More Tucson shopping centers infused with housing expected

Bourn Cos. has bought homebuilder Pepper Viner Homes.

Founded in 1985, Pepper Viner has built more than 40 new housing communities with over 2,500 homes, including several at shuttered Tucson Unified School District campuses.

Bourn has nearly 6 million square feet of mixed-use development with retail, dining, entertainment, hotel, office and residential projects.

Projects include The Landing, on Irvington Road and Interstate 19; The Bridges, near Park Avenue and Interstate 10; and the former Foothills Mall, on Ina Road, which has been rebranded as Uptown.

Bourn is also working on other such developments in Vail, along Interstate 10 and Colossal Cave Road, and in midtown, at Swan and Golf Links roads.

The duo’s first collaboration is The Pearl, a housing development within The Bridges project.

The gated, 12-acre community will have 126 homes for sale in one- and two-story models.

Construction is underway and models are expected to be open in spring 2025.

“With the positive experience we had with the Bourn team in planning and developing The Pearl … it seemed like a natural progression to create a longer-term relationship,” Pepper Viner CEO Bill Viner said.

He said the name Pepper Viner will be retained for the residential home-building developments, and the 16 current employees will be absorbed by Bourn.

Viner said the merger means more housing will be prominent in future Bourn projects.

“There will be more creative, thoughtful and environmentally conscious projects on the horizon,” he said.

Terms of the sale were not disclosed.

Three of Bourn’s large, active developments all include housing. An apartment complex is being built at The Landing; at Uptown, a 157-unit apartment complex is under construction; and The Bridges has an apartment complex, single-family homes for rent and the upcoming Pearl development with homes for sale.

“Having had the opportunity to work with Bill and the incredible Pepper Viner team over the years, we couldn’t be more excited about this acquisition,” said Don Bourn, CEO of Bourn Cos. “We share the mission of developing world-class places, whether that’s for work, play or living, this acquisition will add value to our company as well as the entire community.”

The concept of adding housing to shopping center sites and malls is being seen across the country, as owners see it as a way to help struggling retailers get built-in customers, according to the Urban Land Institute.

“Although there are often tricky challenges to turning what was once a sea of asphalt and concrete and enormous windowless mall buildings into pleasant mixed-use neighborhoods,” the institute notes, “architects and urban theorists describe them as an opportunity to bring walkable urbanism to the suburbs, as well as alleviate housing shortages.”