YOU READ IT HERE FIRST! Shea Homes closes on 124 home sites in Peoria. (Disclosure: Rose Law Group represents Aloravita.) AZ Business Magazinereports on an item first mentioned in the Oct. 16th edition of Dealmaker: “Shea Homes has purchased 29 acres of land located at 75th Avenue and Jomax Road in Peoria… The seller was Aloravita I, LLC. Construction of model homes is slated to begin third quarter of 2018… Shea Homes, along with Pulte and Taylor-Morrison are involved in the upcoming Aloravita master planned community.” More here: http://bit.ly/2hk7G2W
LOOK WHAT’S POPPIN UP IN GILBERT – New Home Co. buys 53 lots in Gilbert MP. “The New Home Co. has acquired land for a collection of… single-family homes, called Belmont, within the master-planned community of Somerset [‘on vast farmland next to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Gilbert Temple’]” Builder reports that among the features of these “European-influenced single-story homes” will be ‘pop-up’ options for a partial second story.” http://bit.ly/2zmuGVM
Scottsdale Board of Adjustment affirms Troon North HOA position in zoning dispute. “A collection of [Troon North] residents called into question the development proposal… which sought to create a 62-keytime share resort titled, ‘The Monument Club’ or ‘The Troon North Villas.’… ‘The Board of Adjustment unanimously upheld the interpretation of the zoning administrator in this case that limits the density [on the 2.55-acre parcel] to 31 resort units…’ ” Scottsdale Independent. http://bit.ly/2jamUI5
New 200-room, 15-story hotel coming to Arizona Center. “It is being developed by Las Vegas-based LaPour Partners [which] is under contract for a 49,190-square foot parcel on the Fifth Street side of the Arizona Center development for the new hotel.” So what is the hotel? PBJ reports that it’s an AC Hotel by Marriott.” (Subscriber Content). http://bit.ly/2hbFECX
7-figure closing is Ahwatukee’s first in more than 6 months. (Upon catching a glimpse of this headline, our resident wise guy here at Dealmaker HQ piped up, “Seven figures? What, like $79,000 and 56 cents?” Not quite…) “The house at 3401 E. Equestrian Trail was recently sold for exactly $1 million, ending a long drought in the sale of high-dollar luxury homes in the community. The 4,235-square-foot, two-story home has five bedrooms and three baths and was fully remodeled this year. It was built in 1993.” AFN has a few images of the home along with info on how the overall Ahwatukee luxury market is shaping up. http://bit.ly/2m3SOYa
Gateway Airport project would open up business to Mexico. “Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport is working with a private Mexican developer to create a 360-acre mixed-use business park adjacent to the airport that could turn into a preeminent destination for American exporters by bringing Mexican customs officers to the East Valley. Those officers would pre-clear American cargo bound for Mexico – a draw for American companies that do business in Mexico.” Much more about this potential development, “tentatively known as SkyBridge AZ,” in East Valley Tribune. http://bit.ly/2hjhGt0
Microsoft’s Bill Gates buys huge swath of Arizona land. Based on an item that originated in Business & Real Estate Weekly, Phoenix Business Journal is reporting that “an arm of Gates’s Cascade Investment LLC has bought a majority interest in just under 20,000 acres of land in an area west of Phoenix called Belmont. That is located off of Interstate 10 at 339th Avenue. The land could also be along the planned Interstate 11 highway.” http://bit.ly/2zoTe09
Lucid gets extension on Casa Grande land option. (Disclosure: Rose Law Group represents landowners who helped make this project a reality.) “Lucid Motors, the Menlo Park, California–based electric car manufacturer, has received an extension on the time to purchase 500 acres located at the southwest corner of Thornton and Peters roads.” Casa Grande Dispatch. http://bit.ly/2Ai20dw
Concerns of revenues lost paramount as Paradise Valley legislative agenda forms. Paradise Valley Independent reports that “close to $43 million worth of construction activity occurred within town limits over the last fiscal year and those dollars were left on the table due to certain provisions with the Arizona tax code.” So who better to brief the Town Council on such money matters than somebody who bears the perfect last name for doing so, the Director of Administration & Government Affairs for PV, Dawn Marie Buckland. Tap through for her update on this and other legislative concerns. http://bit.ly/2m1REwf
Sun City West residents tackle issue of renters. “Each subdivision has… its own guidelines for renting out residential spaces. But the rules and opinions on policies are wide ranging… Other subdivisions simply do not allow renters at all… The topic kicked off the open forum portion of the Nov. 1 Organization of HOA’s annual business meeting…” YourValley has coverage of the meeting, at which a “number of voices shared” how the above-mentioned “inconsistency has led to some problems…” –> http://bit.ly/2AqpnlW
Prescott City Council to ponder water for Deep Well Ranch. “Deep Well land has the rights to about 950 acre-feet of city water, which would allow for about 3,200 homes. The city has also committed about 900 acre-feet more of water… The Deep Well master plan proposes as many as 10,500… and developers have noted that in order to reach that total, other sources of water would be needed.” As for the pondering by the Prescott City Council, it gets underway today at 1 p.m. The Daily Courier. http://bit.ly/2zpRKD1
Tusayan to vote on building height. “Should the building height for commercial and high-density residential zones in the town of Tusayan be raised from 35-40 feet to 65 feet? A yes vote means the building height will be raised to 65 feet. A no vote means the building height will remain the same.” Get the full “Ballot Breakdown” for Prop. 400 at Grand Canyon News. http://bit.ly/2yDroy1
Why one of the top multifamily developers is going modular in Florida.“[Phoenix-based] Alliance Residential has teamed up with Finfrock on two projects to date.” Details in Builder. http://bit.ly/2zDqCRE
South Carolina builders cite shortage of trade workers. “Much like home builders nationwide, builders in Spartanburg, S.C. say they’ve seen a shortage of skilled labor this cycle after the housing slowdown forced many people to change careers…” GoUpstate via Builder. http://bit.ly/2hcF6gb
Realtors blast tax plan again, present ideas for increasing homeownership. At the 2017 Realtors® Conference and Expo, NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun was joined by Ken Rosen, chairman of Rosen Consulting Group and UC Berkeley’s Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics. Both men took a dim view of the tax plan, calling it ‘a direct tax hike on homeowners” and saying that “it nullifies the homeownership incentive for all but the top 5 percent of tax filers.” Mortgage News Daily. http://bit.ly/2zpG5DX
Pollack: Consistent upward march. <– A Monday Morning Quarterbackheadline that would have been perfect flowing from the mellifluously voiced narrator of those old “NFL Films,” John Facenda. If you don’t know who John Facenda was, aka “The Voice of God,” you can check him out on YouTube at:https://youtu.be/SefloWkyvoA. Meanwhile… MMQ says that the data all points to “confidence” and that overall, “we are still heading in the right direction and it should continue into 2018.” Data “Snapshots” include: U.S.: Employment & Unemployment, Labor Productivity, Personal & Disposable Income, Consumer Confidence, Auto Sales, Construction Spending, Household Formation, S&P Case-Shiller HPI. AZ: Sky Harbor Air Traffic, Homeownership, Rental Vacancy, HPI – Greater Phoenix. http://bit.ly/2hQGTZ4
Hockey, pro soccer part of ASU’s plan for multi-use Sun Devil Stadium.“Arizona State hockey. Professional soccer. Goat yoga. If ASU administrators have their way, all three will find a home in Sun Devil Stadium soon. ‘There’s a reason why we beat MIT and Stanford three years in a row, and it’s going to be four and five,’ Colleen Jennings-Roggensack said about ASU’s No. 1 ranking in innovation.” Cronkite News. http://bit.ly/2hcJSdu
Cameron’s $5M + deals of the day – http://bit.ly/2zpTIBb
Arizona lawmakers split as House begins work on GOP tax-reform plan.“The House began work Monday on the largest tax reform push in over three decades, with most Arizona lawmakers tentatively embracing the concept even as they expressed reservations about details in the 429-page bill.” Noteworthy snippet: “Reaction to the bill did not fall cleanly along party lines.” Cronkite News. http://bit.ly/2AqU2Qi
The crisis in local news. “The economic strains on local news have forced local outlets to close, shutter their print editions or consolidate into major holding groups, often headquartered in far-away cities.” This report in Axios looks into the problem, detailing “Why it matters” and presenting a possible “silver lining” to all these “local coverage setbacks.” http://bit.ly/2j8b0if
[VIDEO] Farm industry up $6 billion in Arizona from last year, reportsays. “A new report from the University of Arizona is boasting a $23-billion economic boost from agriculture, up $6 billion from last year… According to the report, Arizona is now one of the leading suppliers in the country for lettuce, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, cantaloupe, honeydew and durum wheat… “ One Arizona Farm Bureau official credits the boost to the “the full circle of life.” See what she means — it’s not as new-agey as it sounds — at ABC 15 Arizona. http://bit.ly/2AhHvxv
Kevin Spacey has entered the sex addiction rehab program at The Meadows clinic in Arizona. Yep, that’s the same “luxury $36,000-a-month rehab center” where “alleged serial assaulter Harvey Weinstein” reportedly sought treatment, according to this report from the DailyMail. (How crazy would it be if the only reason Spacy checked into The Meadows was because he heard Weinstein was still there and wanted to hit on him?) http://bit.ly/2m1sspq
2017’s states most dependent on the gun industry. “WalletHub’s analysts compared the economic impact of guns on each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia…” Double-tap through to see where Arizona ranks. http://bit.ly/2iCjERX
Movement grows in East Valley to curb teen suicides. “The latest example was in Queen Creek, where about 20-25 parents and others seeking to prevent more deaths held a ‘Kids Count’ rally outside… The parents held signs saying, ‘Reach out, we care,’ ‘You are important,’ and ‘Kids matter.’ ” East Valley Tribune reports that the “grassroots effort will continue [today], when a conference… will be held… at Ahwatukee’s Desert Vista High School, as the Tempe Unified School District attempts to take further steps in addressing the problem.” http://bit.ly/2zoHgBu
