Here are the news articles you might find interesting today for commercial real estate and business:
Elliott Homes Assembles Nearly 430 Acres for ~$16.43m In what is easily the largest land transaction of the New Year, Elliott Homes has acquired 429.20 contiguous acres of agricultural land in Waddell in four transactions totaling $16,430,950 for an average per acre price of $38,272.73. National Safe Harbor Exchanges, a 1031 exchange intermediary, facilitated the all cash transaction between Elliott – represented by Stephen Hemington and Brian Spickard – and four separate owners. View article…
Tempe urged to start planning for huge ASU cultural, athletic district Arizona State University’s 330-acre Athletics Facilities District could take 20 years or more to build, but former U.S. Congressman Harry Mitchell emphasized this week that Tempe must plan now for the immense infrastructure needed to support the massive development. View article…
Amusement venue FlipSide livens up south Gilbert South Gilbert, with vast tracts of farmland and open space, has not been known for amusement and entertainment venues. That may be changing, if the recent opening of FlipSide is any indication. The 50,000-square-foot center at the intersection of Val Vista Drive and Queen Creek Road occupies a former Bashas’ grocery store. But instead of grocery aisles and cash registers, the refurbished interior is colorfully laid out with arcade games, bowling, laser tag and bumper cars, as well as other games and a restaurant. View article…
Zia Record Exchange opens new Phoenix location Zia Record Exchange has opened a new location in Phoenix at Camelback Road and 19th Avenue. The independent local record store already has three other Valley locations in Tempe, Phoenix and Chandler. Zia also has two locations each in Tucson and Las Vegas. The new Phoenix location is located next to the Metro light rail. View article…
5 downtown Mesa colleges aim for a small-campus feel The 500 or so students who enroll in five new liberal-arts colleges in Mesa in August don’t need football-season tickets, memberships in Greek fraternities or sororities, or thick catalogs of course offerings. What they are looking for when they go to college are small, discussion-style classes, professors who are willing to get to know them and – for fun – coffeehouses and fine-arts performances that are a quick walk from their classrooms. View article…
Private Equity Investors Play the “Yield Compression Game” Private equity investors may be deploying different strategies, but their end game is the same. They all want higher yields in what remains a highly competitive market. The quest for bigger returns is prompting private equity investors to expand their target markets and move away from the relative “safety” of core properties in major metros and top secondary markets. View article…
Pension Funds, Endowments Hunger for Real Estate Assets You can see it in the headlines – pension funds are once again making bets on commercial real estate. Last May, the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) paid roughly $800 million for a majority interest in LCOR, an investment, management and development firm whose portfolio includes 7,400 multifamily units, 7.7 million sq. ft. of commercial space and multiple development projects. View article…
HOUSING:
Mesa considers foreclosure registry Four years after CNN tagged Mesa as a national “poster child for foreclosure,” the crisis has abated, but Mesa is still looking for ways to combat foreclosure-related neighborhood blight. Staffers received permission last week from a City Council committee to pursue hiring a company that would develop a “foreclosure registry” for the city. View article…