PHOENIX, ARIZ. (December 1, 2023) – NAIOP Arizona, the state’s leading commercial real estate association, today released its 2024 public policy agenda with a focus on issues that will determine the region’s ability to continue attracting investment, tenants, and new businesses to our market.
These challenges include water supply, transportation infrastructure, air quality, and housing.
NAIOP is committed to proactively engaging with policymakers on measures and policy decisions that affect business attraction, economic growth, and the broader commercial real estate development industry. NAIOP’s policy agenda aims to find solutions to pressing issues and drive meaningful improvements to Arizona’s policy landscape.
“Arizona is at a pivotal moment. The policy decisions of today will have long lasting impacts on the state’s future,” said NAIOP Director of Government Relations John Baumer. “Our goal is to ensure the commercial real estate industry and its economic impacts are understood, and our perspectives are incorporated into resulting policy solutions. We aim to be a trusted resource to policymakers at all levels to maintain Arizona’s position as an attractive environment for business and investment.”
Misleading national headlines muddy Arizona’s longstanding track record as a leader in water management and have real repercussions on development and business attraction. NAIOP will collaborate with government entities and stakeholders to ensure continued growth and development while identifying innovative solutions to secure Arizona's current and future water needs.
NAIOP will also work to ensure members’ expertise is incorporated into proposed water management solutions and reflective of the complexities of commercial development.
In the 2023 legislative session, lawmakers authorized Maricopa County to call for an election to extend the vitally important half-cent sales tax that funds transportation infrastructure. NAIOP Arizona is a proud member of the Connect-Maricopa campaign executive committee and is fully committed to supporting the passage of Prop. 479 in November 2024. Transportation infrastructure is crucial to Arizona’s continued success, and emergence as a Tier 1 city.
With impending federal action on air quality standards, NAIOP Arizona will support policies and initiatives that meaningfully improve air quality without needlessly hampering economic growth. NAIOP will partner with regulators, stakeholders, and the broader business community to identify ways to come into compliance with National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) and support efforts to modernize and improve the Clean Air Act.
Addressing Arizona’s housing shortage is a priority for NAIOP. Statewide, employers and residents struggle with low supply in the face of continued migration to Arizona. NAIOP is committed to working with local governments to find innovative solutions that allow for continued multifamily development.
A major challenge to multifamily development is the misconceptions associated with NIMBY-ism and the opposition to higher density zoning. NAIOP, local governments, and community organizations must work collaboratively to combat these misguided perceptions and advocate for a robust and well-rounded housing supply in Arizona.
“Having John as our first ever, full-time Director of Government Relations enables us to step on the gas at the exact moment when the CRE industry most needs enhanced representation at the state capitol and with local governments,” said Suzanne Kinney, President and CEO of NAIOP Arizona. “The policies enacted over the next one to three years will impact our industry’s trajectory and our market’s competitiveness well into the future.”
NAIOP Arizona looks forward to working collaboratively with legislators, local elected officials, business stakeholders and community partners to find common ground on these important policy issues and implement creative solutions that make Arizona a great state to work, live and recreate.