The Dealmaker: 6/27/2017

Virtua Partners buys Phoenix area properties for $2.8M. (Disclosure: Rose Law Group represents Virtua Partners.) From press release published at PE HUB: “The projects include a 13-acre site at 14th Street and Union Hills… and a 15-acre assemblage in Avondale at Thomas and 119th Avenue. Current plans call for the development of the sites as single family residential housing.” Quinn Palomino of Virtua Partners: “[W]e are excited to add two strong development projects to our pipeline… Demand for infill housing remains robust with no slowdown in sight.” More here: http://bit.ly/2se4dae

ROOMS FOR IMPROVEMENT – South Phoenix community changes hands for $12M. “Jevan Capital PLLC and Comunidad Realty Partners acquired the 301-unit La Reserve on 45th apartment community [at 2627 N. 45th Avenue.]… [The] joint-venture purchased the asset from CEG Operating Partners.” Improvement plans include property enhancements and unit upgrades. Details at Multi-Housing News. http://bit.ly/2sXwNd3

MainSpring Capital breaks ground on The Block at Pima Center. “MainSpring Capital… along with Forum Capital, have broken ground on… ‘the largest retail mixed-use center built in Scottsdale since The Quarter’… The Block at Pima Center will occupy approximately 22 acres of the [business] park located on the North-West Corner of 101 and Via De Ventura next to the freeway.” Much more about it in Rose Law Group Reporter. http://bit.ly/2thcWru

Maricopa refuses to forward APEX petition; issue could go to court. (Disclosure: Rose Law Group represents Apex Motor Sports.) “Maricopa has decided that an effort to get a conditional use permit for APEX Motor Club to be put on a future ballot does not meet requirements, likely leaving the effort’s future up to the courts… [T]he permit was deemed by the city to be an administrative function, not legislative. Therefore, the city determined that the permit is not eligible to be subject to a referendum.” PinalCentral. http://bit.ly/2rY5kH2

Metro Phoenix renters need to earn $12 an hour to afford a decent place to live. “To afford a studio in metro Phoenix, a renter needs to earn $12 an hour. For a one-bedroom, the wage goes up to $14.50 an hour.” AZCentral’s Catherine Reagor looks at the latest research from the National Low-Income Housing Coalition in which there was also a bit of good news for Phoenix renters: They reside in AZ and not in California, Florida, or Colorado. http://bit.ly/2se20LS

[VIDEO] Home building demand has been strong: Credit Suisse. In a CNBC “Power Lunch” segment that clocks in at around 2 minutes, “Susan Maklari, senior analyst at Credit Suisse, discusses the report on home builders increasing production in townhouses.” –> http://bit.ly/2ueqO35

71% of homeowners think now is a good time to sell. “NAR’s quarterly [HOME] survey also found that fewer renters think it’s a good time to buy a home, and respondents are less confident about the economy and their financial situation than earlier this yea…” Builder has survey highlights; plus, NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun elaborates on the “mismatch between homeowners’ confidence in selling and actually following through.” http://bit.ly/2sNyA5Y

The US lacks enough warehouses to support e-commerce growth. Global investment banking firm Jefferies “estimates that e-commerce retailers need three times as much warehouse space as brick-and-mortar retailers, presenting a huge window of opportunity for warehouse landlords — otherwise known as industrial REITs.” Read the report at CNBC and find out why it says that “[i]n a twisted way, retail could still be real estate’s bright spot after all.” http://bit.ly/2th2joP

So you want to sell your home building company. With his “4 cardinal rules to prepare for… today’s hot mergers & acquisitions market,” real estate advisor Steve Friedman lays out the “important steps a thoughtful owner should consider to best maximize the outcome when selling his or her home building company.” In Builder. http://bit.ly/2rY79nm

This $130 million fund Is leading the way In real estate crowdfunding. “The global crowdfunding industry has gone from $880 million in 2010 to $34.4 billion… [and] is projected to be valued at more than $300 billion by 2025.” This Forbes piece looks at the “driving forces behind this growth” and features one “real estate crowdfunding platform” that can boast raising $130M ($10M in a single week), an amount that “rank[s] it alongside the backing that tends to launch hot tech startups into the limelight.” http://bit.ly/2tjUgIH

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

Tucson Electric Power’s solar rate plan jeered, cheered at public hearing. (Disclosure: Rose Law Group represents parties to TEP’s rate case.) “TEP’s plan would cut reimbursements to customers for excess energy their rooftop solar arrays provide and add new demand charges and meter fees, reflecting a Corporation Commission decision to discontinue net metering or reimbursement at the full retail rate.” And it was a “standing-room only crowd” for yesterday’s “Arizona Corporation Commission public comment hearing.” Tap to Arizona Daily Star for coverage. http://bit.ly/2tk1wnF

Legal battle resumes over law that killed Tucson schools ethnic studies program; Huppenthal, Horne testifying. “At issue is whether state officials [Huppenthal and Horne] had discriminatory intent in enacting and enforcing the 2010 law that bans ethnic-studies programs that promote the overthrow of the federal government, resentment toward a race or class of people, advocate for ethnic solidarity and are designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group.” Arizona Daily Star. http://bit.ly/2sXCM1G

Same-sex couples win more than just the right to marry. “In a 6-3 [U.S. Supreme Court] decision, the… majority in the unsigned opinion said that… same-sex couples are entitled to ‘the constellation of benefits that the states have linked to marriage.’” Howard “News Machine” Fischer also reports that this “new ruling could most immediately affect a case set for a hearing… at the Arizona Supreme Court in which the justices are considering the rights of the non-biological parent when a same-sex couple gets divorced.” Arizona Capitol Times. http://bit.ly/2siRiiq

Politics, social media can destroy friendships. Senior Reporter/Writer Phil Riske ends up on the receiving end of ad hominem attacks after making a harmless, online crack about a lifelong friend’s political bent. How will Phil respond? Find out in the Rose Law Group “Growlery.” http://bit.ly/2sNzUpD

Candidate list for 2018 Arizona state elections swells. “It’s early but political early birds are looking for the money worm in state elections.” Check out the candidates and data from the Arizona Secretary of State office as of June 26, 2017, in Rose Law Group Reporter. http://bit.ly/2rYabrT

5th inning stretch: Let’s make baseball games 7 innings. In his piece for The Wall Street Journal, author and columnist Jason Gay makes a case for speeding up “the beloved but dawdling summer game… At least on weeknights.” http://bit.ly/2th5rRB