TUCSON, ARIZONA (September 14, 2026) — The University of Arizona has broken ground on The Catalina, a $247 million student housing development that will provide accommodations for more than 1,300 students when it opens in fall 2028.

Developed and constructed by Mortenson, the nine-story residence hall will feature suite style living arrangements, student programming and support services, and a new dining hall. Gensler is serving as design architect and architect of record.

The Catalina is intended to support the university’s expectation that full-time, first-year students live on campus. Exceptions are available for students who live within 30 miles of campus or face qualifying circumstances or hardships.

“The connection between living on campus and graduating on time is undeniable,” University of Arizona President Suresh Garimella said. “Our students who live on campus for at least one year have a 50 percent higher four year graduation rate than those who never do.”

The project advanced from initial discussions to construction in just seven months. To accelerate the schedule, Mortenson purchased the project site three months early, allowing demolition and site preparation to begin before the July groundbreaking.

Mortenson also arranged tax exempt financing for the development in partnership with Collegiate Housing Foundation. The Catalina represents the foundation’s 73rd student housing project since it began operations in 1996.

An earlier concept proposed in 2025 called for a 19-story student housing complex. The final design reduces the building by 10 floors while increasing its capacity by approximately 100 beds. Rising construction costs were among the factors influencing the redesigned project.

The ownership group includes the University of Arizona and Collegiate Housing Foundation. The project team also includes Power Design as electrical and mechanical engineer, JFN as plumbing engineer and Suntec Concrete as structural engineer.

TUCSON, ARIZONA (Sept. 11, 2026) — Casa Larga Apartments, a 36-unit multifamily property at 6590 E. Golf Links Road in Tucson, has sold for $2.05 million.

Claxton Manor LLC acquired the property from Equilibrium Garden Park II LLC in a transaction that closed September 1, 2026. The sale equates to approximately $56,944 per unit and $152.30 per square foot.

Built in 1979, Casa Larga contains approximately 13,460 square feet in two, two story buildings on just under one acre. The community includes 36 units consisting of 24 studio apartments of approximately 350 square feet and 12 one bedroom, one bath units of approximately 420 square feet. The property also includes a roughly 300 square foot laundry building and a swimming pool. Units are individually metered for electricity, and the roofs were replaced in 2019.

Equilibrium Realty marketed the property for sale. Listing contacts included Nick Tomko, Joe Dietz and Sofonias Astatke as a For Sale By Owner.

The buyer, Claxton Manor LLC of Las Vegas, was represented by Earl Kodrigue, manager.

The transaction involved private financing.

Casa Larga is located in Tucson’s east submarket near Golf Links and Wilmot roads, with nearby retail including Safeway and Walmart Neighborhood Market.

Source: RED Comp #12700

Salt River, AZ (Sept. 11, 2026) — Among the Salt River wild horses, one remarkable band showcases the enduring legacy of a Salt River family. But one band includes something rarely seen in the herd: four generations of the same maternal family living together.

Ms. Shadowfax is the matriarch. Her daughter, Bright Eyes, remains in the band, along with Bright Eyes’ daughter, Moonshadow, and Moonshadow’s young son, Moonfire.

That makes Ms. Shadowfax Moonfire’s great grandmother, Bright Eyes his grandmother and Moonshadow his mother. Four generations of one family are living together in the same band.

Those who have followed the Salt River horses for years know individual horses by their markings, personalities and family histories. Births are recorded, young horses are watched as they mature, and movements between bands are carefully documented. That history is what makes it possible to recognize just how unusual this family is.

Wild horse bands are not fixed family units. Stallions change, young horses leave, mares sometimes move to other bands, and deaths can alter a family group. Having a great grandmother, grandmother, mother and young son remain together gives observers a rare look at a family line spanning four generations.

Their presence in one band does not tell us whether the herd is genetically healthy. That depends on questions such as the identity of the sires, the movement of breeding horses among bands and the genetic diversity of the entire population. Those are among the questions researchers will examine in the independent genetic study now underway.

But the Shadowfax family illustrates something that numbers alone cannot capture. The Salt River herd is made up of individual horses with histories, relationships and family bonds.

Today, Ms. Shadowfax is sharing her band with her daughter, granddaughter and great grandson. That is rare in this herd, and something to celebrate.