Mayor Makes Case for Light Rail Expansion
For Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, a proposed $17.5B sales tax measure to extend Valley Metro light rail to South Mountain, the Arizona Capitol, Metrocenter, Grand Canyon University and Arizona State University?s West campus isn?t about some kind of lasting legacy of his tenure at City Hall…. Read more »
Phoenix Looks to Buy, Preserve Interstate 17 Lands
The Phoenix City Council will consider a proposal at its Wednesday meeting to buy and preserve 172 acres of land along Interstate 17. The parcels are located in far north Phoenix west of Interstate 17 north of Carefree Highway and the Loop 303 freeway. The city wants to designate the land a mountain preserve… Read more »
Japanese Manufacturer Breaks Ground on New $25M, 175-Worker Mesa Plant
A Japanese-owned company has broken ground on a new $25 million airbag manufacturing plant in Mesa. Special Devices Inc. already has an airbag plant in Mesa. It bought an adjacent 19.6 acres of land near Greenfield Road and the Loop 202 freeway last month for $5.5 million… Read more »
Scottsdale Approves ?Bahia? Live-Work-Play
A mixed-use project called Bahia Live, Work, Play will be built just east of the Loop 101 and south of Bell Road in Scottsdale. The 4.3-acre site is bounded on the east by 92nd Street and on the north by Bahia Drive, previously called Aire Libre. Plans call for 64 individual ground-level office spaces with loft-style residential units above. The three- and four-story buildings, 30 to 42 feet high, will have roof-top gardens and patios as well as balconies on the upper levels and a community swimming pool… Read more »
Economic news this past week was more mixed than it has been in a while. Most was good news. But, some was not so good news. Hopefully, the not so good news will prove to be transitory. Get used to this because the part of the cycle that is all good news is probably over. However, this is normal and does not signify any negative prospects for the near term or even mid-term economic outlook. As will be discussed, the consensus forecast for real GDP remains strong. And consumer confidence, while down, is still high. Retail sales and inventories/sales ratios, however, moved the wrong way last month. Arizona employment seems to be mildly accelerating. Greater Phoenix leads the charge. Greater Tucson continues to lag. This trend should continue. Read more »