A one-time elementary school building originally built around 1970 in southwest Phoenix may soon be demolished to make way for a larger industrial park. Located at 1441 South 27th Avenue, the former Alfred Garcia Elementary School has been vacant for the last three years, after Murphy School District officials discovered elevated levels of lead in parts of the structure. Now Merit Partners of Phoenix, which specializes in the development of industrial and corporate parks, has announced plans to build an industrial park at the site. That park, after the leveling of the school, will see the building of two separate structures, one measuring 188,000 square feet, and the second coming in at 65,000 square feet. The project will also include the creation of new parking space bordered by rows of trees. The South 27th Avenue industrial park project makes particularly sense given that the site is located in a part of the city populated with warehouses, garages, and industrial structures. Architect for the project is the Butler Design Group of Phoenix. Members of the Phoenix Planning Commission are expected to review the project later this month, before it is sent to the city council for final approval. By Garry Boulard
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Members of the Millennial generation now make up the largest segment of home buyers in the country, according to a new report issued by the National Association of Realtors. According to the U.S. Census, people defined as Millennials were born between 1981 and 1996 and now number 72.6 million. In terms of their home buying numbers, they now represent 43% of the market, up by 6% over 2021, and are by far the largest generational presence in the market. The NAR report, 2022 Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends, indicates that not only are the Millennials now a lucrative group for realtors, but one solidly connected, with 65% having purchased a home that they found on the internet. Even so, members of the generations stretching from the Baby Boomers, defined as those born between 1946 and 1964, and Generation X, born between 1965 and 1980, overwhelmingly continue to purchase homes through traditional realtors. In a statement, Jessica Lautz, vice president of demographics for the NAR, remarked that “some young adults have used the pandemic to their financial advantage by paying down debt and cutting the cost of rent by moving in with family.” Those same young adults, continued Lautz, “are now jumping headfirst into homeownership.” In a pattern dating back to the late 1940s, the NAR study also revealed that the vast majority of home buyers were, at 60%, married couples. The second largest component, at 19%, was made up of single females, with single males representing 9% of the buyers. While their numbers in the home buying market are strong and give every appearance of growing, the Millennials are also a generation challenged by debt. Most likely because of a student debt of $28,000, some 27% of this group indicated that they were having a difficult time saving up for a down payment on a house. By Garry Boulard A massive three-story, 154,000 square foot structure that up until very recently was the home to a Macy’s store in Bolder may soon be substantially renovated. Located in the Twenty Ninth Street shopping center, the building has been sold to two developers for $32 million. Those developers, the Corum Real Estate Group of Denver and New York-based Fair Street Partners, are taking on the project as a joint venture officially called Boulder 29 LLC. Plans call for a comprehensive repurposing of the structure, which will include the creation of both office and retail space, as well as an upgrading of an existing outdoor plaza adjacent to the mall. The larger mall housing the former Macy’s was opened in 1982. Early this year, Macy’s officials announced the closing of the outlet as part of a larger regional plan discontinuing ten stores this year, with a total of sixty stores expected to end operations by the fall of next year. Work is expected to start on the repurposing project by late spring, with an anticipated late 2023 completion date. By Garry Boulard |
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