The Dealmaker: 12/21/2016

‘FOUR’!?! – Club West Golf Course purchase would need $4 million from homeowners, plan says. “The plan… calls for major upgrades of the course’s irrigation system and some landscaping changes to reduce water consumption and ‘return the nature and professionalism of this venue to what it used to be….’” (But with a $4 million price tag, there’s probably more than a few residents going, “Hey, living with a ‘beleaguered golf course’? Eh, not such a bad idea after all.”) For further plan details and the cost breakdown click to Ahwatukee Foothills News. http://bit.ly/2ibaKgp

Conair expanding in Glendale with warehouse that will bring 300 jobs. The blow-dryer manufacturer “will open a new [1 million sq. ft.] distribution center near University of Phoenix Stadium… The massive building will be longer than the Empire State Building is tall.” (BTW, should any of the 300 employees be tasked with testing new blow-dryers, we guarantee that while doing so, over half will wonder, “Is the phone ringing?”) Get a construction update and view a seven-image slideshow of the facility’s huge walls being raised and installed, at AZCentral. http://bit.ly/2i1soQH

Town Council approves Queen Creek Transportation Master Plan. “Not only does [the Transportation Master Plan] serve as a long-range blueprint for vehicle, pedestrian, bicycle and transit travel within the town of Queen Creek, it also focuses on regional transportation, coordinating connectivity with neighboring jurisdictions.” Further details and map of the Transportation Master Plan at Queen Creek Independent. http://bit.ly/2haxsDL

Tucson investors buy Foothills Mall, plan major renovation. “Tucson-based Bourn Companies and FHM Partners… closed on the sale of the mall Tuesday and plan a big entertainment presence as well as office space and hotels. Located at the northwest corner of Ina Road and La Cholla Boulevard, it consists of approximately 515,000 square feet on 52 acres.”  For more on Bourn Companies’ plans, plus a brief look back at the mall’s history, (including its one-time connection with two-time presidential candidate, Ross Perot) tap to Arizona Daily Star. http://bit.ly/2hI8Hzu

Legislators looking at ways to pay for highways via gas tax, fees. “Financing the state’s freeway needs could mean Arizona motorists will pay higher gasoline taxes, will see an entirely new sales tax on fuel on top of that and will find it’s even more expensive to register their vehicles. And owners of all-electric cars likely would feel a hit, too.” Capitol Media Services’ Howard Fischer reports, in East Valley Tribune. http://bit.ly/2h2nwcj

[OPINION] Rising rates threaten to complicate 2017 housing outlook. Investment expert and Forbes’ contributor Sam Diedrich looks at “the recent trend toward higher interest rates” and how it “has raised concerns about the outlook for home prices going into 2017, eliciting a range of responses from sheer panic to resilient optimism.” http://bit.ly/2hTWtBQ

‘The housing bust appears bigger than the boom’ even after 7 years of recovery. “[S]everal housing metrics… such as single-family home sales and building permits… have still not made it to prerecession highs or even come near the levels they were at in the past two business cycles…. [M]any parts of the real-estate market that helped fuel growth in previous cycles have been constrained since the market collapsed.” That just a sampling of an assessment from Scott Brown, chief economist at financial services firm Raymond James. Get Brown’s “full breakdown” at Business Insider. —> http://bit.ly/2hd9glX

Cameron’s $5M + deals of the day – http://bit.ly/2h2eThT