The Dealmaker is a daily note of the day’s top real estate stories served just in time for lunch. Bon Appetit! Subscribe here to receive the Dealmaker to your inbox
Nikola Motor Company announces plans to reveal revolutionary battery tech at Nikola World 2020. The battery would significantly increase the distance vehicles could drive between charges — and Nikola looks to share the new tech with “other equipment manufacturers and even competitors.” MM. http://bit.ly/2KCJx2S
Apex founder named to MEDA Board of Directors. With a stated mission that includes “working…. to continue to bring business” to the city, “Jason Plotke, co-founder and president of Private Motorsports Group, has joined the board of directors of Maricopa Economic Development Alliance.” InMaricopa. http://bit.ly/346emVs
Proposed $21 million deal sparks bitter fight over Colorado River water. “The growing Arizona town of Queen Creek wants to buy Colorado River water from a company, leaving farmland dry. The proposal faces strong opposition.” AZCentral. http://bit.ly/336hcZl
Goodyear approves new homes, new industrial lots. City Council has approved development plans for more new homes on the Estrella Parkway and new industrial lots at the Palm Valley Crossing development. Reporter Mike Sunnucks has the rundown in RLGR. http://bit.ly/2Qz8Oia
[GUEST COLUMN] The Ritz-Carlton is rising & it’s getting very exciting. The opening of the Ritz-Carlton in PV can’t come soon enough for former councilmembers Jini Simpson and Dan Schweiker. Check out their glowing progress report for this “talk-of-the-state” project in PVI. http://bit.ly/2XyS24w
New Arizona development bans residents from bringing cars. WSJ takes close look at the “1,000-person” Culdesac Tempe, a $140-million, first-of-its-kind, “post-car” apartment project developed by S.F.-based Culdesac in partnership with Sunbelt Holdings. (Subscriber Content). http://bit.ly/35i3IuX
Club West future sinks again into uncertainty. “The Club West Golf Course likely is gone for good, a group of local investors said Monday as they walked away from a tentative deal to buy the beleaguered site.” AFN. http://bit.ly/2D3vEqd
South Tempe holiday display faces HOA scrutiny. While a few folks living around El Freda Rd view the “Nightmare Before Christmas” display more as a “Nuisance Before Christmas,” many in the neighborhood are quite happy about the “Tim Burton-esque” holiday dazzler. AZCentral. http://bit.ly/37mXZG3
HOA’s decorations edict riles residents. More HOA holiday cheer on display, this time courtesy of “one of the Foothills Reserve HOA’s ‘sub homeowners associations,’ angry homeowners in the Summit Community charge.” AFN. http://bit.ly/2O4IpHl
Read Villa Bellaggio’s official Letter of Intent, Site Plan, Request for 5-story buildings. There’s been another outbreak of project “confusion” up in Verde Valley! Previous perplexity concerned Spring Creek Ranch. This bout of bewilderment deals with the 132-acre Villa Bellaggio. Once again, RRN delivers project docs that will, hopefully, remedy such puzzlement. http://bit.ly/2quxihW
Fannie Mae: Housing to help fuel economic growth in 2020. “However, persistent supply and affordability constraints continue to hold back household formation, inhibiting housing market activity.”HousingWire. http://bit.ly/2KEwpKG
Elizabeth Warren released a plan to lower the cost of renting a home by 10%—here’s how. If your guess is that Sen. Warren’s plan involves taxing wealthy people (she calls them “vultures”) out of existence here in the U.S.A., you wouldn’t be very far off. CNBC. http://bit.ly/3328qLF
Glendale to grow as new jobs hub forms off Loop 303. “The corridor… is being envisioned as the Valley’s next industrial park, with giant manufacturing plants and warehouses similar to those further south along the freeway in Goodyear.” AZCentral (Subscriber Content). http://bit.ly/2QEeFTl
West Valley land could be annexed by Glendale and then El Mirage. Glendale is considering annexing land near Luke AFB but would then allow John F. Long to de-annex part of the land as part of its development plans in neighboring El Mirage. A Mike Sunnucks’ report in RLGR. http://bit.ly/37nZ14M
Chandler woman revving up Bondurant race school. As Bondurant CEO and GM, Franki Buckman “is breathing new life into a 52-year-old internationally renowned institution that nearly crashed and burned in federal bankruptcy court just a year ago.” EVT. http://bit.ly/34hNMbO
Half-Diverging Diamond Interchanges open on South Mountain Freeway [VIDEO]. “The two diverging diamond interchanges opened November 18 at the South Mountain Freeway Loop 202 at Desert Hills Parkway and at 17th Ave.” WATCH vehicles in action at FOX 10. http://bit.ly/335IqiG
Scottsdale readies new focus to bring General Plan update before voters. “City officials are starting the municipal process for a General Plan election update in November 2021, which will mark nearly 20 years since an encompassing plan for Scottsdale has been approved by voters.” SI. http://bit.ly/2KDA0ZB
Peoria General Plan: Key dates and goals. This rundown in Peoria Times features a dozen major goals from the “Economic Prosperity” section in the city’s General Plan. http://bit.ly/2OxbDxE
As climate risk grows, cities test a tough strategy: Saying ‘no’ to developers. “Don’t build in stupid places” is the message, and in this case, it was delivered to developers of a proposed Virginia Beach housing project. “The city’s experience could become a harbinger for others nationwide.” NYT. http://bit.ly/2OqeRmE
As a supplement to the Dealmaker, we thought you might enjoy these articles!
[IN-DEPTH] Driver mostly to blame for fatal self-driving Uber crash, federal safety board finds. While the operator was the “primary cause of the accident” that killed a pedestrian last year, AZCentral reports that the NTSB “found plenty of blame to go around.” http://bit.ly/37owNXu
‘Arizona Republic’ newsroom might avoid large layoffs. Deep cuts are coming, but not to journalists’ jobs. That’s the word from Paul Bascobert, chief executive of the newspaper giant formed by the merger of Gannett Co. and GateHouse Media. RLGR. http://bit.ly/2KI8aLM
Former AG Woods to lead probe of suspended assessor Peterson. It looks like former AG Grant Woods will be doing a little assessing himself. He’s been hired by County Atty. Allister Adel to “oversee” an investigation into “whether County Assessor Paul Petersen neglected his duties.” ACT. http://bit.ly/337a9PQ
Attorney: Churches acted with ‘unclean hands’ to aid immigrants. And because of that the attorney who represents the Patriot Movement “says the group and its members can’t be sued in federal court for harassing migrants and those helping them.” A CMS/Howard Fischer report in ACT. http://bit.ly/2Xy78Ht
Pima County to participate in border wall lawsuit against Trump administration. The BoS argues “that the new construction potentially threatens the county’s compliance with a pair of national environmental programs.” DS. http://bit.ly/2Ov4TQV
