1. Sun City Home & Health Show set for April 12.
The Chamber conducts seven Home & Health shows/Expos each year. The Chamber will end its spring line-up with its Sun City show on April 12. Sun City is the largest retirement community in Arizona. The Celebrating Community Home & Heath show is the Chamber's flagship direct-to-consumer Expo designed to help a business grow and reach more customers in the West Valley! More Info
2. Dignity Health eyes Prasada parcel in Surprise to build a new hospital
Dignity Health is considering buying a 22-acre parcel at Prasada in Surprise in an effort to develop a West Valley campus.
"Dignity Health is considering purchasing a plot of land in Surprise to construct a general acute care hospital and medical office space," said Carmelle Malkovich, spokeswoman for Dignity Health's Arizona division. "Because plans are in very early stages, we do not have more details to share at this time."
The land is at the southwest corner of Greenway Road and Loop 303.
According to plans on file with the city, Dignity Health would build a 502,744-square-foot hospital in three phases, along with a 240,000-square-foot medical office building spanning three floors within four phases.
3. Healthy rice bowl chain to expand to Arizona/Surprise after inking franchise deal
A healthy rice bowl restaurant chain is expanding in Arizona through the signing of a multi-unit development deal with a longtime franchisee.
WaBa Grill plans to open 10 new restaurants in Maricopa and Pima counties in the next seven years through a deal with franchisee Jerry Bajwa of Bajwa Group of Companies, the restaurant company announced.
Bajwa currently owns and operates 19 WaBa Grill restaurants in Southern California, plus a location in Tempe. Through the new deal, Bajwa now has the exclusive territory rights to develop the brand throughout the two Arizona counties.
The first of the new restaurants will be in Glendale. It will be followed by locations in Gilbert, Surprise, and Chandler.
Other restaurant chains, including Hawaiian Bros and Clean Eatz, also announced plans to expand in the Phoenix area by signing new multi-unit franchise deals.
4. CarMax plans major expansion with a new store and production facility in West Valley
Richmond, Virginia-based used-car dealer CarMax Inc. is expanding in the Phoenix metro with a new location in the West Valley.
CarMax (NYSE: KMX) recently closed on a 56-acre property in El Mirage, where it's planning to develop an 82,953-square-foot automotive wholesale auction and production center including a sales staging area.
The overall facility will comprise three buildings between the vehicle reconditioning center, an auction building, and a car wash at the northwest corner of Dysart Road and Olive Avenue.
The company said the site, which it paid $23.5 million for in all cash, is part of its current growth plan. The new facility will be the company's farthest west and fourth location in the Valley. It also has stores in Scottsdale, Phoenix, and Tolleson and two others in Tucson.
CarMax, one of the largest used-car retailers in the U.S., purchased the property from Nevada-based Dermody Properties on March 10, according to real estate database Vizzda and county records. County records show that Dermody Properties reviewed the company's plans, which are listed in documents as "Store No. 4023" at 13500 W. Olive Ave.
The site is part of a larger and fast-growing industrial center in El Mirage that's master-planned by Dermody and will include both speculative and build-to-suit facilities called LogistiCenter at Copperwing.
5. Panattoni Development Co. is planning to build a 274,000-square-foot industrial facility in Surprise.
The developer is expected to begin construction on the project, on 16 acres at the southeast corner of Soledad Street and North 137th Avenue, in the first quarter.
Development of the new warehouse and distribution building will be led by John DiVall. The company previously developed in Phoenix but has reentered the market with this project.
Panattoni acquired the site in January 2023 for $8.5 million from Atlas Capital Partners. Will Strong, Phil Haenel, Kirk Kuller, Molly Hunt, and Callahan Conway of Cushman and Wakefield represented Atlas in the acquisition with support from Stephanie Saccente of Cushman.
“Phoenix’s West Valley has captured significant interest from industrial users who want to be located near Loop 303. It also serves as a secondary location for Southwest Phoenix / North Phoenix and Deer Valley industrial users,” said Strong.
“The site sits in the greater master plan of Surprise Pointe, comprised of 100 acres planned for commerce, industrial, and office. The surrounding neighbors are blossoming with industrial users.”
6. Hotel, housing, and more planned for remaining property at Westgate complex:
Scottsdale-based developer Empire Group has finally landed some new commercial users for the remaining portion of a large site near Glendale's sports and entertainment district (Westgate). Empire Group is looking to develop the remaining parcels of its 66-acre site with potential senior living and automotive uses.
After years of marketing the 66-acre property — west of Loop 101 and 99th Avenue along Desert River Boulevard and adjacent to St. Joseph's Westgate Medical Center, the developer is asking the city of Glendale to allow more commercial uses on the property such as senior and active adult living, assisted living, treatment facilities, and memory care and modify the requirements for an auto dealership and services and storage uses.
Shelby Duplessis, president of land development for Empire Group, said they are currently in escrow with an active adult housing developer for six acres, an Auto House for an indoor dealership on about seven acres, and a mini storage facility on about three acres. Empire is also planning to sell a site for a hotel across two acres and market the remaining five acres.
"Working with the city initially, they were pretty adamant they wanted commercial use," she told the Business Journal. "In this area, the demand has been more multi-family, so luckily we were able to sell the two initial parcels very quickly."
More Westgate Entertainment Planned
North of Empire's site, Glendale-based Mangat Group plans to build a $130 million sports complex called MG SportsPlex.
It will include a hotel, basketball, volleyball, pickleball courts, a stadium-style championship field, and two practice field hockey fields.
Glendale's sports and entertainment district has grown substantially in recent years with major projects opening or planned, including a Mario Andretti indoor go-karting track, a resort with three hotels and a 6-acre water feature, and an indoor Mattel theme park.
