The Dealmaker: 10/17/2016

SPACE OUT? – Ahwatukee Board of Management directors explain why they resigned. As authors Ben Holt, Pete Meier, and Jeffery Hall put it in their piece for Ahwatukee Foothills News, “The simple answer is: we failed in our efforts to develop a collaborative Board more sensitive to homeowners and better uniting our community to save open space…. Some of the failure we can attribute to our own missteps. On the other hand, we experienced harassment, intimidation, and in our opinion even bullying from some of the ABM leadership who seemed less interested in saving open space.” http://bit.ly/2eyHvU2

Stopping South Mountain Freeway would cost taxpayers ‘millions,’ government lawyers say. “Federal and state attorneys have raised the specter of mounting taxpayer costs if a judge halts construction [‘… costs to the public due to project delays would be $641,000 per day… a year’s delay could add… $200 million to the total project cost’].” East Valley Tribune also reports that “[a]n injunction could have particularly harsh adverse impacts on the local construction community and on members of disadvantaged communities employed on the project…” http://bit.ly/2dmUKRI

PhoenixMart says construction goals are being met. “[U]p to 275,000 square feet of concrete slab [will be] poured… by early next week…. The company expects to have 1.6 million square feet poured in the coming months…. [T]he main shell… to be up by the end of this year…. [Today], over 100 trucks carrying steel are expected to arrive… This steel will be used to construct frames of the building’s walls, the first sections of which are to be tilted up by next month.” Click through for further update details, plus see a time-lapse video of work getting done. http://bit.ly/2eyK8VK

Rio Nuevo given high marks in state audit. Arizona Daily Star: “Among the [district’s] accomplishments highlighted in [an] 85-page report: major renovation [of] the Tucson Convention Center arena; construction of the 136-room Marriott Hotel; landing the headquarters for Caterpillar’s surface mining branch; and refinancing of bonds from 2008, that saved the agency about $5.4 million.” http://bit.ly/2dmSl9N

Newsmaker BONUS: The federal taxes I didn’t pay. Jordan Rose and Court Rich’s Uncle Bert Stratton in the New York Times on how not paying taxes to Uncle Sam (thanks to “loss-carry forwards”) makes him “like Donald Trump” — but only “somewhat.” http://bit.ly/2edw3d9

Cameron’s $5M + deals of the day – http://bit.ly/2edsEeg

The 6th Annual Bentley Scottsdale Polo Championships, November 5th, great party, great cause – http://bit.ly/2d3XWFr