PHOENIX, ARIZONA – Hines, the international real estate firm, announced today it is constructing a new storage facility in Tempe and plans to break ground on another in Litchfield Park, advancing its strategy of offering Class A storage facilities in high-end urban and suburban communities as a residential amenity.

“Class A self-storage facilities are desirable amenities for upscale residential areas,” said Chris Anderson, senior managing director and Arizona leader for Hines. “Building self-storage projects continues our desire to diversify our portfolio.”

Luis Castellanos, director of Hines’ Self-Storage Platform, added, “These facilities provide a convenient, clean, and secure alternative for people safe-guarding their belongings outside of the home. They also help accommodate small businesses that need flexible storage space near their customers.”

The Tempe facility, located on four acres near the northeast corner of Priest Drive and Warner Road, will be 83,110-square-feet with 640-units. The site will have exclusive covered RV parking to secure owners’ high-end vehicles for extended periods of time. Double AA Builders of Scottsdale is expected to finish the facility’s construction early this fall.

Hines plans to start construction on the 96,000-square-foot Litchfield Park facility next month. It is part of a mixed-use center under development on the southeast corner of Camelback Road and Dysart Road. The facility, located on 4.2 acres, will have 673 units. Construction is expected to finish at the end of 2019.

CubeSmart, a national operator based in Pennsylvania, will manage both the Litchfield Park and Tempe sites’ day-to-day operations. RKAA architects of Phoenix designed the self-storage facilities in Arizona which are air-conditioned and plan to feature amenities like conference rooms, security systems enhanced by artificial intelligence, a fully-automated rental process and personalized access.

Val Vista Storage, Hines’ first self-storage project in Arizona, opened in February 2019 on the northwest corner of Val Vista Drive and Queen Creek Road in Gilbert. The 75,000-square-foot facility has 510-units.

Hines also has multiple self-storage facilities under development in Texas with several others planned throughout Southwestern U.S.

In Arizona, Hines is continuing to diversify its portfolio. In September 2017, Hines announced its first residential project in the state. Called Asteria Highlands, the new gated neighborhood in North Scottsdale will include 40 acres and 31 single-family lots. Hines recently opened the Offices at Chandler Viridian, the capstone to Chandler Viridian, a vibrant 25-acre mixed-use development. It includes the Offices at Chandler Viridian, a Cambria hotel & suites, Broadstone Fashion Center luxury apartments, sophisticated retail offerings at Chandler Viridian PRIMEGATE and a pedestrian promenade to the Chandler Fashion Center mall. Also in the Phoenix market, Hines owns Kierland One, a Class A 175,441-square-foot office building in the North Scottsdale Airpark submarket, and Goodyear Crossing II, a Class A industrial warehouse in Goodyear. Hines provides property management services for Renaissance Square, a two-building, high-rise office complex in downtown Phoenix.

PIMA COUNTY — Charles “Chuck” Hill is the fourth recipient of the Chuck Catino Community Leadership Award, named for the longtime volunteer and founder of the Born Again Jocks Association (BAJA) Sporting Club. Pima County District 4 Supervisor Steve Christy presented the award to Hill at the May 7 Board of Supervisors meeting.

Hill’s record of community service is extensive. The Michigan native is an active volunteer with the Green Valley Fire Corps, Green Valley Recreation Camera Club, the Southern Arizona Mountain Bike Association and the Santa Cruz Valley Bicycle Advocate Committee, among others.

With the Camera Club, Hill organizes four to five multimedia presentations per year for 800-plus members and assists fellow photographers with their equipment. Hill also has given some 2,500 hours of support to the Green Valley Fire District as a field trainer, active recruiter, grant writer and photographer at District events. In addition, the biking and hiking communities of Green Valley know him well.

“Whether he is volunteering for the Green Valley Fire Corps, working on bike trails, leading community safety grants, or championing the Ride of Silence in hopes of improving bicycle safety awareness, Chuck is an ‘energizer bunny’ who simply wants to make people and the community around him better,” wrote Chuck Wunder, fire chief of the Green Valley Fire District.

Hill also was a regular at twice-monthly trail work events to complete the Arizona National Scenic Trail between Hope Camp in Saguaro National Park and the Coronado National Forest in Santa Rita Mountains.

Hill never came alone to the trail-building activities, wrote Mark Flint, Trails Program coordinator for Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation. “He usually had three or four friends from Green Valley with him. Apparently, he could be pretty persuasive.”

The Catino Award isn’t the first time Hill has been on the receiving end of honors. The Tucson-Pima County Bicycle Advisory Committee named him their Bicycle Advocate of the Year in 2012. The Green Valley Fire Corps honored him as Volunteer of the Year in 2016. A year later, the Rotary Club of Green Valley gave him their Community Service Award for outstanding volunteer service.

Nominees for the Catino Award must be at least 45 years of age and be unpaid volunteers. Nominations are accepted each fall, then candidates are recommended to the Parks and Recreation Commission in February. Contact Valerie Samoy at 520-724-5220 for details.

PIMA COUNTY — The Pima County Board of Supervisors on May 7 gave the green light for the County to seek more than $3 million in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) funds for dozens of community projects. The Supervisors also signed off on the Community Development and Neighborhood Conservation Department’s Annual Action Plan, which details proposed local community development projects and activities that use CDBG and ESG funds for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

In all, Pima County staff expects to receive $3,178,620 in CDBG and ESG funding for dozens of agencies that provide services countywide and specifically to remote and rural areas. On the upper end of funding, CDNC will allocate $650,000 for the Pima County Home Repair Program to assist qualified homeowners in need while the City of South Tucson’s Community Cleanup and Green Program received the smallest allocation among funded programs, $5,000, to help beautify neighborhoods.

“This kind of funding is extremely important, especially in our most rural communities as it provides outcome-driven grant resources that local agencies need to deliver basic human services or to complete necessary capital improvements to existing community facilities,” Interim CDNC Director Daniel Tylutki said. “The HUD, CDBG, ESG and HOME funded activities typically leverage other funding, two-to-one, for the benefit of low-income, homeless, and certain special needs residents.”

The County also should receive $949,026 through the Consortium HOME Investment Partnership Program, a joint effort with the City of Tucson to promote affordable housing initiatives. Funding for each program depends on final congressional budget approval.