Hawthorn Manor community in Chandler earns coveted USGBC Innovative Project Award

CHANDLER, Ariz. – Maracay Homes announced today its Hawthorn Manor community in Chandler, Arizona, was selected as the winner of the Innovative Project, Residential award at the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) Arizona’s 2018 Arizona Leader Awards on Thursday, April 19.

Held during the USGBC’s 6^th annual Heavy Medals Award Ceremony, the Arizona Leader Awards recognizes the leadership of Arizona building owners, designers and construction professionals who have earned LEED® certification. Achievement of LEED® demonstrates a commitment to greater energy, water and waste savings and improves the health and well-being of building occupants and the surrounding environment.

“Maracay’s commitment to constructing environmentally friendly homes began more than a decade ago, and since then, we’ve increased our use of green technology and sustainable building practices in an effort to protect the environment and build a better quality of life for Arizona homebuyers,” said Maracay Homes Product Development Manager Stephen Burris. “This award not only represents a huge achievement in green construction but is a testament to the hard work and dedication that went into the development of Hawthorn Manor and many of Maracay’s other communities.”

Hawthorn Manor is located in the fast-growing south Chandler region, just minutes away from Chandler’s iconic downtown area and major East Valley employment centers, shopping and dining. Each of the 84 homes within the gated enclave is registered with the certification goal of the LEED® Certified designation with the USGBC and has been designed to use 30 to 50 percent less energy than typical homes. The homes also meet the EPA’s Indoor airPLUS specifications and feature water-efficient fixtures, LED lighting, energy-efficient heating and cooling systems, Energy Star® appliances, Wi-Fi enabled, programmable thermostats and much more.

The USGBC Arizona’s annual Heavy Medals Awards luncheon spotlights local green building leaders and recognizes building owners and their teams for extra efforts in accomplishing LEED® certification for their buildings. LEED®-certified buildings support and improve the quality of life for inhabitants and their surrounding environment. Award winners were selected by a local panel for excellence in design and building operations.

Bloomberg and others reported various versions of Subway Restaurants continuing to  close U.S. stores as it expands internationally.

After peppering the nation with thousands of locations, closely held Subway is retrenching. This year, the sandwich purveyor is planning to shut about 500 more of its U.S. company owned shops. Last year, more than 800 stores went dark. It also closed restaurants in 2016.

But it’s also hoping to open as many as 1,000 stores overseas.

The company has 44,000 locations globally — more than any other retailer. The National Retail Federation put its US store count at nearly 27,000 as of 2016, compared to 17,500 for Yum Brands (YUM), which runs Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and KFC, and the 14,000 locations for McDonald’s (MCD).

“We want to be sure that we have the best location,” Chief Executive Officer Suzanne Greco, 60, said in a phone interview. “We focused in the past on restaurant count. We’re focused now on strengthening market share.”

“Store count isn’t everything,” she said. “It’s about growing the business.”

Closing Up Shop

Sandwich chain Subway is pulling back U.S. growth amid more competition

The sandwich shop, founded more than 50 years ago, is struggling to boost sales in the U.S. as newer, more modern chains emerge. Greco said Subway had been hurt by fierce competition in the U.S., including from a resurgent McDonald’s Corp., whose domestic system sales rose 3.4 percent last year, according to data from researcher Technomic. Subway’s fell 4.4 percent.

It’s also now faced with supermarkets and gas stations that are selling more grab-and-go fare, putting immense pressure on Subway to be faster and more convenient. Along with the closures, some locations are being relocated, and Subway is now using data from SiteZeus to choose better real estate, Greco said.

Fast food sales on the other hand are getting hit by the drop in retail foot traffic in the places like malls, as well as the growing demand for healthier food.

Rewards Program

Subway is banking on a new loyalty program, along with menu innovation, to boost traffic. The rewards system, which offers $2 discounts and free items, is available for the chain’s domestic and Canadian locations. It’s also remodeling stores for a sleeker look with touch-screen ordering kiosks.

But the real opportunity for expansion is abroad, Greco said. This year, the chain will add more than 1,000 locations outside of North America, and is focused on growth in countries including the U.K., Germany, South Korea, India, China and Mexico.

Milford, Connecticut-based Subway is owned by Doctor’s Associates Inc. and was founded about 53 years ago by Fred DeLuca and Peter Buck. Greco took over in 2015 after the death of DeLuca, her older brother. The chain, which has about 43,700 stores globally, is entirely owned by franchisees.

While there have been recent management changes at Subway, Greco says she’s not going anywhere.

“Subway is in my blood, I’ve been here since Day One,” she said. “I still have some good years ahead of me.”

For more information click here: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-25/subway-plans-500-u-s-store-closings-while-building-global-reach

TUCSON, ARIZONA — Affiliates of The Clover Group traded into two office properties this month for an aggregate value of $10.75 million, both were buyer’s uplegs in 1031 exchanges.

Maizlich CP Houghton, an affiliate of The Clover Group of Tucson (Paul Kraft, manager), purchased the medical office at 10120 E Old Vail Road in Tucson for $4.035 million ($419 PSF). Constructed in 2016, the building is fully leased long-term to Northwest Hospital for medical offices.

Located within the Houghton Town Center commercial development, adjacent to the Northwest Emergency Center, the 9,631-square-foot building sits on 1.35 acres.

“The neighborhood has positive income demographics, good schools, growing permit activity, and continues to receive significant transportation infrastructure investment,” stated Paul Kraft.

The seller is an affiliate of Diamond Ventures of Tucson, was represented by Marcus & Millichap of Phoenix.

A second office complex at 10445 N Oracle Road in Oro Valley, Rooney Ranch Professional Offices, was also purchased by Maizlich CP Oro Valley, an affiliate of The Clover Group (Paul Kraft, manager) for $6.715 million ($196 PSF).

This attractive 34,237-square-foot multi-tenant office complex in three buildings is located on 3.95 acres in a retail location, with frontage along Oracle Road at the signalized intersection of Oracle Road and Pusch View Lane. The property has a diverse tenant mix of both general office and medical related tenants, across the street from a 565,000-square-foot power center with retailers such as Target, Fry’s, Home Depot and a host of restaurants. Oro Valley is a growing community with positive long term economic/demographic trends.

The seller was Berkeley Land Company of Danville, CA (Michael Mikulich, manager). Greg Guglielmino, Steven Gonzalez and Marcus Muirhead with Lee & Associates of Phoenix handled the transaction for the seller.

The buyer was represented by Swain Chapman of Chapman Management Group.

For more information Guglielmino is at 602.474.9590, Gonzalez can be reached at 602.474.9588 and Muirhead can be contacted at 602.474.9589. Chapman should be reached at 520.622.5544.

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