Restaurant Roundup: Spoonz in the wings Word is that the new food concept by restaurateurs Denise and Garry Bismore will soon open inside the 101 North Building in a storefront facing Adams Street next to Downtown Phoenix Partnership. Called Spoonz Cafe, the bistro is expected to incorporate items from both the Silver Spoon cafe and The Daily Grind, serving up coffee, pastries, soups, salads and paninis. View article…
Ahwatukee Chamber on move – to a new headquarters There’s no sign up yet, but the Ahwatukee Foothills Chamber of Commerce has moved to new, more visible office space at 38th Street and Ray Road. Moving the chamber from 51st Street north of Elliot Road – the far north end of Ahwatukee Foothills – to the more centrally located Mendoza Business Complex, at 3840 E. Ray Road, will make chamber meetings accessible to more members, said chamber president and chief executive officer Terri Kimble. View article…
Scottsdale‘s infill incentive district drawing building height requests, scrutiny A multistory apartment complex, a taller phase of a high-profile condominium complex, a mid-rise medical office complex and the redevelopment of a downtown Scottsdale eyesore are all proposals prompted by the city’s contentious downtown infill incentive district and plan. All of the applicants are seeking greater building heights as well as other amendments to existing development standards. And all will face stiff scrutiny during the city’s approval process leading up to a vote by the Scottsdale City Council. View article…
Mill Avenue‘s resurgence has begun Mill Avenue businesses struggled even before the Great Recession. But one downtown Tempe strip is seeing so much traffic that the landowner swears it’s on the verge of becoming the Valley’s version of Times Square in New York. Landowner Herzel “Joe” Nahom is on the verge of filling his row of kiosks on Sixth Street with outdoor seating that will serve Mill Avenue customers 24 hours a day. Four of the kiosks, Cuties, Chronic Tacos, Slices and Munchies Caf, are already open. View article…
Tempe‘s downtown towers have leasing agent, rental rates The new developer of downtown Tempe’s luxury apartment towers has announced rental rates and selected a leasing agent. Rates for studio apartments are beginning at $945; one bedrooms are beginning at $1175; two bedrooms are beginning at $1550 and three bedrooms are beginning at $1995. Zaremba Group officials announced Friday that they selected Capstone Companies as the property manager for West 6th Tempe apartments at Sixth Street just west of Mill Avenue. View article…
Roosevelt Dam is the cornerstone of Phoenix-area growth One hundred years ago, Theodore Roosevelt Dam changed central Arizona forever. Wedged between the rocky walls of a box canyon 80 miles northeast of Phoenix, the dam created Roosevelt Lake, a reservoir that turned the volatile Salt River into a reliable source of water. For years, farmers downstream had fought the river’s destructive floods and suffered long droughts that left their crops parched. Without electric pumps, wells could supply only a small part of the water the farmers needed. View article…
Phoenix Sky Harbor No. 15 in airport traffic Where in the world does Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport rank? Fifteenth, according to a report this week from Airports Council International. The local airport reported 450,293 takeoffs and landings during 2010, a 1.5 percent decline from 2009. View article…
After years of declines, Mesa tax revenues go up After more than three years of declining sales-tax revenues, Mesa finally has some good news. Overall sales-tax collections increased 6.2 percent in January compared with January 2010. With the exception of a miniscule 0.1 percent uptick last May, it was the first time since late 2007 that Mesa’s sales-tax collections increased over the previous year’s corresponding month. View article…
House panel proposes $100M cut to SBA budget The House Small Business Committee recommended cutting the Small Business Administration’s budget request for next year by nearly $100 million. The SBA requested $985 million for fiscal 2012. The committee, which has jurisdiction over SBA programs, thinks the agency could get by on much less by eliminating duplicative programs and initiatives that show little promise of creating jobs. View article…
No Apartment Building Boom Anytime Soon New construction of housing peaked at over 2 million units in 2005, and then collapsed 74% to 529,000 in 2010, as reported by Economic Indicators, a U.S. government publication. The combination of continuing foreclosures and a shortage of construction financing will block much new housing construction. Yet some observers predict that there will be a building boom in rental apartment units in the near future in order to accommodate a rising population. View article…
Radar Logic’s Home Price Index Drops to New Low Radar Logic’s 25-metro-area RPX Composite price slumped to its lowest value last week since its peak in June 2007. Based on data from home sales that closed during the 28 days ending January 3, 2011, the value was at $183.18 per square foot. View article…
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