U.S. Home Builders pleased with new Trump, GOP tax reform plan. NAHB chairman Granger MacDonald has issued a statement commending President Trump and Congress for “making the vital issue of tax reform a top priority.” (You know, along with tweeting, healthcare, and Rocket Man.) Read Granger MacDonald’s full statement in World Property Journal.–> http://bit.ly/2k7ynbt
Arizona Foothills Magazine Q & A: Rod Cullum of Cullum Homes. Or as the Valley’s upscale lifestyle mag puts it in the intro for its recent installment of interviews with “top design and build professionals”: “Today, let’s get to know Rod Cullum of Cullum Homes and learn about his super-unique, super-luxe favorite Valley project.” http://bit.ly/2xIQCZz
Millennials going over budget to buy homes. That’s just one of the several takeaways from the Zillow Group Report on Consumer Housing Trends 2017. Builder examines some of the other report highlights, including the “affordability challenges facing renters” and a “first look at post-millennial Generation Z’s housing patterns.” (Around Dealmaker HQ, we affectionately refer to Gereration Zs as “Generation Snoozers.”) http://bit.ly/2wlHPd7
Homebuyers’ mortgage payments rising faster than prices. CoreLogic:“Low mortgage interest rates helped soften the blow of rising prices for homebuyers over the past six years. But with prices still rising and mortgage rates running about half a percentage point higher than last summer, the mortgage payments that many homebuyers face have increased at roughly double the rate of home prices over the past year.” http://bit.ly/2xIrBxF
ICYMI: Five tips to avoiding builder burnout. “Time management, stress management, life-work balance, burnout avoidance; all these management buzzwords address a challenge every builder will recognize: How to keep the business that puts food on your table from eating you alive.” Builder presents a “few simple time-management techniques can help builders stay sane.” http://bit.ly/2wlI4F3
Declining male workforce participation reflects supply, not demand, says new paper. “Weakness in the labor market doesn’t adequately explain why fewer men are working or seeking jobs…” According to this subscriber piece from the WSJ, the research [from ‘economist Scott Winship and the Mercatus Center at George Mason University’] “suggests there is a ‘much smaller segment of inactive men who want a job than people realize.’” Much more on this study if you’re able to venture beyond the WSJ paywall. http://bit.ly/2ybLhvy
Maricopa County health board approves $70M health center in Peoria.“Plans call for building a 127,000-square-foot health center on 20 acres at Grand Avenue and Cotton Crossing…” More on the future West Valley Primary & Specialty Care Center in Phoenix Business Journal. http://bit.ly/2wZIMXS
Line in the sand: Scottsdale Desert EDGE quandary shapes local perception. “It was standing-room only [at the recent study session] as nearly 100 people filled council chambers to hear the local governing board debate the merits of the Desert EDGE… Residents, proponents of the project and detractors of the effort, displayed signs during the four-hour discussion expressing their points of view, which primarily centered around the idea of whether or not the issue should be put before the voters.” Mayor Jim Lane: “I have never seen the city more torn apart in any other way.” Full coverage of the “simmering debate” in Scottsdale Independent. http://bit.ly/2yLcodE
Great Hearts Academies will purchase new site adjacent to existing school for fields. (Disclosure: Rose Law Group represents Great Hearts.) “Great Hearts Academies announced Wednesday that it will purchase land adjacent to Scottsdale Preparatory Academy for a new K-5 school and a sports complex.” Read the story and check out a WOCHIT of Great Hearts’ newest campus opening soon in Maryvale, at AZCentral. http://bit.ly/2fU21ws
Demolition of massive Phoenix Trotting Park in Goodyear begins. Who hasn’t driven by that “hulking… eyesore” just off of I-10 in Goodyear and wondered to themselves: “Why don’t they just tear that thing down?” Well, now they are. Bulldozing began Wednesday — 51 years after the structure was abandoned! Will we now drive past for another 51 years and wonder: “Why the heck doesn’t the Roles Family build somethin’ on their property?” Let’s hope not. See what the plans are, if any, at AZCentral. http://bit.ly/2k4FotI
Grassroots group confronts New River / Desert Hills water crisis. “The grassroots group, called ‘No Water — No Life, New River/Desert Hills,’ had its genesis at a community meeting Sept. 19 that informed about 150 rural residents of two looming water issues: Their water table is dropping and some wells are drying up… and the City of Phoenix plans to cut supply of trucked water Dec. 31.” Tap to NoPho News for more on what’s being called an “urgent’ and “‘very serious situation.’” http://bit.ly/2hzDctk
Copper project in Florence wins appeal, could break ground this winter.(Rose Law Group represents Southwest Value Partners in its fight to stop the mine from locating in the middle of the Pulte Merrill ranch family community.) “Florence Copper officials could break ground… by December, after an [EPA] board last week turned down objections to the project…” Cronkite News reports that Florence officials “fear” that the ruling “leaves the water supply at risk of pollution,” and that “the town is reviewing legal options moving forward.” (Casa Grande Dispatch also has this report: “Florence Copper to proceed with mining after town’s appeal rejected.”) http://bit.ly/2xN7DCr
Phoenix to build downtown hub as light rail readies for expansion. “The city of Phoenix said Tuesday it will create a downtown hub that will serve as the eventual center for an expanded light-rail system.” Mayor Greg Stanton: “As light rail expands massively, these new platforms make our system more efficient, and maximize connectivity for passengers trying to get downtown, uptown, to the airport and eventually to south Phoenix.” KTAR. http://bit.ly/2ycjCuv
Bentley Scottsdale Polo event expands, will feature Ashley Busch, new sponsors. “The Bentley Scottsdale Polo Championships [‘the largest event for the sport in the U.S.,’ BTW] is expanding to two days of matches and events and has signed up several new sponsors [Bentley, Talking Stick Resort, Wells Fargo Private Bank, the Phoenix Rising soccer team, Steak 44, Topgolf and the Sandbar].” PBJ also reports that “Ashley Busch, a model, polo player and wife of the Nascar driver Kurt Busch, will play for the Colorado-based Aspen Valley Polo Club at the Scottsdale event.” http://bit.ly/2yb24yW
SMART MOVE? – Winner of HGTV smart home in north Scottsdale puts it on market. “In July, Stacy Bolder of Tomahawk, Wisconsin, found out she had won the new luxury smart home with motion-activated toilets, a tub fitted with sound waves, a bed connected to sleep apps, solar-activated skylights, tablet-controlled video security and a hybrid Mercedes in the garage.” Get the asking price and take a video tour of the 3,300 sq. ft., 3-bed, 4-bath smart home, at AZCentral.http://bit.ly/2wZPjSG
Cameron’s $5M + deals of the day – http://bit.ly/2wZR6am
U.S. and Mexico agree to share in Colorado River conservation and possible shortage. “Under the deal, the U.S. government and Southwestern water users will invest up to $31.5 million in water delivery systems and farm efficiency upgrades south of the border. In exchange, Mexico will parcel out a portion of its river allotment to various U.S. water agencies… and will reduce the risk of shortages… by storing some of its water in Lake Mead.” The Republic has more on the deal and what Arizona officials are saying about it, plus this related editorial: “Our View: Mexico’s Minute 323 water deal should pay off big for Arizona.” http://bit.ly/2xEutKj
Arizona Board of Regents to review NCAA basketball scandal involving UA assistant coach. “The Arizona Board of Regents is meeting to get legal advice on the NCAA basketball fraud and bribery investigation that has rocked college sports and resulted in the criminal charges against four assistant basketball coaches, including [U of A assistant basketball coach Emanuel “Book” Richardson].” (Also from AZCentral: “Tucson bracing for its darkest moment after NCAA scandal.”) http://bit.ly/2yJRgEO
“Arizona Republic” photographer fired after wife landed primo seat at Phoenix Trump rally. Phoenix New Times reports that The Arizona Republicfired “longtime photographer” David Kadlubowski (he’d ‘worked for the newspaper full time for 13 years’) after someone claimed he helped his wife obtain a great seat at last month’s Trump rally in Phoenix.” The New Times also reports that it has yet to hear from The Republic’s “top editor” about the firing. http://bit.ly/2k7c4mz
Moo-ve over: Arizona farms bring in $4.1B in revenues. “According to the USDA, Arizona farm revenues… have propelled the state to sixth on the list of the 11 western states.” One Arizona Farm Bureau official puts it this way: “If you’re eating a salad at a restaurant in New York, you most likely got it from a farmer in Yuma.” This report is from KTAR — so is the headline. (And all this time, we thought ours were sometimes corny!) http://bit.ly/2xIsINU
Voucher foes respond to lawsuit seeking to toss referendum. “[T]here are more than enough signatures to give voters the last word on whether all parents can use tax dollars to send their children to private or parochial schools.” But Capitol Media Services’ Howard Fischer reports in Arizona Capitol Times that there is a “suit contending there are multiple deficiencies in the petitions,” which would “disqualify enough signatures to leave the referendum drive short of the minimum needed.” However, any flaws in the petitions may end up not being relevant. http://bit.ly/2xJanAj
Newsmaker BONUS: Klezmer Guy. The Meaning of Life. Bert Stratton is Jordan Rose and Court Rich’s uncle. Bert is also “an occasional contributor to theNew York Times, the Times of Israel, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and City Journal. He’s also “Klezmer Guy” at the blog YiddisheCup, where he’s written an entry in which he muses on real estate, music, mortality, and the meaning of life. Check it out! http://bit.ly/2wn2k9u
Newsmaker ‘Double-Shot’ BONUS: Is Phoenix the Coffee Capital of the Southwest? “With a new light rail line from the airport, a new Arizona State University campus, and a mix of condos and apartments popping up at a frantic pace, caffeine is in demand [and] Phoenix is poised to be the coffee capital of the Southwest.”Vogue takes a look at some of downtown’s “new indie cafés,” spots where “terms like seed-to-cup and fair trade are tossed around as often as sports scores or talk about the weather.” http://bit.ly/2ftZKaP
