North Scottsdale luxury high-rise condo nears completion. “Optima Kierland’s structure is now complete with more than 60 percent of the homes in the first condominium tower sold. Move-ins for the first residents are scheduled for early 2018; completion of all residences is set for August 2018.” Scottsdale Independent has further info on Optima, including amenity details along with a spectacular rendering of the 12-story tower that just may make you want to scream, “IT’S ALIVE!!” http://bit.ly/2s4cmJQ
APEX Motor Club founder spells out plans in Maricopa [VIDEO]: (Disclosure: Rose Law group represents APEX Motor Sports.) “Private Motorsports Group President Jason Plotke sat down with InMaricopa to explain his organization’s plan to create APEX Motor Club in Maricopa.” And this six-minute clip isn’t just a “talking-head” interview; it also features aerial and ground-level shots of the property along with plenty of racecourse renderings. Check it out! http://bit.ly/2rHwoxs
Census estimate shows strong growth in Pinal. From Queen Creek, Casa Grande and Florence to Apache Junction, Eloy and Marana — find out which incorporated Pinal County communities saw the most population increases (some “whopping”; others not as much as that), according to new figures from the U.S. Census Bureau. Capitol Media Services’ Howard Fischer also looks at the economic and political “implications” of such growth — in PinalCentral. http://bit.ly/2qWCnNy
Phoenix to begin first phase of Grand Canalscape Project. “[The project] will include nearly 12 miles of trails along the canal, from Interstate 17 to the border between Phoenix and Tempe. Some of the improvements… will include… pedestrian lighting, landscaping and public art… The first phase includes the north bank between 15th Avenue and 16th Street and the south bank between Garfield and Van Buren…” For further details and a look at a few pre-revitalization “BEFORE” pics, click through to Cronkite News. http://bit.ly/2qnTu86
Deal for CrackerJax land brewing in Scottsdale. PBJ reports that it has “heard from multiple sources that a deal could be in escrow,” and that the “buying group” for the CrackerJax Family Fun and Sports Park land at Scottsdale south of Bell “may involve” former Suns and D-backs owner, Jerry Colangelo. —> http://bit.ly/2qrlbMK
High-rise development could come to Phoenix Country Club. “The plans — which still are preliminary and under consideration — would bring a high-rise condo development” to the Phoenix Country Club at Seventh and Thomas. And where exactly on the property would the high-rise condo be situated? It would make for a pretty rough hazard if it’s right in the middle of a fairway. Find out at PBJ. http://bit.ly/2qWKN7r
Affordable live-work artist housing breaks ground in Mesa. “Construction began… Wednesday on a 50-unit affordable housing project designed for artists that advocates say will infuse creative thinking into a downtown area… Planning for the [$15.8 million] began in 2012, when city officials inquired with [developer] Artspace about building a complex in Mesa and adding to the growing downtown arts community.” More on the Mesa Artspace Lofts project in Phoenix Business Journal. http://bit.ly/2s45wnV
Housing terms raise concern in Sun Cities. Since it’s happening in Sun Cities, one might think that the concern involves housing terms like “Nursing,” “Old Folks,” or “Retirement.” Not quite. The issue involves the term “condo” as against “other types of housing.” AsYourWestValley reports: “Identifying duplexes, quads and other types of homes as condominiums not only creates confusion, but has properties appraised incorrectly and is causing some loans to be denied… Real estate professionals want to see some changes.” http://bit.ly/2rHhXcv
Fannie Mae EXCLUSIVE: The crisis in affordable rental housing, Part 2. Yesterday, we presented a link to Part 1 of Jeffery Hayward’s look at the rental affordability crisis — its “scope” and “how we got here.” In Part 2 for HousingWire, Fannie Mae’s head of multifamily explores what some communities are doing — “with a variety of tools” — to deal with the problem. http://bit.ly/2qWXtLH
As a supplement to the Dealmaker, we thought you might enjoy these articles!
IN HOT WASTEWATER? – Former AZ utility regulator, lobbyist, utility owner charged with conspiracy, bribery, fraud.“Federal prosecutors on Tuesday charged former Arizona Corporation Commissioner Gary Pierce, his wife, prominent lobbyist Jim Norton and utility owner George Johnson with conspiracy, bribery, mail fraud and wire fraud, over what prosecutors lay out as a scheme to pay off Pierce in return for favorable regulation by the Corporation Commission surrounding a special $18 million wastewater plant deal.” Further details at Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting. http://bit.ly/2s4eYax
TOM HORNE AND KATHLEEN WINN! – Arizona Supreme Court backs Horne in challenge to $400,000 campaign fine. “The Arizona Supreme Court ruled [yesterday] that Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk violated Tom Horne’s due process rights by levying a $400,000 fine against him and a former aide [Kathleen Winn] over campaign finance violations. The decision overturned two lower court rulings and handed the former attorney general a major victory in the scandal that ultimately contributed to his election defeat.” But as Jeremy Duda notes in his Arizona Capitol Times report: “Horne and Winn aren’t necessarily off the hook yet.” http://bit.ly/2rYCMxg
No one hurt yet by law restricting voter initiatives, lawyer says. “[Attorney David Cantelme] is laying the groundwork to quash a legal challenge to [a] new [strict compliance standard for voter initiatives]… During a preliminary hearing May 25, [he] told… Superior Court Judge Joshua Rogers he believes there’s a legal flaw in the case by challengers… ’If they haven’t suffered an injury, a real, palpable, discrete injury, they don’t have a case,’ And Cantelme… said there is nothing in the record so far that shows the various challengers will be harmed if they’re forced to have to live under the strict compliance standard.” More in yet another report from that “one-man news machine,” Howard Fischer, in Arizona Capitol Times. http://bit.ly/2r4AVab
GOP leads efforts to pass state laws it says protect free speech. Demonstrators have chased away conservative speakers over the past few months at the University of California, Berkeley, and Middlebury College in Vermont…. Now, state legislatures, most led by Republicans, are advancing bills [that] include measures to suspend students who interfere with the free-speech rights of others, remove free-speech zones that limit protests to small areas on campus and cut off money to schools that don’t protect the First Amendment…. Much of the proposed legislation is based on a model bill published.. by the Goldwater Institute.” WSJ http://bit.ly/2qrDXDF
Casa Grande mayor continues push to widen I-10; petition being circulated. “ADOT currently has plans to widen the last two parts of the stretch to Tucson. But, [Mayor Craig] McFarland said, the section to the north doesn’t even hit ADOT’s schedule until about 10 years from now…. ‘I’ve been pushing the issue with anyone who will listen,’ McFarland said. ‘It’s critical to our continued economic development.’” For more I-10 prodding from the mayor, along with info on a petition in favor of widening the “critical 10-mile segment” — and how the Gila River Community figures into it all — tap to PinalCentral. http://bit.ly/2r5S2ur
Residents discuss drawbacks, benefits of life on federally owned land. “Kendra Pinto, who lives on the Navajo Nation in northern New Mexico, [‘told a congressional committee Wednesday’] that she welcomes federal stewardship of the lands around her home.” Meanwhile: “Arizona rancher and state legislator [Rep. David Cook] told [the committee] that he has been ‘held hostage’ for years by the red tape.” But those most bummed out about living on fed land have to be people like Unabomber Ted Kaczynski and Shoebomber Richard Reed. This Cronkite News piece does’t mention if the committee plans to hear from either of those “Supermax” residents. http://bit.ly/2r4Pgnk
Notre Dame Prep Athletic Director Monica Barrett resigns. “With Barrett leaving, Notre Dame now is without the three leaders [the two others being coach Mark Nolan and school president James Gmelich] who were there last spring when the padded summer football course with helmets and shoulder pads was put together. That led to Notre Dame being placed on probation and banned from the 5A state playoffs by the Arizona Interscholastic Association.” AZCentral. http://bit.ly/2qk0xCN
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