Jury awards $110M to Gray Development  A jury has awarded a Phoenix developer $110 million in connection with a stymied high-end apartment project near the CityNorth development in North Phoenix.  View article…

Valley Industrial Market Shows Signs of Life  The Valley Industrial market is finally showing signs of improvement, posting positive net absorption and decreased vacancy during the second quarter, according to a recent report from Cassidy Turley BRE Commercial.  View article…

Bonds for hotel at Phoenix’s CityScape pursued  The developer of downtown Phoenix’s CityScape wants to be first in line for millions of dollars in tax-exempt bonds to build the 250-room Hotel Palomar.  View article…

CVS/pharmacy opens in downtown CityScape  Downtown Phoenix’s first pharmacy in decades opened Monday, signaling the first of many store and restaurant grand openings in the $900 million CityScape development.  View article…

Foreclosure looming for Westgate office building  A Westgate City Center office building in Glendale that has sat vacant for 18 months is facing foreclosure.  View article…

POOL Together aims to be Mesa’s upscale indoor marketplace  Nearly 50 businesses will debut at a new location – or even for the first time – on Friday, when an old department store will be reborn as an indoor Mesa marketplace.  View article…

Phoenix ranks high among best cities for working moms  Phoenix is ranked 15th overall in a list of 50 U.S. cities that offer the most to working moms, published by ForbesWoman. View article…

Valley restaurant to be featured on Food Network  Queen Creek Olive Mill’s on-site restaurant, del Piero Cafe, will be featured on the Food Network’s “The Best Thing I Ever Ate” in an episode to be aired locally at 9 p.m. Aug. 2.  View article…

Canadian group to build homes in Goodyear  Mattamy Homes U.S. Group, the U.S. division of the Canadian home builder, acquired 58 home sites at Canyon Trails in Goodyear and plans to introduce five new home designs there.  View article…

Pedestrian bridge connecting Scottsdale takes shape  Paolo Soleri, the famed architect who designed Arcosanti 40 years ago, watched his latest effort come closer to fruition Monday: a pedestrian bridge linking areas of downtown Scottsdale.  View article…

AGC: Metros still shedding construction jobs  Construction employment declined in 285 out of 337 metropolitan areas between June 2009 and June 2010 according to a new analysis of federal employment data released today by the Associated General Contractors of America.  View article…

Housing prices are likely to go lower  Thought the housing crisis was over? Not quite.  View article…

‘Returnaholics’ spur retailers to tighten policies Derek Rodner calls them “returnaholics,” a breed of shoppers costing the retail industry an estimated $10 billion to $15 billion a year, according to the National Retail Federation.  View article…

Financial Reform Will Test Patience of Commercial Real Estate Professionals  It will be months or years before the commercial real estate industry feels — or even fully understands — the full impact of sweeping financial reforms that the president signed into law earlier this month, experts say.  View article…

Developers Rethink the Mall for the 21st Century  Prior to the downturn the consensus in the real estate industry was that the days of the traditional regional mall were over. But a funny thing has happened: The recession has thrown a wrench into that theory.  View article…

If you want a copy of the latest foreclosure spreadsheet, email me and I will send it to you.

Feel free to contact me regarding any of these stories, the current market, distressed commercial real estate opportunities or your property.   

To view the July/August 2010 Apartment Finance Today magazine, click here.

FirstBank sees growth at AZ branches  FirstBank Holding Co., which operates eight locations in Arizona, posted positive financial results for the second quarter.  View article…

New stores give boost to QC Marketplace  Queen Creek Marketplace is seeing a burst of new store openings, ending a nearly yearlong dry spell.  View article…

Four new businesses opening up in Tempe  The old saying, “When one door closes, another opens,” could become a mantra for downtown Tempe.  View article…

Occupancy, revenue up at Scottsdale hotels  New figures from Smith Travel Research show Scottsdale hotels are busier this year than last year.  View article…

Calif. investor wins right to sue Right Place  Right Place Properties investor Richard Abel has won the right to sue the defunct apartment-conversion condo brokerage’s former principals in Abel’s home state of California.  View article…

Sellers now have fewer options to attract buyers  Government cash didn’t help John Foley and Cindy Case sell their house before the federal home buyer’s tax credit expired at the end of April, so the couple decided to take matters into their own hands.  View article…

June new-home sales down in West, up elsewhere  While sales of new homes rose 23.6 percent in June from the month before, the western states, which include Arizona, saw a 6.6 percent sales decline in June.  View article…

Phoenix ranks No. 15 for exports  Phoenix ranks No. 15 for exporting power among of the nation’s 100 biggest metropolitan areas in 2008, according to a report released Monday by the Brookings Institution.  View article…

New poll: Consumer confidence dropping in Arizona  Arizonans’ confidence that things will get better is slipping again, a result that by itself may keep the economy from improving.  View article…

Slow Dealing Continues as Retail Investment Sales Volume Slides  Investment sales of retail properties dropped slightly in the second quarter, according to New York City-based Real Capital Analytics’ (RCA) Retail Mid-Year Review.  View article…

Signs of Life in Commercial Property Sales  For several months now, the perception, at least, is that the frozen commercial property sales market is thawing. Now there is some basis for that notion grounded in reality.  View article…

If you want a copy of the latest foreclosure spreadsheet, email me and I will send it to you.

Feel free to contact me regarding any of these stories, the current market, distressed commercial real estate opportunities or your property.

MIXED-USE SITE OWNED BY BIDWILL ENTITY NEAR CARDINALS VENUE TARGETED FOR FORECLOSURE  Glendale – A property in Glendale owned by a company formed by Arizona Cardinals owner Bill Bidwill that was once planned for 4.4 million sq. ft. of office, residential, retail and hotel uses has been noticed for a trustee’s sale.  View article…

BEAZER HOMES PAYS $6.5 MILLION FOR 232 LOTS AT SURPRISE FARMS    Surprise – Beazer Homes Holding Corp. in Tempe (Kent Lay, pres.) paid just under $6.5 million to purchase 232 developed lots within the Surprise Farms community in Surprise.  View article…

Tribe overcomes key hurdle for Glendale casino  Federal officials gave the go-ahead Friday for the Tohono O’odham to annex at least part of a parcel of land near Glendale into the reservation, putting the tribe one step closer to being able to operate a casino there.  View article…

Bashas’, creditors hashing out reorganization  The reorganization of Bashas’ continues to work its way through the courts.  View article…

Phoenix-area wages below national average  Average pay for Valley workers was two percent below the national average in 2009, according to a new Bureau of Labor Statistics survey.  View article…

Arizona‘s debt rating is lowered again  Worries about Arizona’s economic future led a financial-services company this month to downgrade the state’s debt rating, which could make it more expensive for the government to borrow money.  View article…

Seven Banks Closed on July 23  Federal and state banking regulators closed seven banks on Friday, July 23, raising the number of failed institutions to 113 so far in 2010.  View article…

Rents Rise in Trophy Retail Districts, But Will Tenants Pay?  Rents are rising in many of the nation’s best-known trophy retail districts. Of the 13 markets tracked in the U.S. and elsewhere in the Americas in a report by brokerage CB Richard Ellis (CBRE), seven posted rent increases in the past 12 months.  View article…

If you want a copy of the latest foreclosure spreadsheet, email me and I will send it to you.

Feel free to contact me regarding any of these stories, the current market, distressed commercial real estate opportunities or your property.   

Are investors ready? Could we be reaching a pivot point?  All indicators are pointing toward a bottom or close to a bottom for commercial real estate.  View article…

H&M opens at Fashion Square Arizona’s second H&M location is opening today at Scottsdale Fashion Square.  View article…

Panattoni Conducts Double-Escrow Sale in Tempe Panattoni Development purchased two manufacturing buildings totaling 46,492 square feet, located at 2055 and 2075 E Fifth St in Tempe, AZ, from a California investment group for $1.48 million, or $32 per square foot.  View article…

Continental Realty Drops $46M on MF Property Continental Realty Advisors has acquired The Canyons, a 629-unit luxury apartment community, for $45.5 million in an all-cash transaction. The buy marks the Denver-based firm’s re-entry into the Phoenix after it exited the market in early 2007.  View article…

YMCA to become ‘The Y’ The Valley of the Sun YMCA is joining its counterparts across the country to rebrand its name.  View article…

Casual-dining bellwethers’ sales improve Three casual-dining heavyweights reported increased same-store sales and positive guest traffic late Thursday as second-quarter earnings season for restaurant companies began. View article…

Officials detail how Tempe Town Lake dam will be repaired Tempe officials are providing more details on how they hope to fix the Tempe Town Lake dam in time for the lake to reopen by November.  View article…

Arizona‘s immigration law: Coverage from the beginning Since April 23 when Gov. Jan Brewer signed Senate Bill 1070 into law, Arizona’s immigration law has been thrust onto the international stage and has become a constant subject of stories and blogs in the Phoenix Business Journal — online and in print.  View article…

Landlords Can Benefit from Targeting Professional Services Providers as Tenants It’s no secret that with vacancy rates reaching record highs, shopping center landlords have been more willing to accept non-retail tenants, including medical offices, schools and religions institutions.  View article…

U.S. corporate giants’ profits hint economy is on the mend People aren’t spending money like they used to. Unemployment is still flirting with double digits. And the housing market is still shaky. So, the future looks bleak for the economy, right?  View article…

If you want a copy of the latest foreclosure spreadsheet, email me and I will send it to you.

Feel free to contact me regarding any of these stories, the current market, distressed commercial real estate opportunities or your property.

I was recently having a discussion with a few different investors about this topic.  The mood has changed among my closest investor friends.  They all believe that we are getting close to a bottom or might be there.  One investor summed it up very clearly, “We are in a fog.  We won’t know when we are out of this fog until we are out of the fog.”

With the renewed optimism that is starting to surface, the next question becomes are you ready to take advantage of the situation? 

We have all heard about the opportunity funds with multi-millions of dollars sitting on the sidelines waiting to jump.  The problem has been, they haven’t jumped.  Why?  The bid-ask gap was too wide based upon sellers expectations (whether the seller was the private investor, the special servicer, or the bank) and buyers.

I am seeing the bid-ask gap narrowing.  Transactions are starting to happen.  Unfortunately, for the private investor that would like to sell in today’s environment, this is not the time to sell.  However, now is definitely the time to start buying!

What are you seeing in your market?  I would like to know!

Gardner-Gibson Buys Phoenix Warehouse for $2.3M  Gardner-Gibson Inc. purchased an industrial building in the Reywest Commerce Center in Phoenix for $2.25 million, or approximately $30 per square foot. The Tampa-based manufacturer of coatings and sealers plans to take occupancy in six to eight months.  View article…

Flagstaff Walgreens Sells for $3.8M  I.S. Corp., a Florida investment group, purchased the Walgreens at 1025 S. Milton Road in Flagstaff, AZ, for $3.84 million, or about $280 per square foot.  View article…

Banner MediSun opening in Mesa  Banner MediSun office is opening a new office Thursday on Power Road in Mesa.  View article…

CVS To Stage Grand Opening July 26  For years, Downtown Phoenix employees and residents have been clamoring for a full-service pharmacy within walking distance of their homes and offices.   View article…

Fire breaks out at antique furniture store in Phoenix  Phoenix firefighters quickly contained a blaze that engulfed an antique furniture store near Seventh Street and Camelback Road early Wednesday, saving connected shops nearby.  View article…

Surprise-Brentwood Industries deal could bring 40 jobs  The Surprise City Council is expected to approve a development agreement Thursday evening that could bring manufacturing jobs to the city.  View article…

ASU-RSI: Phoenix Home Prices Expected to Flatten (Your Sector May Vary)  The small increases in Phoenix housing prices that began this spring will likely continue for only a month or two longer, then flatten out for “an extended period,” said Karl Guntermann, a professor of real estate who calculates the ASU-Repeat Sales Index (ASU-RSI) at the W. P. Carey School of Business.  View article…

U.S. Industrial Real Estate Markets Now In Recovery  (This article came from a webinar I attended yesterday.  If you want the full report including the charts/graphs, email me and I will send it to you)  The U.S. industrial real estate market now appears to be headed into recovery after several quarters of negative absorption.  View article…

If you want a copy of the latest foreclosure spreadsheet, email me and I will send it to you.

Feel free to contact me regarding any of these stories, the current market, distressed commercial real estate opportunities or your property.   

Phoenix Apartments Sell for $45 million as Market Shows Improving Health  With a spate of big-ticket sales, the apartment market is rumbling out of the economic chasm that captured transactions nationwide over the past two years. In Phoenix, for example, a 629-unit apartment complex sold earlier this month for $45.5 million.  View article…

Charter school causing uproar in Sun City  Children, a rare sight in Sun City, could become more common in the northwest Valley community widely known for its active-senior living.  View article…

Massive transit cuts set to impact Valley commuters  Transit users will find the deepest transit rollbacks in Valley history on Monday, when 27 routes will be cut back or cut entirely.  View article…

Tempe Town Lake dam bursts  A section of the inflatable rubber dam that forms Tempe Town Lake exploded shortly before 10 p.m. Tuesday, sending a wall of water into the Salt River bed.  View article…

Cancellations push down mortgage modification numbers  More than 51,000 struggling homeowners received long-term mortgage modifications under President Obama’s Making Home Affordable Program in June.  View article…

Median earnings up 0.8% in 1Q  Median weekly earnings for the nation’s 99.8 million full-time workers rose 0.8 percent to $740 in the second quarter compared with the previous year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday.  View article…

Homebuilders slowed starts in June  Housing starts in June were lower compared to both the previous month and year-ago levels, according to a government report Tuesday.  View article…

CMBS Market Rises From Ashes of Collapse  Even as woes mount in the commercial-real-estate market, a once-vital source of funding for commercial-property owners is showing signs of life.  View article…

New wireless broadband network to launch next year   U.S. consumers and businesses are going to get more options in wireless service starting next year, with the launch of a new wireless broadband network that will provide competition to the incumbent phone companies.  View article…

If you want a copy of the latest foreclosure spreadsheet, email me and I will send it to you.

Feel free to contact me regarding any of these stories, the current market, distressed commercial real estate opportunities or your property.   

Vacant Motor Mile dealerships in Scottsdale start to sell  Buyers have started snapping up some of the vacant auto dealerships on Scottsdale’s once-prosperous Motor Mile at bargain prices.  View article…

PayPal center coming to Chandler courtesy of eBay  The online auction company eBay is expanding its PayPal division with a customer-service center in Chandler.  View article…

Blue Square Resolutions expands headquarters  Blue Square Resolutions, a company specializing in electronic transaction processing, has doubled the size of its headquarters.  View article…

Northcentral University grows in Scottsdale  Northcentral University, an online school based in Prescott Valley, is opening an 8,000-square-foot enrollment center expanding its presence at McDowell Mountain Business Park.  View article…

Scottsdale excited about Discovery Center  Excitement is building in Scottsdale over a proposed multimillion-dollar Desert Discovery Center that could bring more tourists and exposure to the city’s McDowell Sonoran Preserve.   View article…

Tempe unlikely to recover from condo crash anytime soon  Experts say condominium development in downtown Tempe, which came to an abrupt halt when the recession began, will likely be on hold for the foreseeable future.  View article…

Upstart Massage Envy now $600 mil business  Scottsdale businessman John Leonesio founded Massage Envy with proceeds from the sale of his string of Q The Sports Club fitness centers to 24 Hour Fitness in 1999.  View article…

Jennifer Convertibles files for Chapter 11  Jennifer Convertibles, a sofa-bed retailer that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Sunday, operates a handful4 of Ashley Furniture Homestores, but they are all in the New York area.  View article…

Commercial properties in distress  Commercially challenged: A number of commercial properties and districts in the Valley have struggled to survive the current recession, which experts said stems primarily from overbuilding and risky lending practices.  View article…

Consignment shop customers to get property back  Customers with furniture consigned to bankrupt Terri’s Consign & Design Furnishings can reclaim their property later this month.  View article…

Economy scaring off startups  Fewer entrepreneurs started their own businesses in the first half of 2010 compared with a year ago, according to Challenger, Gray and Christmas Inc.  View article…

Phoenix hotels No. 1 in service  When it comes to happy hotel guests, Phoenix is tops, according to a survey of its customers who booked three- and four-star hotels through hotel.info.  View article…

Gilbert, Scottsdale make best places to live list  If you can tune out the cacophony of criticism aimed at Arizona lately, you can also hear a little praise for the embattled state.  View article…

The Turning Tide: Opportunistic Investment in Retail Real Estate  Investment volume on retail real estate is starting to pick up, but only on the best assets in the best markets.  For investors looking to grab properties while valuations are more in flux, it can be difficult to evaluate the best buying and financing opportunities.   View article…

If you want a copy of the latest foreclosure spreadsheet, email me and I will send it to you.

 Feel free to contact me regarding any of these stories, the current market, distressed commercial real estate opportunities or your property.   

Ken Riggs Talks About the State of the Recovery  (this is about a 20 minute podcast that is worth a your time)  The commercial real estate recovery will vary by geographic location and property type, but for investors seeking to seize market opportunities, 2010 will be the best time in generations to buy well-priced, quality commercial real estate, according to the 2nd Quarter issue of the RERC/CCIM Investment Trends Quarterly.  View article…

COLORADO-BASED INVESTOR BACK IN THE MARKET . . . THROWS DOWN $45.5 MILLION FOR 629 UNITS  Phoenix – After sitting on the sidelines for the past six years, a company formed by Continental Realty Advisors in Littleton, Colo. (David Snyder, chairman) has jumped back into the Valley multi-family market.  View article…

ROCKBRIDGE CAPITAL ASSEMBLES SITE IN TEMPE . . . COULD BE FUTURE ASU STUDENT HOUSING  Tempe – In two separate transactions, companies formed by RockBridge Capital LLC in Columbus, Ohio (Ron Callentine, chairman) have acquired 3.9 acres located east of the southeast corner of Apache Boulevard and Rural Road in Tempe.  View article…

Developer sells Hayden Ferry Lakeside plot  The Hayden Ferry Lakeside property has been sold, in what is the third major land transaction to take place recently in Tempe’s Mill Avenue District.  View article…

Recession makes East Valley a retail black hole  The recession has turned the East Valley into the king of empty storefronts.  View article…

Valley restaurant companies make national list of fastest-growing chains  The Nation’s Restaurant News has come out with its list of the 50 fastest-growing restaurant chains and a number of Valley operators on are the list.  View article…

Montelucia resort ranked as one of top 50  The InterContinental Montelucia Resort & Spa made its debut in Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best Awards by ranking No. 13 of the top 50 resorts in the U.S. and Canada.  View article…

Castle Megastore gets nod for best retail chain  Castle Megastore is getting recognition in the adult product industry as one of the best retail chains in the nation.  View article…

Cabela’s: Nearly 1,000 apply for 40 jobs at Glendale store  The early birds arrived by at least 5:30 this morning.  By 6, a crowd of about 150 job applicants were in line, a full hour before Cabela’s opened its doors for on-the-spot interviews.   View article…

First Fidelity Bank to acquire former Home National Bank deposits in Arizona  First Fidelity Bank is acquiring deposits previously held by the Arizona operations of Home National Bank.  View article…

6 Banks Closed on July 16  Federal and state banking regulators closed six banks on Friday, July 16, raising the total number of failed banks and credit unions to 106 so far in 2010.  View article…

Global Commercial Real Estate Investment is Climbing  Compared with last year’s anemic volume, global commercial real estate investment has increased dramatically through the second quarter of 2010, according to a new report by Chicago-based real estate services firm Jones Lang LaSalle.  View article…

If you want a copy of the latest foreclosure spreadsheet, email me and I will send it to you.

Feel free to contact me regarding any of these stories, the current market, distressed commercial real estate opportunities or your property.   

Grocery-Anchored Center Nabs $25M Refi  With its 10-year mortgage near maturity, Arcadia Crossing, a 452,127-square-foot grocery-anchored center, has obtained a $24.5 million fixed-rate loan from a domestic bank to take out the conduit loan.  View article…

Sunbelt Holdings buying SunCor real estate assets  Sunbelt Holdings is buying SunCor Development’s real estate portfolio including commercial land at Hayden Ferry Lakeside in Tempe, the Sanctuary Golf Course in Scottsdale and land at the expansive Palm Valley development in Goodyear and Avondale.  View article…

PENTA BEGINS $20 MILLION CASINO RESORT EXPANSION SOUTH OF PHOENIX  The PENTA Building Group has broken ground for the $20 million expansion of the Harrah’s Ak-Chin Casino Resort, a 148-room property located 39 miles south of Phoenix in Maricopa.  View article…

Phoenix outbid for museum property  Phoenix lost a bid on the property that houses the Pioneer Arizona Living History Museum at a state-land auction Thursday.  View article…

Nobuo Opens, Tilted Kilt Coming Soon  The summer heat hasn’t hampered the Downtown dining scene.  Every week brings welcome news of restaurants expanding or new additions to the dining landscape.  The recent influx of restaurants prompted the creation of a new annual publication from the Downtown Phoenix Partnership. View article…

MARKET SNAPSHOT: With Pricing Hitting Bottom, Phoenix Investors Pick Up the Pace  Phoenix–In a move that seems to signal the emerging recovery of Phoenix’s multifamily market, Transwestern’s Phoenix office recently negotiated the sale of the 258-unit Monterra apartment community for $16,650,000.  View article…

Education accounts for most of Arizona’s 53,100 job losses  Arizona lost 53,100 jobs in June mostly due to summer breaks at schools and colleges.  View article…

Headhunter: Job picture improving for finance, specialists, managers but not rank and file  A veteran Valley headhunter is seeing some improvement in the Phoenix job market, but says companies are slow to hire rank and file staff and support workers.  View article…

Arizona remains in top ranks for foreclosures  Arizona remains in the top ranks of U.S. states for foreclosures, according to the June report from RealtyTrac.  View article…

If you want a copy of the latest foreclosure spreadsheet, email me and I will send it to you.

Feel free to contact me regarding any of these stories, the current market, distressed commercial real estate opportunities or your property.