Grill of the city

Ryan Abbott
President, Southwest
Clayco
Abbott is “cautiously optimistic” about the Phoenix market. “At a macro level, I think technology-enabled manufacturing will continue to be a long-term driver in the region,” he says.
“Phoenix has positioned itself well and this ecosystem effect should continue to drive downstream demand in industrial, infrastructure and support facilities.”
Phoenix’s role as a mega-distribution hub won’t go away either, he says. “Population growth continues to support demand for warehousing and logistics, and even with some normalization, long-term fundamentals remain strong.”
Abbott predicts that retail and health care projects will continue to come together and sees opportunities in tenant improvement and infill work.
“Owners are becoming more selective and strategic, favoring repositioning, adaptive reuse and thoughtful upgrades over bottom-line speculation in most sectors,” he says.
“Going forward, I believe material cost pressures and interest rate volatility will intensify. This environment will demand more sophisticated planning, tighter underwriting and a greater focus on long-term value creation rather than purely transactional development.”
