Officials say ‘hard work begins’ on new Pinal road projects. (Disclosure: Rose Law Group represents a coalition of property and business owners throughout Pinal County working to bring new transportation infrastructure to the county.) “Roads were on the top of everyone’s minds at the Pinal Partnership’s monthly breakfast. County Manager Greg Stanley and Andrew Smith, the principal transportation planner with Pinal County Public Works, gave attendees… an update on the status of the transportation projects from Propositions 416 and 417.” Get up to speed and view the 20 Year Construction Plan in Casa Grande Dispatch. http://bit.ly/2E1s02o
Fulton Homes brings decades of retail experience to the home buyer. (Disclosure: Rose Law Group represents Fulton Homes.) Arizona Foothills Magazine looks at Fulton’s “customer-first style of home building” — how it was “borne of their top executives’ vast experience in retail sales,” specifically, at big & tall clothing outlets. “Just like you wouldn’t buy a suit without looking at shoes, belts and ties, we know that purchasing a home without knowing what the interior options are is not a good buying experience.” — VP of Operations, Dennis Webb. http://bit.ly/2DQ7GSo
Pulte profit narrowed by tax law write down. Closings rise 7%. Orders up 14%. Backlog at 10-year high. Full breakdown at Builder. http://bit.ly/2GwPdYr
Small infill residential project moving forward in North Peoria. “[P&Z] recommended to city council a rezoning of a 2.25 infill parcel to allow for a six-lot residential development near the [N.E.] corner of 99th Avenue and Hedge Hog Place.” (Residents living there must grow weary of strangers to the area always asking, “Hedge Hog Place, huh? Got a lot of them type critters out here, do ya?” BTW, here’s a little-known fun-filled fact first revealed in the movie Strange Wilderness: “Much like the zebra, hedgehogs cannot fly.”) MORE on this Jarvis Capital Investments’ project in YourValley. http://bit.ly/2DOYKIP
Homes sales in Queen Creek and San Tan Valley. Queen Creek Independenthas posted details on at least 50 home sales (we counted) in ZIPs 85142 and 85140 “for December 2017, including the Top 10 most expensive homes sold in the area.” Info includes price, location/subdivision, square-footage, and bed/bath info. http://bit.ly/2nsDj9w
Renters became the majority population in 22 big U.S. cities. <– The shift “from homeowner- to renter-majority” occurred “between 2006 and 2016.” Other “imbalance” shockers from this RENTCafe analysis: • The increase in the number of renters at national level was only slightly slower than the total population growth over the same period • The growth of the renter population outpaced that of homeowners in most large US cities • Three Phoenix suburbs cracked the “Top 10 for Cities with the LARGEST Increases in Renter Share 2006 – 2016.” http://bit.ly/2DR4xS7
“HUT, HUT, PRICE HIKE!” – Will Super Bowl boost housing in host city?To find out, Realtor.com® researchers examined the number of listings, home sales and median list prices in recent Super Bowl host cities, including for the host city of Super Bowl XLIX in 2015: GLENDALE, AZ. Get the findings and access the full report: “Hut, Hut, Price Hike! Does Hosting a Super Bowl Have a Super Impact on Home Sales?” — at REALTORMag. (Also available with tap or two, this RELATED New York Times piece: “Windfall for Super Bowl hosts? Economists say it’s overstated.”) http://bit.ly/2FtnzKO
High times beckon for using hemp to build houses. “The most sustainable building material isn’t concrete or steel — it’s fast-growing hemp. Hemp structures date to Roman times. A hemp mortar bridge was constructed back in the 6th century,when France was still Gaul. Now a wave of builders and botanists are working to renew this market.” The New York Times. http://bit.ly/2GvzRDG
New spec industrial project finishes construction in Deer Valley. “Dallas-based Jackson-Shaw and Las Vegas’ LaPour Partners Inc. have finished construction on… Parc Pinnacle — a 311,840-square-foot, three-building industrial project… on 20 acres near Central Avenue and Pinnacle Peak.” READ ON at Phoenix Business Journal (Subscriber Content). http://bit.ly/2EoJP97
Gilbert’s 272-acre mega-park in the works. “The city has finalized plans for a massive park… along the [S.W.] corner of Higley and Queen Creek roads in partnership with the Maricopa County Irrigation District. Plans for the park include the city’s largest playground, splash pads, eight pickleball courts, six volleyball and tennis courts, a lake, a ropes course and a zipline — and that’s just phase one…” WATCH/read the report at abc15. http://bit.ly/2Gs6cv3
Wickenburg looks to the future. Last week, “residents and business owners” gathered at a “neighborhood-style meeting at town hall” to learn “more about the possibility of a redevelopment study currently being performed as part of the Town of Wickenburg’s strategic plan.” The Wickenburg Sun reports on some of study’sfirst-phase findings, including problems with “faulty lot layout and obsolete subdivision platting.” http://bit.ly/2EoFYsZ
ABC, industry groups ask Trump to axe federal PLA mandate. “The Associated Builders and Contractors, in association with other construction industry groups, penned a letter to President Donald Trump asking him to rescind an Obama-era executive order that encourages federal agencies to use project labor agreements on any federal or federally assisted project of $25 million or more. The coalition wrote that PLAs prevent contractors from being able to compete for work and that, in a time of construction growth and a limited workforce, the holdover policy did not make sense.” READ ON in ConstructionDIVE: http://bit.ly/2DWDAvJ
Pollack: Very strong Q4. “Even though the numbers showed a 2.6% growth compared to an expectation of 3.0%, the components of real GDP tell a great story” — and The Monday Morning Quarterback is the teller of this GDP tale, with all its plot twists and turns — plus a chart and a bit of happily-ever-after data for these ‘Snapshots’… U.S.: Leading Indicators, Manufacturing, Mortgage Interest Rates, Existing & New Home Sales. AZ: Real GDP. http://bit.ly/2GwO7w2
The states of our Union are still not all strong. “Nearly 100 years ago now, the legendary gadfly H.L. Mencken, in his capacity as editor of the American Mercury, teamed with co-editor Charles Angoff to produce a wholly unscientific — but anecdotally recognizable — ranking of the 50 states… In that spirit, POLITICOMagazine is continuing [its] tradition of combining 14 metrics… to produce [its] own power rankings of the 50 states and the District of Columbia.” Where does Arizona fall out in the ranking? http://bit.ly/2GurCrH
Voters should not be stumped, congressional candidate told. “The widow of former Congressman Bob Stump [Nancy Stump] has called on [‘8th Congressional District candidate Bob Stump’] to ‘stop this charade’ and publicly acknowledge he is not related to her family.” Katie Campbell reports in Arizona Capitol Times that THIS Stump’s “given name is Christopher Robert Stump” and that he has “used the name Chris prior to his political career, including in his byline for the Weekly Standard…” http://bit.ly/2BEyn6t
Madame question mark. A PHOENIX magazine profile of Arizona Secretary of State Michelle Reagan — her “blunders,” the “most colorful feather in her cap,” and how, despite critics, she is “confident that her regular-gal persona will connect with voters — and that she has the acumen to serve them as secretary of state.” http://bit.ly/2nrotA8
Emoticons are contentious among lawyers. “Emojis — tiny pictures of facial expressions or objects used in text messages, emails and on social media — are no longer a laughing matter for the legal profession. Increasingly, they are bones of contention in lawsuits ranging from business disputes to harassment to defamation.” (NOTE: This is a Wall Street Journal paywall piece ? ) http://bit.ly/2rUHWOY
