Northern Pinal County updates shared at Pinal Partnership’s March breakfast. Attendees heard the latest on the Apache Junction, Gold Canyon and San Tan Valley regions. The panel consisted of Chairman Todd House, Supervisor Mike Goodman and Apache Junction Mayor Jeff Serdy. The discussion was moderated by Jordan Rose, Chair of the Pinal Partnership Board of Directors. And coverage of the event is provided by Pinal Partnership Executive Director Melissa Johnson. Read her complete report in Rose Law Group Reporter. http://bit.ly/2G0okLT
The Amazon juggernaut and what it means for housing. “Has news that Facebook’s user data may have been compromised and applied toward suspect ends exposed a fatal flaw in how we should look at the role of technology in transforming home design, development, engineering, construction, and capital investment and finance? And what’s all this got to do with Amazon?” By John McManus, in Builder. http://bit.ly/2pws7KV
Existing-home sales rebound 3.0 percent in February. Ending a “two-month sales slump”! Lawrence Yun points to a “big jump in existing sales in the South and West,” as the reason for the rebound. See what else NAR’s chief economist has to say about the turnaround, and get your full, existing-sales-data fix, in Rose Law Group Reporter. http://bit.ly/2GhYoiq
U.S. starter homes are scarcer, pricier, smaller and more run-down. That ugliness is what Trulia is reporting “after an analyzing housing stock across the country.” As Bloomberg couches it in its coverage of the Trulia news: “It grim all over.” http://bit.ly/2pBIEMW
Move over millennials, Gen Z is already buying homes. “For Gen Z [those born in 1995 and later] it is very early in the traditional homebuying cycle, but TransUnion reports they already held 99,000 mortgages in the 4th quarter of 2017.” And NAHB’s Robert Dietz is “a little surprised” by that, in Mortgage News Daily. (BTW, around Dealmaker HQ, we’re referring to Gen Zers as “Zillennials.” You heard it here first! — unless you didn’t.) http://bit.ly/2DNEpmh
Attraction corridors rise near Arizona’s hotels. AzBigMedia surveys new CRE projects that “have emerged in the form of new attraction and entertainment hubs” around the Valley. It also takes a look at “some of the latest hotel deliveries and renovations,” renderings included. http://bit.ly/2IH4rLA
Support crops up for The Farm at Los Olivos Park. “The urban farm concept inside Los Olivos Park [‘near 28th St. and Indian School’] is the brainchild of restauranteur Aric Mei and 4th-generation West Valley vegetable farmer Matthew Moore… It would bring an organic 4-acre working farm to [the] public park, a fruit and vegetable market to area residents and put millions in revenue into city coffers.” The Arizona Report. http://bit.ly/2pyeQ3H
Ahwatukee planning committee to vote on sober living restrictions.“Tighter zoning controls to prevent the proliferation of unregulated ‘sober living homes’ in Phoenix will come before the Ahwatukee Foothills Village Planning Committee Monday…” AFN looks at the problem of neighborhood sober-living homes [the “bad actors”] and has an overview of the new rules, which it says “will easily get an OK ” from the committee. http://bit.ly/2DMSMqX
Avondale Senior and Resource Center in progress. “Avondale City Council plans to construct a new resource and senior center in Historic Avondale… The project has a $9 million budget, but staff is looking for ways to trim that.” Mayor Kenneth Weise speaks to the cost-cutting effort, and other city officials share their thoughts about the project, in West Valley View. http://bit.ly/2FUjXWI
Maricopa County again leads nation’s counties in population growth. HOWEVER: “Despite the huge numbers [an influx of 73,650 new residents between 2016 and 2017], Maricopa’s growth rate of 1.73 percent last year did not even crack the top 300 in the nation – nor was it the fastest growth in the state, an honor that went to Pinal County.” Check out economist Elliot Pollack’s take on the factors driving the “rapid growth,” plus get an Arizona county-by-county breakdown of all the data, in Cronkite News. http://bit.ly/2px98jj
Cameron’s $5M + deals of the day – http://bit.ly/2Gb53eh
As a supplement to the Dealmaker, we thought you might enjoy these articles!
Activists want immigration authorities barred from Greyhound buses; ‘raises a Fourth Amendment issue,’ says Rose Law Group litigation attorney Logan Elia. Listen to the report and/or read it at KJZZ FRONTERAS. http://bit.ly/2pwi5sr
Last-minute amendment muddles San Tan Valley incorporation. There have been squabbles over the proposed incorporation boundary lines, and two developers don’t want to be included in the incorporation map, prompting Rep. Kelly Townsend (R-16) to submit a striker amendment (S1084) to deal with existing issues on the House floor. Senior Reporter/Writer Phil Riske reports in Rose Law Group Reporter. (RELATED, from San Tan Valley Sentinel: “Shea Homes says it denied permission to incorporate to ‘preserve choice.”) http://bit.ly/2GdFBF0
Goldwater Institute’s right-to-try bill gets second life. “The House of Representatives passed on party lines Wednesday evening a bill designed to let very sick patients request access to experimental medicines without government oversight.” In remarks about the bill, which was crafted by the Goldwater Institute, Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) said, “It’s not false hope; It is hope. Support of this bill is compassionate. Support of this bill is fair.” Read on in POLITICO. http://bit.ly/2HUVaym
Arizona Supreme Court: Voters should decide whether to expand school vouchers. “[The] Arizona Supreme Court [has] ruled that voucher supporters have no legal right to challenge the petitions seeking to block the expansion. That means their claims about irregularities in the signature gathering process, even if true, are legally irrelevant. That means voucher supporters will need to now make their case to the voters in November.” Arizona Daily Star reports, however, that voucher supporters “could have an uphill fight.” Read a rundown of the Star report in Rose Law Group Reporter. http://bit.ly/2G1wlQM
If Trump axes public media funding, government news could be lost.Governing reports that President Trump “doesn’t want the federal government to help fund public radio and TV stations anymore,” and that these “cuts could exacerbate the already sharp decline in coverage of state capitols and city halls.” Meanwhile, Rose Law Group Reporter wants you to know that PBS outlets in Phoenix, such as KJZZ and KAET-TV, are relatively well followed. http://bit.ly/2pwHzpo
NFL players say concussion settlement program is ‘settlement in name only.’ “A group of former NFL players who have made medical claims through their class-action lawsuit on concussions say that the league has rigged the settlement program and is not paying up as promised…” Deadspin reports that out of 1,113 claims made by ex-players, “just six have been paid out.” http://bit.ly/2udiKo8
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