Developers had several groundbreaking announcements to make this week. CIA Investments broke ground on The Westin Tempe, a 290-room hotel in Tempe, AZ. C.W. Driver completed the $63 million Alton and Lydia Lim Center for Science, Technology and Health at Biola University in La Mirada; and Snyder Langston has started construction on an affordable housing development on Skid Row. The new developments—which span across asset classes—are a good sign of the activity in the Southwest Market. Phoenix continues to see growth, this week illustrated by a report showing a 6.8% increase in apartment rental rates last year. Likewise, several deals in the market continue to pin Phoenix as one of the emerging markets in the Southwest. But, it isn't the only one. Here's a look at this week's trends, announcements and deals that you may have missed in Southern California, Utah, Arizona and Nevada.

BY THE NUMBERS

PHOENIX—Rental rates are on the rise in the Greater Phoenix multifamily

Market. Rates ticked higher as demand for apartments keeps pace with the growing inventory of units. Asking rental rates rose 6.8% in 2017, posting a nearly identical gain to what was experienced in 2016. Rental rates inched up 0.7 percent during the fourth quarter, reaching $994 per month. More than half of the city's submarkets have average asking rents above $1,000 per month, as opposed to one year ago when only one-third of the submarkets had hit that level. Class A developments are pushing the pace of new development, as their rental rates ended the year at an average of $1,631 per month. The fourth quarter closed strong in 2017 as demand for apartments kept pace with new inventory coming online. Vacancy ticked up 20 basis points during the fourth quarter, reaching 5.9 percent. This vacancy is 10 basis points below year-end 2016. Vacancy has remained very tight since the second half of 2014, never ticking above 6.5 percent. More than 75 percent of the metropolitan area's submarkets have vacancy rates within 100 basis points of their levels a year ago. This is impressive considering the active construction of new units.

(SOURCE: Colliers International)

NEW & NOTABLE

LOS ANGELES—HGA Architects and Engineers has hired Lisa Matthiessen, FAIA, LEED Fellow, as Associate Vice President and National Sustainable Design Director. In this newly created leadership position that reinforces HGA's commitment to sustainable design, Matthiessen will help shape the firm's approach to high-performance building design, guide related research, education and marketing efforts and support industry-leading projects. Matthiessen has more than 25 years' experience in sustainable design and planning, focusing on architecture and design, engineering and energy-efficient building systems, urban and campus master planning, policy development and cost management. Throughout her career, she has progressed from designing individual buildings that set new green benchmarks to framing the national dialogue on sustainable design through her work on national committees, associations and forums. She was an early proponent of the LEED green building rating system by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) in the late 1990s, and was instrumental in developing LEED for Healthcare and LEED for Labs.

LOS ANGELES—Dan Wakumoto has been named a Principal at Avison Young. In addition to assuming his promotion, Wakumoto, a 26-year industry veteran, will continue to serve as the Regional Director of Finance and Operations for Avison Young's six Southern California offices. Wakumoto's expertise includes operations, mergers and acquisitions, accounting, finance and human resources. In addition to being a licensed real estate agent, he holds the Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) designation. He has served on the leadership team for the greater Los Angeles chapter of CCIM as the education chair, the scholarship chair, treasurer, and programs chair. He currently volunteers as the membership chair.

PASADENA, CA—C.W. Driver Companies, a premier builder serving California since 1919, has promoted Richard Freeark, LEED AP, to chief operating officer (COO), the company announced today. As COO, Freeark is responsible for the company's operational oversight and client satisfaction for projects statewide, including training and performance strategies, contract negotiations, staffing, scheduling, financial controls, reporting and closeout for all projects.

PHOENIX— PWI Construction has promoted Mary Lipka to Vice President. Lipka joined PWI Construction more than twenty years ago and has had a tremendous impact on the expansion of the company from a single-market, local contractor to become a well-known and trusted builder of some of the nation's most desired brands and acclaimed destinations. She is highly respected for both her humility and expertise. Her thoroughness and keen ability to recall information quickly and accurately is an asset to PWI Construction's executive team. Having served as controller for a large majority of her career, Lipka has superb financial analyzing and reporting skills. This promotion marks the first female to join the senior executive team at PWI Construction, Inc.

DEALTARCKER

LOS ANGELES—Three retail buildings in Northeast Los Angeles have traded hands for a total of $6.2 million. Karol Le of CBRE represented the buyer, Coda Equities, a Los Angeles-based real estate investment firm. Located at 3322 Verdugo Road and 2614 Arthur Street, Verdugo Plaza consists of three freestanding buildings, totaling 21,885 square feet. Two buildings have undergone reconstruction in recent years. With occupancy at 53%, the acquisition presents a value-add opportunity to improve, revitalize, and modernize the center, which caters to the needs of the changing local community.

NEWPORT BEACH, CA—CapRock Partners has closed escrow on a prime 18-acre parcel in Jurupa Valley, Riverside County, California. The acquisition will allow the CapRock Partners team to leverage their proven track record of industrial development, and bring much-needed, smaller-sized Class A product to the market. CapRock's latest project, which will be branded Serrano Business Park, is located at the southwest quadrant of San Sevaine Avenue and Bain Street in Jurupa Valley – just 1.5 miles southeast of the I-15 and Highway 60 Interchange. The firm acquired the 18-acre site from an owner-user seller who had originally planned to develop the parcel for their own use. CapRock Partners plans to break ground this quarter and will develop three Class-A industrial buildings totaling 327,080-square feet. Corporate neighbors include FedEx, Amazon, General Electric and Ingram Micro. Erik Wanland of CBRE represented the seller and CapRock in the transaction.

SALT LAKE CITY—Strategic Student & Senior Housing Trust has acquired a portfolio of three senior housing communities consisting of 294 units located in the greater Salt Lake City area. The portfolio includes The Wellington, Cottonwood Creek and The Charleston at Cedar Hills, all best-in-class, purpose-built assisted living communities with strong historical occupancies. Each community provides residents with all-day dining services, activity rooms with daily programming, transportation, cafes and lounges, wireless internet, libraries, fitness/therapy rooms, private dining rooms, outdoor courtyards and beauty salons. The Wellington is a 119-unit/140-bed assisted living community located at 4522 South 1300 East in Salt Lake City. The property is a multi-year recipient of the Best of State – Utah award in the merchandising and consumer services category. Cottonwood Creek is a 111-unit/136-bed assisted living facility located at 1245 East Murray Holladay Road in Salt Lake City. Each unit at the facility is equipped with sliding glass doors leading to a balcony or patio. The Charleston is a 64-unit/78-bed assisted living facility located at 10020 North 4600 West in Cedar Hills. The property, which also offers short-term/respite care, is a recipient of SeniorAdvisor.com's 2016 and 2018 Best of Senior Living awards.

IRVINE, CA—WNC has closed WNC Institutional Tax Credit Fund 10 California Series 16, L.P. (CA 16), a $94.2 million institutional low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) fund. The fund will rehabilitate six affordable housing properties in both suburban and urban areas of California. The properties, located within the cities of Antelope, Los Angeles, National City, Sacramento and San Marcos, will provide 972 affordable housing units to families throughout California.

LOS ANGELES—Jamison Properties has completed its first ground up construction project with Maya, a 72-unit market rate apartment building located at 535 South Kingsley Drive in Los Angeles's Koreatown neighborhood. Jamison is introducing Maya following the successful conversion of two former Koreatown commercial office buildings into multifamily communities.  Jamison entered the multifamily market in 2013 with the 127-unit Westmore, the successful conversion and lease up of a former 12-story office building on 3075 Wilshire Boulevard.  In 2016, Jamison opened The Abbey, the adaptive reuse of a 1927 office and parking building into a 110-unit apartment complex at 3550 West Sixth Street.  Both projects were fully leased four months after opening.

IRVINE, CA—Shopoff Realty Investments has successfully sold Brookside Mobile Home Park for $72.5 million, after an 11-month holding period. Located at 12700 Elliott Avenue in the City of El Monte, Calif., the manufactured housing community consists of 421 mobile home sites set on more than 45 acres. Shopoff purchased the property in April 2017 together with Ladder Capital, a New York based real estate investment trust, in a joint-venture partnership for $52.7 million, which included $14.7 million in equity and $38 million in debt provided by Ladder. The sale resulted in a 1.76 property-level equity multiple.

TUCSON—Alpha Wave Investorshas sold Sycamore Cove, a 67-unit apartment property in the Oak Flower neighborhood of Tucson, Arizona. The firm, which acquired the asset in December of 2016, conducted an extensive renovation and repositioning program that increased property value by 80-percent during its one year of ownership. During its ownership, Alpha Wave upgraded the property's exterior and interior with new paint and fixtures, repaired the asset's roof, parking, and balconies, resurfaced and replaced the pool and deck, upgraded landscaping, and added in-demand amenities such as a new pet park and fully renovated laundry room. Alpha Wave acquired the property at 50-percent occupancy and brought it to nearly 100-percent occupancy prior to the sale. Alon Shnitzer, Jon Ibrahim and Ryan Kippes with ABI Multifamily, an apartment brokerage firm, represented the seller, Alpha Wave Investors, and the buyer, a California based family partnership, in the transaction.

SAN DIEGO, CA—BKM Capital Partners has acquired Activity Business Center, a 160,943 square-foot, five-building multi-tenant light industrial property in the Miramar submarket of San Diego, California. The industrial complex was acquired for $28.1 million. BKM acquired the industrial complex approximately 39-percent below its replacement cost. Activity Business Center is currently 92.6 percent occupied with a diverse range of 38 different tenants. Average unit sizes are approximately 3,743 square feet. BKM Capital Partners plans to rebrand the multi-tenant industrial complex and implement a series of renovations including upgrades to the parking lot, exterior paint, landscaping, monument signage, lobby and the addition of a new outdoor common area.

BUILDING BLOCKS

TEMPE, AZ—The Westin Tempe has broken ground in the heart of Downtown Tempe on Seventh Street between Mill and Myrtle avenues. Developed by Las Vegas-based CAI Investments, the 18-story Westin Tempe will be a full-service business hotel. Participants in the ceremony included CAI Founder Christopher Beavor, Tempe Mayor Mark Mitchell, Darin Sender of Sender Associates, and Vice President of Lodging Development for Marriott International, Inc., Tiffany Cooper. The multi-million-dollar hotel sits on a +/- .85-acre parcel in the heart of Downtown Tempe. The 18-story, 290-room hotel is planned to feature state-of-the-art guest rooms and corridors, with custom-designed elements and artwork, as well as energy conservation practices. The Westin Tempe hotel will also feature a rooftop pool lounge, the brand's signature WestinWORKOUT fitness studio, full-service restaurant, and coffee shop. Additionally, more than 14,000 square feet of convention space and meeting rooms will be a magnet for events in the Tempe area. The building, designed by RSP Architects, will incorporate materials of brick, steel and glass. The planned hotel will feature five premium deluxe suites on the 17th floor, and all guestrooms will have a modern look and feel, including custom-designed furniture, carpeting and wallcoverings with bathrooms offering generous counter space and superior lighting. The highly anticipated property is scheduled to open the third quarter of 2019.

PASADENA—C.W. Driver Companies has completed the $63 million Alton and Lydia Lim Center for Science, Technology and Health at Biola University in La Mirada. The 91,200-square-foot educational center will serve the institution's fast growing and high-demand science, technology and health programs, and triples the amount of space devoted to these fields at the university. The expansive new facility, which marks the university's most ambitious building project to date, boasts sustainable features throughout to optimize energy and water use efficiency. Comprised of four floors with learning space in, around and on top of the building, the lower level is home to the nursing program and vibration sensitive labs. The first floor is dedicated to anatomy and biology, the second floor to biology and physics and the third floor to chemistry. To maximize space and complement the university's developing botany program, the rooftop features an observatory with an on-site greenhouse. In total, the facility offers 28 laboratories, including a dedicated microscope lab for SEM (scanning and electron microscope) and TEM (transmission electron microscope) work, five classrooms, various research and flexible workspaces and innovative resources to cultivate adaptation to new sciences, technology and pedagogy.

LOS ANGELES—Snyder Langston has begun construction on an affordable housing community at 7th and Wall Street in Downtown Los Angeles. Known as Six Four Nine Lofts & Joshua House Health Center, the community is a 55-unit mixed-use project that includes a 25,000 square foot medical clinic to be operated by Los Angeles Christian Health Centers. The mixed-use community is designed to serve people experiencing homelessness and at-risk individuals of Los Angeles. Construction is scheduled for completion in the fall of 2019. This project is a development of Skid Row Housing Trust, a nonprofit organization that provides permanent supportive housing so that people who have experienced homelessness, prolonged extreme poverty, poor health, disabilities, mental illness and/or addiction can lead safe, stable lives in wellness.