The Dealmaker: 11/13/2018

The Arizona drought: Colorado River Indian Tribes to the rescue! Rose Law Group Founder & President Jordan Rose lauds the move. “With water levels continuing to drop toward a ‘shortage’ declaration at Lake Mead, the state has been meeting with stakeholders for months to forge a Drought Contingency Plan.” Enter the Colorado River Indian Tribes. It “has offered the State of Arizona a deal in which [it] would agree to fallow enough land to save a total of 150,000 acre-feet of water in exchange for $37.5 million over 3 years.” Jordan Rose: “This may actually be the most important news of the last few years as it relates to water. The Colorado River Indian Community has stepped up to save Pinal County farms.” Read the story in Parker Live. http://bit.ly/2Dl0w7d

APEX breaks ground on future racetrack facility. (Disclosure: Rose Law Group represents Apex Motor Club.) “APEX leadership, city officials and local dignitaries joined together at the future racetrack home to turn dirt and begin the construction process.” Founder and President Jason Plotke: “We stood out here three years ago and saw some farm land, and now we’re building a racetrack.” Maricopa Monitor looks in the Apex rearview, at the road it’s taken to get there. It also has a recap and pics of last Thursday’s event. So motor on over! http://bit.ly/2zP4EsM

Only 13% of adults plan to buy a house in next 12 months. “Most of these prospective buyers (58%) report this is the first time in their lives they would be buying a home.” Dive deeper into the findings from NAHB’s Q3 2018 Housing Trends Report in Eye On Housing. http://bit.ly/2qG0jnw

The hottest property amenity: Location, location, location. It’s the “one highly desirable amenity that will never go out of style,” writes R. Chapin Bell in a piece at AZRE. With “location” in mind, the P.B. Bell president & CEO zeroes in on his company’s “high-end multifamily property,” The Curve, situated as it is in the amenity-rich Melrose District in Phoenix. http://bit.ly/2B40Khb

Starwood, Ryan, Cadence partner on Acoya Scottsdale. “Construction is underway on the 198,000 square foot senior living community in the Troon neighborhood… Acoya will provide 135 independent and assisted living units on six acres,” AZRE reports. http://bit.ly/2B2dSU3

Banner Boswell expansion grows even more. “Along with Sun Health Foundation, the company announced plans in March for the construction of a new $60.4M emergency room… Last week, however, Banner Health’s board of directors approved expanding the [Sun City] project to include construction of a new six-story patient tower shell, as well.” AZBEX. http://bit.ly/2z703Cu

Mesa seeks public input for downtown land development. Restaurant and retail? Office? Single-family homes? What to do with “27 acres of undeveloped land” at Mesa and University? Have ideas? Mesa wants to hear from you! PBJ. http://bit.ly/2DClv67 

Why Walmart wants to transform acres of store parking lots into bustling town centers. The mega-retailer is “evaluating whether to transform underused land at its stores across the U.S. into new offerings such as restaurants, shops, food halls, parks, entertainment venues and more…” PBJ takes a look at these “reimagined centers” — and the possibility of seeing them right here in the Valley. (Subscriber Content). http://bit.ly/2DjWpIv

Smelter implosion highlights Superior’s fight on blight. The old, “dangerous” smelter came crashing down on Saturday, and “Town Manager Todd Pryor has made” such “blight cleanup a top priority for the Pinal County town” as it “prepares for a renewed boom in the mining industry.” Flo Reminder. http://bit.ly/2DCgTgz

Shea Homes seeks to raise $50,000 at fundraising event. “Shea Homes Arizona is joining hands with individuals and businesses around the Valley on the road to raising $50,000 for Light the Night, which supports the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society…” For info on Saturday’s Light the Night event along with details on how to contribute head to Scottsdale Independent. http://bit.ly/2DjAeSF 

Las Vegas builders have history of hyping projects that fail. “When Wynn Resorts scrapped its 38-acre lagoon project Wednesday, it wasn’t the first big idea to get tossed in Las Vegas’ real estate trash bin.” Las Vegas Review-Journal takes “a look at some large projects that were unveiled in recent years but have yet to materialize.” http://bit.ly/2K1aCeI

Amazon picks Northern Virginia, New York City to split new HQ. “The [‘split decision’] follows a search that spanned more than a year and prompted local governments across North America to scramble to offer tax breaks and other incentives to win the company’s favor.” POLITICO. http://bit.ly/2Psba3g 

10th Annual AZ DealMakers – January 11, 2019. Don’t miss out on the BIGGEST homebuilding industry event for real estate forecasting and analysis, featuring the best speakers in the industry, including Meritage Homes Chairman & CEO Steven J. Hilton and Christopher Todd Communities CEO Todd Wood. Plus, Belfiore Real Estate Consulting President & Founder Jim Belfiore provides an Overview on Housing. For the full list of speakers & panelists, along with registration info for Arizona Housing: Growth, Its Costs, Challenges & Opportunities, tap on! http://bit.ly/2LAvclq 

As a supplement to the Dealmaker, we thought you might enjoy these articles!

Frank Riggs and his “terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day on Twitter” — what did he have to say about Thomas Galvin, Rose Law Group land use attorney? “Riggs’ meltdown Sunday stemmed from the late afternoon reports on vote tallies for the day, which saw his Democratic opponent for superintendent of public instruction, Kathy Hoffman, declare victory after increasing her lead to more than 46,000 votes.” Arizona Mirror. http://bit.ly/2Ppy6jI

Candidates can’t count on recount in close races. “Any losing candidate in the general election who is counting on an automatic recount needs to come close to winning. Really close.” A Cap Media Services/Howard Fischer report in Arizona Cap Times. (RELATED, in KTAR: “Arizona GOP looks like ‘sore losers’ for vote challenge, political expert says.”) http://bit.ly/2Dhp7tv