SHEA WHAT? – Shea Homes ready to open doors to 3 Queen Creek communities. (Disclosure: Rose Law Group represents Shea Homes.) Gateway Quarter at Ellsworth and Germann roads will be the location of three new Shea Homes communities: Aperture, Emblem and Origin. Floor plan and pricing info (and more) in Queen Creek Independent. http://bit.ly/2FBMSeb
Loss of another Tempe trailer park highlights lack of affordable housing.“Forty-two mobile homes and families must move after Tempe Mobile Home Park [near University and Smith] was sold to a developer, underscoring [the] affordable housing shortage.” And while the “property owner, Arizona-based Treehouse Group, is working to relocate” folks, AZCentral reports that residents “aren’t leaving without a fight.” http://bit.ly/2Fv2cx5
Home construction helping state jobless figures. “[T]he job gains were across all segments, ranging from new homes and offices to industrial-scale projects like road construction.” Capitol Media Services’ Howard Fischer has the upbeat numbers, along with “indicators that even better times are on the horizon,” in PinalCentral. http://bit.ly/2FBE0oE
PHX LEEDS THE WAY – Phoenix becomes one of the first LEED-certified cities. Based on an evaluation “across 14 key metrics, including energy, water, waste, transportation, education, health, safety and equitability, Washington, D.C., and Phoenix” have emerged as the “first cities to achieve certification through the program and earned LEED Platinum, the highest level of certification.” AZ Business Magazine. http://bit.ly/2IkYzrx
Download housing data by congressional district. “NAHB has launched a new Internet portal where members can develop a detailed profile of their local markets and potential customers and get the stats on new home production, housing affordability, remodeling activity and other benchmarks.” Check it out via NAHBNow. http://bit.ly/2InbOYn
Home building’s 10 hardest solvable problems. Builder’s John McManus on “collaboration,” why it “matters to thrive today and be viable tomorrow,” and why the Housing Leadership Summit “is where housing’s leaders go to sharpen their collaborative skills.” http://bit.ly/2DlmSBN
Is it better to rent or buy? Not an easy question to answer ever since the burst of the housing bubble. To help figure it out, SmartAsset has “set up an interactive map that shows where buying a home, or renting, makes the most sense.” Access it via Builder — and see which Arizona county ranks No. 3 among the top 10 places where “buying is a better financial option.” http://bit.ly/2FHWtn1
Scottsdale approves zoning change allowing for Old Town grocery cafe.“City officials say the zoning modification [a ‘downtown overlay’] allows the property owner to convert one of the existing dwelling units [of the multifamily property at the SE corner of Second and 69th] into both a neighborhood grocery market and a cafe,” which, quite fittingly, is called the Lounge Grocery Cafe. Scottsdale Independent. http://bit.ly/2HsgVFL
RV & self storage proposed in Avondale. AZBEX reports that the project, from Robert Lepore of RLepore Architecture, LLC, is being proposed for “three parcels… totaling 7.71 gross acres, located [near] the NWC of Lower Buckeye Road and 4th Street.” Click through for details. http://bit.ly/2FNeVun
Wickenburg says ‘whoa’ to downtown redevelopment area. “For several months, town staff have been working with architectural design firm The Phoenix-New York Company to establish boundaries for a downtown redevelopment area (RDA) and assess properties for blight.” Last week, “Town Council ‘pushed the pause button’ on creation of [the RDA] in response to public comments offered over the past couple of weeks.” The Wickenburg Sun. http://bit.ly/2FwWNG1
Legislators hear concerns about water at Casa Grande hearing. “The debate is over what rights farmers have in transferring water credits should they decide to sell their agricultural land for future development, whether residential or commercial. But once those proposed developers get the land, it’s what they can do with the water rights, or ‘paper water,’ that’s the issue for some farmers.” PinalCentral. http://bit.ly/2tEuS1d
Rep. Rusty Bowers calls for cooperation in water planning and protection of rural property. In a Capitol Times op-ed, Rep. Rusty Bowers spelled out the challenges ahead as the state grapples with water scarcity. Bowers calls for “working together to eliminate uncertainty and strengthen our state’s negotiating posture as we prepare to meet the demands of growth…” Get the op-ed overview in Rose Law Group Reporter. http://bit.ly/2Ijk5wy
Big League Dreams and Gilbert continue to duke it out in pricey court battle. “But that doesn’t mean the town isn’t moving forward with plans to overhaul the site, now being called Elliot District Park.” AZCentral reports that “Town Council approved as much as $9.7 million in repairs [for the ‘now-shuttered’] sports complex…” Meanwhile, legal “costs are piling up,” as quarreling between Gilbert and the “former operator” goes into extra innings, so to speak — and “with no end in sight.” http://bit.ly/2FyokGI
Rothschild: Envision Tucson’s future with clear eyes. “Cities operate within constraints, never more so than today. Obstacles can be overcome. But first, you need a clear vision — a shared vision — of where you’re at, and where you want to go.” Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild lays out that “clear vision” in his “State of the City” speech. Read it in full at TucsonSentinel.com. http://bit.ly/2FvzHiR
Prominent East Valley developer Joe Woods dead at 84. Joe Woods “helped build numerous projects across the Valley, from hotels to Peoria’s spring-training ballpark, and was instrumental in the early development of downtown Mesa.” Much more on the life of Joe Woods — “one of the people who built Mesa, literally and figuratively, from a town into a city” — at AZCentral. http://bit.ly/2FJhwFz
Arizona educators discuss social media’s impact in tragic events. Via social media, the ”victims in the Feb. 14 Stoneman Douglas shooting offered a first-person perspective of the tragedy at a time when… ’news and trauma demand your attention more than ever.’ ” But “Arizona educators” say “they regularly grapple with the benefits and the drawbacks of the immediacy of social media for students.” Cronkite News. http://bit.ly/2FCsR7d
Arizona: The world leader in weird adopt a highway signs? “There are V.F.W. posts, dentist’s offices, high school honor societies, Harley Davidson clubs, RV parks, Walmart employees, Native American youth councils, dude ranches, and the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.” (Not to mention satanists and Deadheads.) Phoenix New Times takes a look at signs from the various groups whose members volunteer to keep our highways clean. http://bit.ly/2GlIcKk
Ask your doctor. Until then, here’s a word from our sitcom. New York Times investigative reporter Danny Hakim grumbles about pharmaceutical commercials — how they’ve caused concern among health watchdog groups, and how they are intruding upon his sitcom-viewing pleasure. “Tre-siba ready!” http://bit.ly/2Hr7lmf
Did I hear you say you’re leaving me? Senior Reporter/Writer Phil Riske tells us that even with expensive hearing aids, he still has a difficult time figuring out what his wife is saying to him. So he’s come up with an ingenious (and quite funny) way to “make sure that whatever he says in response to his wife’s questions will be a sensible answer.” However, Phil still has a few kinks to work out with his new “tactic,” in Rose Law Group Reporter “Growlery.” http://bit.ly/2p5B4KV
From Trump’s possible summit with ‘Fat Boy’ to an appearance by Donald, Jr., SNL’s “Weekend Update covers it all. <—In The Guardian. Plus this BONUS sketch from Huffington Post: “Bachelor ‘Robert Mueller’ Can’t Commit To Trump Collusion In Heartbreaking ‘SNL.’ ” Watch BOTH with a tap. —> http://bit.ly/2Ho6yCH
