- The Land Letter
- Posts
- The Phoenix CRE Brief - 5/14/2026
The Phoenix CRE Brief - 5/14/2026
A brief summary of commercial real estate activity in the Phoenix Metro
Ramey Peru & John Finnegan
May 14, 2026
Executive Summary
Three key takeaways from new Phoenix Metro commercial real estate activity for the week of May 7 to May 14, 2026:
The office-to-industrial conversion trade accelerated sharply. Panattoni acquired the former State Farm regional headquarters in Tempe for $37.5 million to build a roughly 355,000-square-foot industrial project, a Nuveen Real Estate affiliate paid $23.2 million for the 19-acre Sky Harbor Innovation Park for a similar redevelopment, and Lincoln Property Company broke ground on the two-building Sky Harbor Logistics campus. Industry tracking now counts more than seven million square feet of Valley office product slated for industrial redevelopment.
Large-scale land assembly continues to define the West Valley and Pinal County growth corridors. The week was headlined by the introduction of the 2,500-acre Grand View Arizona industrial mega-site in Buckeye and the 1,940-acre Solstice Foothills master-planned community in Goodyear, alongside a $4,700,000, 29-acre trade near San Tan Valley ($162,069 per acre) that tracks the southward march of suburban demand toward the planned Florence Tech Park.
Capital remained liquid for stabilized, daily-needs retail and Class A suburban multifamily. The $69,600,000 sale of the 100 percent leased Vineyard Towne Center in Queen Creek ($267.69 per square foot) and the $110,000,000 trade of the 396-unit Country Brook Apartments in Chandler ($277,778 per unit), financed with sub-5 percent agency debt, both cleared during the window, even as developers brought $275 million projects such as Verrado Marketplace online in the exurbs.
Land
Grand View Arizona Brings a 2,500-Acre Industrial Mega-Site to Buckeye AZ Big Media (Reported week of May 7, 2026) A 2,500-acre industrial mega-site, Grand View Arizona, was introduced in Buckeye, bordered by Broadway Road, MC85, Dean Road, and Perryville Road. The site is more than twice the size of the TSMC campus in North Phoenix and is marketed to generate over $1 billion in total economic impact, leveraging 2.75 miles of Union Pacific rail frontage and proximity to the future Loop 303 and State Route 30 interchange.
Site size: 2,500 acres
Targeted users: data center operators, aerospace and defense, advanced manufacturing
Solstice Foothills Master-Planned Community Advances in Goodyear AZ Big Media (Reported week of May 7, 2026) Harvard Investments advanced its 1,940-acre Solstice Foothills master-planned community in Goodyear (previously known as King Ranch and Rio 1900), slated to deliver 5,800 planned residences. The site was assembled through sequential acquisitions of adjacent Arizona State Land Department parcels along the Gila River corridor, with first homes projected for 2030.
Site size: 1,940 acres
Planned residences: 5,800, with first deliveries projected for 2030
29-Acre Land Sale Near San Tan Valley Signals Continued Pinal County Growth SanTanValley.com (Reported week of May 7, 2026) A 29-acre parcel at the southeast corner of Felix Road and Arizona Farms Road sold for $4,700,000, acquired by Entitlements, LLC from Aspen Nevada SPE LLC and Dolores Darnold. The parcel sits directly across Felix Road from the planned Florence Tech Park employment center and is expected to undergo rezoning to maximize density ahead of vertical construction.
Sale price: $4,700,000 for 29 acres
Price per acre: $162,069; price per land square foot: $3.72
Multifamily
Covenant Capital Group Acquires 396-Unit Country Brook Apartments in Chandler for $110M Multi-Housing News (Reported week of May 7, 2026) Covenant Capital Group acquired the 396-unit Country Brook Apartments in Chandler from MG Properties for $110,000,000. The deal was financed with a non-recourse, $76.7 million Fannie Mae loan arranged by Colliers Mortgage at a 4.97 percent fixed rate. The multi-phase community last traded for $74 million in 2018, and the sub-5 percent agency execution underscores institutional lender confidence in high-income Southeast Valley submarkets.
Sale price: $110,000,000 for 396 units
Price per unit: $277,778
Orsett Properties Shifts Underperforming Gilbert Office Site to Residential AZBEX (Reported week of May 7, 2026) Orsett Properties is pivoting a 4.9-gross-acre infill site at the Reserve at San Tan campus on the Germann Road corridor in Gilbert. Originally entitled for a third office building, with existing office occupancies between 38 and 78 percent, the site will instead deliver 121 multifamily units branded the Residences at the Reserve, using three-story and two-story carriage-style buildings plus 20-foot landscape buffers to address adjacent homeowners.
Program: 121 multifamily units replacing entitled office
Existing office occupancy cited: 38 to 78 percent
Hotel-to-Multifamily Adaptive Reuse Planned in Tempe AZBEX (Reported week of May 7, 2026) Plans were announced for a hotel-to-multifamily conversion in land-constrained Tempe. Unit counts and renderings remain in the municipal planning phase, but the project reflects the same economics driving suburban office conversions: acquiring functionally obsolete commercial assets in desirable, land-locked submarkets to bypass the cost and delay of ground-up entitlement.
Status: municipal planning phase
Pulte Advances 80-Unit Townhome Community Adjacent to TSMC Phoenix Business Journal (April 30, 2026) National homebuilder Pulte is advancing an 80-unit townhome community directly adjacent to the TSMC semiconductor plant in North Phoenix. The development targets the highly compensated engineering and manufacturing workforce relocating to a micro-market with a severe deficit of residential supply.
Program: 80 townhomes adjacent to TSMC
300-Unit Luxury Apartment Complex Planned Near Westgate in Glendale AZ Central (April 29, 2026) New details emerged on a 300-unit luxury apartment complex in Glendale positioned near the Westgate Entertainment District. The project imports the live-work-play model into a suburban setting by placing high-density residential directly adjacent to stadiums, arenas, and retail.
Program: 300 luxury units near Westgate
P.B. Bell Marks 50 Years in Arizona Multifamily AZ Big Media (Reported week of May 7, 2026) P.B. Bell celebrated its 50th anniversary, having developed or acquired more than 11,500 units and managed over 55,000 units across Arizona since 1976. The milestone provides historical context to the current cycle, with Metro Phoenix recently ranked fourth nationally for new home construction volume.
Track record: more than 11,500 units developed or acquired; more than 55,000 managed
Industrial
Panattoni Acquires Former State Farm Regional HQ in Tempe for $37.5M Connect CRE (May 7, 2026) Panattoni Development Company acquired the former State Farm regional headquarters campus at the southwest corner of Priest Drive and Alameda Drive in Tempe from JDM Partners for $37,500,000. The 25-acre site holds roughly 462,000 square feet of office across six buildings, which Panattoni will demolish to build a two-building industrial project, branded Tempe Exchange, of approximately 355,000 square feet, retaining one parking garage for covered employee parking.
Sale price: $37,500,000 for 462,000 square feet of existing improvements
Price per square foot: $81.17
Lincoln Property Company Breaks Ground on Sky Harbor Logistics Commercial Property Executive (Reported week of May 7, 2026) Lincoln Property Company broke ground on Sky Harbor Logistics, a two-building Class A logistics campus on an infill Tempe site that previously held an aging office building and parking garage. The roughly 254,000-square-foot project is scheduled for completion in spring 2027 and benefits from proximity to Sky Harbor International Airport and Arizona State University engineering talent.
Project size: approximately 254,000 square feet across two buildings
Targeted completion: spring 2027
Nuveen Affiliate Acquires Sky Harbor Innovation Park in Tempe for $23.2M Connect CRE (May 12, 2026) A Nuveen Real Estate affiliate acquired the approximately 19-acre Sky Harbor Innovation Park at 1920 W. University Drive in Tempe from The Opus Group for $23,200,000. Plans call for demolishing the existing office park and building an approximately 300,000-square-foot, three-building industrial campus, with about 20 percent (roughly 60,000 square feet) retained as office.
Sale price: $23,200,000 for approximately 19 acres
Price per acre: approximately $1,221,053; price per land square foot: approximately $28.03
Valley Office-to-Industrial Conversion Pipeline Tops 7 Million Square Feet Bisnow (May 11, 2026) Industry tracking now identifies more than seven million square feet of Valley office product slated for redevelopment or conversion to industrial use. Market reports cited in the coverage indicate roughly 3.3 million square feet across 37 buildings has already been converted or removed since 2024, with another 4.1 million square feet proposed, placing Phoenix among the most active office-to-industrial redevelopment pipelines nationally.
Tracked pipeline: more than 7 million square feet
Converted or removed since 2024: roughly 3.3 million square feet across 37 buildings, with about 4.1 million more proposed
United Foods International Cuts Ribbon on Second Phoenix Facility AZ Big Media (Reported week of May 7, 2026) United Foods International held a ribbon-cutting for its second Valley facility, a 129,172-square-foot food-grade manufacturing site at 6363 W. Dobbins Road in the Loop 202 corridor. The tenant improvement required roughly 127,000 square feet of insulated metal panels for cook rooms, dryer rooms, freezers, and coolers, with process piping and conduit routed underground ahead of the floor slab pour.
Facility size: 129,172 square feet
Location: Loop 202 corridor, Phoenix
Retail
Vineyard Towne Center in Queen Creek Sells for $69.6M Connect CRE (Reported week of May 7, 2026) The 260,000-square-foot Vineyard Towne Center at the northwest corner of Gantzel Road and Combs Road in Queen Creek, developed by Vestar at a cost of roughly $100 million, sold to Fidelity Core Real Estate Operating Partnership for $69,600,000. The center was 100 percent leased at sale, anchored by a 145,000-square-foot Target and a Sprouts Farmers Market, with the developer retaining the property management contract in a capital recycling maneuver.
Sale price: $69,600,000 for 260,000 square feet
Price per square foot: $267.69; occupancy at sale: 100 percent
Empire Group Brings On SimonCRE to Oversee Carefree Quarter Connect CRE (May 11, 2026) Empire Group of Companies restructured its development partnership for the Carefree Quarter retail center, bringing on SimonCRE to complete the buildout after tenant-delivery complications with a prior partner. The $60 million, 120,000-square-foot project at the northeast corner of Carefree Highway and Cave Creek Road includes a 30,000-square-foot grocery anchor with an attached 16,000-square-foot building, three multi-tenant shop buildings, and eight pad sites. Empire acquired the land in 2017 for $6.5 million, and groundbreaking is anticipated in early 2027.
Project cost: $60 million for 120,000 square feet
Land basis: $6.5 million, acquired in 2017
Verrado Marketplace Opens in Buckeye AZ Big Media (Reported week of May 7, 2026) Anchors Target, Marshalls, and HomeGoods opened in mid-May 2026 at Verrado Marketplace, the 500,000-square-foot, $275 million regional retail destination at 1355 N. Verrado Way developed by Vestar. With more than 55 retailers, restaurants, and entertainment venues, the center captures consumer spending that previously leaked to Goodyear and Avondale.
Center size: 500,000 square feet; development cost: $275 million
Tenant base: more than 55 retailers, restaurants, and entertainment venues Source: AZ Big Media
Off The Record Singalong Bar Opens in Downtown Phoenix AZ Big Media (May 2026) The Off The Record singalong bar opened at 829 N. First Avenue in Downtown Phoenix. The venue replaces traditional stages and microphones with whole-room group participation, an example of experiential, hospitality-driven retail designed to maximize dwell time and discretionary spending in dense urban settings.
Location: 829 N. First Avenue, Downtown Phoenix
Sable Boulangerie Opens in Downtown Gilbert AZ Big Media (Reported week of May 7, 2026) Sable Boulangerie opened as a hyper-focused French pastry concept in a small walk-up building next to Liberty Market in downtown Gilbert. The opening illustrates how extreme product specialization can anchor small-footprint retail in walkable, affluent suburban downtown districts.
Format: small-footprint walk-up space in downtown Gilbert
Office
Dignity Health Signs 25,330-Square-Foot Lease Expansion at Park Central AZ Big Media (Reported week of May 7, 2026) Dignity Health signed a 25,330-square-foot lease expansion on the first floor of the Burgbacher Building at Park Central in Midtown Phoenix. The space will be renovated into an advanced outpatient cardiology center with 39 exam rooms, dual echocardiogram facilities, a nuclear medicine room, and an infusion suite, reinforcing Park Central's position as a hub of the Phoenix Medical Quarter.
Lease size: 25,330 square feet
Use: outpatient cardiology center with 39 exam rooms
Rosendin Electric Acquires 100,622-Square-Foot Chandler Building for Regional HQ AZ Big Media (Reported week of May 7, 2026) Rosendin Electric acquired the 100,622-square-foot Allred Park Place Building 4 at 1450 S. Spectrum Blvd in Chandler, at the Loop 101 and Loop 202 interchange, to serve as its Mountain West regional headquarters. The owner-user acquisition, in which Colliers represented the firm, consolidates engineering, technology, analytics, and Building Information Modeling teams under one roof with a training center and innovation lab.
Building size: 100,622 square feet, owner-user acquisition
Use: Mountain West regional headquarters
Mixed-Use
Mack Real Estate and McCourt Partners Break Ground on $7B Halo Vista in North Phoenix REBusinessOnline (Reported week of May 7, 2026) Mack Real Estate Group and McCourt Partners broke ground on horizontal infrastructure for Halo Vista, a $7 billion mixed-use development spanning 2,300 acres adjacent to the TSMC campus in North Phoenix. The master plan calls for nearly 30 million square feet of industrial, office, retail, residential, and educational uses, with early commitments from Costco and Marriott and a planned 10-dealership auto mall.
Development value: $7 billion across 2,300 acres
Program: nearly 30 million square feet of mixed uses
Hotels
Luxury Hotel Proposed for Cannon Beach Surf Park in Mesa AZBEX (Reported week of May 7, 2026) Proposals advanced for a luxury hotel integrated directly into the Cannon Beach surf park development in Mesa. Affixing lodging to an artificial wave basin and action-sports retail hub creates a captive-audience ecosystem intended to lift average daily rate and revenue per available room by converting a standard stay into a multi-day resort experience.
Concept: luxury hotel integrated with a surf park and action-sports retail
Caliber Companies Advances 114-Room Hyatt Studios Hotel in North Phoenix AZBEX (Reported week of May 7, 2026) A Caliber Companies subsidiary advanced plans for a four-story, 114-room Hyatt Studios hotel on a 2.28-acre commercial pad near 29th Avenue and Sonoran Desert Drive, part of a broader 40-acre master plan. The upscale extended-stay format targets long-term corporate lodging, engineering relocations, and contractor housing tied to the adjacent TSMC ecosystem.
Hotel: 114 rooms across four stories on 2.28 acres
Format: upscale extended-stay (Hyatt Studios)
Connect With Us
We connect with landowners and developers across the Phoenix Metro every day. Whether you are recalibrating a land basis in Buckeye or Pinal County, weighing an office-to-industrial redevelopment play near Sky Harbor, underwriting a stabilized retail or multifamily acquisition, or working through entitlement and infrastructure friction on a mixed-use site, we are available for confidential conversations about how the activity in this brief may affect your business and your pipeline. Reach out to start the conversation.
John Finnegan Senior Vice President | Land (602) 222-5152 | Ramey Peru Senior Vice President | Land (602) 222-5154 |