With Demand Increasing, Developers Warming Up to Spec Warehouse

Speculative warehouse development is coming back into vogue across more markets as the remaining blocks of modern industrial space continue leasing up at an accelerating rate in the recovering economy – though not quite at the level of the Great Warehouse Boom years of the 1990s and early 2000s, before coming to a near standstill in late 2009 during the Great Recession… Read more »

Wells Fargo to Break Ground on $125 million Expansion in Chandler

Wells Fargo & Co. is set to break ground next week on the $125 million expansion project of its regional campus in Chandler. The project, which I previously reported on in September, calls for two four-story buildings totaling 410,000 square feet of office space, a meeting and event center plus a café. It will double the campus space and employee capacity, which is about 2,500 now… Read more »

Whitestone REIT Commences New 43,619-SF Lease with Walmart Neighborhood Market

Whitestone REIT, a fully integrated real estate company that owns, re-develops, leases, manages, and operates Community Centered Properties(TM) , announced that the Company and Walmart Neighborhood Market have commenced a new lease at Whitestone’s Marketplace at Central property in Phoenix, Arizona. Whitestone has turned the space over to Walmart Neighborhood Market… Read more »

$13M Family Fun Center in The Works Near Butterfly Wonderland

Two real estate brokers are planning to develop a $13 million indoor family entertainment center in Scottsdale. The Cove Family Fun Center will take up 67,000 square feet on six acres at the northeast corner of Via de Ventura and Loop 101 and will include all the newest rides, games and attractions. It also will include 19-themed birthday party rooms and a 7,000-square-foot mezzanine that can be used for corporate parties… Read more »

Arcadia Gateway Center Changes Hands

MIG Real Estate, which is headquartered in Newport Beach, CA, has acquired the Arcadia Gateway Center office building here. No purchase price was released in the deal that now adds the 89,835-square-foot Class A office building to MIG’s portfolio. The four-story office building at 4222 East Thomas Road is currently 93% leased and includes a three-story, detached parking structure… Read more »

Commercial Real Estate Lenders Reaching, or Exceeding, 2013 Expectations

December is typically a time when real estate leaders, especially the bankers who provide financing for commercial real estate transactions, allocate many evenings to attend year-end holiday parties. One of the questions on the minds of many in attendance at these elaborate events this year will no doubt be whether the financial institutions have reached or exceeded their goals… Read more »

Multifamily Loan Delinquencies Decline in 3Q

The delinquency rates for commercial and multifamily mortgages continued to fall in the third quarter, new data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) claims. The trade group released its commercial/multifamily delinquency report Tuesday, noting that loans 60 or more days past due held by life company portfolios fell 0.02 percentage points to 0.06%… Read more »

Arizona State Trust Land in Desert Ridge Sold at Auction for $28.1 Million

On Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2013, the Arizona State Land Department successfully auctioned 105.72 acres of State Trust land located on the southwest corner of Tatum Boulevard and Pinnacle Peak Road in Phoenix. The minimum bid requirement was $26.7 million and the winning bid was $28.1 million. The successful bidder was the Taylor Morrison/Arizona Inc… Read more »

Ohio Firm Buys Arizona School of Real Estate and Business

Scottsdale-based Arizona School of Real Estate and Business was bought out by a Columbus, Ohio-based company for an undisclosed price, according to a statement this week. The Hondros Family of Cos., which closed the deal on Monday, will keep the school’s existing name and campuses in downtown Scottsdale and Gilbert… Read more »

Owners of Phoenix Metrocenter Deliberate Mall’s Future

When Metrocenter opened near Interstate 17 and Peoria Avenue 40 years ago, it was on the northern edge of Phoenix. As the city expanded north, the Metrocenter area became inner city, and crime rates in the area went up. In turn, people’s perceptions of the mall began to change, too… Read more »

The Beginning of the End for the Apartment Pricing Boom?

The apartment boom is eventually coming to an end; it’s only a question of when. An increase in deliveries and a cooling off or stabilizing of purchases by REITs are a couple of the reasons why this property type will likely see a correction in pricing. New construction is starting to roll in and Exhibit 1 below reveals what the tip of the iceberg looks like… Read more »

Southern California Based Investor Pays $40 million for 432-unit Indigo Palms Apartments

A company formed by transplanted Canadian investor Bill Comrie of Newport Coast, Calif. paid $40 million ($92,593 per unit) to buy the 432-unit Indigo Palms apartments at 3777 E. McDowell Road in Phoenix. The seller was MIC IP II, a company formed by Mercury Investments Co. in Duluth, Mn. (Abbot Apter, principal)… Read more »

A Stronger Asset

New sources of capital and increased demand have strengthened the commercial real estate market. The current economic landscape has assembled an array of factors to structurally change real estate investment standards… Read more »

Taylor Morrison Pays $6.2 Million to Build Homes in Eastmark’s Second Phase

Six months after the grand opening of Eastmark, the developer, DMB Associates Inc., is now gearing up for the second residential phase. Scottsdale-based Taylor Morrison Home Corp. recently became the first home builder to buy land in the master-planned community’s second residential phase… Read more »

UltraStar Cinemas’ Scottsdale Theater Files for Bankruptcy

Vista, Calif.-based UltraStar Cinemas — an upscale movie theater chain known for its in-theater dining and high-tech seats — filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on its Scottsdale location late last month. The voluntary filing comes one month after its landlord, Phoenix-based DeRito Partners Inc., filed a lawsuit against Scottsdale Cinema Group Inc… Read more »

Revenue Skyrockets as Sales of State Land Strengthen

Aided by the improving economy and land prices, the Arizona State Land Department has brought in more revenue recently, a trend that is likely to continue as the state auctions off more land, including prime property in Phoenix’s Desert Ridge area… Read more »

CalSTRS and First Industrial Realty Sell Land North of Eastmark for Nearly $19m

An entity formed by CalSTRS—the California State Teacher’s Retirement System—and First Industrial Realty Trust sold their remaining holdings in the First Mesa Commerce Park development for $18,834,908. The buyer is a limited partnership formed by Sunbelt Investments… Read more »

Pending Homes Sales Down Slightly In The Us, Price Growth Of 5% Predicted For 2014

Although conditions were mixed in October across the United States, pending home sales continued to move lower in October, marking the fifth consecutive monthly decline, according to the latest data from the National Association of Realtors… Read more »

U.S. Retail Sales Up At Start Of Holiday Season

U.S. shoppers visited more stores and spent more money at brick-and-mortar sites across Thanksgiving Day and “Black Friday” than they did in 2012 while online sales set records, data showed on Saturday. When compared with Thanksgiving on Thursday and “Black Friday” last year, research firm ShopperTrak estimated that traffic at brick-and-mortar stores increased 2.8 percent… Read more »

Phoenix Leads U.S. in Demand for Retail Space

Shoppers out at busy malls today may not be surprised to hear metro Phoenix is leading the nation in demand for more retail space. A new study by national real-estate group CoStar shows demand for new retail space in the region climbed 2 percent in the past year… Read more »

I hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving!