Amended Bell Group Self Storage application passes Scottsdale Planning Commission. (Disclosure: Rose Law Group represents Bell Group Self Storage.) “Planning Commission… voted… to approve the storage facility, after the applicant agreed to a reduced height…” Jordan Rose: “We agreed to lower the building to 18 feet and they stipulated us to do that… It was a productive discussion and we are going to continue working with the two adjacent neighbors… Bell Group Self Storage is seeking to build an air-conditioned storage facility on a site [at Shea and 116th] that has been vacant for 18 years.” Scottsdale Independent. http://bit.ly/2zFyEqj
Bill Gates is buying land in Arizona to build a “Smart City.” “An investment firm run by Bill Gates has put down $80 million to develop a planned community in Arizona. The 25,000 acres of land is about 45 minutes west of Phoenix, in an area called the West Valley. The community, which Gates wants to turn into a ‘smart city,’ will be named Belmont.” Popular Mechanics. http://bit.ly/2yXYybX
Realtor, golf expert pose new vision for Ahwatukee Lakes site. “Realtor Chad Chadderton and golf industry expert Roger Lindquist have been shopping around the concept of a high-end nine-hole course with a clubhouse area that would offer fine dining, boutique retail and a water attraction for kids similar to the ‘lazy river’ at the Arizona Grand Resort.” Assuming they can figure out a way to prevent kids frolicking in the water from getting pelted by errant golf balls, could this proposal from the pair of “Ahwatukee pioneers” finally bring an end to the ongoing, “bitter fight over the future of the defunct Ahwatukee Lakes Golf Course”? Ahwatukee Foothills News. http://bit.ly/2iS01FD
City subcommittee recommends approving Knipe House sale. “The buyer, True North LLC, is planning on creating a mixed-use commercial and residential space in the location at Second and Portland streets. This would include a 19-story office building, two five-story buildings for multifamily housing and commercial use, and over 1,200 parking spaces.” And what about plans for the “historic Knipe House”? Will it be preserved? Demolished? Find out in Downtown Devil. http://bit.ly/2ia9pF8
Freddie: Housing bubble fears too inflated. “Economists pointed to several reasons bubble fears are overinflated, including the lack of housing inventory and dismal residential construction… Freddie Mac devotes its entire November Insightreport [titled “The ‘B’ Word: Can We Spot the Next House Price Bubble?”] to exploring the warning signs from last decade’s housing price bubble and weighs it against the current housing market.” REALTORMag has an overview along with a link to the full report. http://bit.ly/2zDJBuO
Senate bill cuts property tax deduction, keeps MID. “Senate Finance Committee Republicans [have] released their version of the tax reform bill. Although it goes one step further than the House bill by preserving the $1 million cap on the mortgage interest deduction… it eliminates the deduction for property taxes.” The National Association of Realtors isn’t thrilled with either version, saying that both “will lead to higher taxes for many middle-income homeowners and lower property values overall.” REALTORMag. http://bit.ly/2ibaA7m
Taylor Morrison offers 10 million new shares. “Taylor Morrison Home Corporation… on Thursday announced the pricing of the previously announced underwritten public offering of 10,000,000 shares of its Class A common stock.” Builder reports that “Taylor Morrison intends to use all of the net proceeds that it receives from the offering… to invest in a subsidiary and to retire Class B shares held by TPG and Oaktree.” http://bit.ly/2zxH0mp
It’s back: Mesa group revives push for $60 million youth-sports complex.“The complex is proposed on the same site as before — vacant, city-owned land on Brown Road near Loop 202. As before, plans call for a 24-field, multipurpose sports complex with a 110,000-square-foot indoor field house. Visit Mesa, the city’s non-profit tourism organization, is behind the push and has created a steering committee called Mesa Plays to promote the idea.” Read the story, check out mock-ups and renderings, and take a “Fly Around Video” tour of the massive complex — at AZCentral. http://bit.ly/2yY1ODW
‘BIG, SEXY PROJECTS’ – Flurry of construction activity at VA – more than $30 million worth, more anticipated. “The Northern Arizona Veteran Affairs Health Care System is one big construction zone right now thanks to a more than $30 million federal investment in what is a major upgrade and expansion of the agency’s facilities. And more is expected in the next couple years.” Chief of Facilities Terry Boyd calls them “big, sexy projects…” The Daily Courier. http://bit.ly/2yW3rlv
As lenders targeted veterans with risky mortgages, VA failed to act. “Lenders, hunting for business in a slow market, have swarmed into VA mortgages, sometimes selling military homeowners new loans every few months… The churn adds fees at every turn, driving homeowners deeper into debt.” Former president of Ginnie Mae, Ted Tozer: “Lenders are abusing veterans… It’s predatory.” POLITICOreports that the “VA has had a fix in the works since the spring of 2016 but has yet to finalize it.” http://bit.ly/2icocPw
SUITE! – Regents to consider 2 new U of A capital projects. “The first item is a $66M, four-component Intercollegiate Athletic Program project suite… The other request is an $8M renovation and equipment upgrade request for the UA Oro Valley Facility’s Doctors of Veterinary Medicine Program.” AZBEX’s Roland Murphy has full details on both projects, which the “Arizona Board of Regents will consider… when it meets next week.” http://bit.ly/2zBJCzj
The municipal bounds of Paradise Valley limited government. “With the town’s growth is coming new problems — like building on difficult lots, or regulating the frequency of trash trucks through a new ordinance — the council has been navigating through, while seeking to keep its limited government philosophy in-tact… [A]nswering the question of ‘what is a limited government’ yields different responses from different leaders… but Mayor Collins wants it in writing, it appears.” Paradise Valley Independent. http://bit.ly/2yztCdR
A WIDENING IMPACT – ADOT invites feedback on future plans, but not I-10 widening north of Casa Grande. While widening the “southern stretch of I-10 from Casa Grande to Tucson remains a priority,” Casa Grande Dispatch reports that “if widening [I-10 north of Casa Grande] is your concern, keep it to yourself… because [it] isn’t happening anytime soon…” Tap to find out why. –> http://bit.ly/2zy7Yuf
Maricopa impact of road tax approval on SR 347. “With widening of State Route 347 as a proposed project,” Mayor Christian Price says that “now it is time to move forward with progress.” Maricopa Monitor. http://bit.ly/2iRQkHt
Sedona church OK’d for cell tower. “The topic [at a recent Sedona P & Z meeting]: A proposed 50-foot cell tower designed to look like a pine tree installed behind the Sedona United Methodist Church on State Route 179.” The reaction? A “bit contentious,” with threat of the room being “cleared” and a “city employee being verbally assaulted.” One person “even said that the church should be renamed Church of Telecommunications and What’s Profitable.” http://bit.ly/2mmtHzR
Cameron’s $5M + deals of the day- http://bit.ly/2yWwqWt
Nearly 300 veterans in Arizona committed suicide in 2016, report finds.“Veterans in Arizona committed suicide at a rate that was nearly three times higher than the state’s non-veterans in 2016, [the ASU Center for Violence Prevention and Community Safety found]… In a statement, criminology professor Charles Katz said the center collects data from police, medical examiners and the state to ‘shine the light on issues pertaining to veterans.’ ” KTAR. http://bit.ly/2hr9T9j
Waymo tests its self-driving cars In my town. Here are the odd things I’ve seen. Chemical engineer and Chandler-area resident Robert Rapier describeshimself as “intensely curious about how these vehicles behave.” He says that he has “taken more than a hundred pictures and video clips of them, in many different situations.” In his piece for Forbes, Rapier gives us a sampling of some of the “strange things” he’s seen them do. “At least, strange from the perspective of a human driver.” (RELATED, from The New York Times: “Self-Driving Trucks May Be Closer Than They Appear.”) http://bit.ly/2iRyaFK
Fresno State prof to pay $17K, undergo free speech training after censoring students. “A Fresno State University professor will pay $17,000 and undergo First Amendment training by attorneys with the Arizona-based Alliance Defending Freedom [ADF] as part of a legal settlement after he instructed students from his class to join him in defacing and erasing a pro-life student group’s sidewalk chalk messages.” (A somewhat fitting end to a case involving a prof who teaches at a school whose official mascot is named “TimeOut.”) For an ADF statement on the matter, tap to ADI. http://bit.ly/2zFtxGx
America’s Wall In-Depth. A piece by Jean Guerrero | KPBS and Leonardo Castañeda | inewsource — and which has this intro: “KPBS and inewsource partnered for this in-depth reporting project we’re calling ‘America’s Wall.’ We were motivated by President Donald Trump’s call to spend billions of dollars to build a longer, more fortified wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. We wanted to know what that new and improved wall might mean for the people on both sides of the border, and we looked to facts from the past to tell the story.” http://bit.ly/2zBJ5hc
[OPINION] Why won’t TV show people who aren’t rich? Former Boston Globe television critic Joanna Weiss grouses about the slim pickings when it comes to “shows on TV today that focus… consistently and honestly, on economic anxiety.” In POLITICO Magazine. http://bit.ly/2jobssG
Roy Moore is too creepy for Jeff Sessions on ‘SNL.’ Embattled Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore (Mikey Day) meets with Vice President Mike Pence (Beck Bennett) and Attorney General Jeff Sessions (Kate McKinnon) in this ‘SNL’ cold open where the AG is no longer the “creepiest one in the room.” http://bit.ly/2zV2mdN
