MARANA, AZ (September 30, 2025) — Richmond American Homes of Arizona has made another decisive move in the Northwest Tucson housing market at Saguaro Reserve at Dove Mountain, acquiring more than 100 residential lots in the Saguaro Reserve subdivisions at Dove Mountain.

On September 4, Richmond American closed on two related transactions totaling $7.73 million, securing 118 platted and engineered lots across Saguaro Reserve II and III.

The first purchase involved 34 lots in Saguaro Reserve III for $2.55 million, or roughly $75,000 per lot, from Pusch Ridge Christian Academy, Inc. The 50.27-acre site, located along West Saguaro Perch Way, was sold as a fully engineered and platted subdivision intended for single-family home construction.

The second deal was significantly larger: 84 lots spanning Saguaro Reserve II and III were acquired for $5.18 million, or about $61,666 per lot, from longtime Dove Mountain master developer Cottonwood Properties, Inc. This transaction was structured as part of a double escrow and rolling option, underscoring Cottonwood’s ongoing land disposition strategy and Richmond’s aggressive lot-take-down program at Dove Mountain.

Saguaro Reserve is one of Dove Mountain’s most sought-after enclaves, designed exclusively for single-story desert living. The community features contemporary ranch-style homes with options for RV garages, expansive lots, and proximity to trails, golf, and preserved open space. Richmond American has been actively building in the neighborhood, offering floorplans between 1,700 and 3,500 square feet, with 2–5 bedrooms.

Part of Dove Mountain’s larger 6,000-acre master plan, Saguaro Reserve benefits from its scenic mountain setting, top-ranked golf courses, and extensive preserved desert lands. Residents also enjoy convenient access to Marana’s retail centers, employment corridors, and I-10, making the area attractive to both year-round residents and seasonal buyers.

Richmond American’s expansion continues a trend of strong builder activity in Northwest Tucson. Earlier this year, the company acquired 90 lots in Saguaro Reserve III for more than $8.3 million, as part of a rolling option agreement for a total of 236 lots. The latest purchases bring Richmond closer to full build-out of its planned footprint in Dove Mountain, where demand for high-quality housing remains robust.

With competition among national and regional builders intensifying in the submarket, these deals highlight both Richmond American’s commitment to growth and Dove Mountain’s enduring appeal as one of Southern Arizona’s premier master-planned communities.

Source: RED Comps #12099 and #12101

Industrial Center in Peoria Features Freeway Visibility and Full Occupancy

Phoenix (September 30, 2025) – The Initial Development Company, an Arizona-based real estate firm, has purchased Olive 101 Industrial Center for $18.1 million. The property, located at 8700 N. 91st Ave. in Peoria, was constructed in 2024 and is fully leased.

“Initial Development is excited to add Olive 101 to our Metro Phoenix portfolio, complementing our Southport asset in the Sky Harbor submarket,” says David Baum of Initial Development. “These investments demonstrate our commitment to modern, high-quality facilities that fuel business growth and strengthen the community.”

“This buyer was attracted to the impeccable construction of the facility and its abundant power offerings,” says Brian Ackerman, executive vice president at Colliers. “The appealing in-fill location, irreplaceable freeway visibility and long-term leases of the fully occupied property created an ideal investment opportunity.”

Ackerman, Brian Gleason, and Melissa Marks of Colliers handled the sale transaction. Colosseum AZ, LLC sold the property to The Initial Development Company.

Olive 101 includes a single industrial building totaling 75,549 square feet of space and situated on 4.76 acres. The property is located in Peoria, just off the Loop 101 Freeway at the Olive Avenue exit.

Completed in 2024, the building offers 3,600 amps of 3-phase power and a ceiling clear height of 24 feet. The facility features two dock-high loading doors and five grade-level doors. The property is fully leased by two tenants, MajorPower and Flame Gymnastics.

TUCSON, AZ (September 30, 2025) — The University of Arizona’s Eller College of Management has once again put Southern Arizona on the national stage. In U.S. News & World Report’s 2026 Best Colleges rankings, Eller’s Management Information Systems (MIS) undergraduate program is No. 2 overall and No. 1 among public universities, sustaining a decades-long run near the top of the field.

Eller’s new undergraduate business analytics major, which officially launched in Fall 2025, made an immediate splash, debuting at No. 28 nationally and No. 12 among publics. That’s a notable first-year showing for a program designed to meet fast-rising employer demand for data literacy across finance, logistics, health, and defense.

Beyond those headline programs, Eller notched strong placements across several disciplines. Entrepreneurship ranked No. 23 overall and No. 8 public, Accounting placed No. 37 overall and No. 17 public, and Economics came in at No. 44 overall and No. 15 public. As a college, Eller’s overall undergraduate business program ranked No. 32 nationally and No. 21 among publics—a solid indicator of breadth beneath the marquee specialties.

Why this matters for the business community: rankings are not just bragging rights—they’re a signal to employers, investors, and recruits that Southern Arizona’s talent pipeline is deepening in exactly the areas where the economy is growing. The region’s employers increasingly seek graduates who can translate data into decisions, build secure information systems, and navigate the economics of growth. Eller’s MIS program has been a steady national leader—one of only a few to maintain top-five status since U.S. News began ranking MIS in 1989—while analytics provides a complementary on-ramp for students whose strengths are statistics, coding, and applied problem-solving.

The timing also aligns with the needs of Southern Arizona’s economy. From advanced manufacturing and aerospace/defense to healthcare and logistics, employers are modernizing operations and digitizing workflows. MIS graduates arrive with a grounding in systems analysis, data management, cybersecurity, and product implementation—skills that shorten the time from onboarding to impact. Analytics majors bring modeling, visualization, and experimentation capabilities to bear on everything from revenue forecasting to supply-chain planning. Pair those strengths with Eller’s recognized programs in entrepreneurship, accounting, and economics, and local companies gain a spectrum of business competencies under one roof.

For students, the cross-over is equally essential: an MIS capstone may partner with a local utility on data governance; an analytics practicum might help a regional hospital system optimize patient flow; an entrepreneurship team could pilot a go-to-market plan for a Tucson startup. The result is a two-way pipeline—businesses secure applied solutions and a preview of the next cohort of hires, while students graduate with experience that reads like a first job, not just a class project.

If you’re an employer, now is the time to plug in. In practical terms, that can mean posting internships and entry-level roles early, sponsoring projects that let students work on real datasets, or guest-lecturing to shape curricula around emerging tools and standards. The college’s career team can help scope engagements that fit a company’s capacity, whether you’re a five-person startup or a Fortune 500 division.

The bottom line: Eller’s latest rankings confirm what many Southern Arizona employers already see on the shop floor and in the back office—a steady stream of job-ready graduates who can move seamlessly between technology and business. With MIS at No. 2 overall / No. 1 public, analytics newly ranked in the top 30, and strong showings in entrepreneurship, accounting, and economics, Eller is positioning Tucson as a destination not only for students, but for companies that want to hire, grow, and stay here.

The region’s growth makes this workforce imperative. As Southern Arizona adds people and jobs, the pressure mounts to deliver infrastructure that is reliable, affordable, and future-ready. That won’t happen with engineering alone; it requires the connective tissue of information systems and analytics to plan, prioritize, fund, and operate assets over decades. Eller’s rankings signal that this talent is not just available, it’s being cultivated at scale right here at home. That’s what rankings look like when they turn into results.

Sources: Eller College announcements and rankings pages summarizing U.S. News & World Report 2026 undergraduate rankings.

PHOTO: Courtesy of Southern Arizona Chamber