Q&A with Shea Homes Arizona President Don Murphy. (Disclosure: Rose Law Group represents Shea Homes) Callan Smith chats with Shea Homes Arizona President Don Murphy about everything from Aloravita and Origin at Gateway Quarter, to Azure in Paradise Valley, Shea’s “family” culture, and where they are building (very cool) “ten foot rolling walls of glass” — in Rose Law Group Reporter. http://bit.ly/2I87CLv
Toll Brothers completes 80-acre assemblage in Scottsdale. • In two cash transactions totaling $12.195 million • 40+ acres at the N.E. corner of 118th Street and Jomax • 40+ acres on Jomax, east of the other 40 acres • Deal and development details at AZRE. http://bit.ly/2I89h3t
Phoenix real estate in February: Sales up 8%, inventory down 12% YoY.CalculatedRISK’s Bill McBride pops into Dealmaker for the second time this year, filling us in on Greater Phoenix Residential Sales and Inventory figures for February, which Bill notes was the “sixteenth consecutive month with a YoY decrease in inventory.” http://bit.ly/2IadeVd
HOME survey: Housing and economic sentiment on divergent paths in early 2018. NAR’s new Housing Opportunities and Market Experience (HOME) survey shows that while households are upbeat about the economy and their financial situations, the good vibes are not translating to positive views that now is a good time to buy a home. A rundown of findings, plus NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun on what’s “chipping away at homebuyer optimism,” in Rose Law Group Reporter. http://bit.ly/2GdLDq1
Phoenix awards $305M contract for next phase of airport Sky Train. The Canadian company Bombardier Transportation “built the first phase of the train that was opened in 2013.” Now the company has been awarded a contract by the City of Phoenix for an extension to the PHX Sky Train® automated people mover system at Sky Harbor International Airport. What’s in store for Phase 2? KTAR has details. http://bit.ly/2Ghlm5M
Price Corridor keeping Chandler on high-tech highway. Intel. Orbital ATK. PayPal. “Despite the presence of those heavy hitters, much of the land in the corridor still betrays the city’s agricultural past. [But] if market projections play out, those open fields will become much less common over the next several years as demand for more class-A office and industrial space reaches fever pitch…” East Valley Tribune. http://bit.ly/2IXaig1
Maricopa solicits outside help for retail development. The Maricopa City Council has “approved a three-year, $50,000 per year contract with Buxton Company,” in the hopes that Buxton, with its “retail recruitment playbook,” can “help attract more businesses to the community.” As for council members who failed to “see the need” for the hire, Mayor Price counters: “Do we want to keep on that trajectory [of developments taking forever] or do we want to speed things up?” Maricopa Monitor. http://bit.ly/2upZYtU
Phoenix Children’s Hospital to unveil Valley’s new rehabilitation center.“It was something the East Valley has needed, according to hospital officials.” KTAR reports that “Phoenix Children’s Hospital will open a new outpatient rehabilitation center at Mercy Gilbert Hospital next month.” Tap through for info on some of the features at the new facility. http://bit.ly/2I7jzB0
Queen Creek OKs $6M contract with Hunter Contracting Co. “In general, the roadway for Power Road between Ocotillo Road and Brooks Farm Road is a two-lane roadway with one lane in each direction. The intent of the project is to widen the roadway by constructing three northbound and three southbound lanes.” Town staff calls the project’s price tag a “good value to the town.” More in Queen Creek Independent. http://bit.ly/2IagwrP
Peoria partners with ASU to boost small businesses, start-ups. “The four-year initiative, called the Peoria Forward Plan, promises to connect ASU’s existing start-up resources with small businesses, entrepreneurs, school districts, city library branches and other community groups to develop innovative ventures. The partnership involves both ASU and ASU’s Skysong Innovations.” AZCentral. http://bit.ly/2GAvWs7
Sedona City Council debates Prop 202 funds. “For the last 16 years the Yavapai-Apache Nation has presented an annual check to the city of Sedona. But for the most part, those funds [via gaming revenue] have never been earmarked for anything specific. Sedona City Councilman Jon Thompson is hoping to change that.” Red Rock News. http://bit.ly/2GhWqeu
Are independent voters being left out of city elections? Arizona Republiccommunity reporter Jerod MacDonald-Evoy looks at why some are worried that “independent voters aren’t getting a fair shake,” when it comes to voting in certain cities across the state — and why, in Phoenix, Goodyear, and Tempe, no one has such concerns. http://bit.ly/2GxVPcc
The Third Annual Stella Artois Derby Dayclub returns May 5th – http://bit.ly/2GCrFEq
Federal judge rules Arizona’s Prop. 123 education funding plan illegal.But Governor Ducey’s attorney argues that there is “recent federal legislation that not only authorizes future payments from the [land] trust that go into the school-finance formula but effectively ratifies the $344 million in prior payments that [Judge Neil] Wake said Monday were illegally made.” Is reconsideration of the ruling in the offing? By Capitol Media Services’ Howard Fischer at Arizona Daily Star. http://bit.ly/2GbLW4p
Education tax signed, but teachers say their backs are against the wall. “Gov. Doug Ducey inked his approval Monday to extending the 0.6-cent sales tax for education until 2041 as an education group which helped pressure for legislative action is mapping out what it plans to do to get some new money into classrooms — including a possible strike.” Howard Fischer in Arizona Capitol Times. (RELATED, at AZCentral: “Regents President Eileen Klein to step down from role in June.”) http://bit.ly/2GdCdqh
Ducey applies the brakes to Uber testing in Arizona. “Governor Doug Ducey informed Uber’s CEO in a letter on Monday that he was suspending the tech company’s tests of self-driving cars on Arizona roads after a pedestrian was killed on March 18. In his letter to Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, Ducey called the fatal crash ‘an unquestionable failure’ for public safety.” Phoenix New Times. http://bit.ly/2DW2Pdv
Saying other legislators might be guilty of sexual harassment, Tucson representative calls for files to be made public. “Rep. Todd Clodfelter… attempted to ask House members to vote Monday to release all investigative records [‘from the sexual-harassment investigation of former Rep. Don Shooter and others’] within 24 hours. He said the records could include more accusations against other lawmakers. However, House Speaker J.D. Mesnard said his attempt was out of order…” AZCentral. http://bit.ly/2IXcUKR
Hey, doc, want to practice in Arizona? “In order to help doctors decide where to practice, WalletHub compared the 50 states and [D.C] across 16 key metrics. [The] data set ranges from average annual wage of physicians to hospitals per capita to quality of public hospital system.” —> http://bit.ly/2DX9eFi
Retired Supreme Court Justice says Second Amendment should be repealed. Calling the Second Amendment a “relic of the 18th century” in an op-ed for the New York Times, 97-year-old retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens said that it is time for a repeal “via a constitutional amendment.” You can read a capsule summary of Stevens’ piece at KFYI. http://bit.ly/2GuEzVf
