The Dealmaker: 12/15/2016

Maracay Homes closes on 9.4 acres near South Mountain. “The [$1.65 million] property… will be combined with a second property… [for a] total [of] 23.5 acres. The two parcels are near 32nd Street and the Highline Canal, and [have] been zoned for 54 lots…” For more on Maracay’ s plans for the area (a location which the company’s VP of land acquisition and development refers to as “almost boutique”), click to AZ Business Magazine. http://bit.ly/2hBc4py

NINTH CIRCUIT OR BUST? – South Mountain Freeway opponents prepare for possible last fight. “[T]he… Ninth Circuit will begin receiving briefs [‘this week’] aimed at stopping the 22-mile freeway in its tracks…. And if the [court] rejects opponents’ arguments, their only recourse is to hope they can get a re-hearing or get the case on the U.S. Supreme Court docket.” Click to East Valley Tribune for more on a freeway that would serve as “a [much needed] bypass around the heavily congested segment of I-10.” Also get some background on both the Gila River Indian Community and PARC, and their failed attempts to stop the “building [of] a highway that has been on the books for more than three decades.” http://bit.ly/2hBcpZr

Northern Parkway Project, part 2 begins next year. “The second segment of a 12.5-mile roadway through the Northwest Valley… kicks off next year…. [with] the transformation of a 2.5 mile stretch from Dysart Road to 111th Avenue into a four-lane road with two lanes in each direction.” For a look back at the history of this project, plus construction timeframes for future segments along with funding info, head to YourWestValley. http://bit.ly/2hKFdBI

High hopes for Thompson tenure as he takes reins at the City of Scottsdale. In last week’s Dealmaker, we praised the selection of Jim Thompson for Scottsdale City Manager (as Jordan Rose has worked with him for over a decade in Casa Grande). Now, in this report from Terrance Thornton in Scottsdale Independent, members of the City Council do the same, weighing in on why they believe that, in Jim, they “[have] their man.” http://bit.ly/2hSq6Cm

‘DOWN’ ON THE FARM – True Life wrestles with distrust toward Ahwatukee Farms plan. “True Life has proposed about 279 houses, a private school, a five-acre community farm, a farmers market and a café for the former golf course site.” But, according to this report in Ahwatukee Foothills News, “by the end of their two-hour presentation last week, most of the approximately 80 people who attended appeared to leave the meeting unconvinced…” Still, could there be a “compromise” in the works? http://bit.ly/2hAhOAc