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AZ Central – Redeveloper is tapped for Mountain Shadows

Published August 11, 2009 Blogroll , Paradise Valley , Real Estate Articles Leave a Comment

by Diana Balazs – Aug. 11, 2009 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

The co-owner and operator of the Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa in Phoenix has been tapped to help redevelop the shuttered former Marriott’s Mountain Shadows and Golf Club in Paradise Valley.

Boston-based Pyramid Advisors owns or operates 49 resort properties throughout the United States, including the Biltmore, 2400 E. Missouri Ave., and the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort and Spa, 5350 E. Marriott Drive, also in Phoenix.

It has joined the project team of KEPT Holdings, headed by designer Dodd Mitchell, to transform Mountain Shadows into a boutique-style resort and residential project.

Mitchell and his partners, Paradise Valley residents Bob Banovac and Danny Hendon of HB Equities, have an option to purchase Mountain Shadows from its current owner, California developer Robert Flaxman.

The Phoenix City Council recently approved final plans for a $600 million expansion of the Biltmore.

Nick Wood, a zoning attorney representing the Biltmore who introduced Pyramid officials to Mitchell and his partners, placed Pyramid among the finest hotel and resort owners in the country.

Wood said Pyramid is under contract to help plan the Mountain Shadows project. Wood will represent the Mountain Shadows project during the town’s approval process.

“Once we get through the zoning, they will be placed under contract to help build, and then after that, we anticipate they will be placed under contract to operate it,” Wood said of Pyramid.

Paradise Valley Town Manager Jim Bacon said town staff and officials have discussed conceptual plans for Mountain Shadows with Mitchell and his team, but are awaiting a formal application. That could come as early as this fall.

The future of the 68-acre resort at 56th Street and East Lincoln Drive has been in limbo since closing in September 2004. Flaxman purchased the 337-room property in January 2007 for $42 million. He put it up for sale in October.

Flaxman had proposed a boutique-style resort/residential project for Mountain Shadows that would preserve the 18-hole executive golf course.

www.theholmgroupaz.com

AZ Central – Owner of downtown Phoenix high-rise files

Published August 10, 2009 Blogroll Leave a Comment

by J. Craig Anderson – Aug. 7, 2009 02:21 PM
The Arizona Republic

The owner of Century Plaza, a Phoenix high-rise office tower converted into condominiums, filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this week.

Windsor Century Plaza LLC, owned by Phoenix-based Equus Realty LLC, had sold only 14 of the building’s 145 units when lead creditor M&I Thunderbird Bank placed the property in receivership in December.

M&I, the sole secured creditor, is laying claim to the high-rise building at 3225 N. Central Ave., which has an estimated value of $19 million.

Documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court said that M&I is owed an additional $23 million, for a total of $42 million. The company also has dozens of unsecured creditors, with about $3.5 million in additional claims.

The largest unsecured creditor is Phoenix-based Summit Builders, owed $1.6 million.

The Phoenix Treasurer’s Office is owed $40,000 in delinquent property taxes, and the Maricopa County Treasurer’s Office is owed $12 million, according to the filing.

AZ Central – Do homework on a second home

Published August 10, 2009 Blogroll , Real Estate , Real Estate Articles Leave a Comment

Arizona’s desert dwellers with summer cabins are the lucky ones.

They can escape when dawn breaks with temperatures uncomfortably close to triple digits.

Cabin owners flee to their high-country retreats near Flagstaff, Prescott, Payson and the White Mountains for a weekend or a week

They drive a few hours to where daytime highs are more than 20 degrees lower than in the Valley and overnight temperatures dip below 50.

“It’s the best of both worlds,” said Tom Taggart of Gilbert and Flagstaff. “Down here we have our pool and palm trees, and up there we have our cabin in the woods.”

In January, Taggart and his partner, Carrie Schulke, bought a 1,000-square-foot summer place in Kachina Village about 6 miles south of Flagstaff. They have been spending lots of weekends there upgrading their cabin and enjoying the milder summer at 7,000 feet.

He’s a Web-page designer, and she manages a call center.

Their search last winter for a summer getaway was no weekend whim.

“We did a lot of research,” Taggart said.

They looked at property and cabins near Flagstaff from Munds Park to Mormon Lake before Eileen Schreiber of Russ Lyon Sotheby’s Realty in Flagstaff helped them find their Kachina Village place.

Taggart discovered that a lot of places that looked good online were terrible properties.

Northern Arizona Realtors say it’s a good time to buy a summer home because prices are down, but they warn that they have not fallen as much as the Valley’s collapsed market.

And in making that investment, agents say, there are a lot more things to consider than most people realize.

More than location

Choosing between the various high-country locations -from Crown King to Gisela and Alpine to Williams – is just part of the equation.

Real-estate broker Lee “Abe” Abraham of Realty Executives in Prescott said water is the first thing summer-cabin buyers need to consider.

“Make sure you have an adequate supply,” he said.

Shared or individual wells serve many cabins; others are tied to rural water systems with varying levels of service. Remote locations without water or other utilities aren’t for most people.

“You can survive with a storage tank, but when it comes to marketing the property, anyone will pick the one that has a better water supply,” Abraham said.

Other key considerations include an adequate septic or sewage system, fire protection and whether affordable fire insurance is available, he added.

Abraham steers a lot of cabin buyers to the Groom Creek area southeast of Prescott, about 90 minutes from the Valley.

“Some areas just have a nice vibe, and Groom Creek definitely has that,” he said, adding that nearby Goldwater Lake is a gem of a recreational area.

Buyers drawn to Pine

In the Payson area, just an hour from parts of the East Valley, Realtor Sandra Scott of Four Season Realty said a lot of buyers are attracted to the smaller communities of Pine and Strawberry, just below the Mogollon Rim.

Some buyers like the planned community of Payson Pines, while others are looking for more rural cabins east of Payson toward Christopher Creek, she said.

Payson-area prices for a log home in the pines with good views start at about $275,000.

Wide range of housing

In Flagstaff, Realtor Eileen Schreiber said good summer homes priced below $250,000 go very quickly.

She tells buyers to consider more than the sale price, to factor in how much they might spend on remodeling.

Buyers in Flagstaff have lots of options for second homes, everything from condominiums and townhouses in town to a $600,000 home in Forest Highlands, the exclusive golf community just south of town.

It might not last, but Schreiber was excited about a three-bedroom Kachina Village summer home on a quarter acre in the pines that was priced at $249,999.

Kachina Village has a lot of full-time residents but also has its share of second-home owners, like Taggart and Schulke, who have a neighbor from Ahwatukee.

“It’s a small-town atmosphere that’s dog-oriented, and people are friendly,” Taggart said.

The couple chose to have a smaller house in Gilbert so they could afford a summer home in the high country just 161 miles away and nearly 30 degrees cooler.

“We couldn’t be happier,” Taggart said.

AZ Central – R&G Ranch may become boutique area

Published August 5, 2009 Arcadia , Blogroll , Phoenix , Real Estate , Real Estate Articles Leave a Comment

by Diana Balazs – Aug. 4, 2009 08:24 AM
The Arizona Republic

For more than 56 years, the R&G Ranch has served as a private gathering spot for employees of The Arizona Republic and former Phoenix Gazette newspapers and their families.

If the property’s pending owners are successful, the ranch could become a public gathering spot for Arcadia residents and their families.

MidFirst Bank is in the process of buying the 11-acre recreational park from Phoenix Newspapers Inc., a subsidiary of Gannett Co. Inc., publisher of The Republic. in the Valley and expects to open 14 branches in Arizona during 2009.

The ranch is at the southwestern corner of 48th Street and Indian School Road in east Phoenix. At its peak, it hosted more than 35,000 visitors annually.

Citing declining use and rising maintenance costs, Phoenix Newspapers announced in June that it had agreed to sell the property to MidFirst, which made an unsolicited offer. The sales price has not been disclosed.

Mike Piazza, a MidFirst vice president and spokesman, said the opportunity to buy the ranch was presented to MidFirst through a commercial real-estate broker.

“We consider this to be an exciting part of Phoenix with a well-established residential base,” he said.

Escrow has not closed, but bank representatives have met with Arcadia neighborhood leaders to discuss plans for the property. Preliminary details suggest a low-rise (single-story) boutique development consisting of retail shops and restaurants.

“They’re trying to save some green space in the center of this and may have some office (use) in the back. No multifamily,” said Paul Barnes, an Arcadia leader.

MidFirst has hired Mike Curley, a Valley zoning attorney. Piazza said MidFirst wants to work with the neighborhood to come up with a good project.

He declined to confirm specifics, calling the plans a work in progress. The final plan would include a MidFirst Bank location.

MidFirst Bank is the third-largest privately owned bank in the United States. It has 12 banking centers

Curley has been busy meeting with residents, including Barnes, an ex-officio member of the Arcadia/Camelback Mountain Neighborhood Association.

Barnes said he has not seen a detailed site plan yet, but likes what he has heard.

“They’re trying to talk to people in the area and get their feeling of what it is they want or don’t want,” Barnes said.

He said the property is zoned for residential development, but added that would not be a realistic use for the property, which is next to Arcadia High School.

Piazza said none of the designed site-plan options has considered a residential use.

“While visiting with residents and interested parties in the area, everyone seemed pleased that residential use was not being discussed,” he said.

Barnes said MidFirst also supports keeping the road diverters placed years ago at the intersection of 48th Street and Indian School to calm traffic.

Barnes said even though many Arcadians never visited the ranch, residents will miss it because of the greenery and open space it provided.

Marc Thornton is a Phoenix planner for the Camelback East Village Planning Committee, which includes Arcadia.

Thornton said the ranch was annexed into the city in 1956 and is zoned for single-family homes. The property would have to be rezoned for commercial use, he said. Thornton said he has not received a formal development application for the site.

Piazza said a timetable for filing of plans or project construction has not been determined.

Phoenix Newspapers plans to host one final activity at the ranch for current and former employees. The company also is seeking a new home for Mr. Train, the ranch’s most popular feature. Introduced in 1961, the miniature passenger train runs on about 810 feet of track and was a hit with both children and adults.

Bob McNair manages McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park in Scottsdale. He said the newspaper contacted him to see if the city was interested in Mr. Train for the park. He said, unfortunately, the train’s wheels are spaced too far apart to fit the park’s existing railroad track.

Jon Held, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Phoenix Newspapers Inc., said the newspaper continues to explore options for Mr. Train.

If you are looking for a home in the Arcadia area click here:

http://www.theholmgroupaz.com/Arcadia.htm

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