Life Coach in Arcadia, AZ

Announcement represents the fourth facility Company will open in 2023 to broaden network and provide services for customers in key Western U.S. locations.

ATLANTA, Ga., March 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Arcadia Cold Storage and Logistics has entered into an agreement to lease and operate a new cold storage facility that is currently under construction and located west of Phoenix between US Interstates 17 and 10 in the heart of the Southwest distribution market.

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This marks Arcadia's fourth facility that will open in Q3 2023 in support of their national cold storage platform in strategic markets across the United States. The Phoenix Cold Storage Facility will be a 293,000 square foot fully convertible freezer and cooler distribution center facility with 40,500 pallet positions designed to support a combination of regional distribution, import export activity and high-volume throughput handling services. The site will serve as a hub for the Southwest U.S. with access to key metropolitan markets in Southern California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, and Colorado. Phoenix is going through a boom in distribution center growth and the facility will play an important role in allowing Arcadia to serve food manufacturing and end user demand more quickly and efficiently.

"Arcadia is once again excited to announce our newest location in the fast-growing Phoenix market. The facility represents our westernmost site to date and will satisfy our customers' need for a well-designed and operated building to help manage their product storage and handling requirements. We see strong demand for Phoenix as supply chains continue to gravitate slightly eastward and away from increasingly operationally challenging points in Southern California. We look forward to bringing the unique Arcadia customer service experience to this important market along with new, quality jobs to Phoenix and the surrounding area." said Arcadia Cold CEO Chris Hughes.

About Arcadia Cold: Established in 2021, Arcadia specializes in providing third-party handling, storage, distribution, and value-added services to the food industry. Arcadia Cold bridges the innovation and supply gaps within the cold industrial industry in the United States through modern cold storage warehouse development expertise and proven operational "know-how". Its strategic development partnership with Saxum Real Estate offers a collaborative approach to the design-build and operation model that provides for efficient construction of fully temperature convertible buildings, coupled with modern supply chain technology innovations for its valued customers in the "New Age of Cold Chain". www.arcadiacold.com

SOURCE Arcadia Cold

An arcade, ice cream parlor, market–oh my! Newly opened The Spot at Arcadia is the Valley’s answer to a family-friendly sports bar, offering–in addition to the aforementioned attractions–a menu of American classics alongside tempting cocktails.

The Spot at Arcadia, which opened in Phoenix in December, caters to Valley families who are looking to enjoy casual dining and a cocktail all the while keeping the kiddos entertained. Touted as the area’s first family-friendly sports bar, the restaurant puts forth a huge effort for its youngest guests and their parents. Outside, the patio, brimming with greenery, is decked with lawn games while, inside, there is a dedicated area with free arcade games and board games to bring back to the table.

Boasting a menu created by Chef Francis Gonzales, who has helped develop menus for LGO, The Spot at Arcadia serves brunch, lunch and dinner. The menu spotlights American classics like wings, pizza and handhelds like burgers and sandwiches–just what one would expect from a family-friendly sports bar. Owner Scott Hibler says the restaurant’s pizza has been a particular fan favorite since opening.

During a recent visit during weekend brunch, we sampled a delectable array of sweet and savory dishes. The bacon-glazed doughnuts are a hit with the kiddos while the breakfast bowl, with brown rice, quinoa, guacamole, plantains, onion, fried egg, black beans and salsa, offers a hearty, healthy start to the day.

To drink, The Spot at Arcadia’s brunch-friendly espresso martini is creamy and delicious. The restaurant even has a machine that can print logos or photos on cocktails, a fun feature that has already come in handy for special events.

After your meal, The Spot at Arcadia offers a no-brainer for dessert: ice cream at the adjoining old-fashioned parlor. While getting your scoop, guests can even shop a selection of toys, trinkets and treats that are on display and for sale at the ice cream parlor.

The Spot at Arcadia is open Sunday at 10 a.m. and Monday through Friday at 11 a.m. (kitchen closes at 10 p.m.). The ice cream parlor closes at 8 p.m., Monday through Thursday, and 9 p.m., Friday through Sunday.

For more information, visit thespotarcadia.com.

4801 E. Indian School Rd.Phoenix, AZ 85018

Texas Rangers catcher Sam Huff is batting .364 with one homer and 3 RBI in eight spring training games. (Photo by John Cascella/Cronkite News)

SURPRISE – Sam Huff is used to crushing eye-popping home runs.

The towering 6-foot-5, 240-pound power-hitting catcher in the Texas Rangers organization was drafted in the seventh round of the 2016 MLB draft out of Arcadia High School in Phoenix and caught the attention of coaches and fans around baseball by hammering three 500-foot home runs in the minor leagues over the last two seasons.

But the 25-year-old Arizona native doesn’t want to be defined only by his stunning power.

“It always surprises me,” he said. “I think it’s awesome, and I’m very thankful to do that. It’s a curse because you don’t want to get too high on yourself or get yourself in a state where you think you’re that one-dimensional player. You have to hold yourself accountable and understand what you need to do as a player every day.”

Huff made his major league debut in the COVID-shortened 2020 season, batting .355 in 10 games. However, he has dealt with a slew of injuries in the two years since.

In 2021, Huff had knee surgery that sidelined him for nearly three months and prevented him from playing catcher until 2022. He spent the entire 2021 season in the minors, playing mostly with the Rangers’ Double-A affiliate in Frisco, Texas.

He bounced back in 2022, belting 21 home runs and driving in 50 in 63 games with the Rangers’ Triple-A Pacific Coast League affiliate in Round Rock, Texas and slashed .240/.303/.372 in 44 games with the big-league club.

Now, he’s hoping to perform well enough during the Cactus League to land a spot on the Rangers’ Opening Day roster. Through his first eight spring training games, he was hitting .364 with four hits, including two doubles and a home run, and three RBI in 11 at-bats.

“I went back to the minors to get my body under control and kind’ve rejected it (mentally),” Huff said. “I think it was beneficial. It got me to understand the mental side of baseball. It’s not easy. It’s baseball, you’re going to fail 90% of the time. It’s the 10% where you’re going to succeed.”

Injuries and demotion can take their toll on a player’s mind, causing them to question whether they can be the player they once were. For Huff, the return to the majors was a combination of determination and confidence.

During his rehab from the knee injury, Huff asked former major leaguer Howie Kendrick for advice after watching Kendrick recover from a torn Achilles tendon in 2018.

In Huff’s words, Kendrick told him, “It’s no joke, you need to understand that you’re going to come back. This is the part of baseball no one ever hears about or sees. What you have to do to get prepared and go out and win is the mentality, but also to take care of yourself.”

“I know once you injure something, you might not be the same,” Huff said. “It didn’t happen overnight, learning from a lot of the veteran guys and how they handled their business.”

Huff spent all of 2022 shuttling between the Rangers and Round Rock and was ranked among the Top 100 prospects in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline.

There is no certainty that Huff will land on the Rangers’ Opening Day roster with Jonah Heim and Mitch Garver commanding the catcher position. However, as he proved last season, Huff can also play first base and provide a big bat off the bench.

“He brings youth, brings a lot of energy every day,” Heim said. “He comes to work, and he’s going to work hard with his pitchers.”

While power may be his specialty, Huff has worked on becoming an all-around hitter, spraying the baseball all over the park and being more disciplined at the plate. Huff’s personal goals for the upcoming season are to stay positive and “be the best Sam Huff.”

“You never try to stop being the best player you can be,” said Rangers manager Bruce Bochy. “I’ve been impressed with his discipline at the plate. He’s making himself into a hitter, too.

“We call it ‘light power.’ He’s one of those guys that – if he gets the ball into the air, gets out front – can be anywhere in the park, and you know it’s gone. That’s how strong he is.”

The Rangers made a splash in free agency this past offseason, signing two-time Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom, as well as pitchers Nathan Eovaldi and Andrew Heaney to round out a star-studded rotation that includes Martin Perez and Jon Gray.

With all of those stars in place, Huff is excited about the upcoming season and the long-term future of the organization.

“I’ve got to catch Nathan and Andrew, I’ve talked to Jacob a lot lately. It’s been awesome, something I’ve been looking forward to,” Huff said. “The (Rangers) brought them in for a reason. They bring a lot to the table.”

“I’m excited and I think Rangers fans should be excited, too.”

A sold-out crowd at Chateau Luxe in Phoenix on Thursday celebrated the winners of the 2023 (Real Estate Development) Awards — the Academy Awards of Arizona’s commercial real estate industry.

DEEPER DIVE: Phoenix ranks No. 2 for most industrial real estate under construction

"We had a record-setting number of nominations this year," said AZ Big Media Publisher Amy Lindsey. "The number of awards that were presented, the intense competition for the awards and the sold-out crowd reflects what an amazing year it has been for commercial real estate in Arizona."

Sponsors in the 2023 RED Awards included DP Electric, Willmeng, Clayco, Layton Construction and Chasse Building Team. The production sponsor was Merestone. The floral provider was PJs Flowers.

Here are the winners of the 2023 RED Awards:

Special awards

Architecture Firm of the Year: Butler Design Group

General Contractor of the Year: Layton Construction

Developer of the Year: Hines

Judges' Award: The Beam on Farmer. Developer and contractor: Mortenson. Architect: RSP Architects

Project awards

Mayo Clinic Hospital east expansion

Owner: Mayo Clinic

Contractor: McCarthy Building Companies

Architect: Shepley Bulfinch

Arizona State University Media and Immersive eXperience Center @ Mesa City Center

Owner: City of Mesa

Contractor: DPR Construction

Architects: Holly Street Studio and Bohlin Cywinski Jackson

Gila River Resorts & Casinos – Wild Horse Pass expansion

Owner: Gila River Indian Community

Contractor: Sundt Construction

Architect: Friedmutter Group

Northrop Grumman Satellite Division Production Facility

Developer: Northrop Grumman

Contractor: Willmeng Construction

Architect: Gensler

ElectraMeccanica

Developer: Marwest Enterprises

Contractor: Willmeng Construction

Architect: Ware Malcomb

Buckeye85

Developer: LPC Desert West

Contractor: Layton Construction

Architect: Butler Design Group

10 West Commerce Park

Developer: Creation Equity

Contractor: LGE Design Build

Architect: LGE Design Group

Mountain View High School modernization

Owner: Mesa Public Schools

Contractor: CHASSE Building Team

Architect: SPS+ Architects

Scottsdale Entrada

Developer: DPC

Contractor: Kitchell

Architects: SmithGroup and Todd & Associates

Clarendale Arcadia

Developers: Life Care Services, Harrison Street and Ryan Companies

Contractor: Ryan Companies

Architect: ORB Architecture

X Phoenix - Phase I

Developer: Property Markets Group

Contractor: Clayco

Architects: Fitzgerald Associates, Shepley Bulfinch

The Link

Developer: Mainstreet Capital Partners

Contractor: Wespac Construction

Architect: Gensler

The Grove

Developer: RED Development

Contractor: Okland Construction

Architect: Nelsen Architects

Arcadia Management Group

Building owner: Bow River Capital

Contractor: Desert Metropolitan

Architect: Arcadia Management Group

Nextiva Headquarters

Developer: Alter Group

Contractor: Layton Construction

Architect: RSP Architects

Goodyear Civic Square at GSQ

Developer: Globe Corporation

Contractor: Ryan Companies US

Architect: Butler Design Group

Central Logistics Center

Developer: ViaWest Group

Contractor: Nitti Builders

Architect: Deutsch Architecture

Retail building at Cavasson

Developer: Nationwide Realty Investors

Contractor: Layton Construction

Architect: Butler Design Group

SouthwestSouthwest Construction Projects

With 2023 moving along quickly, Tempe, Ariz.-based Okland Construction eyes completion by year’s end of the Grove, the sprawling, multi-phased mixed-use complex taking final shape in the historic Arcadia community of Phoenix. The Okland-led team building the $400-million, 750,000-sq-ft project—which includes seven buildings of office and medical space, a sports training facility, residential above a parking garage, retail and restaurants—has endured all of the pandemic-era challenges of material and price disruptions, and then some, since the bulk of construction started in 2021.

RED Development, Phoenix, is the master developer, with Mesa, Ariz.-based WoodPatel providing master planning, civil engineering construction documents and construction management. The Grove’s first building to open, dating back to September 2020, was the 53,000-sq-ft Phoenix Suns/Phoenix Mercury pro-sports training facility, built by the Phoenix office of AECOM Hunt Construction Group.

Photo courtesy Okland Construction

Several months later, in early 2021, a subcontractor working for Okland demolished the rest of the 13-acre block, and excavation and grading work followed shortly thereafter to make way for the campus’ 1,000-space parking garage, which comprises four-and-a-half levels, including three below ground.

At the same time, Okland began construction of the 180,000-sq-ft 4300 Office Building on the north side of Camelback Road at 44th Street. Two Scottsdale, Ariz., firms provided design of the four-level building: architectural firm Nelsen Partners and Testani Design Troupe, which designed the interiors and rooftop amenity deck.

The first tenant, JLL, the brokerage firm that represented RED in leasing the building, moved in last October. The building has been WELL certified as a healthy space, and JLL is expected to receive LEED Silver certification for its office by April.

“The building was 100% leased prior to completion, and RED garnered record-breaking price-per-square-foot rates, setting a new standard for Class AA office rents in the state, with all leases executed during the global pandemic,” says Mike Ebert, RED managing partner.

A crew from Suntec Concrete, an Okland trade partner, flies table formwork into place at the Global Ambassador hotel.Photo courtesy Okland Construction

Another piece of the Grove complex that was completed in December was the Life Storage Building. Princeton Construction led the 114,000-sq-ft, three-story building, designed by Robert Brown Architects, Chandler, Ariz..

Another component of the Grove just opened in February: the 70,000-sq-ft Medical Office Building, anchored by Banner Healthcare. RED and Okland Construction contracted with Nelsen Partners to design the core/shell, including the facade, landscaping, hardscape elevators and key utility rooms. Banner contracted with Devenney Group Architects Ltd., Phoenix, to design the tenant improvements, which included the imaging and orthopedic suites, urgent care and women’s health.

Set to complete in July is the 54-unit Bergen apartment building, developed by StreetLights Residential, Texas. Okland and Nelsen are again working together on this building, which is located above the parking garage.

Photo courtesy RED Development

And scheduled to open in the third quarter is the Global Ambassador, a 141-room luxury hotel developed by restaurateur Sam Fox with Phoenix-based Common Bond Development. The 200,000-sq-ft venue will include an 18,000-sq-ft rooftop restaurant. Okland, Nelsen and Testani are again collaborating on the project, with Scottsdale’s Berghoff Design Group providing the landscape architecture services.

Nelsen coordinated with the various owners and the design/construction team to ensure that “the project felt like a campus without monotonous uniformity,” says George A. Melara, the firm’s vice president and managing director. “We knew that this was a significant site with a great mix of uses. The key for us was to listen carefully to the various stakeholders and provide solutions that unify the development.

“The process was iterative and comprehensive, orchestrating a little give and take and borrowing of ideas to come up with a unique solution,” he adds. “There is a bent toward contemporary, clean and sophisticated, with definite European influences that are reinterpreted for our environment.”

Melara relied on site design, lighting, materials and landscaping to create this cohesiveness. “The palette of materials is definitely something that we were very conscious of,” he says. “The use of a lighter color palette of masonry was something that we all gravitated to as an appropriate response to the site, scale and vibe that we felt was appropriate for Arcadia.”

“One GC’s parking lot was another GC’s laydown yard. Both were working toward deadlines and needed the space at the same time.” —Carlos Gonzalez, Okland Project Director

In addition to the other general contractors, Okland has had five company teams working on site, often simultaneously. The site development group demolished the disused banks, restaurants and doctors’ offices and prepared for the new structures. A second team built the parking garage, a third the office building and another the medical offices. A fifth team is building the hotel.

“Some of the players mingled in and out of various teams, but each group was tasked with a specific project,” says Carlos Gonzalez, Okland’s project director for the development excluding the hotel. Wayne Oxberger is the general superintendent for site development, the parking garage and the 4300 Office Building; JJ Bitner, a project superintendent, focuses on final finished products; and Joseph Ellis, senior superintendent, is responsible for safety and scheduling and the hotel project.

Once Princeton Construction and StreetLights Residential started on site, Okland scheduled Thursday general contractor meetings to focus on goals for the next week. “As we were completing the office building, we faced new coordination challenges with the tenant-improvement GCs that were added to the mix,” Gonzalez explains.

Image courtesy RED Development

This teamwork has been important to completing infrastructure on an active site: roads, parking lots and utilities. “One GC’s parking lot was another GC’s laydown yard. Both were working toward deadlines and needed the space at the same time,” he says.

“The site is very urban, and fitting all the utilities, signage, lighting and transformers was a challenge to coordinate,” says Nelsen’s Melara. Labor was an issue early on. In 2020, Okland teams on other projects experienced shortages as carpenters and finishers had to quarantine, Gonzalez says. During the first half of 2021, as the company began work on the Grove, its scope included demolition, grading and building shoring walls, which required just a few well-staffed trade partners, he says. “By the time we started building foundations that summer, it seemed that the trades had regained their footing after the 2020 COVID shock.”

“We knew we had to either pour today or pour in two weeks.” —JJ Bittner, Project Superintendent, Okland Construction

Most materials were available by 2021; the team knew that ordering early was essential. In 2020, “we had ordered materials but just had to wait,” Gonzalez says. For the 4300 Office Building and the hotel, Judith Testani, founder of Testani Design Troupe, and her interior design team were challenged by price hikes, availability issues and delays. “We’ve been diligent about finding products that are available and have worked with the team to get things ordered well in advance of our installation dates,” she says.

Concrete and grout availability was another matter. For the Life Storage building, Princeton Construction had to innovate to find grout for the CMU walls, says Sean Sullivan, director of commercial construction. “Our subcontractors regularly checked the lead time on deliveries from batch plants and would work deals with other subcontractors to get material,” he says.

By mid-2021, portland cement and fly-ash shortages were impacting allocations, deliveries and workflow. Concrete placements that would typically take a day had to be divided into multiple pours, impacting the labor and equipment costs and timing.

“These allocations brought unprecedented schedule uncertainty,” Gonzalez says. “During the height of COVID-19, we never experienced such availability whiplash from day-to-day concrete availability.”

Bittner adds that, typically, a team often has day-to-day flexibility when scheduling concrete placements. With the tight availability, however, “We knew we had to either pour today or pour in two weeks.”

Additionally, the Grove is in the luxury residential area of Arcadia, which is fairly distant from the batch plants, making the time-sensitive truck shelf life of concrete even more critical. A shortage of delivery trucks and drivers later intensified the concrete issues.

The team responded in various ways.

Image courtesy RED Development

“Sometimes we would receive notice that concrete was not available just hours before we were expected to start pouring,” Gonzalez says. “Or we would hear, ‘You can have a 1,000 yards on this day at this time.’ And often we would coordinate with our own projects on the other side of town. We thought, ‘Let’s get that concrete over here to our site so that we can keep this going to meet our deadline.’”

He adds: “Sometimes, we scrambled to find concrete finishers because we received notice that another project failed an inspection and concrete was available to the first project that could take that allocation.”

The team also committed more Saturday hours to adjust and remain on the overall project schedule. “We lost sleep but not time,” says Bittner, the project superintendent.

“This situation was foreign to me even after 20-plus years in the business,” Gonzalez says, “and I credit our concrete trade partners for maintaining a high level of concrete-finish quality despite these challenges.”