AZRE magazine sat down with eight NAIOP Arizona members to learn more about their relationship to the association, how they’ve grown their careers from getting involved, the benefits of networking with competitors and what trends they’re seeing in the market. Responses have been edited for clarity and length. Meet Korey Wilkes, principal, Butler Design Group.
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Korey Wilkes, principal, Butler Design Group
AZRE: How long have you been a part of NAIOP?
Korey Wilkes: When I joined Butler Design Group in ’99, the company was already a member of NAIOP, so since then. The organization does a lot for the industry, like promoting legislation that creates a positive development environment. From a social standpoint, NAIOP provides a great opportunity to make connections — developers, brokers, contractors and design professionals all attend events together, so we build relationships with one another.
AZRE: How long have you been in a leadership role at NAIOP?
KW: I previously served on the Night at the Fights committee, but I was just appointed to the board of directors this last year. When that happened, I was asked to join a committee, and working on the Best of NAIOP interested me most. It has always been a great event, but I wanted to bring some fresh ideas.
We ended up transitioning from a typical ballroom to a theater, and that was a significant shift in venue. But working with the committee and putting together some skits for the event was something I really enjoyed. It all ended up becoming a bit of a side job there for a while — and there a few hiccups the night of — but I think it was received well by the majority of people. Now we have an opportunity to improve again next year.
AZRE: What industry trends should readers be following?
KW: Five years after the pandemic started, there has been a healthy shift back into brick-and-mortar retail. We’re even seeing more power centers — a term that we hadn’t used for the last five to eight years. We’re working on a handful of those, mostly on the outskirts of town, but there are few infill power centers that are chasing rooftops. Some office development is happening, but it’s niche and in specific subregions.
During the pandemic, about 75% our work was industrial, but we’re as close to having a balanced portfolio as we have been in a long time, which is good for us because we want a stable, mixed profile. Industrial has slowed a little due to some oversaturation, but there’s still a lot of infill and a good amount of speculative development going on. The TSMC effect has helped keep demand going, which has been huge for the Valley and our business.
The unfortunate thing is we have a bad rap regarding water, but the reality is that Arizona has some of the best water policies in the U.S. — if not the world. I don’t know of another place that requires a 100-year guarantee for water supplies. Overall, we’ve had some great legislation over the years, and I’d like to think NAIOP was part of that.
