Executive Summary
Industrial pricing has separated into clearly defined tiers while fundamentals tightened underneath. Vacancy compressed to 10.8 percent, a nine-quarter low, on 6.1 million square feet of second-quarter net absorption and 9.4 million square feet through the first half, up 114 percent year over year. August closings spanned an extraordinary range: $114.46 per square foot for bulk distribution in Tolleson, $136.59 per square foot for a Surprise warehouse, $221.91 and $301.21 per square foot for infill Phoenix product, and $487.17 per square foot for a specialized Gilbert facility. That roughly $373 spread within a single asset class tells you capital is no longer underwriting "industrial" as one thing.
Multifamily entitlement flow broadened across price points and geographies. New applications advanced in North Phoenix (397 units at CityNorth), Gilbert (171 for-sale townhomes at Power Ranch) and Apache Junction (210 workforce units at 22.6 units per acre), covering the full arc from luxury densification near TSMC to exurban affordability in Pinal County. On the investment side, Ascend at Black Canyon traded at $225,769 per unit, a rational stabilized benchmark for the I-17 corridor well below the per-door pricing recorded at the 2021 and 2022 peak. Sponsors are still buying and entitling, but at basis levels that reflect the current cost of debt.
Entitlement outcomes and second-generation space are where value is being created. Entitled industrial dirt in Buckeye cleared roughly $569,484 per acre while Glendale advanced annexation of a 160-acre data center and power plant site projected to generate $14.4 million annually, and a separate 106-acre parcel near State Farm Stadium moved toward a special use permit for a sports and events complex. At the same time, capital is going into existing footprints rather than new ground: 216 apartments proposed over surface parking at Camelback Colonnade, historic Mill Avenue buildings returning to active commercial occupancy, and 7 Brew's approximately $143.2 million winning bid for 73 built former Salad and Go drive-thru pads. Where new construction does not pencil, the built environment is being re-cut instead.
Land
Buckeye Industrial Land Trades Headline August Deal Flow - Phoenix Business Journal (August 31, 2026) Logistics Property Company acquired approximately 76 acres at Paloma Vista Logistics Center near the northwest corner of Interstate 10 and Perryville Road in Buckeye for $43,280,780, the largest land transaction in the Valley’s August tally. A second Buckeye trade saw RDO Equipment Co. acquire roughly 9 acres within Buckeye 83 (ViaWest) for $4,705,000. Pricing on both parcels confirms that entitled, infrastructure-served industrial dirt along the I-10 corridor continues to clear well above raw desert basis.
Logistics Property Company: $43,280,780 for approximately 76 acres, or approximately $569,484 per acre | $13.07 per land square foot
RDO Equipment Co.: $4,705,000 for approximately 9 acres, or approximately $522,778 per acre | $12.00 per land square foot
Glendale Sets Up 106-Acre Site Near Cardinals’ Stadium for New Sports Venue - ABC15 Arizona (September 1, 2026) A prominent local family that owns nearly 106 acres near Loop 101 and Glendale Avenue is seeking a special use permit to develop a sports and events complex directly across the freeway from State Farm Stadium and Desert Diamond Arena. The concept contemplates 15 fields for soccer, football and rugby practice and tournaments, plus space for large-scale music, arts and food festivals. For surrounding landowners, an approved tournament venue at this scale would create measurable new hotel, restaurant and retail demand inside Glendale’s Sports and Entertainment District.
Site: approximately 106 acres at Loop 101 and Glendale Avenue
Program: 15 fields plus concert and festival space; special use permit pending, with operating structure not yet disclosed
Multifamily
New Apartment Community Planned in CityNorth Master Plan - AZBEX (September 1, 2026) JPI Companies is planning a 397-unit, five-story apartment building with an attached parking garage as the fourth residential phase of the CityNorth master plan in north Phoenix, near TSMC’s expanding campus. The building totals 474,200 square feet, of which 380,200 square feet is rentable, with a pool, indoor and outdoor dog park, coworking space and fitness center. Continued luxury deliveries at this scale, despite a metro-wide supply overhang, reflect sponsor conviction in the North Phoenix semiconductor employment base rather than in the broader Valley rent curve.
Program: 397 units, five stories, 474,200 square feet gross and 380,200 square feet rentable
Master plan context: eight multifamily buildings and approximately 2,500 units at full buildout; construction estimated to begin mid-2027
Bela Flor Proposing 210-Unit Multifamily Development in Apache Junction - AZBEX (August 28, 2026) Bela Flor Communities is proposing Bella Norte, a 210-unit apartment community on 9.31 acres at the northeast corner of North Idaho Road and East Junction Street in Apache Junction. The plan calls for ten buildings of 21 units each around a central courtyard and amenity building, with a mix of 60 one-bedroom, 126 two-bedroom and 24 three-bedroom homes. The site carries B-3 City Center Commercial zoning with multifamily permitted through a conditional use permit, and the proposal illustrates how yield-seeking sponsors are pushing workforce product east along the US 60 corridor into Pinal County.
Density: 210 units on 9.31 acres, or approximately 22.6 units per acre
Status: Apache Junction Planning Commission considered the item August 25, with staff recommending approval
Raintree Investment Proposing 171-Unit Townhome Community in Gilbert - AZBEX (September 1, 2026) Raintree Investment Corporation is proposing Woodcrest Village West, 171 for-sale townhomes on 16.8 acres at the southwest corner of Ranch House Parkway and Germann Road in Gilbert’s Power Ranch area. The program comprises 47 clusters of two- and three-story units ranging from approximately 1,650 to 2,178 square feet, designed by Biltform Architecture Group with EPS Group handling civil and landscape. Raintree intends to market the entitled project to homebuilders in the fourth quarter of 2026, a structure that lets a land sponsor monetize entitlement value without carrying vertical construction risk.
Density: 12.4 dwelling units per acre across 16.8 acres
Timing: builder marketing in Q4 2026, horizontal construction targeted for Q2 2027 and vertical around Q4 2027 to Q1 2028
Ascend at Black Canyon Sells for $58.7 Million - AZ Big Media (September 2, 2026) Millburn and Company acquired Ascend at Black Canyon, a 260-unit apartment community at 28201 N. Black Canyon Highway in Phoenix, from D.R. Horton, with debt provided by Berkadia. The pricing establishes a useful stabilized benchmark for the I-17 corridor, materially below the per-door figures recorded during the 2021 and 2022 peak. The location gives the buyer direct exposure to the North Phoenix semiconductor employment base without paying an infill Desert Ridge basis.
Sale price: $58,700,000 for 260 units, or approximately $225,769 per unit
Buyer and seller: Millburn and Company acquired from D.R. Horton
Industrial
Phoenix Industrial Market Hits Record Levels, Colliers Finds - Phoenix Business Journal (August 31, 2026) Phoenix industrial vacancy tightened to a nine-quarter low as the market absorbed record volume through the first half of 2026, with transaction flow continuing across Surprise, Chandler and Buckeye. Two of the month’s notable user and investor trades were a Bashas’ warehouse acquisition in Surprise and an owner-user industrial purchase near Broadway Road and 16th Street in Phoenix. The combination of tightening vacancy and sustained job growth supports continued rent conviction in Class A bulk product.
Market data: vacancy of 10.8 percent, 6.1 million square feet of Q2 net absorption and 9.4 million square feet in the first half, up 114 percent year over year; metro Phoenix added 33,200 jobs in June
Bashas’: $22,850,000 for 167,291 square feet at the southwest corner of Dysart and Cactus in Surprise, or approximately $136.59 per square foot
L&W Technology: $19,600,000 for 88,324 square feet near Broadway Road and 16th Street in Phoenix, or approximately $221.91 per square foot
Gilbert Spectrum Building 3 Sells for $56.1 Million - AZ Big Media (September 2, 2026) Syndicated Equities acquired Gilbert Spectrum Building 3, a 115,212-square-foot industrial property at 1655 W. Elliot Road in Gilbert, from SunCap Property Group. Pricing near $487 per square foot is not explainable by conventional warehouse rent economics and points to a specialized, mission-critical facility serving the East Valley’s advanced manufacturing, aerospace or semiconductor supply chains. With entitled industrial land in Gilbert effectively exhausted, existing assets carrying heavy power and specialized improvements are being underwritten closer to infrastructure than to fungible warehouse space.
Sale price: $56,128,000 for 115,212 square feet, or approximately $487.17 per square foot
Buyer and seller: Syndicated Equities acquired from SunCap Property Group
Tolleson Logistics Center Sells for $47.8 Million - AZ Big Media (September 2, 2026) INDUS Realty Trust acquired Tolleson Logistics Center, a 417,600-square-foot distribution warehouse at 670 S. 91st Avenue, from Nearon Enterprises. Tolleson represents the older, established core of the Phoenix industrial market, lacking the land scale and clear heights of new Loop 303 product but offering immediate I-10 access and proximity to dense population. The spread between this trade and specialized East Valley product quantifies exactly how differently capital now values the two ends of the industrial spectrum.
Sale price: $47,800,000 for 417,600 square feet, or approximately $114.46 per square foot
Buyer and seller: INDUS Realty Trust acquired from Nearon Enterprises
IT Services Company Spending $45 Million on Mesa Headquarters - Connect CRE (August 28, 2026) ER2, an IT services and technology equipment recycling firm, is advancing a 155,597-square-foot build-to-suit headquarters at McDowell and Greenfield roads near Falcon Field Airport in Mesa, consolidating operations currently split between Mesa and Phoenix. The facility pairs 132,544 square feet of ground floor with 23,043 square feet above and includes a fitness center, sauna, golf simulator, production studio and gaming coves. The implied development basis shows how corporate amenity expectations are raising the cost floor for bespoke light industrial product.
Development cost: $45,000,000 for 155,597 square feet, or approximately $289.21 per square foot
Employment: designed to house 250 to 300 employees; LGE Design Build is architect with Hunter Engineering handling civil
Industrial Building at 4040 E. Superior Avenue Sells for $7.47 Million - AZBEX (September 1, 2026) A 24,800-square-foot industrial building on 3.30 acres at 4040 E. Superior Avenue in Phoenix traded with both parties represented. The pricing reflects continued owner-user and small-bay investor demand for infill Phoenix industrial with usable yard, a segment where supply remains structurally constrained. Small-format product continues to clear at a meaningful premium to bulk distribution on a per-square-foot basis.
Sale price: $7,470,000 for 24,800 square feet, or approximately $301.21 per square foot
Land basis: 3.30 acres, or approximately $2,263,636 per acre and $51.97 per land square foot
Opus Brings Rare Small-User Industrial Opportunity to Chandler with Envision 56 - AZ Big Media (August 28, 2026) Opus completed Envision 56, a 125,258-square-foot, two-building Class A speculative industrial development on an 8.8-acre infill site near North 56th Street and West Chandler Boulevard. Building B totals 37,289 square feet with 28-foot clear height and 2,500 amps, while Building C totals 87,969 square feet with 32-foot clear height and 3,000 amps. The buildings are intentionally sized for small and midsized single users, an underserved segment against the Valley’s recent wave of big-box development, with access to Loops 101 and 202, I-10, Sky Harbor and Intel’s Chandler campus.
Program: 125,258 square feet across two buildings on 8.8 acres, available for sale or lease
Positioning: sized for single users below the big-box threshold in a supply-constrained infill submarket
Glendale Moves Forward With Annex for Project Baccara - AZBEX (September 2, 2026) Glendale City Council moved forward with annexation of the roughly 160-acre former Project Baccara site near Olive Avenue and Litchfield Road, now known as Project Eagle and being developed by Takanock LLC and Montera Infrastructure. The current plan is a three-building data center campus and power plant totaling nearly 1.1 million square feet. Council members noted the project would proceed regardless of annexation because the owner already holds property rights, which is instructive for how large-load projects are being positioned relative to municipal leverage.
Site: approximately 160 acres near Olive Avenue and Litchfield Road
Fiscal impact: annexation projected to generate $14.4 million annually for the City of Glendale
Retail
7 Brew Outbids Dutch Bros for 73 Former Salad and Go Locations - Restaurant Dive (September 2, 2026) 7 Brew prevailed over Dutch Bros in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy auction for 73 former Salad and Go drive-thru locations with a bid of approximately $143.2 million. A substantial share of the portfolio sits in metro Phoenix, where Salad and Go was headquartered, including sites across Phoenix, Mesa, Tempe, Gilbert and Scottsdale. Because the package blends owned real estate interests with leasehold rights, the approximately $1.96 million average per location is not a valid real estate price per site.
Winning bid: approximately $143,200,000 for 73 locations, comprising a mix of fee and leasehold interests
Status: not yet final, with court approval scheduled for September 21
Single-Tenant Applebee’s in Surprise Sells for $3.54 Million - Shopping Center Business (August 31, 2026) A 5,103-square-foot Applebee’s at 13756 W. Bell Road in Surprise traded all-cash to a California-based limited liability company that intends to hold the asset as a long-term investment. The 2001-built restaurant occupies 0.79 acre along one of the West Valley’s most heavily trafficked retail corridors. Pricing at this level for a 25-year-old casual dining box underscores how much scarcity value now attaches to second-generation restaurant real estate with hoods, grease traps and walk-ins already in place.
Sale price: $3,540,000 for 5,103 square feet, or approximately $693.71 per square foot
Land basis: 0.79 acre, or approximately $4,481,013 per acre and $102.87 per land square foot
Tempe Moves to Lease Historic Bank and Hardware Buildings on Mill Avenue - Your Valley (August 28, 2026) The City of Tempe is advancing leases for the historic Tempe National Bank and Tempe Hardware buildings at 520 and 526 S. Mill Avenue, targeting restaurant, retail and entertainment users. The city acquired the Hardware building on June 30, 2026 and has signaled a small-business emphasis with city-owned pricing intended to keep Mill Avenue leases affordable. Returning two high-profile historic properties to active commercial occupancy would be a meaningful step in the broader repositioning of downtown Tempe.
Available space: approximately 10,000 square feet in the bank building and approximately 2,000 square feet in the hardware building
Status: tenant recommendations went before Tempe City Council on August 31, subject to council approval
Mixed-Use
Camelback Colonnade Redevelopment Advances With 216 Apartments - Connect CRE (September 2, 2026) Federal Realty Investment Trust and RED Development are pursuing a mixed-use redevelopment of underutilized surface parking at Camelback Colonnade, adding a six-story, 216-unit apartment building with future retail, restaurant and office phases contemplated across roughly 23 acres. The proposal cleared planning board review and still requires Phoenix City Council approval. This is the textbook retail densification play: monetize non-revenue-generating asphalt while creating a captive consumer base for the existing tenant roster.
Program: 216 multifamily units over existing surface parking, with additional retail, restaurant and office phases contemplated on the western half of the center
Status: passed planning board review; Phoenix City Council approval still required
$1 Billion Peoria Community Breaks Ground on $10 Million Recreation Hub - In Business Phoenix (August 28, 2026) Castle Hill Partners broke ground on Basecamp, a 16-acre, $10 million amenity and social hub within its 5,300-acre Saddleback master-planned community in Peoria. The project includes a resort-style pool, event lawn and outdoor gathering spaces, and is slated to open in summer 2027. Amenity delivery at this stage is a leading indicator for adjacent commercial land absorption in one of the West Valley’s largest master plans.
Investment: $10,000,000 across 16 acres within a $1 billion, 5,300-acre master plan
Entitlements: approximately 6,500 single-family homes plus multifamily and up to 2 million square feet of commercial space; five homebuilders under active construction
What This All Means for You
As Phoenix land brokers and Arizona land brokers, we connect with landowners, developers, homebuilders and institutional capital across the Phoenix Metro every single day. Whether you are recalibrating land basis in the far West Valley or Pinal County, buying or selling commercial land in Maricopa County, underwriting a stabilized multifamily or power-heavy industrial acquisition, or working through entitlement, water and power questions on a master-planned, data center or mixed-use site, our Colliers Phoenix land brokerage team is available for confidential conversations about how the activity in this brief may affect your business and your pipeline.
Common questions we help answer: What is my land worth today? How do recent data center denials and annexations change my entitlement timeline and risk premium? Should I sell entitled dirt to a homebuilder or carry it through horizontal construction? What are current comparable sales for industrial land, multifamily sites, retail pads and hotel parcels across Maricopa and Pinal counties?
If you are looking for experienced Phoenix land brokers or Arizona land brokers who know Maricopa County and Pinal County dirt, reach out to start the conversation.
Until Next Time,
Ramey Peru
Senior Vice President | Land
(602) 222-5154
John Finnegan
Senior Vice President | Land
(602) 222-5152