What Avalon Development does

Avalon Development, LLC is a privately held commercial real estate development firm founded in 1999 and headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona. The company develops, acquires, manages, and disposes of institutional-quality commercial properties across nine service lines: Quick Serve Restaurant (QSR), Automotive, Medical & Dental, Mixed Use, Multi-Tenant Retail & Shopping Center, Adaptive Re-Use, Office, General Retail, and Excess Land. Its operating geographies span Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, and Nevada, with the deepest concentration in the Phoenix metro and broader Arizona market.

The company's core operating model is direct-to-tenant engagement for build-to-suit and speculative commercial development. It handles the full lifecycle in-house — site selection, planning and entitlement, construction, leasing, and ongoing property management — supported by a lean in-house team of approximately 11–50 employees covering planning & entitlement, accounting, paralegal, and finance functions. Revenue is generated through two streams: one-time development/construction fees and recurring property management and operations revenue, with pricing negotiated per transaction rather than disclosed publicly.

Avalon serves institutional-quality national-brand tenants across multiple verticals, including Chipotle, Starbucks, Valvoline, AAA Automotive, AutoZone, Aspen Dental, Village Medical, and various state government agencies. The company is led by Founder & CEO Scott Whittington, with William Whittington overseeing Development, Leasing, and Finance, reflecting a founder-controlled ownership structure with family succession already in place. Its differentiators — repeated in its own positioning — are nimble execution, pragmatic creativity, and an approach tested through multiple market cycles, with no disclosed AI capabilities, patents, or external institutional capital.

Name

Avalon Development

Legal name

Avalon Development, LLC

Website

https://avalondevelopment.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Avalon Development is a Scottsdale-based commercial real estate developer founded in 1999 that builds, leases, and manages institutional-quality properties across QSR, automotive, medical, retail, office, and government verticals in Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, and Nevada.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Commercial Real Estate Development

NAICS

Real Estate Property Managers (53131)

SIC

Land Subdividers & Developers (No Cemeteries) (6552), Real Estate Dealers (For Their Own Account) (6532), Operators Of Nonresidential Buildings (6512)

akta.pro primary industry

Real Estate Development & Feasibility Advisory (Highest-and-Best-Use, Entitlements Support) (BPAJANAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Real Estate Investment Advisory (Acquisitions/Dispositions, Capital Allocation) (BPAJANAA), Transitional/Development Land Brokerage (Entitled, In-Path-of-Growth) (BPAJADAJ), Real Estate Public-Private Partnership (PPP) & Infrastructure-Adjacent Real Estate Advisory (BPAJANAL)

Keywords

• Commercial real estate development
• Build-to-suit properties
• Property management services
• QSR development
• Retail site development

Headquarters

HQ city

Scottsdale

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Commercial Real Estate Development: Development and construction of commercial properties for lease to tenants across QSR, automotive, medical, retail, and office segments.
2. Property Management and Operations: Ongoing management and operation of commercial real estate properties for institutional-quality tenant solutions.

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Avalon Development is a commercial real estate development, acquisition, disposition, and management firm founded in 1999 and headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona. The company develops institutional-quality commercial properties for national tenants across quick serve restaurant (QSR), automotive, medical and dental, retail, office, and adaptive re-use categories in the southwestern United States, and provides ongoing property management for those assets.

Product overview

Avalon Development is a commercial real estate development company offering a comprehensive portfolio of property development services. The company operates across nine distinct service lines: Quick Serve Restaurant (QSR) Development, Automotive Development, Mixed Use Development, Multi Tenant Retail & Shopping Center, Adaptive Re-Use, Office Development, Medical & Dental Development, General Retail Development, and Excess Land development. These services are delivered through a unified development platform that handles site selection, planning and entitlement, construction, and property management. The company specializes in institutional-quality commercial properties serving major national brands including Chipotle, Starbucks, Valvoline, AAA Automotive, Aspen Dental, and Village Medical across Arizona, Texas, Nevada, and New Mexico markets.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Quick Serve Restaurant (QSR) Development Development of quick serve restaurant properties for major national and regional QSR brands, including ground-up construction and tenant improvements, delivered primarily for lease.
• Automotive Development Development of automotive retail, service, and car wash facilities for national automotive brands including Valvoline, AAA Automotive, AAMCO, Firestone, O'Reilly Auto Parts, and AutoZone.
• Mixed Use Development Development of mixed-use commercial properties combining multiple retail, office, or service uses in integrated developments.
• Multi Tenant Retail & Shopping Center Development Development and management of multi-tenant retail centers and shopping centers for various commercial tenants.
• Adaptive Re-Use Development Transformation and redevelopment of existing buildings for new commercial uses, including historic property conversions.
• Office Development Development of commercial office properties for lease to professional and business service tenants.
• Medical & Dental Development Development of medical and dental facilities including clinic buildings and healthcare properties for providers such as Aspen Dental, Village Medical, and state government health departments.
• General Retail Development Development of general retail properties for national and regional retail tenants.
• Excess Land Development Development opportunities on excess land parcels for commercial retail and service use.

Named customers26 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• VanTrust Real Estate: Full-service commercial real estate developer executing office, industrial, retail, and mixed-use projects across multiple U.S. markets. Comparable in end-to-end development platform and institutional-quality positioning.
• Majestic Realty Co. Privately held commercial and industrial real estate developer with a long track record of build-to-suit projects for national tenants. Comparable in privately held, multi-state, multi-vertical development model.
• RED Development: Phoenix-based commercial real estate developer focused on retail, mixed-use, and build-to-suit projects across the Southwest. Closely comparable in geography, tenant mix (national brands), and product type to Avalon Development.
• CenterCal Properties: Retail and mixed-use commercial real estate developer with projects throughout the western U.S. Comparable in retail build-to-suit orientation and tenant mix.
• Jackson-Shaw: Texas-headquartered commercial real estate developer with build-to-suit and speculative development for national tenants. Comparable in scope, Southwest/Texas footprint, and tenant profile to Avalon.
• Vestar: Arizona-based commercial real estate company specializing in retail, entertainment, and mixed-use development. Strongly comparable in Phoenix market focus and national-tenant build-to-suit orientation.

Broad incumbents

• The Howard Hughes Corporation: Large-scale master-planned community and commercial developer. Overlaps with Avalon in commercial build-to-suit and mixed-use development, though it operates at a much larger, publicly held scale.
• Trammell Crow Company: One of the largest commercial real estate developers in the U.S., operating across office, industrial, retail, and life sciences. Competes with Avalon for national build-to-suit mandates but at materially greater scale and capital base.
• Lincoln Property Company: National commercial real estate firm offering development, investment, and property management services. Comparable on the property management and development platform dimensions but operates at a significantly larger scale.
• Hillwood: Major commercial and industrial real estate developer with extensive Southwest presence. Overlaps with Avalon on build-to-suit and master-planned commercial development for institutional tenants.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Avalon Development