In the first project, the Phoenix-based developer has broken ground on a 240,000-sf retail center anchored by a Lowe's Home Improvement store. The development, Thunderbird Crossing, is on the southwest corner of 83rd Avenue and Thunderbird Road and is scheduled to open by the second quarter of next year.

Lowe's opened its second store in the Valley earlier this year as the start of a more than $350 million introduction into the metropolitan-Phoenix marketplace. The company plans to build 20 stores in the Valley during the next five years, creating 4,000 jobs.

In the East Valley, Opus is expanding its Chandler Pavilions, adding 85,000 sf of new retail space. The center, at Chandler Boulevard and Interstate 10, has tenants that include CompUSA, Golfsmith and Toys R Us. Tenants already committed to the second phase include Cost Plus World Market, which will lease 20,000 sf, and Ultimate Electronics, leasing 32,500 sf.