The Dealmaker: 11/21/2016

DON’T GET ‘AGRIHOOD-WINKED’ – ‘Golf town hall’ speakers rip Ahwatukee Farms proposal. “Don’t let something… interfere with your lifestyle…”; “The CC&Rs are amazingly clear and we have a judge who agrees…”; “[Residents would] ‘rather look at dirt than another 300 homes….’” That is just a sampling of the comments “from eight development and golfing experts” who “urged… people packed [into] the Ahwatukee Recreation Center… to reject True Life’s request… to… build… 300 homes, a private school, a farm, café, two lakes and a green belt with recreation path” on the “defunct 101-acre course at Ahwatukee Lakes Golf Club.“ Full story on the community pushback to this “agrihood” — at Ahwatukee Foothills News. http://bit.ly/2gb8Nzj

Mesa City Council to discuss how to use 25 acres at University and Mesa drives. Mesa Independent: “[A] study session [regarding ‘future development of… city-owned land at the southwest corner of University and Mesa’] begins [TODAY] at 5 p.m…. in the lower city council chambers, 57 E. First St. Click through to access links to the agenda along with a slideshow. http://bit.ly/2gbaMDS

Concept plans for $18.6 million West Park OK’d, could open in fall 2018.“The proposed park will use about 44 acres of a 76-acre site... [that] is generally bounded by Queen Creek Road to the north, Ocotillo Road to the south, Sossaman Road to the west and Hawes Road to the east… ‘This is the best of the best, I think, of all of those designs and everything put together,’ Vice Mayor Oliphant said about the design plan.” Get park details and view this design plan at Queen Creek Independent. http://bit.ly/2fy9VJA

Former designer critical of PhoenixMart. “Jon Felt began working as a computer-aided designer in May for AZ Commercial Contractors, a subsidiary of PhoenixMart’s parent company, AZ Sourcing, and said he’s worried the company is putting the ‘cart before the horse’ by proceeding to build out the project…” But what’s his specific beef? Find out in Casa Grande Dispatch. http://bit.ly/2fVj2ot

October surprises in real estate. REALTORMag: “Housing starts increased 25.5 percent… It is the highest pace since August 2007…. ‘The higher-than-expected gain across all regions… ’reaffirms our view that steady improvement in the housing market is likely to continue over the next two years,’ Rob Martin of Barclays Bank PLC told The Wall Street Journal.”  However, as you’ll notice from the next Dealmaker item, Bloomberg sees things a bit differently. http://bit.ly/2fimTun

Homebuilding is hot again. And not nearly hot enough.Bloomberg: “[S]tarts surged in October… That’s good news for a housing market struggling with low inventory… The less-good news is that there’s still a long way to go… Even accounting for multifamily construction… the U.S. housing market is still adding new units at a slower rate than it has for the past half century [as shown in two U.S. Census Bureau charts]…. Whether or not builders keep up the pace is complicated by a number of conflicting factors.” To find out what those factors are, click it—> http://bit.ly/2gb7XTc

Cameron’s $5M + deals of the day – http://bit.ly/2fL98YX