The Dealmaker: 9/11/2018

Glendale approves homes next to Ironwood High. The Planning Commission has given the nod to a prelim plat for Cactus Glen, a “34-home development” on what Empire Group Land Development VP Shelby Duplessis describes as “a very challenging piece” near 59th Ave. and Cactus. Get approval and development details, and also check out a drone’s-eye view of the property, in YourValley. http://bit.ly/2QlmeMa

Veterans can apply to receive Tolleson home. “Christopher Todd Communities will give a post-9/11 veteran ‘A New Lease on Life’ by providing a rental home for one year free, followed by two years of reduced rent. The home will be located at Country Place on 99th Avenue and Lower Buckeye…” West Valley View. http://bit.ly/2oYI1Nf

Marana’s Lazy K homes might be built before polluted water cleaned. Construction on the homes could start in early 2019. Water treatment plants “may be online in about 18 to 20 months. So does that mean Lazy K residents will be getting contaminated water in their taps…? At this time, the answer is unclear.” Arizona Daily Star. http://bit.ly/2oXGcAj

Pollack: Good news continues. That’s the overall economic picture, NATIONALLY. As for the major takeaway LOCALLY, “supply/demand dynamics of the Greater Phoenix housing market clearly remain strong…” The Monday Morning Quarterback also hits us with data for these ‘Snapshots’ —> U.S.: • Wages • Employment • Labor Productivity • Manufacturing • Construction. AZ: • GDP • Housing – Active Listings & Sales, Greater Phoenix. http://bit.ly/2NxG0FY

VanTrust buys 20 acres for $12.2M in Chandler. LOCATION: Chandler Boulevard and the 101. PLANS: A “mixed-use development with office, hotel andretail.” TOUT: “It marks the latest development opportunity for VanTrust in the Valley and its continued momentum throughout the Arizona market in the last year…” MORE: At AZRE. http://bit.ly/2x23xp1

Upward Projects moving to midtown Phoenix landmark. “The Sarmiento-designed Phoenix Financial Center rotunda” (3443 N. Central Ave.) will soon be the new HQ for Upward Projects. DPJ reports that the restaurant hospitality company, which is no stranger to “revitalizing historic and architecturally significant spaces,” will move in and “begin restoration and renovations this fall.” http://bit.ly/2x6Pm1P

Valley Metro experiments with driverless cars through Waymo partnership. “The two-year pilot program will begin by connecting riders to and from light rail stops, but could also expand into Valley Metro’s services for people with disabilities and seniors.” AZCentral. http://bit.ly/2x1e2Zo

Arizona’s technology sector is booming. In AzBigMedia, Arizona Technology Council President/CEO Steven G. Zylstra looks at how the work of community leaders, “a pro-technology government, and emerging sectors such as artificialIntelligence, blockchain and cybersecurity” have all helped to establish Arizona as “one of the premier locations for innovation.” http://bit.ly/2N2Jz7o

Sin City building world’s largest cannabis entertainment complex. “Recreational dispensary provider Planet 13 is building a 112K SF cannabis complex that will open its 40K SF first phase in November.” And while the complex won’t be situated on the strip (due to zoning regs), it will feature some of the same dazzling displays, including “more than $1M worth of special effects lighting up the space.” Bisnow. http://bit.ly/2Qj1Ifr

The government may want to buy your dying mall. “Local governments across the U.S…. concerned that vacated retail centers will blight the landscape and drag down surrounding property values, have been buying up malls they fear are being starved of capital by the private sector.” (WSJ Subscriber Content). http://bit.ly/2MmyiJQ

Scottsdale amends Carefree IGA as groundwater resources become paramount. “[Scottsdale] continues to maintain groundwater wells in the Carefree basin to help meet peak summer demands and in case of emergency.” Scottsdale Independent reports the “amendment will provide additional points of delivery and a method for future revisions to the point of delivery.” http://bit.ly/2CS0wN4

Oliver Anderson: Longtime farmer’s life of service mirrors history of Maricopa (VIDEO). A fascinating profile of Oliver Anderson, 88, on what it was like to live and work in Maricopa and the changes he’s seen since first moving there in 1954. This InMaricopa piece features a nearly 10-minute, on-camera interview with Anderson, who, with the help of well-placed home movie clips, takes us back to the days of telephone party lines, classrooms with no air-conditioning, city incorporation, and more. http://bit.ly/2N8MJXh

Frank Lloyd Wright’s musings on air conditioning. As David Meeks of The Arizona Report notes, it was Frank Lloyd Wright’s wife, Olgivanna, who “retrofitted central cooling” to Taliesin West “in the 1960s and 1970s after the architect’s death in 1959.” So what would Wright have thought about that? Excerpts from his 1954 book, The Natural House, offer a clue. http://bit.ly/2MrjZ7a

Turf Paradise figure seeks $10.8 million to cover legal fight over horse racing license. “Ron Simms claims a director of the state Department of Racing, as well as members of the Arizona Racing Commission, ‘corruptly’ tried to strip him of his license to operate the Phoenix enterprise. [Simms’] demand for attorney fees punctuates one chapter in a saga involving a ping-pong series of legal decisions.” AZCentral. http://bit.ly/2Qn1vrj

Cameron’s $5M + deals of the day – http://bit.ly/2CMGILn

10th Annual AZ DealMakers – January 11, 2019. Don’t miss out on the BIGGEST homebuilding industry event for real estate forecasting and analysis, featuring the best speakers in the industry, including Rose Law Group founder and president Jordan Rose and Lennar division president Alan Jones. Plus, Belfiore Real Estate Consulting president Jim Belfiore provides an Overview on Housing. For the full list of speakers & panelists, along with registration info for Arizona Housing: Growth, Its Costs, Challenges & Opportunities, tap on!  http://bit.ly/2LAvclq 

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

SRP officials hotly contest clean-energy ballot measure; Rose Law Group Senior Partner and Director of Renewable Energy Department Court Rich critical of SRP’s monetary involvement. “The debate within SRP reflects a larger discussion taking place across the state as voters and institutions take sides on Proposition 127… ” Court Rich tells RLGR that SRP spending “ratepayer money” opposing the clean-energy measure is “indistinguishable from a city using taxpayer money to fund an independent expenditure aimed at getting a politician elected” — and it’s a “move” that “should offend all of us.” Court’s complete comment, plus access to the entire AZCentral report, here: http://bit.ly/2CK0Jlv 

Tribe takes protest against Navajo Generating Station to streets of New York. Saying that “it does not make sense to run a coal-fired power plant in a state with about ‘120 days of 100 percent sunlight,’ ” a group of Navajo environmentalists “took their fight against the Navajo Generating Station to Manhattan Monday where they protested outside the offices of an investment firm that might save the plant.” Cronkite News. http://bit.ly/2NyvWfD

The meaning of 9/11’s most controversial photo. “Thomas Hoepker’s photo of New Yorkers apparently relaxing as the twin towers smoulder says much about history and memory… The critic and columnist Frank Rich wrote about it in the New York Times… Rich’s view of the picture was instantly disputed” — by one of the New Yorkers pictured in the photo. (This piece in The Guardian was originally published in a lead-up to the 10-year anniversary of 9/11.) http://bit.ly/2CKob1X

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