Payday Auto Loan Building Sold at 3670 East Grant Road to City of Tucson for $420,000

TUCSON, Arizona – When we saw the sale of a property at the southeast corner of Chrysler and Grant Road we got a bit excited and thought it would be a good time for an update on the Grant Road Widening project. You remember, the the Grant Road Improvement Project, the one the voters approved with its half-cent sales tax funding back in May 2006 as part of a $2.1 billion Regional Transportation (RTA) plan, the one that has displaced people with  several delays but the City.

The improvements to the five-mile section of Grant Road between Oracle and Swan Roads include widening to six lanes with bike lanes, and streetscape and pedestrian improvements to create a state of the art, multi-modal transportation corridor we’ve been promised. So this is what we know now.

Rick Borane of Volk Company represented the seller, Elizabeth J Wong Trust in its sale of a 1,324-square-foot building and 18,690-square-feet of land at 3670 East Grant Road to the City of Tucson for $420,000 ($22.47 PSF). The property was leased to PayDay Auto Loans at time of sale.

Construction of the improvements for Phase I was the Oracle intersection and was substantially completed in December 2013. Phase II from Stone to Park began in March 2017 and is expected to be completed this summer, by the end of August 2018.

The property that was recently sold is located with Phases III & IV scheduled for fiscal year 2022-2026. That’s right, there’s no further visible progress planned for the next four years we were told by the City. The City is currently doing real estate acquisitions between Alvernon and Swan and for phases V & VI from Campbell to Country Club.  Expect design plans to be finalized sometime this fall 2018 for public viewing.

Construction cost estimate for Phase III & IV is $31 million.  (See Grant Road DCR appendix phase 3 & 4)

Construction of Phase III & IV is projected to be concurrently with phases V & VI from Campbell to Country Club in the RTA construction period four – fiscal year 2022-2026 with an additional cost of $30 million.

For additional information on the property sale, contact Borane at 520.495.2240 and for updates on Grant Road go to www.grantroad.info

To learn more, see RED Comp #5929.

TUCSON, Arizona – Amazon recently paid $11.6 million ($145,926 per acre / $3.35 PSF) for its 79.5-acre site at  6701 S Kolb Road in Tucson within the 767-acre Century Park Research Center, an active inland port of Tucson in an active Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) and an Arizona Enterprise Zone, both of which provide certain duty and tax benefits.

The building will consist of 857,388-square-feet of warehouse storage and office facility with three levels of mezzanines, totaling 1,196,161-square-feet and an additional process mezzanine of 265,049-square-feet.  The entire project will have 63 loading docks, nearly 400 transport trailer parking spaces, along with 2,500 standard parking spaces, on the site.

An additional 15 acres has also been set aside for future expansion for Amazon at Century Park.

Amazon did request that the location be annexed into the City of Tucson, which will happen when the building is completed.  The project is being developed by Seefried Industrial Properties.

According to research by CBRE Los Angeles-based industrial research, the land cost component of such warehouse development has risen and can represent more than half of a project’s total construction cost, which ranges from $45 to $170 per square-foot.

However, rising construction costs have not constrained new warehouse development due to the strong demand and limited supply of modern logistics facilities.

Through the first 21 weeks of 2018, U.S. rail carloads were up 1.2% annually at 5,414,483, and intermodal containers and trailers up 5.9% at 5,736,006. Intermodal Carload Volumes 2018, according to the Intermodal Report by Association of American Railroad AAR.

Amazon’s Tucson fulfillment center will bring with it 1,500 full-time associates with competitive wages and comprehensive benefits package including healthcare, 401(k) and company stock awards starting on day one.

To learn more, see RED Comp #5813.

SAHUARITA, Arizona — With the unanimously approval by Pima County Board of Supervisors on June 19, the acquisition of 3.227 acres of land from Sahuarita Unified School District for $621,509 ($4.42 PSF) for the new Sahuarita Library can proceed. Purchasing this property allows the County to build the Sahuarita Regional Library in a central location accessible to Sahuarita residents.

A new 20,000-square-foot library will replace a school baseball field. It was expected to open in mid-2019 and is now expected to open Sept. 21, 2020.

The purchase price for the property at $621,509 reflects a middle point between two recent appraisals. The Library District’s appraisal came back at $560,000 and the Sahuarita School District’s at $675,000.

Located across from the current library at 725 W Via Rancho Sahuarita Road, the new library site is next to the Fry’s gas station at the northwest corner of West Salome Loop and Sahuarita Road.

The county’s lease on the current 2,000-square-foot modular building expires in June 2019 but Rancho Sahuarita Developer, Sharpe and Associates has agreed to extend the lease for the County.

“The Sahuarita Regional Library will be a vibrant center for community connection with programs and services for people of all ages,” said Pima County Public Library Deputy Director Michelle Simon. “Sahuarita residents have eagerly anticipated the construction of this library and we look forward to becoming an integral link in the fabric of the community.”

The purchased property is currently located in the Sahuarita School District Campus. Once built, the library’s close proximity to the existing schools will provide for easy accessibility to students and residents alike. Simon added the location will also be conducive to collaborative partnerships with the local school district, community organizations, and the Town of Sahuarita.

Holly Schaffer, community relations manager for Pima County Public Library, said the land purchase process took longer because the library had to revisit a proposal from the Town of Sahuarita.

Breaking ground for the new library could start at the end of summer or early next year, according to Schaffer. The library wants to secure an architect by July 1 with neighborhood meetings planned for input on the design. From there, the project will take about 23 months, she said.

Construction of the Sahuarita Regional Library will be funded through the Library District Tax Levy, according to county documents.