BETWEEN A HARDROCK AND A WHOLESALE PLACE – Company files lawsuit seeking sale of PhoenixMart property for reimbursement.“Hardrock Concrete Placement Co. already filed a notice of claim last October, asking AZ Sourcing to reimburse the company $907,480 for labor and materials it supplied for building the giant wholesale sourcing center… In the lawsuit filed on April 20 in Superior Court, Hardrock claims it has still not been paid [and] is asking the court to foreclose on the lien and sell PhoenixMart property.” The full story in Casa Grande Dispatch. http://bit.ly/2Kicm33
Cielo by Pinnacle West Homes opens at Estrella. Forty-four “available homesites” recently opened at Estrella in Goodyear, with “an additional 92 under construction.” Pricing and floorplan info for “Pinnacle West Homes seventh neighborhood in Arizona” — plus more on Estrella — in West Valley View. http://bit.ly/2I445yT
Clayton wins manufacturer of the year. Builder reports that Clayton has been named “2018 Manufacturer of the Year for the second consecutive year during MHI’s National Congress and Expo for Manufactured and Mod…” We interrupt this great news about Clayton to bring you some good news/bad news about Builder: The bad news is that it sometimes prompts readers to log in or create an account in order to access articles. We’ve experienced it. The good news? Sign-up is free! So READ ON! —> http://bit.ly/2HUPlou
Downtown Phoenix is growing and so is the cost to live here. “A surge of multi-family construction is reshaping the housing market and approximately 2,000 units are set to be added to the skyline by 2020… These apartments, however, do come with a pretty price tag.” A Downtown Devil report featuring insight from esteemed Arizona economist, Elliott Pollack. http://bit.ly/2r58E3L
Land Zo!; (Not just) Phoenix rising. “Downtown Phoenix gets all the attention, but these three Valley suburbs [Mesa, Chandler, Glendale] are also jumping on the downtown revitalization trend.” PHOENIX magazine’s feature “Land Zo!” has a rundown of the city-center refresh underway in each of these three Valley suburbs. http://bit.ly/2r4LuLH
Most expensive home sales in Phoenix. Large dual closets, 5.5 baths, majestic mountain vistas, and a wine bottle cabinet stocked with enough sauce to keep a VA secretary nominee tipsy for a lifetime, are among the home features seen (and not seen) in this latest installment of Arizona Foothills Magazine top home sales of the week. Combined sales 4.16.18 – 4.22.18 totaled “over $26 million,” TUMBLING like a sloshed booze-fighter, some $7 million from the previous week. http://bit.ly/2vQZBJr
Zillow: More than half of for-sale inventory is high end. And the March Real Estate Market Report from Zillow ALSO reports that there are “almost 9% fewer homes on the market than a year ago.” Zillow Chief Economist Svenja Gudell: “This year’s home-shopping season is shaping up to be even crazier than last…” See “entry level homes” data for Phoenix and other metros in Builder. http://bit.ly/2r4HmuA
HUD floats a plan intended to reduce reliance on housing assistance.“The Trump administration has proposed legislation that could triple rents on the poorest tenants in federally subsidized housing…” The New York Times reports that the plan “would also allow local governments to impose work requirements on tenants in public housing deemed fit for work.” http://bit.ly/2FoQGhI
High-paying trade jobs sit empty, while high school grads line up for university. “[T]he financial return from a bachelor’s degree is softening… But high school graduates have been so effectively encouraged to get a bachelor’s that high-paid jobs requiring shorter and less expensive training are going unfilled. This affects those students and also poses a real threat to the economy…” Says one skilled-trade-worker about his high school friends who are still in college: “Someday maybe they’ll make as much as me.” http://bit.ly/2I4IAhq
♫ FIVE… FIVE-HUNDRED ‘SO LONGS’ ♫ – Subway to close about 500 U.S. restaurants, while opening 1,000-plus overseas. “The news comes a year after Subway shut down 800-plus locations.” USA TODAY reports that the “Milford, Conn.-based chain wants to focus on better restaurant locations and boosting sales,” with “overseas expansion” a top priority. (Meanwhile, here at Dealmaker HQ, one of our top priorities will be to focus on coming up with better commercial-jingle parodies.) http://bit.ly/2r3XRXH
[OPINION] Phillips: Bond direction was pragmatic approach — not dissension into chaos. Earlier this week, Scottsdale City Councilman David Smith wrote an editorial in which he described an April 17 council session on infrastructure as having “turned into chaos, indecision, political posturing and procrastination.” Now, stating that he “would like to set the record straight,” Councilman Guy Phillips serves up an editorial reply to Councilman Smith’s characterization — in Scottsdale Independent. http://bit.ly/2KhCqeu
Maricopa gives updates on Estrella Gin, overpass, MCE and more. Estrella Gin Business Park — is there a vote looming on a development contract? The area surrounding Copper Sky — a high-quality, mixed-use area? The land surrounding city center — a place to gather? Maricopa Monitor recaps a presentation given by Economic Development Director Denyse Airheart on these and other developments “currently in the works.” http://bit.ly/2JyMEGd
Is Arizona falling behind on the smart cities movement? “Although major Arizona cities are making strides in implementing smart city technology, budget constraints, security concerns, politics, and a lack of leadership will be obstacles for the advancement of the state’s smart city plans.” But could “the Greater Phoenix Smart Region initiative” provide the breakthrough? AzBigMedia. http://bit.ly/2I2wyVK
Transparent infinity pool hangs off condo tower’s edge. Can’t swim? Afraid of heights? Then just the PHOTO of this crazy amenity will probably make you freak. (Since it’s not a local project, we won’t waste time with name, size, number of units, location, etc. — okay, it’s in Honolulu.) The only thing that might make taking a dip in this thing more death-defying would be if it had a diving board. Talk about a “high dive”! Check it out in Multifamily Executive. http://bit.ly/2r47LZi
Cameron’s $5M + deals of the day – http://bit.ly/2JxExd2
Almost Here, Kentucky Derby Party at Turf Paradise, May 5th – http://bit.ly/2HW1U0b
