In the News—Week of August 21, 2023
Deal of the Week
An Arizona investor modified an existing loan on a property located in Buckeye, Arizona. This transaction was closed by Sheila Hunter, Vice President and Senior Commercial Escrow Officer in the Scottsdale office.
National
LA Council votes to halt Bulgari Hotel, asks planning director to reconsider
The Los Angeles City Council voted 8-6 for a motion to call for a halt to the Bulgari Hotel project and for the city planning director to reconsider the initiation of a General Plan amendment, the Beverly Hills Courier reports. The project in Benedict Canyon is opposed by some neighbors who expressed concerns about the impact of the hotel on the environment and public safety. “This motion is about taking a stand together as a council and saying that we don’t believe it’s in the city’s best interest for a planning department to spend hours of staff resources, hundreds of hours of staff resources, and millions of taxpayer dollars on a project that goes against everything we’re doing from a land use perspective, a climate perspective and a public safety perspective,” said Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky, who represents the area.
National
Mayor Wu bans fossil fuels in new, renovated City of Boston buildings
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu signed an executive order banning fossil fuels in new construction and major renovations of city buildings, WBUR reports. The order means energy sources such as natural gas and heating oil cannot be used in new municipal buildings. Renovations that affect 75% or more of a building’s square footage will also fall under the mayor’s order. “This is a major undertaking,” Wu says. “It’s many, many school buildings, and public housing units, and boilers, and appliances, and that is part of why it’s taken us until this point in our administration to be sure that we could deliver.”
National
Developer decides to pause work on technology campus in San Jose
Boston Properties has stopped work on the Platform 16 project in downtown San Jose, citing the weak office market in Silicon Valley, the Mercury News reports. Owen Thomas, chief executive officer of Boston Properties, told Wall Street analysts that the company was putting construction on hold. “Unfortunately, market conditions in the Silicon Valley, including San Jose, have deteriorated meaningfully,” Thomas says.
National
Commercial property insurance expected to become more costly
In the wake of wildfires and other natural disaster, several insurance companies plan to stop issuing new property coverage in the Golden State and others, including Florida and Louisiana, CoStar reports. Fewer insurers means higher rates. “The commercial property owners would likely be passing on their higher rates to their tenants, probably in the form of higher rents,” says Michael Tachovsky, principal partner at consulting firm Landmark Research Group, in Laguna Beach, California, who tracks real estate damage economics.
Arizona
Surf park in Mesa planning for soft opening in spring
Cole Cannon, the developer of a surf park in Mesa, says he’s hopeful for guests to be able to hit the waves late next spring for a soft opening, ABC 15 reports. Cannon says he is making adjustments on the $240 million project. Those include adding 20,000 more square feet of beach and excavation for a 17-foot cliff-diving lagoon. At buildout, the park near Power and Warner roads will include 500,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and hotel space.
Arizona
Pinal County has become hot spot for manufacturing development
Pinal County, which includes the southeastern portion of the Phoenix metro area and the northwestern portion of the Tucson metro area, has become the place for manufacturing development, AZ Big Media reports. Procter and Gamble announced in November 2022 that it planned to build a manufacturing facility in Coolidge. A few months earlier, Owens Corning reopened a manufacturing facility in Eloy that had been closed for over a decade. Kohler Co. announced the construction of its nearly 1 million-square-foot facility in Casa Grande in 2022. “Eloy, like all of its neighboring communities, has been benefitting from the incredible growth in population and jobs in central Pinal County,” says Jeff Fairman, economic development manager for Eloy. “Our new corporate partners Gold Bond Building Products (National Gypsum), Owens Corning and Vext Science are paving the way for renewed interest in industrial growth here in Eloy and Pinal County.”
