Commercial Real Estate & Business News 5-2-2025

The U.S. effective asking rent is expected to grow at an average annual rate of about 2.3% across the country this year, according to a RealPage market forecast. Of the 50 largest markets studied by RealPage, seven are expected to stand out with rent growth exceeding 3.4%. Those markets include Richmond, Virginia, and West Palm Beach, Florida, representing the South region; Kansas City, Missouri, representing the Midwest region…»

Plans for a two-tower, 20-story student housing development across the street from Arizona State University could move closer to reality when they go before the city of Tempe’s Development Review Commission later this month. The student housing project, called The Leo, will go before the Tempe subcommittee on May 13. If recommended for approval, it will head to Tempe City Council for full approval. Up Campus Properties…»

As businesses look for ways to encourage workers to come to offices more often, one Phoenix developer is betting big on a new strategy: make the office feel like a resort and sign a local celebrity chef to run the on-site restaurant and catering. George Oliver, a Phoenix-based commercial real estate firm, recently completed construction on Bond, the revamped version of a 40-year-old…»

The sale of a shopping complex in Mesa led the biggest commercial real estate deals in April. Here are the 10 biggest deals in Metro Phoenix commercial real estate from April of 2025, according to data collected by the commercial real estate tracking website Vizzda and AZRE magazine…»

After stalling during January and February, a surge in March activity reversed the early dip. That brought office demand up 4.6% year-over-year at the end of the first quarter, according to the March VTS Office Demand Index (VODI) report. The decline seen in February marked the first time in 20 months that demand in the sector failed to increase year-over-year. VTS attributed the initial slowdown to growing economic uncertainty, recent…»