3 Arizona new home builders named Energy Star 2018 Partners of the Year. Fulton Homes, Mandalay Homes, and Meritage Homes are among the home builders honored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department Of Energy as Partners of the Year “for their contributions and ‘energy efficient’ achievements.” Congratulations to all three! More on the recognition in Builder. http://bit.ly/2GHzV6U
Taylor Morrison opening 2 new collections in Eastmark. “Secluded,” “spacious,” and “elegantly designed” is how this news release in AZ Business Magazine describes the homebuilder’s Venture II Collection and Summit Collection at the Estates at Eastmark in Mesa. Tap on for amenity, pricing, and design details for each collection, along with info on their grand-opening debut. http://bit.ly/2IAaiSd
Most expensive home sales in Phoenix. Arizona Foothills Magazine reports that top home sales (3.26.18 – 4.1.18) were “over $24 million.” That’s an UPTICK of $4 million from the previous week. Among the home features seen (and not seen) in this installment: 9-foot high bi-fold doors, a chef’s kitchen, open beams and stone accents, and a “24 hr gate guard” who’s likely in need of some serious shuteye working ‘round the clock every day like that! http://bit.ly/2Hf04ad
Home buying market so brutal, some home buyers make offer sight unseen. “Too many buyers chasing too few homes.” Economists Ralph McGlaughlin (formerly with Trulia, now with Veritas Urbis Economics), Lawrence Yun (NAR), and Aaron Terrazas (Zillow) each weigh in on aggressive bidding and “house hunting” desperation — issues that have so plagued one prospective buyer in Vegas that she tells USA TODAY that next time she makes an offer, she’ll do so “without even looking.” http://bit.ly/2JrVO87
Prescott: Condos on Cortez. After spotting a “For Sale” sign at the “now-closed Prescott Downtown Athletic Club,” Judy Numbers’ “wheels started turning.” CUT TO: Prescott City Council’s recent “enthusiastic” approval of what Numbers came up with: A “design for six condominiums upstairs and two commercial spaces on the ground floor of the three-story building.” The Daily Courier fills in the missing details on the development dubbed 130 North Condominiums, the “first of their kind in downtown Prescott.” http://bit.ly/2GDouxg
Sun City garage issue boils over. To say Sun City residents are dumbfounded by what’s being built in their midst would be an understatement. It’s a structure “large enough to hold three vehicles” and also looks like a perfect fit for plenty of barnyard animals. “How is this possible? We are not even allowed to have a small shed in our backyard,” decries a protest pamphlet. KEY TAKEAWAY: Sometimes building permits issued by Maricopa County “differ with the Sun City CC&Rs.” YourValley. http://bit.ly/2Hep01R
[OPINION] Herrington: HOAs may be preserving Valley of the Sun communities to death. “[M]ost HOA boards believe it’s their solemn duty to mindlessly preserve the original ‘look’ of their aging neighborhoods, no matter how dated and undesirable the neighborhood’s style might have become.” And that has Senior VP of DMB Associates Brent Herrington a bit rankled. In Scottsdale Independent Herrington, who is also general manager of DC Ranch, explains why that approach is “wrong-headed, a monumental mistake” that “can lead to disastrous consequences.” But his op-ed isn’t all HOA doom and gloom — it closes with a bit of “good news”! http://bit.ly/2qbLnwQ
Construction employment is rising, but not fast enough. An NAHB analysis“comparing current market conditions against the ‘good ol’ days’ of the early 2000s,” shows Arizona maintaining “a relatively high share of workers employed in residential construction” vs. the national average. For figures and access to the full report click to NAHBNow. http://bit.ly/2HceFmR
Business owners oppose south central light-rail extension; Phoenix moves ahead anyway. Despite a petition from “3,000 business owners, residents and customers” in opposition to the light-rail extension, and in the face of warning shots fired off by petitioners, such as “They’re coming (for) the wrong hood” and “We’ll see them in court,” Phoenix City Council on Wednesday voted to reject the petition. AZCentral reports, however, that the city DID “commit extra dollars to business assistance.” http://bit.ly/2Er6oZg
Foothills Reserve resident jousts with ADOT over freeway. “ADOT is seeking to condemn 13 acres of common ground at the south end of Foothills Reserve” for construction of the South Mountain Freeway. AFN looks at one “Ahwatukee Foothills homeowner’s quest” to prevent that from happening, and how his efforts hit a few bumps in the road “during a complicated Maricopa County Superior Court hearing.” http://bit.ly/2HfPiAM
A SEED MONEY MYSTERY – Club West Course investor says, ‘I feel I’ve been duped.’ An AFN report on investor William Day, and how he “finds himself in a frustrating mystery” after providing funds — including seed money, literally — to course owner Richard Breuninger. Day also found himself at a meeting last week with club members who not only wanted info on Day’s “involvement with Breuninger” but also on how to “get back their membership fees,” as well as on “the course’s long-term future.” http://bit.ly/2JoiqXe
Phoenix commits $13.5 million to ASU’s Thunderbird School of Global Management. “In December, ASU President Michael Crow and Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton announced plans to move the Thunderbird School of Global Management from Glendale to the vacant site… north of Polk Street between First and Second streets.” With Wednesday night’s unanimous Phoenix City Council vote, the move became “official.” AZCentral. http://bit.ly/2GC4POh
Cave Creek General Plan going to the voters. After changes that addressed concerns over wording, “the proposed General Plan made it past the Town Council and will now go to voters on August 28.” Still, some had deep reservations about the plan — one council member called a section of it “sad,” while another said the plan “is not” a “mechanism by which community character, lifestyle, cherished values, and preferred land use patterns are preserved and enhanced.” Sonoran News. http://bit.ly/2qcPZTr
Turf Paradise Kentucky Derby Party returns May 5th – http://bit.ly/2GXPWoL
Arizona Water agency director insists lawmakers can give him forbearance authority. Tom Buschatzke, director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources, insists that, contrary to the conclusions of a legislative attorney, lawmakers CAN authorize his department to ‘forbear’ the use of water from the Colorado River. And in Rose Law Group Reporter, Buschatzke buttresses his contention with precedent and statute. http://bit.ly/2IyyCnp
[OPINION] Arizona cats are back in the bag. Senior Reporter/Writer Phil Riske is an avid cat lover — big and small, domestic and wild. In Rose Law Group Reporter, Phil interviews fellow cat lover and Arizona State Director of the HumaneSociety, Kellye Pinkelton, about the national society’s recent decision to end its petition drive to place a ban on trophy hunting of big cats on the November ballot. (RELATED, from Huffington Post: “Interior Department Aims to Slice Section From Endangered Species Act.”) http://bit.ly/2qayns6
