Tuesday was Election Day. With all the partisan issues we have had over the past few years, it’s understandable that many Americans are turned off by politics and politicians these days. Yet, we believe that exercising our right to vote is what makes our nation great. Even though these off-year elections tend to have low participation rates, we believe that these election years may even be more important for ours and our children’s futures and so we vote. Well at least 67,000 of us in Tucson did, less than 30%.

We understand the 70% rest of you may have been suffering government overload, or just didn’t find the time in 3-weeks to mail a ballot.

So we would just like to say thank-you to the 30% who did manage to vote on or before Election Day this year. There were no “I Voted” stickers handed out, so please just know your vote did matter to the rest of us voting. We were always taught, if you don’t vote, you can’t complain, so just remember that right is reserved for those who participated and voiced their opinion through a ballot.

2013 CITY OF TUCSON GENERAL ELECTION: INCUMBENTS WIN, PROPOSITIONS PASS – In Tuesday’s election, incumbent City Council Members Karin Uhlich, Richard Fimbres, and Steve Kozachick were re-elected. Propositions 401 and 402, the City’s expenditure limit increase and general plan, passed. 60,679 ballots have been counted, representing about 27% of registered voters in the City of Tucson. About 6,900 ballots, most of which were turned in by voters yesterday at City polling locations, have yet to be counted. “I think this shows what we’ve been doing these past years has re-earned the trust with many of the voters in Tucson,” said Mayor Jonathan Rothschild. “And it’s a good sign for the future.”

VAIL INCORPORATION EFFORT FAILS – About 56% of voters in the proposed town of Vail said no to incorporation in yesterday’s election. About 44% of the community’s voters turned out for the election. Citizens for Vail, the group behind the incorporation effort, had proposed an initial budget of $3.2M, to be funded by state-shared revenue. An opposition group calling itself Vail Incorporation Facts claimed the proposed budget was unrealistic, and that the proposed town’s budget would not be able to sustain levels of municipal service currently provided by Pima County. Law enforcement, road maintenance and other municipal services provided by Pima County in its unincorporated areas are paid for by taxpayers countywide, including residents of the City of Tucson, Marana, Oro Valley, Sahuarita and South Tucson.

SUNNYSIDE OVERRIDE FAILS – 53% of voters in Sunnyside Unified School District said no to a proposed budget override that would have provided an extra $9.3 million annually for seven years. Arizona law limits property tax rates that school districts can impose to fund their budgets. However, the state allows residents to vote for an increase of up to 15 percent on that limit.

MESA VOTERS APPROVE $130M BONDS FOR ROADWAY AND PUBLIC SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS – Voters in the City of Mesa approved two bond questions to fund street and public-safety projects. With 96% of the city’s precincts reporting, plus early ballots, the unofficial returns showed “yes” leading 55.7% to 44.3% for Question 1, which would authorize $51.7 million in capital spending for the police and fire departments. Question 2, authorizing $79.1 million for streets and related infrastructure, had received 56% in favor and 44% opposed.

Economic uncertainty combined with online shopping is having an impact on the metropolitan Phoenix retail market study prepared by CBRE Global Research and Consulting. As evidenced by the amount of available retail space, due in large part, to the change in saving and spending habits and the growing presence of internet sales according to the Q3 2013 market study. At some point consumers will return to a much different market. For now, it is a question of when and how strongly they re-enter the market.

The CBRE metropolitan Phoenix retail market study reflects both shopping centers and buildings greater than 300,000-square-feet. The overall vacancy rate at the end of third quarter was 10.5%, a decline of 50 basis points from 11.3% Valley-wide, one year ago.

The Q3 vacancy rate in metro Phoenix for strip and in-line centers was 18.7%, neighborhood centers reported 12.2% vacancy, followed by community centers with 10.8% vacant space and power centers with 5.9% vacancy. There is currently 415,000-square-feet of retail space under construction in metro Phoenix, compared to 923,475-square-feet one year ago.

The availability of big box space remains a concern for property owners throughout the Phoenix area as the number of available spaces continues to impact vacancy. At the end of Q3 there were 133 spaces greater than 20,000-square-feet, totaling 4.9-million-square-feet of available space. One year ago, there were 135 spaces totaling 5.3-million-square-feet. Premium spaces and locations are receiving considerable interest from retailers.

In Q3, metro Phoenix did not deliver any new retail product. The last time this happened was Q2 2012. As a comparison, the delivery of new retail space in metro Phoenix from 2000 through 2010 average was 5.5-million-square-feet per year with a high point in completions occurring in 2007 when 1.6-million-square-feet of new product was brought to market.

In Q3, metro Phoenix retail market recorded positive absorption of 385,625-square-feet and has absorbed 1.1 million-square-feet with 3.7-million-square-feet of gross activity for the year. The retail market has now recorded positive absorption in eight of the last nine quarters. One year ago, the market absorbed 1.2-million-square-feet with 3.5-million-square-feet of gross activity. In Q3, 10 of the 12 submarkets reported positive absorption led by Northwest Phoenix with 125,715-square-feet and Paradise Valley with 88,152-square-feet. Submarkets with the negative absorption were Sun City with 29,750-square-feet and East Phoenix with 12,155-square-feet.

The average net asking lease rate among existing retail centers in metro Phoenix at the end of Q3 was $15.47 per square foot down from $15.83 at the end of 2012. This compares to $16.10 per square foot one year ago and $15.95 per square foot two years ago. The submarket with the highest average asking rate was Paradise Valley which posted a rate of $24.84 per square foot in Q3.

To read CBRE’s full 3Q Retail report and other 3Q Reports from CBRE in Phoenix and Tucson click here: https://www.cbre.com/en/research/Pages/default.aspx

Construction spending in the US and Arizona unexpectedly fell in March, reflecting the biggest slump for government projects in 11 years according to AZBEX, Arizona’s Builder’s Exchange. Spending on commercial structures was little changed however, dropping 0.3%. The following are open invitations to bid for trades in new construction for the area:

TIs RETAIL SPACE- 5420 E BROADWAY BLVD, STE 210, TUCSON General Contractor, Division II Construction, requests proposals for the 3,460 sq. ft. landlord tenant improvements for Relax the Back at 5420 E Broadway Blvd. in Tucson, 85711. Bids are due by 5/7/2013 at 2:00 PM in the office of general contractor.

New RETAIL SPACE – 3854 W RIVER RD, TUCSON Requests from non-residential subcontractors are needed for new construction of a 3,252 sq. ft. masonry shell building at 3854 W River Road, Marana, AZ 85741 for Massage Envy. Division II Construction is the General Contractor for the project. Bids are due by 5/9/2013 at 2:00 PM in the office of general contractor.

New COUNTY BUILDING – 1250 W SILVERLAKE RD, TUCSON Requests for proposals from all subs are needed for a new 3,000 sq. ft. building at 1250 W Silverlake Rd. in Tucson, 85701 to be occupied as the Pima County Sheriff Departments Training Facility. United Builders is the general contractor for the project. Bids are due to GC by 5/15/2012 at 1:00 PM for a 6/17/2013 project start date to be completed in 120 days, by 10/17/2013. Valuation: $550,000.

New – MEDICAL BUILDING – 3601 S 6TH AVENUE, TUCSON United Builders held a pre-bid walk through for subcontractors for the new 16,000 sq. ft., 2-story, hospital / nursing home being built for Women’s Health OEF/OIF (Building 81) at 3601 S 6th Ave., Tucson 85723. Bids are due to GC by 5/15/2013 at 10:00 AM, for project start date of 6/3/2013 to be completed in 406 days, by 7/31/2014. Valuation: $4.6 million.

For more information on these projects, contact Lynn Catalfamo at Division II Construction (520) 628-1663 ext. 410 or lynn@divisionii.com.

Joy Jensen at United Builders, LLC should be reached at (520) 622-2884 or joy.jensen@unitedbuildersllc.com

To report new construction activity and tenant improvements projects, please email to REDailyNews@outlook.com