The Dealmaker: 3/15/2017

P&Z give thumbs up to CopperWynd project. (Disclosure: Rose Law Group represents the Copperwynd Resort.) Fountain Hills P& Z “took the first step… that would allow the owner of… CopperWynd… to redevelop the property with 10 times the current room capacity.” Fountain Hills Times reports that “[owner Bill] Hinz has already invested $6 million in property improvements since taking over; [and] when all three phases of the project are complete it will generate $1.65 million in total sales tax receipts, a ten-fold increase over the numbers for 2016.” More on the “thumbs up” here: http://bit.ly/2mtoW31 

CONGRATS TO COUNCILWOMAN STARK! – Debra Stark claims win in north Phoenix council race. AZCentral: “Stark, a retired city planner, was appointed to the District 3 council seat in June. Unofficial results from Tuesday’s special election show a likely insurmountable lead over Chris DeRose, an attorney and historical author…. Stark focused on quality-of-life issues like repairing city infrastructure.” http://bit.ly/2m1cKdx

CONGRATS TO MAYOR LORD! – Goodyear re-elects Mayor Lord. “Mayor Georgia Lord appeared headed to a decisive victory on Tuesday, according to preliminary election results… Lord, who is in Washington, D.C., for a National League of Cities conference, said in an email Tuesday night that she will continue to ‘build a stronger Goodyear.’… [V]oters also decided on five candidates seeking three seats on the City Council.” See  who’s in and who’s out, at AZCentral. http://bit.ly/2nsQcPZ

’WHEW!’ FOR MAYOR MECK – Effort to recall Buckeye Mayor Jackie Meck appears to fall short. “A citizen-driven campaign to recall Buckeye Mayor Jackie Meck after outrage over high water bills will likely fail to trigger a recall election…” Although the “recall effort… will come up 500 signatures short,” AZCentral reports that “some gains were made” as a result, including a water “hotline.” Apologies in advance for this, but… with “water” such a huge part of this story, we think it only appropriate to suggest that you tap through for details: http://bit.ly/2nFmZRl

Multifamily completions to peak in 2017. That’s the view of “Paula Munger director of industry research and analysis at the National Apartment Association,” who tells MHN: “We’ve already seen weakness in starts and permits data, meaning that construction will start tapering off in 2018…” Munger also discusses supply and demand in “core markets,” while “Caitlin Walter, director of research for the National Multifamily Housing Council,” weighs in on possible interest rate increases and the impact on the “multifamily lending market.” http://bit.ly/2mOW485

10-year foreclosure crisis recap. Mortgage News Daily’s Jann Swanson digs into CoreLogic’s “United States Residential Foreclosure Crisis: 10 Years Later,” a report which covers “foreclosures beginning with… the relatively healthy years of the early 2000s through the peak of the crisis to the present time.” This report also charts out the “highest peak foreclosure rate” — then and now — for Arizona and nine other states. http://bit.ly/2mtzE9u

What’s house size? No one is really sure. “Just how large a house really is may depend on whom you ask, The Wall Street Journal reports. That’s because appraisers, developers, builders, real estate professionals, tax assessors, and architects all measure spaces differently (e.g., some “count the garage”; some don’t). No universal standard exists for calculating a home’s square footage. Further, it can also vary regionally.” More on this square-footage conundrum and its impact on buyers, at REALTORMag. http://bit.ly/2m141rK

Cameron’s $5M + deals of the day – http://bit.ly/2m123b8