Phoenix among 5 U.S. markets with the most real estate bargains. “[Realtor.com®] put [its] data team on the case to find those metros where the biggest percentage of discount houses can be found.” (“Phoenix is poised for a big 2017”!) Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke surfaces to provide some quick insight. Get all this info and more by WATCHING Realtor’s super-short videoette. It takes fewer than two minutes! —> http://bit.ly/2nmhdoa
House development challenges Benson, San Pedro River. “Villages at Vigneto… would make [Benson] the largest city in Cochise County and transform the area from a sleepy, rural county to Arizona’s newest housing goldmine… Environmentalists say that [adding 70,000 ‘water users’] will deprive the San Pedro River of water… drying up Arizona’s last undammed river…. The future of the [development] lives or dies on a single decision by the Army Corps of Engineers…” Arizona Sonora News. http://bit.ly/2ngqjWQ
Tucson adopts GPLET agreement for major downtown project. “The Tucson City Council has signed off on a $4.2 million property tax deal to help HSL Properties redevelop the La Placita property downtown.” See the site plan and get details on the “direct and indirect benefits of the proposed apartment complex with ground floor retail” — i.e., jobs, tax-revenue estimates — at Arizona Daily Star. http://bit.ly/2mk4VvA
Neighborhood concerned about multistory University of Arizona student complex north of Speedway. “[A]1,000-bed… complex… four to six stories tall…. span[ing] an entire city block… outside the official campus boundaries… [on] property… owned partially by the UA and the privately owned American Campus Communities… Many neighbors say they feel powerless… City Councilman Steve Kozachik… said his hands are tied in terms of the city stepping in to help ease… concerns.” Arizona Daily Star. http://bit.ly/2mjPAvj
Freddie Mac considers backing single-family home rentals. The Urban Institute says doing so “could help alleviate the affordable housing shortage… Lawmakers and community groups criticized a [similar] Fannie Mae deal… that guaranteed a $1 billion loan to Blackstone Group-backed Invitation Homes…” Meanwhile, according this report in Bloomberg, neither Freddie Mac nor the Federal Housing Finance Agency are talking about it. It’s all very hush-hush. http://bit.ly/2nx6OW9
Dealmaker BONUS: ’Ponderosa’ home a part of Hollywood history. “‘Bonanza’ was… one of the most popular shows of the 1960s and early ’70s… So popular, in fact, that the show’s star, Lorne Greene, decided to build a replica of the show’s signature set piece, the Ponderosa Ranch House, on a golf course and home development on the then-distant outskirts of east Mesa….[T]he Ponderosa II [now a ‘historic landmark’] was the focal point last week for the annual ‘Bonanza Friendship Reunion,’ a celebration of the show and its fans.” More on the house and the celebration in East Valley Tribune. http://bit.ly/2mjDTVq
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