This article originally appeared in Arizona Business Magazine. It’s a vital component of any development, large or small, and one that is surprisingly complex: Parking. In a car-centric, spread-out city like Phoenix, new developments must have enough parking to accommodate all of the drivers who live, work or visit. Despite being the fifth-largest city in the United States and the fastest-growing metropolitan area, Phoenix is behind other major cities in the country when it comes to public transportation and other alternative means of getting to and from work each day. As the development activity in Phoenix has exploded in the past 10 years, so has the number of large parking structures. These structures may seem simple from the outside, but there are many hours spent by development teams to determine just the right size, location, look and function of these parking structures. “Parking is a big issue for all development and redevelopment, like our project at Park Central Mall,” said Stan Shafer, president and CEO of Holualoa Companies, which is currently in the midst of a redevelopment project at Park Central Mall that will feature the tallest parking structure in Arizona. “The reality is that parking is becoming more important than it ever was because tenant demands for parking have increased over the last 10-15 years.” The Urban Land Institute has long been championing the idea of less parking, especially in the urban core areas of cities around the country. In Read More

Last week Kitchell and hardison/downey hosted our seventh annual Build FORE Good (BFG) golf tournament, raising $65,000 for Teach for America Phoenix chapter.  BFG is a day dedicated to having fun and raising money for local nonprofits in a beautiful, unpretentious setting at the beautiful Kierland golf course. Over the course of seven years the event has raised more than $700,000 for local nonprofits. And despite those who think this is just a play day outdoors during Arizona’s beautiful fall weather, it is in fact a lot of hard work! The event requires months of advance planning, including soliciting our building partners and subcontractors to purchase sponsorships, making the fundraising portion of this possible (and gratifying for our sponsors). This year’s event kicked off with cute kids from a Teach for America school leading everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance and high-fiving the golfers as they went to their assigned holes for the shotgun start. The sold-out event had 216 golfers and is made possible with the help of 30-plus volunteers. Teach For America is a leadership development organization that recruits remarkable, diverse college graduates and professionals to teach for at least two years in low-income communities, and supports them as lifelong leaders and advocates working from every sector and field to increase educational opportunities for students. Teach For America has had a presence in Phoenix since 1994. Currently, there are 592 Teach For America corps members and alumni teaching in Arizona’s schools with Read More

Last month we came together to celebrate our Founder Sam Kitchell by volunteering with nonprofit organizations in communities where we live and work. During our annual Founder’s Day, Kitchell employees-owners representing five states and 21 communities participated in 30 community projects, ranging from park clean-ups in Anaheim to making care packages at Phoenix Children’s Hospital. The list of organizations we benefited includes: San Francisco – Marin Food Bank Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Central Valley Hart Song Ranch National Audubon Society Ranger Road Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central and Northern Arizona Sacramento Zoological Society American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Sunshine Acres Operation School Bell United Food Bank Desert Mission Food Bank Phoenix Children’s Hospital Foundation St. Mary’s Food Bank Feed My Starving Children Palomar College Foundation Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona Eloise’s Cooking Pot Community First Village Truly Home – Houston Habitat for Humanity ReStore Placer Union High School Booster Club Ronald McDonald House of Sacramento Sacramento Food Bank EcoSlo Beach Keepers Stockton Emergency Food Bank City of Anaheim Sunnyvale Community Service  Santa Monica High School Landscaping beautification Ogden, Utah School District American Red Cross Our efforts resulted in nearly $30,000 raised for these local charities by donating $25 per employee, per hour to the nonprofits where our employee-owners volunteered. Thank you to Sam Kitchell for having the vision to found Kitchell nearly 70 years ago, and to all of our employee-owners who are committed to Read More