Aviano by Toll Brothers

3bd 3bath 2883 sp ft

Great family neightborhood/schools etc. 

This is a short sale $449,500 requiring lender aprvl. 

Owners paid over 800K and put approx another 100k into upgrades by professional interior decorator

The winning bidder for the site at Scottsdale Road and Mayo Boulevard was BCB Group Investments LLC, with broker Walt Brown Jr.

There were no other bidders, although two other firms had signed up in advance indicating they would do so: Cavan Management Company LLC with broker Pete Bolton; and Iris Consulting Group LLC with broker Sean Bishop.

The minimum bid for the commercial land was $10.2 million or $348,051 per acre for 29.37 acres.

Brown submitted plans to Scottsdale this spring to develop two car dealerships on the site, which is just south of Loop 101 and east of the Scottsdale 101 shopping center.

The auction was held at the Arizona State Land Department, which manages more than 9.2 million acres of state trust land. Most of the trust land revenue benefits Arizona schools.

A trustee’s sale for the resort has been set for July 26.

However, officials with California-based Crown Realty and Development Inc., say that the firm wants to avoid the foreclosure, and is negotiating with lender U.S. Bank Special Assets Groupon a resolution.

Crown Realty, owned by Robert Flaxman, also developed the InterContinental Montelucia Resort & Spa in Paradise Valley, which defaulted on a $180 million loan about three years ago.

Flaxman owes at least $360,000 in taxes on the Mountain Shadows property, according the the Maricopa County Treasurer’s Office.

Jason Rose, a spokesman for Crown Realty, said if they are successful in negotiations, there will be no sale. If they are not, Crown can bid on the property at the auction.

“They are optimistic about a resolution,” Rose said. “They feel confident in a favorable resolution with the bank that will translate into a favorable re-development of Mountain Shadows for the town.”

Dozens of residents showed up for a preliminary presentation of their plans for re-developing the resort, at a Town Council meeting Thursday afternoon.

The plan includes resort hotel, residential, golf and retail facilities.

At the meeting, Flaxman, said his firm plans to work through the loan default.

He bought the 68-acre property from Host Marriott Corp. for $42 million, in January 2007. Host Marriott Corp. is now known as Host Hotels & Resorts.

“We are committed to this project and plan to see it through,” Flaxman said.

Town Manager Jim Bacon said Crown Realty has had an application on file with Paradise Valley for several years.

The firm plans to submit a revised application this week.

“The owner has the right to move forward with an application,” Bacon said, whether the property is in default or not.

The Mountain Shadows resort, which remains closed at 56th Street and Lincoln Drive, has drawn potential re-development possibilities in recent months.

Residents became hopeful when Phoenix-based JDM Partners, co-owned by sports mogul Jerry Colangelo, entered into a purchase agreement for Mountain Shadows in December.

JDM’s projects include Chase Field, US Airways Center,Comerica Theatre and the remodel of the Wigwam resort in Litchfield Park, which represented the company’s first foray into the hospitality industry.

However, the firm announced last month that it was unable to reach a final agreement with Crown Realty and is no longer under contract for the property.

JDM officials provided no more information, citing a confidentiality provision in the purchase agreement.

Four out of the five buildings are going to be seven stories high, and one will have five stories. All of these buildings will be surrounded by two courtyards. There will also be two levels of underground parking. Optima Sonoran Village will offer a higher ratio of parking to bedrooms than its sister buildings Optima Biltmore Towers and Optima Camelview Village as both of those buildings seem to have less than ideal parking available.

Optima Sonoran Village will be perfectly located in Scottsdale close to some of the finest shopping, restaurants and spas in North America. The complex is couple of blocks away from the upscale Kierland and Scottsdale 101 shopping. Scottsdale Fashion Square is only 15 minutes away with some of the finest stores such as Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom, along with European designer boutiques. Just to the south is the Phoenix Mountain Preserve with many trails throughout: these are great for hiking and mountain biking.

]]> http://blogtheholmgroupaz.com/2012/05/14/optima-sonoran-village/feed/ 0 theholmgroup http://blogtheholmgroupaz.com/2012/05/14/az-central-builder-rolls-out-line-k-at-pinnacle-peak-place-homes-in-scottsdale/ http://blogtheholmgroupaz.com/2012/05/14/az-central-builder-rolls-out-line-k-at-pinnacle-peak-place-homes-in-scottsdale/#comments Mon, 14 May 2012 22:00:10 +0000 The Holm Group http://blogtheholmgroupaz.com/?p=2157 ]]> Piet Boon has a new look for north Scottsdale homes.

The Dutch designer and K. Hovnanian Homes are unveiling a line of contemporary semi-custom homes this weekend at Pinnacle Peak Place, a mile from of the city’s iconic peak.

A four-bedroom model home opens Saturday in this gated community northeast of Pima and Happy Valley roads. Prices range from $700,000 to $820,000. The interior of the 3,874-square-foot model home stands out with its stark white walls, modern lines and an abundance of disappearing glass walls and outdoor living space. That includes a reflecting pond in a breezeway, infinity-edge pool and a shower and soaking tub outside the master bathroom.

“The desert view is so incredible,” Boon said in explaining the openness of his Arizona designs.

“It’s so different with the boulders and cactus.”

Boon is an interior and furniture designer based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, with an international list of clients.

Boon joined with K. Hovnanian Homes, based in Red Bank, N.J., a year ago to create the builder’s Line K of contemporary homes with its rollout in Scottsdale.

The result is a design that runs counter to the sameness of the Tuscan, Mediterranean and Spanish architecture so common in the gated communities across Scottsdale.

“We think there are people who are tired of Tuscan, tired of the traditional styles here,” said Jack McSweeney, K. Hovnanian Homes Phoenix Group director of architecture.

It is a design that will appeal to younger buyers who are used to a more modern aesthetic as well as to Baby Boomers, he said.

The stonework and the exterior color schemes at Pinnacle Peak Place are similar to the surrounding homes but the sleeker lines and optional metal roof are less common for the area.

Pinnacle Peak Place was first developed in 2006 by the Pivotal Group Inc. and Geoffrey H. Edmunds & Associates Inc.

It was to include 80 homes on 124 acres.

In those boom times, the homesites were priced from $395,000 to $975,000, and homes of 4,000 to 6,000 square feet were offered at $1.5 million to $3 million.

Twenty-one homes were built, including a $3.3 million property in October 2007, but much of the community remains undeveloped.

K. Hovnanian Homes has 26 lots that it acquired earlier this year, McSweeney said.

It is offering three models with variations in floor plans.

All of them include four bedrooms, three-car garages and 31/2 or 41/2 bathrooms.

Prices start at $700,000 for a home of 3,305 square feet up to $820,000 for 3,874 square feet. Each lot is close to an acre in size.

“If people get these things and toss them, they won’t be eligible,” says Ron Sturzenegger, the Bank of America executive charged with providing solutions to borrowers in need of mortgage assistance.

But the offer is real, and eligible borrowers could get as much as $150,000 knocked off the balance of their mortgages. It is all part of the $25 billion settlement reached this year between federal and state agencies and the nation’s five largest mortgage servicers over fraudulent foreclosure document processing (so-called “robo-signing”).

Bank of America (BAC), in a deal with state attorneys general and the U.S. Department of Justice, committed $11 billion to mortgage principal reduction, but executives say they will go beyond that if enough borrowers respond to their offer. Five thousand borrowers have already received a collective $700 million in principal reduction through a pilot program for those already in a modification negotiation. The 200,000 borrowers being targeted now may have already exhausted modification options or may have yet to contact the lender.

Executives say borrowers receiving the letters are eligible, but they still have to prove they qualify. In order to be eligible, a borrower must be 60 days late on the mortgage payment as of Jan. 31, 2012. The borrower has to owe more on the mortgage than the home is currently worth, commonly known as being “underwater” on the mortgage, and the borrower’s loan must either be owned by Bank of America or serviced by Bank of America for an investor who is allowing the modifications.

In order to qualify for the modification, the borrower must answer the letter with full documentation of income, showing that under the terms of the modification they can still make the monthly payment. A borrower with no income would therefore not qualify. A borrower’s current monthly payment must be  more than 25 percent of gross income, and the borrower must show they are unable to afford that.

“If you can afford to make your monthly payment and are choosing not to, you will not get this principal modification,” says Sturzenegger.

If the borrower qualifies, Bank of America will bring the monthly mortgage payment down to 25 percent of the borrower’s gross income. That could mean principal forgiveness well over $100,000, as there is no limit to the amount of the mortgage. If enough borrowers respond, it could cost Bank of America far more than it committed to in the settlement.

“Yes, we have the capability to go well beyond the $11 billion,” adds Sturzenegger.

Bank executives say that before choosing which borrowers will get the offer, they performed a net present value test on each loan, making sure that the principal reduction modification would net Bank of America or the investor who owns the loan more than foreclosing on the home. “It has to be fair to the investor as well,” says Sturzenegger.

Not all of the 200,000 borrowers who receive the letters are expected to respond. Executives say there is a level of fatigue among delinquent borrowers who have already received several notices or who may have gone through a failed modification process already. Some borrowers simply don’t want to stay in their homes, while others may think the offer is a scam.

“They have been contacted by a lot of other people, and this offer may appear too good to be true,” says Sturzenegger.  That’s why Bank of America is sending the letters by certified mail and trying to make the language as simple as possible. A sample letter obtained by CNBC shows a bring red box in the top corner labeled, “IMPORTANT” and simple language stating, “Qualifying customers may reduce their monthly payment by an average of 35 percent.”

Some 6,500 letters should be arriving in mailboxes across the country this week, with a wave of new letters going out every week until the end of the summer, when all 200,000 should have been mailed. Bank of America is staggering the mailings in order to handle the expected response. The bank has staffed up to handle the task, with 50,000 employees manning servicing desks, but the process will clearly take a lot of time. That’s why Bank of America has suspended any foreclosure actions against these 200,000 borrowers until the process is complete.

There are currently 5.59 million U.S. loans that are either delinquent or in the foreclosure process, according to Lender Processing Services. Bank of America services one million of those loans, but many of them are owned by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Their regulator, Edward DeMarco of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, has yet to agree to principal reduction in loan modifications, despite harsh criticism from some lawmakers on Capitol Hill and increasing pressure from the White Hou

Builders acquired permits for nearly 2,500 single-family homes in the first quarter, up 74 percent from a year ago, said Greg Burger, publisher with RL Brown of the “Phoenix Housing Market Letter.”

Maracay Homes reports that it sold 190 homes through April, more than double its activity a year ago. Plus, this year’s $50 million in sales far exceeds last year’s pace when Maracay sold $60.5 million for all of 2011.It’s a big change for a new-home market that went from dormant to sluggish before the recent uptick.

“It hasn’t been wine and roses the past few years,” said Andy Warren,Maracay president since April 2009.

The number of building permits issued continued to grow in April and homebuilders are responding with new communities and floor plans.

Maracay Homes, with its offices at the Scottsdale Quarter, has four communities in Tucson and seven in the Valley in Buckeye, Chandler, Goodyear, Peoria and Queen Creek.

Maracay, the Arizona subsidiary of the Weyerhauser Real Estate Co., plans to open five more communities with a total of 414 home sites by the second quarter of 2013. Those developments are in Litchfield Park, Queen Creek, Gilbert, Chandler and in east Mesa at Eastmark on the former General Motors Desert Proving Ground site.

The builder has two more communities under contract with 135 home sites in Queen Creek and an additional 22 at Verrado in Buckeye.

“We’ve repositioned Maracay in the last two years to take advantage of the challenges in the economy,” said Warren, who previously worked for Weyerhauser’s Winchester Homes subsidiary in Bethesda, Md.

Maracay expects to sell 300 homes in the Valley this year and an additional 100 in Tucson, he said. The company’s average home price this year is $260,000.

Home inventory declines

A shrinking inventory of resale homes has buyers turning to new homes, and builders are responding to the demand.

The current pace of 11,000 homes this year could slow because of a tighter supply of suitable home sites and as builders limit their sales because of shortages of subcontractors, said Burger.

Buyers are getting frustrated with failed bids for a shrinking inventory of resale homes and are turning to new homes, he said, adding that the price difference of new homes costing more than resale properties is narrowing in some neighborhoods.

“We’re moving in a direction that new homes are coming into focus,” Burger said. “Some builders have opened the flood gates and are selling as many homes as they can.”

Shea Homes Arizona has seen its sales jump 40 percent so far this year over 2011.

The California-based company, with its Arizona division in Scottsdale, is averaging about eight home sales per week, up from five over the past two years.

“It’s pretty refreshing,” said Ken Peterson, Shea Homes Arizona vice president of sales and marketing.

Sales are on the upswing because consumers who lost homes to foreclosure or short sales are becoming eligible for loans, he said.

 Few new homes locally

Nearly all of the new-home subdivisions are outside of Scottsdale, which has a limited amount of large land tracts for new communities.

Scottsdale issued 63 building permits for single-family homes in the first quarter, up from 33 a year ago but far below Gilbert with 697 permits and Phoenix with 347.

Pulte Homes and Lennar each are building about 200 homes at the gated Lone Mountain community just west of Scottsdale at 60th Street and Lone Mountain Road.

Pulte spokeswoman Jacque Petroulakis said the builder has seen its traffic and sales more than double in the past few months.

Retirees, move-up families and second-home buyers are part of the sales surge, she said.

Pulte, which launched sales at Lone Mountain in April 2010, has homes of 1,933 to 3,026 square feet for $298,990 to $369,990.

Utility-cost savings are a big selling point for the new-home market, with builders touting better insulation, construction techniques, and more efficient appliances and heating and cooling systems..

Builders are also offering garages large enough for recreational vehicles and stand-alone buildings for shops, studios or guest casitas.

 New communities planned

Scottsdale-based Maracay Homes has seven Valley communities and four in Tucson. It plans to open these five communities with 414 home sites in the next two years:

Savannah in Litchfield Park, 70 homes with lots of 85 by 130 feet. Opening May 19.

Montelena in Queen Creek, 59 homes with lots of 90 by 140 feet. Opening fall 2012.

Lyons Gate in Gilbert, 46 homes with lots of 60 by 118 feet. Opening late 2012.

Vaquero Ranch in Chandler, 74 homes with lots of 60 by 120 feet. Opening second quarter 2013.

Eastmark in east Mesa, 165 homes with about half the lots at 55 by 115 feet and half the lots at 70 by 120 feet. Opening second quarter 2013.

With a 5-1 vote, the Scottsdale City Council cleared the way for Dallas-based JLB Partners to develop the nine-building complex on the 9.6-acre parcel near the southwestern corner of Scottsdale and Chaparral roads. Portales Corporate Center is to the east, Optima Camelview Village is to the south, and single-family residences are west and north of the site.

The council approved zoning stipulation modifications, amended development standards and a new development plan for the complex. Councilman Bob Littlefield dissented, while Councilwoman Lisa Borowsky recused herself because the developer is a client of her law firm.

“An empty lot is better than a bad project,” Littlefield said. “Crowding and traffic does not equal vibrancy. It’s not economic development, it’s crowding, crowding, crowding.”

John Berry, a zoning attorney representing JLB, said the developer owns the property and the financing is in place to build the complex. He also said the complex will attract older residents who earn more than $100,000 annually, and who will bring $40 million in spending power to the area.

“It’s not the Arizona State University student … who will be renting these,” he said.

Last Friday, Camelback Park Estates resident Patty Badenock submitted a legal protest seeking a supermajority 6-1 vote of the council for approval of the project. However, JLB was able to get enough residents to rescind their support for the protest and therefore eliminate it before the meeting.

“I had 40 percent of residents within 150 feet, and you only need 20 percent,” Badenock said. “Plus, I had 65 signatures from Optima Camelview Village, and quite a few other signatures beyond the 150 feet within my own neighborhood. I believe when you do a legal protest, it should be irrevocable.”

Berry said the signatures were gathered in January and February, and that since then JLB has been addressing residents’ concerns, and many have since decided to back the project.

“Even if that legal protest had been in place tonight, we would have still won because we got three-quarters of the council tonight,” he said.

The maximum building height of the complex will be 50 feet, while both Portales Corporate Center and Optima Camelview are 65 feet. The buildings along the west side of the property nearest single-family residences will be two stories.

Primary access will be off Goldwater Boulevard and secondary access off Chaparral at 70th Place.

Bhabi Shah, a homeowner west of the site, said the complex is going to attract younger tenants who want to party, and not older, more stable tenants. Chris Layman, who also lives west of the site, said traffic congestion will be a problem, and he’s worried about the long-term impact of having a rental complex in the area.

Wayne Gillis, an Optima Camelview resident, presented a petition signed by 36 residents in support of the complex.

“We embrace urban living,” he said.

Vice Mayor Linda Milhaven, who made the motion for approval, said the project is less than what the existing zoning allowed, so there’s no reason for the council to delay it.

Market watcher Fiserv sees prices stabilizing by summer’s end and then climbing, quickly in some places until gains taper off. The forecast is based on an analysis of leading home price indexes.

Investors will drive much of the momentum, as they are now in cities such as Las Vegas and Phoenix.

First-time and trade-up buyers will eventually follow.

Separately, market researcher CoreLogic said Tuesday that U.S. home prices rose 0.6% in March from February, the first month-over-month increase since July.

Good affordability and declining inventories are key factors.

Conventional mortgage payments now account for just 12% of median family incomes vs. a historical norm of 20%, says Fiserv economist David Stiff.

The Fiserv forecast, done with Moody’s Analytics, assumes steady economic growth with no major shocks. Markets hardest hit by foreclosures will show the biggest five-year increases in home appreciation, it adds.

Six of the 10 markets where annualized prices are expected to rise most over the next five years had price drops of more than 50% from their peaks.

Las Vegas, for instance, is 61% off its 2006 peak.

Meanwhile, Realtor.com says Florida has more cities than any other state that show the strongest signs of a housing recovery.

Each quarter, the real estate website assesses housing data, including changes in list prices, inventories of homes for sale and local economies.

Phoenix, Miami and Orlando are the top turnaround cities in its study, based on those markets’ improvements in the first quarter compared with a year earlier.

Asking prices are up more than 20% in Phoenix and Miami, says Realtor.com. Inventories are down more than 40%.

Naples, Fla., and Boise are also climbing in the rankings.

New to the list of top 25 markets are Oakland and San Jose, which are benefiting from growth in the tech industry.

The continued performance of local markets will depend a lot on the economy as well as on how quickly lenders dispose of distressed homes, says Realtor.com CEO Steve Berkowitz.

Realtor.com is owned by Move, which operates a network of real estate websites.