West Valley single family homes, condos and townhouses sales reports for January 2010 including:Avondale, El Mirage, Glendale, Goodyear, Laveen, Litchfield Park, Peoria, Sun City, Sun City West,Surprise, Tolleson.

Goodyear will house a new factory for Chinese solar-panel maker Suntech Power Holdings Co., which development officials said Wednesday paves the way for more factories and raises hope for a more diversified Arizona job market.

At least 54 renewable-energy companies are looking at the region for possible factory sites, said Barry Broome, president and CEO of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, which helped lure Suntech to the state.

He said he is hopeful Arizona sees at least three more factory announcements before April and at least six for the year, which would help the state recover from the current recession and housing crisis.

West Valley single family homes, condos and townhouses sales reports for January 2010 including:Avondale, El Mirage, Glendale, Goodyear, Laveen, Litchfield Park, Peoria, Sun City, Sun City West,Surprise, Tolleson.

West Valley single family homes, condos and townhouses sales reports for December 2009 including:Avondale, El Mirage, Glendale, Goodyear, Laveen, Litchfield Park, Peoria, Sun City, Sun City West,Surprise, Tolleson.

Up to six new shops, small restaurants and boutiques are expected to replace the recently shuttered downtown Chandler sex shop Naughty But Nice next year, according to the developer who is buying the site.

Niels Kreipke, president of the Desert Viking development firm, said he's been waiting five years to buy the 6,000-square-foot building on the southeast corner of Arizona Avenue and Boston Street. The building is on the south side of the downtown historic square.

"We are in escrow on it and will be closing (on the sale) in mid-January," Kreipke said.

West Valley single family homes, condos and townhouses sales reports for November 2009 including: Avondale, El Mirage, Glendale, Goodyear, Laveen, Litchfield Park, Peoria, Sun City, Sun City West, Surprise, Tolleson.

West Valley single family homes, condos and townhouses sales reports for October 2009 including: Avondale, El Mirage, Glendale, Goodyear, Laveen, Litchfield Park, Peoria, Sun City, Sun City West, Surprise, Tolleson.

A plaza offering services, shopping and food will open in Surprise Friday with four eateries, but filling the three-building complex with businesses may take months.

Bell Mar Plaza, sporting the bright colors of a crayon box and featuring a fountain with water and laser-light shows, sits on Bell Road along the eastern gateway into Surprise. The 72,000-square-foot neighborhood plaza is slightly bigger than a football field.

Westcor plans to break ground on Estrella Falls mall next spring, but the likelihood of meeting that timeline is unclear.

In the past two years, the Phoenix-based developer twice announced yearlong delays in February.

Both times, company officials cited the poor economy as a key factor in delaying construction on the Southwest Valley's first regional mall. The 107-acre site is north of McDowell Road between PebbleCreek Parkway and Bullard Avenue in Goodyear.

Garrett Newland, Westcor's vice president of development, last week said the company still plans to start building in early 2010 and reinforced its commitment to Goodyear.

Peoria leaders want a new image for the city, as a destination city with high-paying jobs.

As the city tries to shed its bedroom-community identity and works to attract corporate development along its blank northern tier, officials are looking to the city's new economic-development director to help reach those goals.

Friday marked the end of Scott Whyte's first full week on the job. His challenge, set out by the city, is to attract a corporate headquarters, a college or university and a hospital along the Loop 303 corridor, which Mayor Bob Barrett has said is the city's last best chance at economic development.