In letter, APEX opponents call for settlement. (Disclosure: Rose Law Group represents Apex Motor Club.) “On Sept. 26, the law group representing [two individuals opposing the] APEX development, submitted a letter obtained by PinalCentral… Today in Maricopa Monitor, Mayor Christian Price and APEX founder and VP Matt Williams both respond to the letter, with Williams “reiterat[ing] that this was certainly not a settlement agreement, but a letter.” http://bit.ly/2ymq40T
CAA to debut two new Phoenix communities. “CalAtlantic Homes this week announced the opening of two communities in the Phoenix market… Homes at Trellis, a gated master plan, start in the low $300,00s and the limited number of homes at Biltmore Shadows start in the mid $500,000s.” View renderings and get design details at Builder. http://bit.ly/2xDKDSU
‘Horizontal’ rental community near Phoenix raises eyebrows. “Christopher Todd Communities’ first luxury, gated, rental home community in Surprise… is comprised of 136 single-family, single-story rental homes with private backyard living and smart home technology… [So far], some 1,000 people have signed up on community ‘interest list.’ ” Builder has more about the community, including a floorplan for one of the 2-bed, 2-bath “horizontal” homes. http://bit.ly/2zmeYXR
Most expensive home sales in Phoenix. Once again it’s time for another installment of “Sales of Places Where the Cost of Weekly Lawn-Upkeep Far Exceeds Money the Rest of Us ‘Little People’ Earn in a Year.” Arizona Foothills Magazine has the top 10 sales for the week 10.2.17 – 10.8.17 Total sales reached “over $17 million,” down from the previous week’s $20 million. http://bit.ly/2ymIzTd
Who is building 3,000 solar-equipped homes in Prescott? Mandalay Homes is! Reuters reports that the home builder is partnering with “German battery maker Sonnen GmbH… to outfit 3,000 new Arizona homes with batteries to store the excess energy generated by their rooftop solar installations.” –> http://bit.ly/2hFum9S
MBA predicts plunge in new home sales; hurricanes blamed. MBA’s VP of Research and Economics, Lynn Fisher: “Applications for new home purchases were down year over year in large part due to the impacts of hurricane activity… In particular monthly applications fell by 37 percent in Florida and 11 percent in Texas, which account for a large share of the applications in the survey.” Lynn Swanson breaks down the numbers in Mortgage News Daily. http://bit.ly/2hFusyq
Prime infill land parcel in 19th Avenue corridor sells for $11.31 per SF. According to United Methodist Outreach Ministries CEO Darlene Newsom (whose organization purchased the parcel): “This development is about providing affordable housing for the teachers, firefighters and childcare workers, allowing them to live in a safe community near their jobs, good schools and the light rail.” AZRE has more on the deal, including seller info, total purchase price, plus “BEFORE” & “AFTER” images that depict site’s planned transformation — from raw land to 4-story complex. http://bit.ly/2wSTJeB
Construction job openings reach new cycle high. “The count of unfilled jobs in the construction sector continued to rise in August, reaching the highest level since February 2007. Given the significant need for repair and restoration work in the wake of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, we can expect additional increases in the months ahead,” That’s the forecast from NAHB’s Robert Dietz. The chief economist hammers out all the data in Eye On Housing. http://bit.ly/2z5sMVV
OSB prices spike as lumber increases tap the breaks. Builder’s John McManus sifts through “a report from National Association of Home Builders economics department” which “focus[es] on two important commodities for builders, OSB and softwood lumber.” KEY BUILDER TAKEAWAY: “Tough to budget as input costs, labor and materials, remain in flux.” http://bit.ly/2z7nDwx
ZONED IN – Affordable housing and inclusionary zoning study examinespaths to inclusive communities. “Inclusionary zoning — programs that encourage the creation of affordable housing units when new development occurs… has skyrocketed [in recent years]. The rapid expansion led researchers Emily Thaden and Ruoniu Wang of the advocacy group Grounded Solutions to attempt to get their arms around how inclusionary zoning is and isn’t working…” In Curbed. http://bit.ly/2ym5g9R
Building a better WestWorld of Scottsdale through public, private enterprise. With Scottsdale City Council’s recent approval of “$879,500 worth of tax dollars, plus Barrett-Jackson’s infusion of another two-hundred grand, “WestWorld of Scottsdale is set to undergo significant upgrades to improve the odds of bringing in future events and enhancing the ones who already appear there annually [i.e.,’ Barrett-Jackson — The World’s Greatest Collector Car Auction and the Arabian Horse Show’].” Scottsdale Independent. http://bit.ly/2z6U1zc
Construction to start on Gilbert park saluting veterans. “The Welcome Home Veterans Park, anchored by an 80 percent scale of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., is due to get underway [on ‘a five-acre plot of land near Gilbert and Warner]. The memorial wall, named The Arizona Wall Project, will be one of the main features of the [$3 million project].” East Valley Tribune has a rendering and further details on a park that will “honor veterans of all wars, not just the Vietnam War.” http://bit.ly/2zlrfMg
Westgate parking dispute with city could end this week. The Glendale Star: “It has been more than five years of disagreements and possible lawsuits, but all of that may be set aside… [with the approval of an] amendment specifically address[ing] the Westgate parking settlement agreed to earlier this year, which allows the city to use parking spaces at the Westgate area for events held at University of Phoenix Stadium.” http://bit.ly/2z5otK9
Cities’ appeals to Amazon ranked. “[Metros across the country, including Tucson] have stumbled over themselves to explain why their municipalities are the best spot for the world’s third-largest retailer… But, not all civic pride campaigns are created equally.” Washingtonian takes a rather inane look at “nine of the more active Amazon appeals, scored with parcel emojis (?).” http://bit.ly/2xDcrvn
Cameron’s $5M + deals of the day – http://bit.ly/2xEyFgE
One month to go before the greatest show on grass, the Bentley Scottsdale Polo Championships – http://bit.ly/2xzeVe4
[OP-ED] Janet Napolitano: I wrote DACA. now I’m suing to ensure Trump can’t destroy it. In this rant in NBC News, the one-time Arizona Governor and former head of the Department of Homeland Security rips into the “Trump administration’s plan to end” the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, calling the move “illegal, unconstitutional, and anathema to our national ethos” and adding that it “defies common sense.” Napolitano: “This is why the University of California Board of Regents and I have filed suit in federal court [seeking] to overturn the rescission of this program I helped create.” http://bit.ly/2yfjSZ1
Gosar interview pits brother against brother. “Arizona Congressman Paul Gosar is reopening his Facebook page to critics after facing a constituent lawsuit and national ridicule for an [interview with Vice News that aired on HBO] in which he touted conspiracy theories.” AZCentral reports that the “interview also exposed a deep-seated family rift, with Gosar’s brother repulsed by the congressman’s comments and warning that he would not let views aiding racists and anti-semites go unchallenged.” http://bit.ly/2hFjpVQ
Campus Chaos: Daily shout-downs for a week. Conservative commentator Stanley Kurtz chronicles a week’s worth of campus shout-downs, noting that “in addition to suppressing visiting conservatives like Charles Murray, disruptors are silencing liberal speakers, university presidents, and teachers in their classrooms.” Kurtz says, however, that there is a “ray of light in all this”: A “Campus Free Speech Bill,” which he “co-authored along with Jim Manley and Jonathan Butcher of Arizona’s Goldwater Institute… [The new] policy faced its first test on Tuesday, when Second Amendment supporter and conservative author Katie Pavlich spoke at the UW Madison.” Find out how it went down in National Review. http://bit.ly/2i8237R
Arizona joins agreement to promote electric vehicle corridor. “Governor Doug Ducey [has] signed onto a Memorandum of Understanding with the governors of seven other western states [Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming] agreeing to work together to… establish an Intermountain West Electric Vehicle Corridor that will make it possible to seamlessly drive an electric vehicle across the signatory states’ major transportation corridors.” Access the full Memorandum of Understanding in Rose Law Group Reporter. http://bit.ly/2ggAk4k
The 30-second ad has had its 15 minutes of fame. “The decline has come as networks air more 15-second ads (36 per cent this year compared with 29 per cent in 2014), more 10-second ads (5 per cent compared with 2 per cent) and more non-standard ad lengths.” And Financial Times also reports that “AMC plans to start selling six-second ads during its hit zombie drama ‘The Walking Dead’ ” http://bit.ly/2ykb69R
Newsmaker BONUS: Roger Goodell has a secret defender on Twitter: his wife. “The Twitter account… @forargument has roared to life in the past few months, rising up to vigorously defend Mr. Goodell against perceived attacks on his handling of issues such as the national anthem protests by players.” The Wall Street Journal has “confirmed after an examination of the account,” that it belongs to Roger Goodell’s wife — and former Fox News host — Jane Skinner Goodell. Tap through for the story which includes a sampling Skinner Goodell’s Twitter counter-punches. http://bit.ly/2gDbKHK
