The Phoenix CRE Brief - 2/26/2026

Executive Summary

Three key takeaways from this week's Phoenix commercial real estate activity:

1. Multifamily Sector Pivots to Densification and Specialization: Build-to-Rent assets command premium valuations ($430,000 per unit for Avalon Townhomes in Avondale), while municipalities embrace high-density infill development (Gilbert's 568-unit project at 22.61 units/acre) and purpose-built specialized housing (57-unit IDD community in Glendale), reflecting a mature market maximizing yield on constrained, entitled land.

2. Infrastructure-Led Land Development Transforms Northwest Valley: Peoria's unprecedented $500M municipal infrastructure commitment to a 1,600-acre state land parcel has catalyzed intense competition among major developers (Land Resources, Vestar, Sunbelt Investment Holdings), fundamentally shifting the region's development paradigm by pre-funding critical utilities and creating immediate shovel-ready status.

3. Industrial Outdoor Storage Achieves Institutional Asset Class Status: Zenith's acquisition of an 11-property IOS portfolio (280,000 SF on 39 acres, 16% coverage ratio) near Sky Harbor demonstrates that once-fragmented outdoor storage has become a core institutional holding, driven by strict municipal zoning barriers and essential supply chain demand for secured staging areas.

Land

CRE Developers to Bid on Massive Chunk of AZ State Land - Connect CRE (February 19, 2026)

The upcoming auction for a 1,600-acre swath of Arizona State Trust Land in north Peoria has drawn applications from major commercial developers, including Land Resources, Vestar, and Sunbelt Investment Holdings. The intense interest is heavily driven by the city of Peoria's proactive municipal strategy to invest $500 million in local infrastructure, rendering the site shovel-ready and highly attractive for mixed-use, retail, and industrial development adjacent to the Vistancia community.

• Total acreage: 1,600 acres

• Municipal infrastructure investment: $500M

Source

San Tan Valley Development Pipeline - Rose Law Group Reporter (February 24, 2026)

An engineering overview presented to the local Town Council reveals a massive, multi-stage residential development pipeline in the Southeast Valley, underscoring the region's rapid demographic expansion despite broader water constraints. The pipeline highlights the long lead times in land development, with thousands of lots stratified across tentative plat reviews, active construction, and warranty phases.

• Approved subdivision lots: 13,294

• Multifamily rental units: 1,430

Source

Peak Southern Purchases 5.8-Acre Retail Development Site in Phoenix Suburb - Shopping Center Business (February 24, 2026)

Utilizing Colliers to broker the transaction, Peak Southern LLC acquired a fully entitled land site in Mesa for retail development. The transaction highlights the demand for subdividable retail pads in high-growth suburban corridors, where the buyer plans to partition the acreage into three distinct sites for build-to-suit or ground lease opportunities, reflecting a strategy to capture immediate retail demand from surrounding residential growth.

• Land area: 5.8 acres

• Purchase price: $3M

• Price per acre: ~$517,241

Source

Multifamily

Gilbert Reviewing 568-Unit Apartment Complex - Connect CRE (February 19, 2026)

The Gilbert Planning Commission and Town Council are reviewing and approving critical development plan changes for a massive multifamily project, Trax at Cooley Station, allowing the developer to increase building heights up to five stories. In exchange for the verticality and reduced setbacks, the municipality secured a commitment for expanded open space, an internal parking garage, and extensive resort-style amenities, illustrating the modern municipal-developer compromise required to achieve high-density suburban infill.

• Residential units: 568

• Density: 22.61 units per acre

Source

Avalon Townhomes Build-to-Rent Sale - AZBEX (February 24, 2026)

The West Valley continues to command institutional capital for Build-to-Rent (BTR) assets, as evidenced by the sale of Avalon Townhomes, a newly constructed community in Avondale. The transaction underscores the sustained investor appetite for horizontal multifamily products that cater to families and young professionals seeking single-family lifestyles without the friction of elevated mortgage rates.

• Unit count: 70 units

• Transaction value: $30.1M

• Price per unit: $430,000

Source

Tides Equities Pays $44M for Phoenix Asset - Multi-Housing News (February 20, 2026)

In a transaction brokered by Colliers, a prominent multifamily investment firm acquired a value-add apartment community in Phoenix. The acquisition strategy relies heavily on a comprehensive capital expenditure program to reposition the asset and drive net operating income, demonstrating that despite higher debt costs, institutional capital remains highly active in identifying and executing value-add operational strategies in core Phoenix submarkets.

• Acquisition price: $44M

• Planned capital improvements: $4.5M

Source

57-Unit Special Needs Housing Development Planned in Glendale - AZBEX (February 24, 2026)

A nonprofit organization, One Step Beyond, Inc., is advancing plans for "Nikki's Next Step," a specialized apartment community in Glendale designed explicitly for individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities and their families. This infill project highlights an evolving, socially responsive segment of the multifamily market, utilizing zoning amendments to create an integrated, highly supportive ecosystem featuring specialized amenities and architectural conformity with surrounding single-family homes.

• Specialized units: 57

• Site size: 3.4 acres

Source

Industrial

ViaWest, Walton Sell Tempe Warehouses for $24.5M - Connect CRE (February 25, 2026)

A two-building industrial park in the highly constrained Tempe submarket changed hands, highlighting the strong liquidity for well-located, multi-tenant industrial assets. Benefiting from immediate access to Interstate 10 and a diverse, stabilized tenant rent roll spanning aerospace and third-party logistics, the asset provides the buyer with a secure income stream and embedded mark-to-market rental upside in a submarket with virtually no developable industrial land remaining.

• Building size: 93,900 SF

• Transaction price: $24.5M

• Price per SF: ~$261

Source

Knight-Swift Acquires 24-Acre Phoenix Truck Terminal - Connect CRE (February 24, 2026)

In a major owner-user transaction, one of Arizona's largest logistics and transportation corporations acquired a highly functional truck terminal facility previously occupied by FedEx. The transaction underscores the intense operational demand for heavy-duty fleet infrastructure within the urban core, where strategic proximity to the interstate network is absolutely critical for national freight operators executing final-mile and regional distribution.

• Site size: 24 acres

• Acquisition price: $30M

Source

Zenith IOS Acquires Phoenix Infill Portfolio - AZBEX (February 24, 2026)

Institutional capital continues to aggressively aggregate fragmented Industrial Outdoor Storage (IOS) assets, driven by strict municipal barriers to new IOS zoning and essential supply chain demand. Zenith Industrial Outdoor Storage acquired a fully leased, 11-property portfolio situated in highly coveted infill locations within seven miles of Sky Harbor International Airport, featuring low coverage ratios and triple-net lease structures that provide highly durable, inflation-resistant yield.

• Number of properties: 11

• Building area: 280,000 SF on 39 acres

• Average coverage ratio: 16%

Source

Retail

PSRS Arranges $3.3M Refinancing of Commercial Kitchen Facility in Phoenix - REBusinessOnline (February 20, 2026)

A highly specialized retail-industrial hybrid property containing 22 private, health department-approved commercial kitchens successfully secured medium-term refinancing. This transaction illuminates the evolving nature of retail infrastructure, where landlords are optimizing spaces with shared walk-in freezers, dry storage, and dedicated fulfillment zones to capture the surging demand from local food delivery, ghost kitchen, and catering operators.

• Commercial kitchens: 22

• Loan amount: $3.3M

Source

Office

Meritex Acquires $7.175M Office Real Estate Site in Phoenix for Industrial Redevelopment - Capdex (February 25, 2026)

In a transaction orchestrated by Colliers, an obsolete, fully vacant 109,332-square-foot suburban office building was acquired strictly for its underlying land value and A-1 industrial zoning. The deal exemplifies a major structural trend in Phoenix commercial real estate: the strategic removal of distressed office inventory through targeted demolition and subsequent redevelopment into highly demanded infill industrial logistics space.

• Building size: 109,332 SF

• Acquisition price: $7.175M

• Price per SF: ~$66

• Land area: 7.63 acres

Source

Suburban Office Assets Trade in East Valley - AZBEX (February 24, 2026)

Two smaller-scale suburban office assets changed hands in the East Valley, reflecting ongoing liquidity for mid-market, multi-tenant properties. The sales of Ventura Gateway in Scottsdale and The Meridian in Tempe illustrate that while institutional capital targets high-rises and industrial conversions, private capital remains highly active in acquiring functional, well-located neighborhood office assets catering to local professional services and medical tenants.

• Ventura Gateway (Scottsdale): $9.75M

• The Meridian (Tempe): $2.7M

Source

Mixed-Use

Arizona Cardinals Break Ground on New Headquarters - AZ Big Media (February 24, 2026)

The Arizona Cardinals officially initiated construction on a transformative mixed-use development anchored by a state-of-the-art NFL performance center in North Phoenix. Situated on a massive 217-acre site acquired via state land auction, the project represents a generational investment that will not only serve as a world-class athletic and business operations hub but will also catalyze extensive surrounding commercial, retail, and hospitality development along the Loop 101 corridor.

• Total site: 217 acres

• Anchor facility: 250,000 SF

Source

This digest is compiled for informational purposes and reflects publicly reported commercial real estate activity in the Phoenix metropolitan area.