Archive for May, 2010

AZ Central – State trust land sold at auction for $2 million

Published May 26, 2010 Blogroll , Real Estate Articles , Scottsdale Real Estate Leave a Comment

by Peter Corbett – May. 26, 2010 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

Amid some confusion, the head of a Seattle-based firm was the winning bidder Tuesday for 4.7 acres of state trust land in Scottsdale.

Perry Koon bought the parcel northeast of Loop 101 and Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard for the minimum bid of $2.15 million or $451,681 per acre. His company is Koon-Boen Inc.

Koon could not be reached for comment on his plans for the commercial site he acquired from the Arizona State Land Department.

A second bidder, BYPG Holdings LLC, represented by broker George Haugen, thought it had signaled the only bid during the two-minute auction. But auctioneer Dana Brown recognized Koon’s bid first with the No. 4 paddle.

Haugen and an associate, seated three rows ahead of Koon, apparently thought Brown had recognized their bid with the No. 1 paddle.

Brown called out three times that No. 4 had the bid at $2.15 million before banging the gavel to end the auction.

Just before the bidding closed, Scottsdale broker Jim Keeley asked for a clarification that the No. 4 bidder had the high bid.

Haugen’s group did not realize they had missed their chance to bid until the auction closed and they got up to pay a $285,200 deposit for the land.

Haugen declined comment when asked about the bidding confusion.

BYPG Holdings includes the L.L. and P.A. Van Tuyl Revocable Trust.

State Land Commissioner Maria Baier, who witnessed the bidding, said the proper auction procedure was carried out with the bidders identified by number.

She also noted that developers are showing renewed interest in state trust lands.

Builders largely backed off buying or leasing state land the past two years because of the recession.

“I’m deadly serious when I say that in the last 30 days we’ve had a few large buyers in to see us,” Baier said. “To me that says more about the potential economic recovery than all the economic forecasts.”

AZ Central – SunCor’s Utah site sold for $3.4 million

Published May 26, 2010 Blogroll , Real Estate Articles Leave a Comment

Corp.’s real-estate subsidiary has sold one of its holdings to the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration, which agreed to pay $3.4 million to buy SunCor’s stake in a resort community near St. George, Utah.

Pinnacle West announced in April 2009 it would try to sell many of its real-estate holdings to focus on its core business: providing electricity through subsidiary Arizona Public Service Co.

SunCor Development Co. officials at the time said they would keep about $70 million in commercial real-estate holdings and sell about $400 million in housing assets, but spokesman Alan Bunnell said Tuesday it’s all for sale now, including all the remaining SunCor property at Hayden Ferry Lakeside in Tempe.

“We have got everything on the market, pretty much,” he said. “We’ve got discussions with a number of parties on these. The goal is for us to continue refocusing on our core business, which is energy.”

Another goal was to reduce the company’s debt.

As of March 31, SunCor still had $96 million in debt, compared with $175 million when the sale was announced in early 2009, Bunnell said.

Pinnacle West also announced recently it would sell its district-cooling business that serves commercial buildings in parts of Phoenix and Tucson.

The Utah resort project SunCor is selling includes finished lots, office buildings and land. About half of 2,000 planned homes had been built at Coral Canyon off Interstate 15 in Washington County.

The development features a golf course that was sold to another buyer.

SunCor officials hoped to sell properties in Arizona, Utah, Idaho and New Mexico in 2009, but the delay doesn’t mean the company isn’t getting fair prices, Bunnell said.

“We would not have sold that (Utah) property if we didn’t believe we were getting the best value we could for it at this point in time,” he said.

Pinnacle West earnings have been hurt by SunCor. It has taken $334 million in annual pre-tax write-downs because of SunCor operations, $53 million in 2008, $266 million in 2009 and $15 million so far this year, Bunnell said.

Electricity customers in APS territory are not responsible for SunCor’s debt, Bunnell said.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

AZ Central – Banks tout new short sale processes

Published May 26, 2010 Blogroll , Real Estate Articles Leave a Comment

by J. Craig Anderson – May. 26, 2010 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

For a financially struggling homeowner, the decision to pursue a short sale does not come easily.

Homeowners who make that choice generally do so after months of searching and pleading for an alternative that would have kept them in the home.

Even when it goes smoothly, the short-sale process is painful for sellers. When it’s bumpy and slow, the pain is far worse, said experts who met in Tempe this month for an educational conference on short sales.

Far too many short sales have been plagued by false starts, confusion, delays and disappointments, they said.

Phoenix-area short-sellers’ many encounters with insult upon injury stem from a combination of problems, including sellers’ lack of experience with the process and lenders’ initial reluctance to adopt on a mass scale what they had long considered an obscure means of resolving bad mortgage debts.

Scottsdale resident Mary Purvis, 57, said Bank of America finally approved her short-sale application after 10 months of frustration and uncertainty.

But the pain didn’t stop there.

“The sale finally went through last September, but now BofA reported my short sale as a foreclosure on my credit reports, which I have no idea how to fix,” Purvis said.

Big mortgage lenders such as Bank of America and Wells Fargo are still smoothing out the wrinkles in their respective solutions to making short sales faster and more reliable. But they are now taking short sales very seriously and have made many improvements, one bank representative said.

Just as the average Valley homeowner never imagined losing a home to financial hardship, the average mortgage lender never dreamed the bank would have to set up an assembly line to churn out short-sale approvals.

Purvis did not attend last week’s conference to confront her lender directly, but Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America’s Matt Vernon, the bank’s top executive in charge of foreclosures and short sales, was there to face a roomful of like-minded consumers.

Vernon was quick to admit the bank’s flawed handling of short sales, but he said Bank of America has since taken a 180-degree turn.

It has implemented an automated system – the first of its kind – for tracking the progress of short sales and has reduced the average number of days it takes for a short-sale to be approved, from 90 days to just over 50 days.

The bank approved 18,000 short-sale applications in April, Vernon said.

Unfortunately, it received more than 50,000 short-sale applications that month.

“Our system was never designed to handle this kind of volume,” said Rick Sharga, senior vice president and chief economist at RealtyTrac, based in Irvine, Calif., which collects and analyzes nationwide data on short-sales and foreclosures. “Short sales were never intended to be a mass-market product.”

That’s exactly what they have become, said Sharga, who spoke Friday at a Tempe conference organized by the Distressed Property Institute, a San Diego-based business that has developed a certification and training program for real-estate agents and other buyer and seller representatives in short-sale transactions.

Company founder and CEO Alex Chafen said the institute’s twofold purpose is to teach real-estate professionals how to be more effective at negotiating short sales, while giving homeowners who need representation a way to separate the short-sale experts from the novices.

The company created a special designation, Certified Distressed Property Expert, which it hopes will become synonymous with short-sale expertise.

AZ Central – Small parcel of state land go on auction block next week

Published May 24, 2010 Blogroll , Real Estate Articles , Scottsdale Real Estate Leave a Comment

by Peter Corbett – May. 21, 2010 02:11 PM
The Arizona Republic

The Arizona State Land Department will test the market Tuesday with an auction of commercial land northeast of Loop 101 and Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard.

An appraisal set the value of the 4.7-acre site at $2.15 million, or $451,681 per acre.

Bidders might be scarce because of traffic limitations for the site, said Ross Smith, senior vice president of Cassidy Turley BRE Land Group .

“It has access challenges,” Smith said.

The site, formerly used for a landscape design center, is between signalized intersections along Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard at 90th Street and the Loop 101 frontage road.

It is too close to those intersections to allow another traffic light, said Paul Porell, Scottsdale traffic engineering manager.

Eastbound motorists would have to turn west out of the site and quickly cross three lanes of traffic to make a U-turn, he said.

Scottsdale would consider allowing a developer to connect the eastern edge of the commercial property with the signalized intersection at 90th Street and Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard, Porell said.

However, a city water pumping station there limits the options for a driveway into the site, he said.

Smith said that option probably is the best solution.

“It could be done, but it’s more of a challenge,” he said.

Location may attract buyers

Smith noted the state trust land is in a good location that could attract buyers even though the commercial market is struggling.

Retail and office vacancies are up in the Scottsdale Airpark, and there is vacant space in nearby office complexes and shopping centers.

Kroy Ekblaw, Scottsdale strategic projects director, said the C-2 zoning category for the site would allow retail and office uses that are consistent with those in nearby shopping centers.

A conceptual site plan shows a pair of one-story buildings totaling 48,000 square feet. The site is just south of the Central Arizona Project and WestWorld. The Scottsdale Town Center shopping plaza with Target and Albertsons is to the south.

The State Land Department is selling the site, rather than leasing it, which is common for commercial properties.

The auction is set for 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at the State Land Department, 1616 W. Adams St.

Jim Adams, the department’s real estate director, said it is unclear if any bidders will show up for the land auction but the department has had inquiries about the property.

“There are not a lot of parcels available in and around that area,” he said.

Demand off for state land

The department is moving cautiously on auctioning state land.

“We’re not selling a lot of land for obvious reasons in this down market,” Adams said.

Another small parcel of state land northeast of Tatum Boulevard and Union Hills Drive will be up for auction at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday. The 2.34-acre site was appraised at $375,000, or $160,256 per acre.

It would be an ideal site for a church, Smith said.

AZ Central – Scottsdale’s DC Ranch brand celebrates 125 years

Published May 24, 2010 Blogroll , DC Ranch - DC Market , Real Estate Articles Leave a Comment

by Philip Haldiman – May. 23, 2010 07:04 PM
The Arizona Republic

A north Scottsdale community is celebrating the 125th anniversary of its brand with the proclamation of June 1 as “DC Ranch Day.”

From the early 1900s until the 1970s, the DC brand was used to identify cattle on the ranch in the area that is now the community of DC Ranch.

Suzanne Walden-Wells, executive director of the DC Ranch Community Council, said the brand symbolizes a respect for the integrity of the land and a commitment to the preservation of desert open space.

“DC Ranch wants to commemorate this occasion and celebrate our ranching legacy,” she said.

Zeke Austin, office of special investigations supervisor at the Arizona Department of Agriculture, said the development called DC Ranch got its name as a result of the original ranch which is a part of the development.

“The brand used on DC Ranch was a D (and a) C on the left hip of cattle,” Austin said.

The brand was registered on June 1, 1885, and predates the founding of Scottsdale by three years and the statehood of Arizona by more than 25 years.

Leonard J. Marcisz, vice chairman of the city of Scottsdale Historic Preservation Commission, said up until recently, the standard response from local historians was that the brand was named after a Dr. William B. Crosby, which is the name found on the original brand registration documents.

“But other than the name, nothing was known about the man,” Marcisz said. “There’s no evidence of a William B. Crosby having ranched or resided in Maricopa County.”

There is record, however, of a William Dorr Crosby, who was a post surgeon at Fort McDowell during the period that includes 1885. Marcisz said the misinformation started when the brand was originally registered. Marcisz said Crosby didn’t submit the brand filing in person-it was done by an attendant.

The middle initial of William Crosby’s name was changed from D to B somewhere in the process, he said.

Marcisz has been researching the DC Ranch brand for the last couple years. He discovered that William Dorr Crosby could be the namesake of the north Scottsdale community when he was reading a book, now out of print, about the history of Fort McDowell written by a local historian. He came across the name William D. Crosby in the appendix, where he was listed as a post surgeon.

“The coincidence of names, except for the middle initial, got me thinking. When I studied the original brand registration documents and discovered that another party filed them on Crosby’s behalf I suspected an error, particularly when I found that the brand was to be used at Fort McDowell,” Marcisz said. “There were simply too many coincidences, and I began tracking Crosby’s military career through various website databases.”

Marcisz said the brand has passed through seven owners over the years, including rancher E.O. Brown who developed the area as a cattle range from 1917 to 1937 and built one of the largest ranches in the area, Marcisz said.

“This (when E.O. Brown owned the brand) was the golden era of cattle ranching, and Brown was a serious businessman and rancher,” Marcisz said. “All historians agree that the Brown family eventually referred to the brand as standing for ‘Desert Camp’ and ‘Dad’s Cows,’ which is true, but these are later references to the brand 40 to 50 years after its creation.”

JoAnn Handley, manager of the Scottsdale Historical Museum, said since E.O. Brown took ownership of the brand, people in the area have accepted that DC stood for Desert Camp.

The brand ownership eventually passed to businessman Kemper Marley, who owned vast acreages in north Scottsdale. Now the brand is owned by a partner in the development of DC Ranch, according to Department of Agriculture documents.

Marcisz said the brand is significant because of its story and history. It also can teach about research, he said.

“The research of its origin represents a lesson learned in not taking source documents for granted. To study history, you have to ask a lot of questions,” Marcisz said. “The brand is one of Scottsdale’s artifacts. Today it is a logo, yes, but it predates the settlement and is a continuous link to our past.”

Mercado del Rancho Sells in a Major Foreclosure Sale Deal

Published May 22, 2010 Blogroll , Real Estate Articles Leave a Comment
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A Los Angeles-based investor recently bought the Mercado del Rancho, which is a 71,200 square feet site two class B office buildings. The transaction was a cash deal. The property was previously owned by CW Capital Asset Management, as they foreclosed the property repossessing it from Orsett Properties Ltd. Like many others, this business property was foreclosed because of recessionary downturn.

The lender did not sell the property on its own, but hired commercial firm CB Richard Ellis to sell the property on its behalf. The property was purchased by market value, not list price. As of late, Phoenix properties have been selling for as little as $40 per square foot. Real estate firm stated that in this case, the quality of the location was one of the most important factors. Phoenix/Scottsdale foreclosures indeed is the ideal location. It is found at 10301 N. 92nd St. at the corner of 92nd Street and Shea Boulevard. Nearby sites include a grocery store and a healthcare center.

This announcement demonstrates to us two valuable lessons: first, it’s not just new homes that are selling in the market. Foreclosed properties do sell, and this explains why many lenders are starting to market foreclosed, short sell and bank owned properties. Second, it shows us that the lender produced the best results by hiring outside real estate experts. Homeowners and business owners that are contemplating buying Arizona property should consider the same lesson. When you work with a real estate agent, you get access to MLS listings of Scottsdale homes for sale that are not available online or in the newspaper.

The Mercado del Rancho is just one example of a property that survived foreclosure and went on to better things. The new owner plans extensive updates to the site that will total nearly one million dollars. Sometimes it is important to look past a property’s status and instead look at its long-range value.

What’s the Word on Scottsdale Foreclosure?

Published May 21, 2010 Blogroll , Real Estate , Real Estate Articles , Scottsdale Real Estate Leave a Comment
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We know that most of the country has been battling with the effects of worldwide and nationwide recession. We also know that Phoenix, AZ real estate and Scottsdale real estate are struggling, despite their “wealthier city” status. Not only does there continue to be middle class foreclosures, but even high-end homeowners are now being affected.

Real estate companies like Russ Lyon Sotheby’s International Realty have commented that they are seeing high-end homeowners “walk away from their homes,” an unheard of notion back in the 1980s or even 1990s. What contributes to increased Scottsdale foreclosures? Some speculate that homeowners are getting used to living off the appreciation of the house while ignoring increasing debt. Others speculate that it may very well be that homeowners who have homes in Arizona are now seeking primary residences in other cities or states, and are simply letting their expensive seasonal houses go.

This means that there are more Scottsdale lender owned homes than ever before. More homes are being foreclosed, repossessed by the bank and sold at a much lower price. In fact, there are so many foreclosures happening that sales for new homes have fallen drastically. The real estate industry is attempting to keep ahead of the recession by promoting short sale homes, foreclosure homes and bank owned properties.

Right now, there are an unusually high number of Scottsdale and Phoenix, Arizona homes on the market, and more for-sale signs are going up. You know what they say about for-sale signs—that means that the house hasn’t sold yet. Some of the hottest deals sell to private buyers long before they are ever publicly listed. More than ever, home buyers need real estate agents to hook them up to the latest deals in the area—whether they come from new sales, short sales or even foreclosed homes.

AZ Central – Carefree Resort plans extensive makeover

Published May 21, 2010 Blogroll , Real Estate , Real Estate Articles Leave a Comment

by Beth Duckett – May. 20, 2010 12:58 PM
The Arizona Republic

Photos from the Carefree Resort and Villas

The Carefree Resort and Villas is poised for a high-profile makeover that includes design changes and room renovations costing millions of dollars.

Following a bankruptcy and ownership change in 2009, the foothills resort is profitable for the first time in years.

New owner Bridlie Hospitality Management plans to revitalize the property with Phoenix designer Cathy Hayes, whose firm designed space for the new Hotel Valley Ho.

Edwin Leslie, Bridlie president, said the company wants a more-polished look without sacrificing the resort’s character.

“We started making changes in the past six months,” Leslie said. “When you look all over Scottsdale and Phoenix, there are some fabulous resorts. But none of them have this character.”

Former resort operator, Carefree Mule Train Ventures, LLC, filed for bankruptcy in 2008.Despite financial setbacks over the years, the 1960s resort has maintained a nostalgic appeal.

With its mid-century design and palm-tree vistas, the formerly-named Carefree Inn was a hangout for celebrities such as Dick Van Dyke, Lucille Ball and Bob Hope. These days it attracts weekend tourists, business folk and the occasional celebrity trying to elude the bustle of larger cities.

Since acquiring the property at a foreclosure sale in September, Bridlie has made changes to the property’s outdoor fountains, patio areas and flower-trimmed landscape

The resort has turned a profit for the first time in four years, said Leslie, a former Texan who resides in Cave Creek.

“We’re . . . 26 percent ahead in occupancy compared to last year,” Leslie said. “We had a number of sold-out nights.”

The first phase of renovations begins July 1 at a cost of up to $6 million.

Changes will be made to the resort’s casitas, tennis villas, restaurant area and casual Red Horse Saloon, which will be shuttered and re-opened as a meeting facility.

The estimated timetable is seven months, according to Leslie. Larry Goldenthal, Bridlie vice president and general counsel, said one goal is to be a destination resort, attracting jet-setters from across the country seeking the Carefree/Cave Creek experience.

“We have a wide array of demographics we attract,” Goldenthal said. “We want to be the resort for everybody.”

The Bridlie company, which owns and operates its properties, moved its headquarters to Phoenix from Texas in January.

In April, the company welcomed $250 million in new capital to acquire premium hotels and resorts. Leslie said the focus would be on distressed and underperforming properties.

Shelley Rapier, the company’s sales and marketing vice president, said Carefree Resort fell off the map in recent years, partly due to a lack of marketing.Bridlie is reaching out to new clientele through events and deals.

On its Facebook page, the resort offers a weekly vacation giveaway contest with a private reception, spa treatments and a food-and-beverage credit.

In addition, Rapier said Bridlie is trying to dip into the surrounding community with sponsorships and discounts for neighbors.”We’re trying to overcome about five years of advertising in a year or less,” Rapier said. “We’re attacking it from all angles. We’re trying to be great community citizens.”

In June, the resort’s opera house will host the Canadian Tenors, a classical singing quartet that has performed on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” The opera house has a balcony and raised ceilings and can accommodate up to 750 people for concerts and receptions.

The resort has 60,000 square feet of meeting space and is one of few conference venues in the Carefree/Cave Creek area.

“From a marketing perspective, we’ve pursued every traditional and non-traditional channel,” Rapier said. “We’ve done print advertising . . . social networking, marketing

 and built a Facebook page. We’ve completely revamped and redeveloped the website.”

AZ Central – Ellman faces foreclosure on land….

Published May 21, 2010 Blogroll , Fountain Hills , Real Estate , Real Estate Articles Leave a Comment

by Beth Duckett – May. 20, 2010 11:09 AM
The Arizona Republic

A developer faces foreclosure on a 2,450-acre swath of land east of Fountain Hills where 1,000 luxury homes and a resort were planned.

The Ellman Cos., doing business as Goldfield Preserve Development LLC, defaulted on a $177.1 million loan for the land in Maricopa County northeast of Scottsdale. A trustee sale is set for Aug. 4, a company representative said.

“With regards to the Goldfield Project, we continue to work with our lenders and partners to resolve this issue and to maximize the property’s value and marketability,” said Don Kile, Ellman’s president of master-planned communities.

The project, called the Preserve at Goldfield Ranch, is part of the existing 5,000-acre Goldfield Ranch community flanking Arizona 87 and the Fort McDowell Reservation.

Ellman, based in Phoenix, acquired 2,200 acres for the development in 2006 for $133 million.

The difference in the loan amount includes additional land acquisition and entitlement costs, said Nicole Traynor, director of Ellman’s public relations.

In 2007, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors approved a master-plan amendment for the project despite some concerns about water supply and fire coverage. At the time, Ellman predicted groundbreaking in as little as two years.

On its website, the company said the property is slated for a resort

and 1,016 single-family lots ranging from 1 to 8 acres. A Canyon Ranch spa would serve as anchor.

The outcome of the Preserve will not affect the companies’ other U.S. real-estate projects, which are independently financed, operated and managed, Kile said.

That includes a 1,350-unit community in Fountain Hills.

The homes are planned on nearly 2 square miles of former state trust land in the northeast crook of Fountain Hills. Traynor said Ellman is working closely on a wastewater master plan with the Fountain Hills Sanitary District and the private Chaparral City Water Co. to annex into its water-service area by the end of this year. Lots are expected to be turned over to homebuilders in 2012

What Can We Expect from Scottsdale in 2010?

Published May 20, 2010 Blogroll , Real Estate Articles , Scottsdale Real Estate Leave a Comment
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The question is usually what can we expect from the Arizona Cardinals or the Diamondbacks in 2010? This year though, all eyes are on the Phoenix and Scottsdale real estate. It’s well known that in 2009, two of the major cities of Arizona, not to mention the state itself, suffered loss. For example, in the year 2009 the state’s economy suffered a record-setting 3.9 million foreclosures.

More figures revealed that many homeowners were on “upside down status”, and many others were having difficulty making payments. It is also believed that one in every five homeowners are currently paying more debt than their house is worth on the market. Statistics on Scottsdale bank owned homes are similarly revealing; more homeowners are losing properties to foreclosure, and more often than not, they end up repossessed instead of auctioned for sale.

There is also some concern regarding ARMs and Option Arm Loans this year, as many contracts will be resetting in the next two years. The changing of these loans will increase the foreclosure rate at some point. Is there any good news out there for 2010? As far as foreclosures go, probably not. However, many in the real estate business remain confident that a loan balance reduction program may be passed.

Nevertheless, an increase in foreclosures doesn’t necessarily mean bad news for the overall economy. Retail figures are up, as are industrial businesses and overall household wealth. Employers are also more optimistic regarding the addition of new full-time employees. Remember also that when more homes go into foreclosure, that means more opportunity for short sales, foreclosure auctions, and best of all, Scottsdale lender owned homes. Whenever a house is foreclosed, but doesn’t sell at auction, the lender has no choice but to repossess it. At that point, the lender makes repairs and reduces the price. You, the smart buyer, benefit. So there is good reason to be optimistic about 2010 AZ real estate!

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