Tucson motel to be converted into a shelter, apartments after $2.6M sale

An old motel along Miracle Mile will be converted by the city into a shelter with an additional apartment complex to be built on the property.

Jigar Desai, with NewGen Advisory, handled the $2.6 million sale of the 30-unit Amazon Motel on two acres of land at 1135 W. Miracle Mile, near Fairview Avenue.

“NewGen Advisory is actively working with local municipalities and nonprofit agencies to bridge connections to help with the housing shortage,” Desai said.

The purchase was made possible with a $6.1 million grant from the Arizona Department of Housing, said Ann Chanecka, interim director for the city of Tucson’s housing and community development department.

The city plans to rehab the motel rooms into studios and will later add on-site support services.

“In the meantime, our Housing First team is using it as emergency shelter as we don’t expect to start construction until 2024,” Chanecka said. “A future phase will be to add another apartment building to the vacant lot on the Amazon parcel.”

The preliminary concept is a three-story, 43-unit complex. The timeline for that project is dependent on receiving a grant from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development.

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Other local commercial transactions include:

Don Martin Apartments LLC bought the 24-unit Don Martin Apartments at 605 E. Ninth St. from Performance Properties Group LLC for $3.2 million. Allan Mendelsberg and Joey Martinez, with Picor, represented both parties.

The Utah Townhomes LLC bought the six-unit Utah Townhomes at 407 W. Utah St. from 407 UTAH JGJ LLC for $1.1 million. Allan Mendelsberg and Joey Martinez, with Picor, represented both parties.

Arizona Heart Foundation, Inc. leased 2,512 square feet at the Williams Centre, 310 S. Williams Blvd., to open a second location of its School of Cardiac & Vascular Ultrasound. Ryan McGregor and Thomas J. Nieman, with Picor, represented the tenant and the landlord, DHS Property Investments Ltd. Partnership.

Citizens For Free Enterprise leased 2,424 square feet of office space at 17 W. Wetmore Road from Coronado Tower Tucson LLC. Thomas J. Nieman, with Picor, represented the landlord.

Not Your Mother’s Fitness LLC leased 1,200 square feet at 1070 E. Tucson Marketplace from Elite Retail Center Inc. to open a fitness studio. Joey Castillo, Andreas Castillo, and Jeramy Price, with Volk Co., handled the lease.

International market, Lifeland Market, leased 710 square feet at 2938 E. 22nd St. from RRL Inc. Andreas Castillo and Joey Castillo, with Volk Co., represented the landlord.