Contents

Welcome 06

About the Chamber 08

About the Foundation 10

Building for the Future 12

Novus Project is Underway 16

McCarthy Building Aligned with Tempe Values 20

Cousins Makes its Mark on Tempe 24

Tempe Style 26

BUSINESS SEARCH 28

East Valley Business

Volume 1 | Issue 1 | 2024

1438 W Broadway Road, #213

Tempe, AZ 85283

480-967-7891 | tempechamber.org

This is a Town Square Publications
publication created and produced for the
Tempe Chamber of Commerce

Copyright © 2024 Town Square Publications

P.O. Box 280, Arlington Heights, IL 60006

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Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information in this publication. The Chamber and Town Square assume no responsibility for misinformation. Please contact the Chamber with any additions or corrections. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission of the Chamber and Town Square is prohibited.

Chairman, CEO and Publisher | Douglas K. Ray

President and Chief Operating Officer | Scott Stone

Vice President / Director | Scott Ray

Managing Director | David Small

Director of Production | Ryan Moore

Director of Operations | Joseph Nugara

Sales | Wayne Metcalfe

Editor | Lisa White

Project Manager | Sandy King

Welcome

We would like to welcome you to the first issue of the Tempe Chamber’s East Valley Business Magazine. The Tempe Chamber of Commerce directs its efforts towards developing a healthy economic climate for our members and the businesses that operate in the East Valley. Whether attracting new businesses, expanding existing companies or representing our area on local, state and national economic issues, our focus is promoting and sustaining economic prosperity in Tempe and the East Valley.

Just as our founding fathers over a hundred years ago banded together to grow, advocate for and educate a fledgling business community, today we are proud of the prosperous and robust economic climate Tempe enjoys. This magazine serves as a catalyst to inform and inspire our East Valley business community. Learn about new businesses, our members and development projects right here on a quarterly basis.

As the President and CEO of the Tempe Chamber for the past two years, I’ve had the distinct honor of learning about all that has made the East Valley a great place to do business and establish residence. The fabric of community, innovation and inclusion is ripe throughout our community. Additionally, the outlook of growth and expansion in the future is even more intriguing. This is something that I am personally excited about bringing to you in each issue.

This magazine represents a portion of a fleet that we are launching that is focused on thriving, right here in the East Valley – where we are quickly growing as a national and global destination of thought-leaders and innovative and responsive companies. Amongst the offers of this fleet are this magazine, industry clusters meetings, CEO roundtables, regional workforce programs and a podcast.

The East Valley Business Podcast is a great way to stay in the know about the latest business news and trends in the East Valley. The podcast features interviews with local business leaders, experts and policymakers as well as coverage of important events and news. It is a valuable resource for anyone who wants to be informed about the business community in the East Valley. Find us where you listen to your favorite podcasts.

So, whether you like to get your content through text, audibly or through visuals, we have a way for you to connect, engage and grow your knowledge and business through our East Valley Business fleet. If you have an idea about a story or topic we should be focused on, let us know by emailing us at info@tempechamber.org.

We are proud to present this to you and look forward to bringing you timely, relevant and impactful content in our future issues.

Onward & upward,

Colin Diaz, ACE, IOM
President & CEO | Tempe Chamber of Commerce

About the
Tempe Chamber

Since 1908, the Tempe Chamber of Commerce has built an environment that enhances the economic vitality of our membership and the business community. We provide the tools, resources and education needed for businesses to achieve success at every level of their enterprises. We foster a strong local economy that positively impacts the community, including job creation, increased business opportunities and improved quality of life for residents.

Our strength is derived from our members. Membership in the Tempe Chamber is an investment in the future of our business community. Those who invest in the community through membership support initiatives in education and workforce development, public policy and business development. Together, we provide a unified voice for business and support a stronger economy and an improved quality of life. We are dedicated to helping businesses achieve their goals through many avenues including advocacy, connection and development.

ADVOCACY AND LEGISLATIVE LOBBYING

The Tempe Chamber is the city’s recognized voice of business. We make a bottom-line impact for the community by advocating for a favorable business climate through interactive public policy engagement and providing ongoing representation in government at local, state and federal levels. It is important that we take positions on legislation affecting the business environment so that policy can encourage economic growth, not hinder it.

CONNECTION

Through more than 65 annual events and programs attended by more than 8,000 business professionals, the Tempe Chamber provides a place for you to connect with other business leaders and the community. We facilitate network development among our members through business education, mentorship, committees, mixers and conferences. Our programs and events build relationships and develop leadership skills for many, while also serving the greater community. By creating active and engaged leaders, we ensure that Tempe has a bright future.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

The chamber offers business education and development programs to enhance the skills and knowledge of our members. These programs cover a wide range of topics relevant to business success, including marketing, leadership, human resources and business operations.

By providing these services and resources, the Tempe Chamber of Commerce plays a vital role in promoting economic growth, entrepreneurship, and the overall health of the business community. As we continue to represent and promote our membership and the community, the Tempe Chamber invites you to share our excitement in celebrating our long business heritage and promising future.

Tempe Chamber
Foundation

The Tempe Chamber Foundation carries out the charitable and education objectives of the Tempe Chamber that positively impact Tempe’s quality of life. Tempe Leadership is a program of the Tempe Chamber Foundation, and more than 850 dedicated individuals have participated since its inception in 1985. Tempe Leadership also offers the Tempe Youth Leadership program and Tempe Cares.

In addition, the Career Ready Tempe youth workforce initiative, in partnership with the City of Tempe, aims to help prepare and develop Tempe youth to participate in the future workforce by connecting youth to college and career readiness support and partnering with Tempe employers to provide paid internship opportunities in fields that are in-demand.

The Tempe Chamber Foundation supports the workforce development and D.E.I. initiatives of the Chamber and raises funding to address timely needs of our business and collective community.  Among those focal areas are our recently established BIPOC (Black Indigenous People of Color) Micro-Manufacturing Grant – in partnership with the City of Tempe and Congressman Greg Stanton’s Office, our Minority Women in Business Supportive Grant – in partnership with Wells Fargo, the Tempe Workforce Skills Accelerator - in partnership with Rio Salado College and Amazon, and Career Ready Tempe - in partnership with the City of Tempe, Tempe Union, and Kyrene School Districts.

Support of the Tempe Chamber Foundation is aligning with our commitment to ensure economic vitality, a strong workforce pipeline and installing and sustaining the elements to keep Tempe a great place to live, play, and do business.

We are excited by the work that lies ahead and the huge impact that our foundation will play in it and invite you to join us in these efforts.

Onward & Upward,

Colin Diaz, ACE, IOM
President & CEO | Tempe Chamber of Commerce & Tempe Chamber Foundation

Building for the
Future

Economic development endeavors in Tempe extend far beyond Tempe Town Lake and its immediate environs.

The most exciting of these projects are the recently-completed The Beam on Farmer, a Class A, five-story office building, and the Hayden Flour Mill redevelopment, which is underway.

The Beam on Farmer

The Beam on Farmer in downtown Tempe is the other non-Tempe Town Lake project that is exciting local residents. This is a unique office building that redefines the workplace and sets new standards for healthy buildings, Zemlicka explained. In fact, it was designed to provide a true work/life balance, since it is located within walking distance of housing, dining, recreation, entertainment and much more.

The Beam on Farmer, which was a collaborative project of Mortenson and RSP Architects, is the first mass timber, multi-story office building in Arizona. It features exposed cross laminated timber, a sustainable and renewable building material that has a lower carbon footprint than traditional building materials. The building is actually named after the beautiful glulam beams used within.

Its unique design incorporates natural light and greenery to create a healthy and productive work environment, according to Zemlicka, and its rooftop terrace provides stunning views of the surrounding area.

Hayden Flour Mill

The Hayden Flour Mill is located on the southeast corner of Mill Avenue and Rio Salado Parkway. The old flour mill is one of the primary reasons Tempe exists today, according to city officials.

A relic of Tempe’s agricultural past, the Mill ranked among the prominent agricultural industries in the Valley. It purchased most of the grain grown in Central Arizona and produced well-known flours like Sifted Snow, Arizona Rose and Family Kitchen.

The old mill, which was constructed in 1918, is the oldest cast-in-place, reinforced concrete building in Tempe. An earlier mill was lost to a fire. The nearby grain elevator and silos were constructed in 1951 and were Tempe’s tallest structures until 2007. Bay State Milling ceased milling operations at the mill in 1998.

The City of Tempe, which owns the Mill property, recently signed a development and disposition agreement with Venue Projects, a firm with a strong record of restoring iconic buildings, and Sunbelt Holdings, a top-notch local developer, to rejuvenate and improve the Mill property and its surroundings. Plans call for new restaurants and shops, a public park, restoration of the mill and an improved trailhead to Hayden Butte.

Efforts to create a project at the Flour Mill have been ongoing since the 1990s, according to Meg Zemlicka, Tempe’s economic development specialist. Venue Projects has a strong history of restoring, improving and honoring iconic buildings. Sunbelt Holdings has been involved in many projects in Tempe, including State Farm’s Marina Heights.

Plans for the project have been made in consultation with the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community and Tempe’s Historic Preservation Office.

Novus Project is
Underway

“Tempe used to be a relatively small town, which was attached to a large university. But in recent years it has grown to become a large city next to a large university, and much of that growth is thanks to the development of Tempe Town Lake,” according to Charley Freericks, senior vice president of Catellus Development Corp, master developer of Novus Innovation Corridor, located along Tempe Town Lake, adjacent to Arizona State University.

Novus Innovation Corridor is a 355-acre, multi-phased development, which at completion, will encompass over 10 million square feet of urban mixed-use developments.

Strategically integrated with the ASU campus on Tempe Town Lake, the Novus Innovation Corridor is a partnership between master developer Catellus Development Corporation and Arizona State University.

“Tempe Town Lake has enhanced the draw of Tempe, making it a destination for a lot more than local Tempe and Arizona State University-related visitors and businesses,” Freericks explained.

Various development firms are handling different portions of the lake area development, and both sides of the lake are becoming progressively more developed, Freericks said. The state legislature, for instance, chose Catellus as the developer of a 355-acre parcel in 2014, and Catellus has been involved in planning, infrastructure development and construction ever since.

“Much of our portion of the lake-area redevelopment is located in an area originally dedicated to Arizona State University athletics like golf, track and field, tennis, etc. We are gradually moving those athletic facilities to new locations and creating prime commercial properties instead,” he continued.

Oakland, CA-based Catellus introduced three developers to Novus that created the 777 Tower office building, the Hyatt Place/Hyatt House hotel, the Piedmont residential community and ASU delivered the 1800-stall Novus Place parking garage — all in 2020. Since then, they have been working on other phases of their seven-phase project, “building a thriving expansion of downtown Tempe on the Arizona State University campus,” Freericks explained.

The public/private partnership development is expected to bring nearly 40,000 new jobs and over 5,000 new residents to the downtown Tempe area. Novus will also feature a main street entertainment district, Novus Place, nestled in the core of the development. As Novus’ “live, shop, dine” epicenter, Novus Place is designed to be an energetic, mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly district. Most recently, Catellus announced eight new restaurants of all types coming to Novus Place. In addition, there is pending development of a senior housing community, a pair of medical office buildings and more.

The Novus Innovation Corridor will enable companies to achieve synergies with Arizona State University, ranked as the nation’s “Most Innovative University” by U.S. News and World Report.

This includes access to world-class research and a highly-educated and skilled workforce.

McCarthy Building Aligned with
Tempe Values

McCarthy has been building in Tempe for over 40 years, constructing everything from hotels, retail districts and high-rise buildings in the early years to parking structures, K-12 schools, airport facilities and high-tech labs at Arizona State University more recently, according to Jaren Murphy, vice president of business development and marketing for McCarthy’s Southwest Region.

“Our long history with the city of Tempe makes sense because our values align so closely,” Murphy stated. “We are both committed to educating the future workforce, innovation and building community. Building critical public infrastructure such as hospitals, schools, data centers, laboratories, water and wastewater treatment plants and government facilities allows us to be part of building projects that our communities rely on to grow and thrive.”

For instance, the ASU Biodesign Institute C building, which was completed in 2019, is built around the world’s first compact x-ray free electron laser, which is set in a steel and concrete basement bunker that has its own foundation separate from the foundation of the building around it, he explained. This incredible research facility not only contributes economically to the area, but attracts industry attention and further positions ASU and Tempe as a hub of innovation.

McCarthy also built the Rob and Melani Walton Center for Planetary Health at ASU, which opened in 2022. The high-performance research facility houses labs for biological sciences, engineering, life sciences and sustainability as well as “dry lab” spaces for humanities, decision design, societal engagement, computing, engineering design and fabrication, cyber-security and robotics.

Currently, McCarthy is building The Mill Avenue Parking Structure, which will replace 700 surface-lot parking spaces by adding 1,205 parking stalls on six levels. By successfully leveraging their own skilled trades in conjunction with trade partners, the project is tracking on schedule, even with today’s workforce constraints. Educating and training for the construction trades is an important initiative at McCarthy. The firm supports education and training programs in Tempe and has its own training facility in the East Valley.

The project will provide parking for the new Omni Tempe Hotel at ASU, for events at the Nelson Fine Arts Center and Gammage Auditorium and future site development of the surrounding area. The new garage will include electric-vehicle charging stations, underground thermal energy storage for campus cooling and a roof-mounted photovoltaic array for electrical power generation.

McCarthy was founded as a lumber business in 1864 in Ann Arbor, Mich. Over the intervening years, the firm has grown into one of the largest and most diversified commercial construction companies in the United States. It launched operations in Arizona in 1975.

In 2002, McCarthy transitioned to an employee-owned firm, which brings a different level of commitment to their projects.

“As employee-owners, each of us brings an owner’s perspective to the projects we work on and the communities where we work,” explained Murphy. “We are personally invested in our projects and the communities served by our projects – with our name on it, we want it to be a great experience that adds value to the community.”

Cousins Makes Its
Mark on Tempe

Cousins Properties Inc. is a New York Stock Exchange-traded real estate investment trust (REIT), founded by Tom Cousins in 1958 and based in Atlanta.

It develops, owns and manages a 20 million square foot high-end office portfolio in the high-growth Sun Belt markets of Atlanta; Austin; Charlotte; Dallas; Nashville; Tampa; and Tempe.

“Cousins entered the Tempe market in 2016 when it acquired Parkway Properties, Inc. and inherited its Class A office properties,” explained Jarett Brock, vice president/director and Cousins’ market leader in Tempe.

“Cousins is a big believer in the centralized location of Tempe relative to the greater metropolitan statistical area, which gives it unparalleled access to talent. We describe it as the center of the ‘Figure 8’,” Brock stated.

He also mentioned its proximity to the airport, the fact that it is amenity-rich, a great place to live, pedestrian-friendly with great mass transit and has wonderful partnerships with Arizona State University.

“ASU, in particular. has proven to be a forward thinking, high-caliber academic institution that employers want to be near. Additionally, ASU is a great long-term partner to the city and acts as a quasi-steward of its growth,” he added.

Cousins owns and manages seven buildings in Tempe including:

•  Tempe Gateway, which it recently redeveloped and added amenities like a gym, conference room and hospitality-focused lobby

•  111 West Rio, a nine-story office tower that has achieved LEED Gold and Energy Star ratings

•  100 Mill, which it built with Hines and completed in 2022. It features a state-of-the-art fitness facility, conference center and an outdoor 9th floor deck

•  Four iconic office and retail/restaurant buildings at Hayden Ferry Lakeside along the south shore of Tempe Town Lake

Cousins plans to build a stand-alone restaurant adjacent to Hayden Ferry Lakeside, which is expected to open in 2025 as well as a brewery facing the lake. In addition, they are in the midst of landscaping and lobby improvements, which prioritize the pedestrian experience and encourage connectivity to the lake.

“Tempe Town Lake is a great amenity, and customers love the central location of the park relative to our portfolio and the events that are put on there,” Brock said.