The Dealmaker: 8/9/2018

Supervisors vote to appeal court’s ruling that Pinal road tax is illegal.(Disclosure: Rose Law Group represents a coalition of property and business owners throughout Pinal County working to bring new transportation infrastructure to the county.) As expected, the Pinal County BOS “has voted to appeal a Maricopa County Tax Court decision striking down a new sales tax designed to pay for transportation projects across the county.” Vote breakdown plus a closer look at the case, in Pinal Central. http://bit.ly/2Opuv05

New York investor Blackstone snatches up $898 million in metro Phoenix real estate. Past acquisitions include the Arizona Biltmore and “nine Valley mobile home parks.” Now, Blackstone Group has scooped up six apartment complexes “spanning from Surprise to Chandler.” The mapped-out locations along with purchase figures at AZCentral. http://bit.ly/2vUtrt9

Investor activity heats up in Phoenix multifamily market. It was a mixed second quarter, but overall trajectory is favorable. Vacancy ticked up, but absorption was positive, rents spiked, and investment was active. Those are the top takeaways from Colliers International midyear, multifamily market report — posted in Rose Law Group Reporter.—> http://bit.ly/2vyEh91

More people renting in nation’s largest metros. That’s the overall finding from a new Zillow study which shows Phoenix besting the national average for the “greatest increase in renters since 2006.” Meanwhile,  Mesa landed among cities that have the “smallest share of households who rent.” Get all the data in Builder. http://bit.ly/2OTxkHP

ASU opens Greek Leadership Village housing community. Located at Rural and Terrace, this first-of-its-kind community “will house about 950 fraternity and sorority members in a cluster of townhouse-style dwellings.” The “centerpiece” of the on-campus village is a “33,000-square-foot community center.” Details along with images at ASU Now. http://bit.ly/2vSo7qs

Tucson SFR lots sales heat up in July. Purchases include D.R. Horton in North Marana and A.F. Sterling Homes in Sahuarita. Meanwhile: “KB Home, Lennar, Richmond American, and Meritage all continue to build at Gladden Farms.” Purchase prices, lot breakdowns, and transaction info in RED News. http://bit.ly/2nnAcQz

KB Homes buys 210 acres in Tucson for $10.625M. KB Homes on Tuesday successfully bid on land located northeast of the northeast corner of Camino Seco and Irvington Road — the first purchase of residentially zoned State Trust Land in Tucson in more than a decade. AZRE. http://bit.ly/2vw6L3j

New building permits by metro area in a 3D map. Fixr has created a 3D graphic showing the “top 20 metropolitan areas with the highest number” of “private building permits issued.” As for permitting activity here in the Valley, it looks as though we’re reaching new heights. —> http://bit.ly/2vy7gcZ

BOWLING ‘ALLY’ OPPOSITION – Supervisor Ally Miller comments on purchase of the Golden Pins Bowling Alley for Pima County. “Supervisor [Ally] Miller opposed the acquisition citing issues with the appraisal which didn’t include consideration of asbestos and questioned why the urgency in approving this purchase at 30% over appraised value.” Her remarks on the “controversial” matter in RED News. http://bit.ly/2M43YbM

Queen Creek host ribbon-cutting ceremony for Crismon Road extension.“The one-mile extension includes one lane in each direction, bike lanes and intersection improvements at Crismon and Germann roads…” Mayor Gail Barney: “This project is just one example of our commitment to Better Roads Ahead.” Info on some of the other “Better Roads Ahead” projects currently underway, in QC Independent. http://bit.ly/2KLdqLS

‘Daggers reserved just for us’: Gilbert council candidate talks about running while female. “Aimee Rigler, a first-time candidate for the post, said frustration with attacks on the campaign trail [e.g., hair comments, a stalker, being pestered for ‘a date’] led her to post a video explaining the ‘Teflon’ skin she’s had to assume as a young woman running for office.” WATCH it in this AZCentral report. http://bit.ly/2vwcZQs

Tolleson City Council candidates. The five candidates vying for the three council seats are: “Clorinda Contreras Erives (incumbent), Adolfo F. Gámez, Tida Garcia, Linda M. Laborin (incumbent) and Juan F. Rodriguez (incumbent).” Profiles, plus a Q&A with each candidate, in West Valley View. http://bit.ly/2MgUKs6

Scottsdale polo event ups ante heading into eighth year. The Bentley Scottsdale Polo Championship — the largest competition of its kind in the U.S. — has booked “Nacho Figueras to play in the event. The Argentinian is ranked as one of the best polo players in the world and is also a globally known model for Ralph Lauren.” In PBJ, event organizer and Arizona PR ace Jason Rose talks about the Nov. 10-11 championship and the “boost” of “having Figueras on board.” (Subscriber Content). http://bit.ly/2OnpqVO

Don’t miss anything… follow multiple winner of the Arizona Republic’s tweet of the week contest, and Senior Partner at Rose Law Group and Director of RLG Renewable Energy Department, Court Rich. http://bit.ly/Court_RichTwitter 

As a supplement to the Dealmaker, we thought you might enjoy these articles!

Who’s in charge of our language? “Him wants to eat dinner.” Author and former L.A. Times staffer June Casagrande wrote that “ungrammatical” sentence. But who decides that this sentence — or any other such language ‘error'” is ‘wrong’? In Literary Hub, Casagrande gets to the bottom of what she calls a “grammar snob Ponzi scheme.” http://bit.ly/2MkfG18