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
What did you do yesterday? Brian Friedman, Glendale Economic Development Director. Up at 4 a.m, asleep 19 hours later with phone stuck to face but likely still answering emails and/or texting while visiting the land of Nod! If that doesn’t give you a good idea of the kind work ethic Brian Friedman brings as Glendale’s economic development director, then one look at a recreated page ‘ripped’ from his Day Planner definitely will! Check it out in RLGR. http://bit.ly/2OUaxxt
Metro Phoenix’s hottest real estate submarket. “Real estate expert Jim Belfiore pegs the best performing submarket for new and existing homes…” Get the breakdown from Mike Sunnucks in RLGR. http://bit.ly/341Kwkh
These 10 Valley business leaders have had quite a year. Nominees for Business Journal’s “Businessperson of the Year for 2019” include head honchos from homebuilding, pro hoops and hockey, hospitality, health, higher education, and development. Find out who’s in the running at PBJ. http://bit.ly/2OVFT6G
CG Mayor McFarland: Lucid is going to ‘rock our world.’ And other officials, including Gov. Doug Ducey and Lucid top execs Peter Rawlinson and Peter Hochholdinger, were just as pumped as Mayor McFarland at the motor company’s “ground-building” ceremony earlier this week. Coverage and plenty of pics in Chamber Business News. http://bit.ly/2Ru0noW
Papago Plaza breaks ground on massive redevelopment. Built-in the mid-1960s, renovated in the early 1980s, and now bulldozed in the late 2010s, as Sigma Contracting kicks off the mammoth mixed-use remake of the iconic retail center. Or as Sigma President Dan Hinkson puts it: “Now the real fun starts.” AZRE. http://bit.ly/2Ylo8RA
New model homes opening at Highlands at Verrado. • Four floor plans • 2,110 to 3,022 sq. ft. • From $389,900 • On Hillcrest Blvd. in Buckeye • More on Landsea Homes’ newest neighborhood • In AzBigMedia. http://bit.ly/2Lv5S2M
Hilo Tempe apartments’ plan to ban tenants under 21 raises legal concerns. “Despite the restriction against age-based discrimination, excluding the exception for seniors, the Hilo Tempe [at Mill and Seventh] plans to enforce a 21-and-over age limit.” AzBigMedia. http://bit.ly/353c3mI
Camelot Homes celebrates 50 years in the Valley. Most Hancock family members are ASU alumni. So what better way for the luxury homebuilder to celebrate its 50 years than by donating “$50,000 for endowed scholarships for the ASU Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts”! SI. http://bit.ly/36cvXeO
North Central Phoenix house saved from demolition, for now. City Council’s “decision came as a long-awaited victory” for “neighbors who have been fighting to protect the 100-year-old house.” But this one looks like it’s headed to court. AZCentral (Subscriber Content). http://bit.ly/33XIHon
‘We are being pushed out’: What Whole Foods means for a historic neighborhood. But not everyone in the Maple-Ash neighborhood is freaked over the grocery store’s impact. There are some who say the new Whole Foods is “nice to have.” AZCentral (Subscriber Content). http://bit.ly/2RqNqMH
Layton Construction merges with STO family of companies. Top execs from both firms weigh in as AZRE takes a look at what the merger means for each company. http://bit.ly/33WOvyv
WATER IN ARIZONA. (Disclosure: Rose Law Group represents Fondomonte.) AZCentral is out with a handful of in-depth reports concerning water issues across the state:
Megafarms and deeper wells are draining the water beneath rural Arizona – quietly, irreversibly. Amid unregulated pumping, Arizona’s water tables are falling. http://bit.ly/389Ldel
These 7 industrial farm operations are draining Arizona’s aquifers, and no one knows exactly how much they’re taking. “The biggest groundwater users include private-equity firms, investment funds focused on agriculture, and foreign food companies.” http://bit.ly/34XQR1k
For decades, groundwater beneath Arizona’s big cities has been spared. That’s about to change. Groundwater levels dropping in Phoenix, Tucson despite rules. http://bit.ly/34VM6oN
In western Arizona, corporate megafarms turn water into profits, leaving small towns in the dust. La Paz County residents call for water pumping rules amid crisis. http://bit.ly/2YpUzhJ
In southeastern Arizona, farms drill a half-mile deep while families pay the price. Wells drying up around Wilcox, where an effort to change rules failed. http://bit.ly/2YvVYDy
As a supplement to the Dealmaker, we thought you might enjoy these articles!
Politicians knew the inconvenient truth about the Colorado River 100 years ago — and ignored it. <- That according to water experts John Fleck and Eric Kuhn in their new book Science be Dammed: How Ignoring Inconvenient Science Drained the Colorado River. Reporter Naveena Sadasivam interviews them in Grist. http://bit.ly/2Pk4iSz
County investigators find no evidence Petersen neglected duties. “However, they said it’s up to county supervisors to determine whether his refusal to cooperate in the probe and his alleged misuse of county resources amount to ‘neglect of duty.’ ” ACT. http://bit.ly/2qrGALI
