Leclerc Foods Adds Phoenix Facility

Leclerc Foods USA, a North American cookie, snack bar and cracker manufacturer, announces the acquisition of a 166,500-square-foot building in the Freeport Business Center for expansion of its operations in Phoenix. The building is located at 440 S. 51st. Ave. Resulting from an investment of nearly $50 million… Read more »

Snowbirds Flock To Valley For Its Climate, Amenities

From October to May, Snowbirds flood restaurants, golf courses, RV parks and roadways in the Valley. Snowbirds are typically retirees who aim to avoid the snow and cold of northern states and spend their winters in warmer climates… Read more »

10.29 Acres of Entitled Land Transacts in Gilbert for $204,082 per Acre

Porchlight Homes has purchased a 10.29 acre lot near the intersection of Higley Rd & Williams Field Rd entitled for 44 single family homes. The property traded for $2.1m, which reflects as $204,082 per acre or $47,727 per planned lot. There were four separate debt documents issued with the sale, securing $6.754m total debt with three different lenders… Read more »

Tesla’s Potential Arizona Gigafactory Will Be Cutting Edge

Tesla Motors yesterday announced plans for a $1.6 billion convertible note to help finance what could end up being what of the most cutting-edge battery factories in the world. A fierce competition has broken out between Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas… Read more »

Posh ‘Easy Street’ Project In Carefree Gets New Life

Plans for a $90 million project with condominiums over retail shops in Carefree have been revived and negotiations are under way to anchor the development with a Phoenix Art Museum satellite location. Town leaders have announced the revival of developer Ed Lewis’ “Easy Street” project… Read more »

Commercial Real Estate Outlook Positive but Moderating

Market fundamentals in commercial real estate continue to improve but at a slower pace, according to the National Association of Realtors® quarterly commercial real estate forecast. Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said fundamentals are still on an uptrend. “Growth in commercial real estate sectors continues… Read more »

Enterprise Bank & Trust Expanding In Arizona With Eye Toward Commercial Real Estate

Enterprise Bank & Trust is expanding its Arizona commercial real estate group to provide commercial real estate financing for mid-sized Arizona businesses, developers and investors. Joe Bleyle has been promoted to senior vice president and director of commercial real estate lending for the Arizona region… Read more »

Home Price Gains Begin to Lose Steam

The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices finished their best year since 2005 on a downward note. S&P Dow Jones Indices said Tuesday that the indices for this past December show that gains in home prices have begun to lose momentum. Notwithstanding the strong showing home prices made throughout 2013, “gains are slowing from month-to-month… Read more »

Fresh and Easy Portfolio Sale

Fresh and Easy Markets filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year at the end of September. Their court-approved exit strategy involved the acquisition of the company by investment firm “Yucaipa Companies” as well as the sale of real estate assets… Read more »

Report: Scottsdale Airpark Took Nosedive During Recession

The Scottsdale Airpark, one of the Valley’s biggest concentrations of employment and business, took a serious hit in the recent recession. Vacancies in the 3,300-acre area rose to their highest levels since the Airpark, anchored by the Scottsdale Airport, was first developed almost 50 years ago… Read more »

America’s 20 Fastest-Growing Cities

To cull our list, we began with the 100 most populous Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) in the U.S., geographic areas designated by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget that include cities and their surrounding suburbs. Phoenix also makes the list this year, jumping a whopping five spots to No. 3. “That certainly shouldn’t be a surprise to anybody, because they are among your leading growth states,”… Read more »

Sarver’s Firm Buys Chandler Complex

A 152-acre business park in Chandler’s Price Corridor has been purchased for $51.75 million by Southwest Value Partners, the San Diego-based real-estate investment company co-founded by Robert Sarver. The Continuum Business & Technology Park, originally developed by Motorola in 1986, is currently home to a 463,658-square-foot office building… Read more »

ULI Chooses Hottest AZ Districts

In a panel moderated by Mesa mayor Scott Smith, five of Arizona’s hottest districts were named at the Urban Land Institute’s Trends Day at the Phoenix Sheraton. Smith said the areas were chosen not specifically for their current economic activity, but for their potential for growth. Leading the pack was Chandler. Christine Mackay, economic development director for Chandler gave a large amount of credit to… Read more »

West Valley Rebounding In Home Construction

When Eric Orsborn moved into one of the first homes built in Buckeye’s Verrado a decade ago, he woke up every morning to the sound of hammers and saws. The master-planned community had so few structures that the Orsborns could see the security guard’s flashing lights shine through the window at night — even when he was miles away… Read more »

Why Are There More Buyers But Fewer Sales In Phoenix?

The latest issue of The Wilcox Report to clients shows that there are four reasons the pool of buyers in the Greater Phoenix area is growing, and yet at the same time there are three reasons there has been a slowdown in home sales. Here are the 4 reasons homebuyers are increasing in number… Read more »

Walmart Accelerates Small Store Growth

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. plans to accelerate its capital plan for U.S. small store format openings significantly for the current fiscal year. The company is expanding its original capital forecast provided last October, and now expects to add approximately 270 to 300 small stores during the fiscal year, doubling its initial forecast of 120 to 150 stores… Read more »

Non-profit Fund Boosts Construction Along Light Rail

Light rail has spurred the development of several housing, office and retail projects in Phoenix, Tempe and Mesa. But more than a dozen of the new developments might not be open or under construction without the help of a $20 million non-profit fund created to support housing and redevelopment near the tracks… Read more »

Shutterfly Signs 200,000-SF Deal

Sources at Wentworth Property Group revealed that Shultterfly is designing a new build-to-suit facility at Discovery Campus Building located at Elliot Road and Loop 101, sharing the main entrance with ASU Research Park in Tempe. The online photo printer Shutterfly revealed in a recent SEC filing that it signed at 217-thousand-square-foot deal for a production facility in Tempe through 2025… Read more »

Solid Investment Returns Continue in 2014

Commercial real estate investment returns are expected to remain steady through year-end, according to Expectations & Market Realities in Real Estate 2014 —- The Future Unfolds, a forecast released jointly by Real Estate Research Corp., Deloitte, and the National Association of Realtors… Read more »

Downtown Scottsdale Eyesore May Finally Be Rebuilt

Downtown Scottsdale finally may see the redevelopment of arguably its biggest eyesore this coming fall. A partially demolished building near Scottsdale and Camelback roads has sat dormant for the past seven years on the northeastern corner of Scottsdale and Shoeman Lane… Read more »