Real Estate Recovery Has Brought Renovation and Redevelopment to Popular Submarket

Scottsdale, Arizona  – Colliers International in Arizona has released its Greater Scottsdale Airpark 2030 Report, which highlights market conditions and predictions for the popular Scottsdale Airpark submarket. The area is experiencing more mixed-use development, as well as significant renovation and redevelopment of its valuable property.

“The Scottsdale Airpark still has some runway left in this post-recession cycle,” says Jim Keeley, SIOR, CCIM, founding partner of the Scottsdale Office of Colliers International in Arizona. “The development community has demonstrated restraint during the past 10 years, avoiding an overbuilt situation during this strong cycle. Much of the investment dollars in this submarket have been applied to refurbishing, re-purposing and tearing down obsolete buildings for future development.”

Some of these renovated and re-purposed projects include YAM Circle, a new 17,800-square-foot shopping center at the corner of Hayden Road and Northsight Boulevard. This replaces the torn down former Harley-Davidson of Scottsdale site that was vacated when Harley-Davidson built the world’s largest dealership across the street in 2015. Texas-based At Home purchased and is redeveloping the former Sam’s Club on the east side of the Scottsdale Airport. Adjacent to this new At Home store will be a re-purposed 13.1-acre site. This former Whole Foods & Sports Chalet site will soon be home to a mixture of apartments, self-storage, retail and restaurants.

Keeley points out in the report that mixed-use developments have become a focal point of commercial real estate throughout the nation. The success of Kierland and the Scottsdale Quarter has been impressive. People are interested in destinations that draw residents, tenants, visitors and patrons to a pedestrian-friendly community where you can “live, work & play.”

“The Greater Scottsdale Airpark in general has been one large mixed-use development, with the addition of a large number of apartments and condominiums,” says Keeley. “The Scottsdale Airport and its new, $27 million Aviation Business Center make this submarket one of the best business districts in the Southwest United States.”

Scottsdale Airpark attracted some big deals in the last year. Nationwide Insurance Company purchased 134 acres at Loop 101/Hayden Road to build a 950,000-square-foot, mixed-use project. The first phase will include 460,000 square feet of regional headquarters, restaurants and a hotel. During the fourth quarter of 2018, Airobotics, a dynamic Israeli drone company, opened its US headquarters on Raintree Boulevard. Finally, Scottsdale-based Ammo Incorporated has continued its nationwide expansion within the sporting industry. The company has turned its focus to the defence munitions sector with the acquisition of SW Kenetics.

Keeley predicts that 2019 will bring ground-breaking of one or two additional mixed-use projects in the Greater Scottsdale Airpark. Properties will be sold on the investment market as current owners work to capitalize on the strong, current cycle. He forecasts higher occupancy in all building sectors and rising rental rates.

The report, which was started in 1981 and named the 2010 Report, has been a fixture in commercial real estate reporting for the Greater Scottsdale Airpark. In that base year of 1981, the submarket had 3,320 employees, 1,580,000 square feet of buildings and 268 companies. Today, the Airpark has approximately 59,132 employees, 43,887,549 square feet of space and approximately 3,233 companies. As Keeley looks forward, he envisions the year 2030 will offer a Scottsdale Airpark that employs 82,000 people in 53 million square feet of office, flex, industrial, medical, retail, multi-family, hotels and car dealership properties. By that date, he estimates the area will be home to 4,100 companies.

For full report: 2030 Report 2019_FINAL (4 pgs)

Phoenix, Ariz. – The Phoenix office of Lee & Associates Arizona currently has the largest number of young recruits in its history since being established in 1991, and as a result, has launched a unique training program with the help of industry veteran Pete Bolton.

As more young professionals and college graduates pursue careers in commercial real estate brokerage following the rebound from the financial crisis, there’s a growing need to attract and train the next generation of brokers. The goal is to establish the most professional state-of-the-art training program in the industry to give junior-level brokers just entering the business the tools and training necessary to succeed.

Bringing more than 30 years of brokerage leadership experience, Bolton will train a group of more than 12junior-level brokers through 90-minute classes throughout the year on varying topics with input from Jerry Marrell, principal and designated broker at Lee & Associates Arizona.

“In addition to selling skills,”Marrell said, “emphasize will also be on time management, financing and coping with a commission-based career as well as building long-standing relationships.”

Having developed training programs for brokerage firms at a national level, Bolton said, “Much of the training is centered around learning and applying a focus on attitude, motivation and transferring that into determination.”

The 2018 NAIOP-AZ Award of Excellence winner and president of Pete Bolton Company specializes in giving businesses a strategic advantage through individualized training.

He added, “Top performers and producers are often supported and given opportunities for continued success, but for a boutique brokerage firm to make this commitment to the team beginning their career with them is a unique offering that is exciting to be a part of delivering.”

The curriculum will also cover topics such as goal setting, business planning, emotional intelligence, presentation skills, leadership skills and creating work-life balance in a fast-paced career of brokerage.

The emphasis on training and mentoring associates towards being principals at Lee & Associates’ Phoenix office takes new form through Bolton’s junior broker training program, but the goal to attract and train the best talent remains constant.

As the nation’s largest broker-owned CRE service firm, all principals at Lee & Associates are part owners, making them personally invested in the company’s success while also motivating the young recruits. So far at the Phoenix office, 12 associates have been promoted to principals, which brings the office total to 38.

TUCSON, ARIZ. —  MK Tucson Properties, owner of Skin Appeal, purchased expansion space at 1700 East Fort Lowell Rd. Ste. #101 & #102 in Tucson for $723,150 ($136 PSF).

The additional 5,317-square-feet in two condominiums were constructed in 2000 in the Fort Lowell Condominiums and will allow expansion for Skin Appeal located currently in suite 108.

James P. Robertson Jr., MBA, CCIM, Associate Broker: Investment & Commercial Brokerage with Realty Executives Tucson Elite, assisted MK Tucson Properties, LLC, in their purchase.

“This property was ideal for MK Tucson Properties, LLC,” said Robertson, “allowing them to operate/manage their business out of this location and still be convenient to their clients. At $136 per square-foot, the additional 5,317-sqaure-feet was an opportunity to both parties.”

The seller’s agent, Alex Hardie with Buzz Isaacson Realty assisted in facilitating the transaction.

For additional information, Robertson should be reached at 520.331.5466 and Isaacson and Hardie can be contacted at 520.529.1300.

To learn more, see RED Comp #6622.