latest national data suggest that the next phase of the market will be defined less by broad sector gains than by where and how recently, those gains occurred. CompStak’s September update of its Columbia CompStak Rent Index shows positive trailing-year growth in office, retail and industrial rents, yet the near-term direction is diverging: office growth has slowed, retail rents are declining at an
Mesa Mayor Mark Freeman couldn’t resist the urge to use a little wordplay when describing the impact of the roughly 233-acre Legacy Park and Gateway Crossing projects. “This will be a legacy project,” Freeman said at the Sept. 14 meeting. With the visitors to the Arizona Athletic Grounds and the rapid growth of the southeast Valley, the project will be a huge asset for the city, he said. The Mesa City Council voted unanimously to annex the 197 acres for the proposed southeast Mesa
The Widewaters Group and Trammell Crow Company are planning to build a 376-unit multifamily development at the SWC of Priest and Ruby drives, north of Warner Road in Tempe. The planned development is immediately north of an earlier project first reported by AZBEX and approved by Tempe City Council in 2022. The Emerald Multifamily building permits expired in 2024 after no action was taken by the previous developer. The project has been noted as “Canceled” in the
The developers of X Phoenix have been notified their 330-unit downtown Phoenix apartment community is headed for a trustee sale after they failed to pay a $128 million loan on the project. New York-based Mack Real Estate Group, the lender on the project, have notified XSC Phoenix Investment LLC, the borrower and developer of the apartment community, that the property will be sold at auction at Maricopa County Superior Court on Dec. 10, according to Maricopa County
New RealPage data show that BTR deliveries are expected to fall sharply through mid-2029 even as construction remains concentrated in fast-growing Sun Belt markets. Build-to-rent development is still concentrated in the nation’s fastest-growing markets, but the current construction cycle appears to be nearing a turning point. Developers are expected to deliver 40,800 BTR units by the end of 2026, yet the pipeline is projected to contract sharply in the years that follow—potentially
A Florida-based developer is expanding its self-storage business into the Valley. Basis Industrial is planning to build a 102,673-square-foot self-storage project with 707 climate-controlled units in Surprise, at 17140 W. Waddell Road. It’s the firm’s first ever project in the Phoenix metro. Basis closed on a $20.5 million construction loan for the project provided by NexBank and NexPoint earlier this month and acquired the roughly 5.3-acre project site for $1,425,000 on September 2
Lincoln Property Company, a global, full-service real estate firm with over $31 billion of assets under management, and PGIM, the global investment management business of Prudential Financial Inc., today announced the acquisition of Surgery Center of Gilbert, located in metro Phoenix’s East Valley submarket. The purchase represents Lincoln and PGIM’s first acquisition together in metro Phoenix, with an eye toward securing more healthcare real estate in a market that is high priority
A massive luxury resort and retail development called Legacy Park can move forward after getting a vote of approval from the Mesa City Council. The council approved annexing the proposed southeast Mesa property, a development agreement, and a sales tax deal to support some of its construction. The vote was unanimous. Once developed, Legacy Park and adjoining retail and hotel project Gateway Crossing will be the largest retail and hospitality development in the Mesa’s history, City
Commercial real estate executives heading into the Federal Reserve’s September meeting face a familiar but unwelcome complication: the prospect that interest rates will move higher before the industry has fully adjusted to the current cost of capital. A quarter-point increase now appears likely, after a sharp reversal in economists’ forecasts when new inflation data showed price pressures remained firmer than many expected. The immediate effect of a higher federal funds rate would be
Following an ownership and leadership change at the Sanctuary Camelback Mountain Resort & Spa in Paradise Valley, the popular resort is set to get a major renovation in the coming years. The 110-room property, which is located at 700 E. McDonald Drive on 53 acres at the base of Camelback Mountain, announced on Monday it would start a multiyear, multiphase renovation plan that will touch every room, starting in the summer of 2027. Some of the plans include interior refreshes and
More U.S. construction companies are landing contracts to build data centers, expanding backlogs across the industry even as activity slows in other construction work. A survey released Tuesday from the Associated Builders and Contractors noted that one in six of the trade group’s members is under contract to build a data center. It’s the highest proportion the group has ever recorded. Members reported having an eight-and-a-half-month backlog in August, up from only eight months
The Phoenix economy entered the second half of 2026 with a complicated mix of signals: a shrinking labor force and rising unemployment contrasted with modest payroll growth, resilient consumer spending and a housing market that continued to gain momentum, according to the Economic and Business Research Center (EBRC). Data for the Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler MSA, which includes Maricopa and Pinal counties, show the region’s civilian labor force fell 3.1% year over year to
An unfinished orange roller coaster looms along Loop 101, south of State Farm Stadium. Instead of thrilling riders, it puzzles those driving by, who have seen the same view for years. Around the roller coaster, a massive construction zone five years in the making spans dozens of acres, dotted with buildings in various stages of construction surrounding a center amphitheater. The ambitious project, called VAI Resort, would be the largest hotel in the state, once it opens. It occupies prime
Phoenix apartment rents slipped modestly in August, extending a multiyear stretch of soft conditions, but underlying market conditions suggest the sector may be turning the corneAverage asking rents declined 0.1% in August, bringing year-to-date growth to 0.3%. While still a subdued performance by historical standards, the market’s pricing trajectory has improved notably compared with recent years. Through the first eight months of 2025, asking rents had fallen 1.4%, while
An office property at a prominent East Valley research and technology park is scheduled for an auction sale in December. An entity connected to Rialto Capital Management has scheduled a foreclosure sale for River Corporate Center, a 133,225-square-foot office building at 8075 S. River Parkway, according to Maricopa County records. The building is located within the tech-focused, 2.2 million-square-foot ASU Research Park in Tempe — home to major tenants such as publicly traded
Multifamily investors are entering the second half of 2026 confronting disappointing property performance, difficult deal execution and continued market volatility. Despite those immediate pressures, most are still planning to grow their portfolios and expect the investment climate to improve beginning next year. That contrast runs through Berkadia’s 2026 Mid-Year Multifamily Pulse Survey, which gathered responses from more than 100 industry participants, primarily principals
Harvard Investments announced that D.R. Horton has acquired the final residential lots at Lucero, the newest village within Estrella, purchasing 232 homesites on approximately 90 acres. The sale price was $32,712,000, according to Vizzda. The transaction marks the completion of residential lot sales within Lucero and represents another significant milestone in the continued growth of the award-winning master-planned community. The acquisition further strengthens D.R.
The roughly 233-acre luxury resort and retail Legacy Park development in southeast Mesa is one critical step from becoming a reality. The Mesa City Council will consider on Sept. 14 whether to annex the land needed for the proposed Legacy Park and Gateway Crossing projects and whether to approve a development agreement that would pay for new roads, a park and a pedestrian underpass. Legacy Park would be located northeast of Ellsworth Road and Williams Field Road. Gateway