​State Farm building in Phoenix sold

Kansas City-based VanTrust Real Estate LLC has bought a 44th Street office building for $22.9 million. VanTrust is a real estate offshoot of the Van Tuyl car dealership company.

VanTrust acquired Gateway Four, a 137,069-square-foot office building, located at at the corner of Van Buren and 44th streets in Phoenix.

The building is currently occupied by State Farm Insurance. State Farm will vacate the space when its new office complex on Tempe Town Lake is completed next year.

CBRE’s Tom Adelson…

Driller Patterson-UTI to pay $14.5 million to settle EEOC discrimination suit, other claims

A federal judge in Denver has signed off on an agreement under which Patterson-UTI Drilling Co. LLC, a North American oil and gas drilling company, will pay $14.5 million to settle a federal lawsuit alleging a pattern of discrimination on its drilling rigs.

The suit was filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The settlement also will resolve several other cases via conciliation agreements, the EEOC said Monday.

The company is a subsidiary of Houston-based Patterson-UTI Energy…

Company selling mini-refinery technology for natural gas

Sacramento-based Greyrock Energy has moved from proving its technology to selling its systems.

The company developed technology that allows relatively small refining plants to convert natural gas into diesel fuel, which means more fuel is saved and greenhouse gases are reduced.

Small is a relative term. The Greyrock system requires nearly two acres of land, but it replicates the process of otherwise massive refineries that sprawl over a hundred acres.

The 2006 startup developed its technology…

Phoenix Chamber 'Grow-to Girl' Jennifer Mellor new economic development VP

Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce has promoted Jennifer Mellor into the role of vice president of economic development.

At first glance, it would seem that the chamber’s involvement in economic development steps heavily onto roles claimed by Arizona Commerce Authority, Greater Phoenix Economic Council and city of Phoenix Community and Economic Development Department, but Mellor says her role covers a different aspect of economic development.

“My role complements, sometimes overlaps, but is…

Ballston's withering auto market: Saul Centers floats early plan for Mazda site

It’s not a formal proposal yet, but Saul Centers Inc. has approached Arlington County with its initial vision for a redeveloped Rosenthal Mazda dealership at the intersection of Wilson Boulevard and North Glebe Road.

According to a staff report issued ahead of Monday evening’s Long Range Planning Committee meeting, the Bethesda-based Saul Centers (NYSE: BFS) is proposing to transform the Mazda site at 750 N. Glebe and the adjacent 730 N. Glebe into a 431-unit apartment building with 68,285 square…