Annual awards honor prominent projects, developers and builders in residential sustainability 

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Maracay has been named a Power Builder by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) as a part of the LEED Homes Awards, an annual honor celebrating residential projects, developers and builders using LEED to improve quality of life for residents, reduce a building’s impact on the environment, and create healthier and more resilient communities. The winners of the LEED Homes Awards include multi-family, single-family and affordable housing projects and companies who utilized innovative and effective sustainability methods in residential spaces in 2018.

In 2018 and thus far in 2019, Maracay has constructed more than 300 LEED-certified homes and launched 10 new home communities with all LEED-certified homes. Maracay is also the only large-scale production homebuilder in the Greater Phoenix Area constructing LEED-certified homes and is the third largest single-family LEED homebuilder in the nation.

“Our commitment to green building began more than a decade ago with building all Energy Star® certified homes and continues to grow and evolve through programs such as LEED and Indoor airPLUS,” said Andy Warren, Maracay President. “We recognize the importance of homes being healthy and sustainable for both families and the planet, which is why we continue to be the Arizona builder families can trust for carefully crafted homes that meet the highest standards of sustainable new home construction.”

LEED Homes Power Builders are an elite group of developers and builders that have exhibited an outstanding commitment to LEED and the green building movement within the residential sector. Each Power Builder successfully certified 75 percent or more of their homes and residential units in 2018.

“LEED is known for setting the highest standards for the sustainability and performance of buildings, and it plays an even more important role when it’s applied to our personal spaces – our homes,” said Mahesh Ramanujam, president and CEO, USGBC. “We are seeing more and more homeowners and builders make the important decision to pursue LEED, and USGBC is committed to continue building on the success of the residential market.”

LEED-certified homes are designed to use 30–50 percent less energy than typical homes. Maracay offers homes that meet the EPA’s Indoor airPLUS specification and feature water-efficient fixtures, LED lighting, energy-efficient heating and cooling systems, Energy Star® appliances, tankless water heaters, and Wi-Fi-enabled, programmable thermostats. Additionally, the homes feature Maracay’s proprietary LivingSmart® program for maximum performance and cost efficiency.

For more information on Maracay and its green building practices, please visit www.MaracayHomes.com.

PHOENIX, ARIZONA  – A stellar group of 19 protégés was honored recently as the NAIOP Arizona Developing Leaders Young Professional Group (YPG) Mentor Program hosted graduation for the 2018-2019 class at Citizen Public House.

Mentors and protégés gathered June 10 in Scottsdale for a reception, presentations and dinner. The 19 protégés, grouped into four teams, pitched development proposals on their choice of two sites: Cactus Commerce Center, an industrial development; and Summit Business Park, an office development.

Teams were matched throughout the 9-month program and created a development and business plan for the site. The program culminated with project presentations to equity sources, pitching them to invest in their respective deals.

NITTA Commerce Center took home top honors. The proposal was to take down the site in four phases and develop a combination of industrial, flex space and retail. Future phases incorporated self-storage and cold storage.

Team members included Ryan Donahue, Lovitt-Touche; Mark Esslinger, Colliers; Matt Field, Ryan Companies US; Lauren Fisher, Deutsch Architecture Group; Jake Hanvey, Willmeng Construction; and Aaron Kimberlin, McShane Companies. John Orsak of Lincoln Property Company was mentor of the winning team.

“This program is truly a great opportunity for the participating protégés to gain a better perspective of the various aspects of real estate development,” said mentor Cathy Thuringer of Trammell Crow Company. “I have served as a mentor for the last four years and continue to be a huge advocate of the program for the valuable insight it provides young professionals into the complicated world of development.”

Additional mentors were Megan Creecy-Herman, Prologis; and Molly Carson, Ryan Companies US. Serving on the Investment Committee (judging panel) were Cooper Fratt, CBRE; Gary Anderson, Cushman & Wakefield; Pat Devine, Artis REIT; and Jeanine Jerkovic, City of Surprise Economic Development.

Program chair was Cullen Mahoney of Trammell Crow Company. Co-chairs were Josh Tracy, Ryan Companies US; and Mollie Zemer, Barclay Group.

“The YPG program is educational, collaborative and offers participants a better understanding of how all the pieces of a development come together,” Zemer said. “We had four great presentations this year, all groups chose industrial for this site and each pitch was unique in its offering.”

The rest of the protégés include Alyssa Altosino, Cushman & Wakefield; Justin Arnitz, Lincoln Property Company; Shane Coppedge, Brycon; Tanner Ferrandi, CBRE; Connor Maloney, Transwestern; Matthew Miceli, Midfirst Bank

Juan Montoya, Okland Capital; Michael Mulé, Wells Fargo; Cody Pillsbury, Layton Construction; Nico Rochwalik, JOKAKE Construction; Patrick Schrimsher, Cushman & Wakefield; Massimo Sommacampagna, CIMA Holdings, LLC; and Drew Wenger, FCI Constructors, Inc.

Applications for the 2019-2020 NAIOP YPG Mentor Program will be available in September. All NAIOP members who are age 35 or under qualify to participate in the Developing Leaders program, whether they joined through the DL membership category or as part of a corporate membership.

MESA, Arizona — Technology giant Google is coming to Mesa, lured by a tax incentive agreement to build a massive data center in the emerging Elliot Road Technology Corridor.

Monday evening, The Mesa City Council voted to approve an agreement giving Google the go-ahead to build on a data center within five years.

Negotiations were on a development agreement for the 186 acres at Elliot and Sossaman roads. City staff recommended approval of the agreement on the $1 billion, three-phase, 750,000-square-foot Red Hawk project. The sides had been engaged in deep negotiations for the past year.

The East Valley city already is home to Apple, AT&T and Boeing, which are all in top  50 of Fortune magazine’s ratings.

The parcel, owned by the longtime Gilbert-area ranching and dairy Morrison family, was rezoned in April to allow for use by a data center.

Salary projections of full-time employees was a minimum of $65,000. Jobs at the site were expected to includes systems administrators, technicians, facilities works and support, some from outside sources.

The “GPLET,’’ or Government Property Lease Excise Tax, would be in effect for 25 years approved by the council.

The city would be the deed holder for those years and get back more than $30 million of indirect taxes, as opposed to nearly $49 million if Google were to build the data center without the tax incentive.

Google could take up to 10 years to finish construction.