20 May 2019

Selling-Off Water Rights To Pay-Off Major League Debt

More than 5 years ago, this LAND DEAL was one of the largest in Mesa's history. We didn't know more about it then.
Mesa Seals $135 Million Land Deal
"According to Natalie Lewis, assistant to city manager Chris Brady, and also lead negotiator on the deal, Mesa purchased the land in 1985 for more than $29 million for its water rights to create a water farm. Eventually, the city found more cost-effective means to provide the city water. OH REALLY? DID THEY?
The city expected it would take 20 years or more to sell the land. But two years ago, PLH approached the city with interest in purchasing the land in phases over five years.
PHOENIX—A deal for nearly $135 million and 11,400 acres was struck between the city of Mesa and Scottsdale-based Pinal Land Holdings LLC (PLH).
The land, to be purchased by PLH in three phases, is located between Coolidge and Eloy, making it an extremely attractive purchase for an entity interested in developing central Arizona. The property is currently used as farmland.
“We chose this site for many reasons including the existing infrastructure, the current and planned transportation access and the existing sense of community born through its agricultural heritage. This really and truly is the center of Arizona,” said Jackob Andersen, PLH president. . . "
 
WHO IS JACKOB ANDERSEN?
Jackob Andersen - President/CEO
Saint Holdings | LinkedIn
 
 
_________________________________________________________________________
RELATED CONTENT IN POSTS ON THIS BLOG SITE:
GM ends its operations at Mesa test track 
by Gary Nelson - Jun. 12, 2009 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
. . . there was an eastward-rolling tsunami of suburban sprawl. As early as the mid-'90s, developers were coveting GM's land and surrounding areas near the former Williams Air Force Base, now Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, for new housing projects. . . In 2004, GM sold the southern portion to Phoenix businessman William Levine. Two years later, the northern 5 square miles was sold to Scottsdale-based DMB Associates for $265 million.
Featured in the article: Roc Arnett and Jack Sellers, a Chandler councilman at that time
Read more >>  AZ Central Archives
__________________________________________________________________________
DMB pursues Mesa subdivision project
January 11, 2012 | Article by Gary Nelson
. . . A zoning plan approved by Mesa for the property in 2008 allows up to 15,000 dwelling units of various kinds. Dea McDonald, DMB’s vice president for development, said the time had arrived to start building them. . . Eastmark is expected to evolve over the next three or four decades into a dense urban center closely tied to the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport.
 
Eventually, there could be high-rise business districts fronting the airport along Ellsworth Road. . . Macdonald says he expects DMB and “multiple” developers to close escrow in June, and that Mesa also will approve plans for their subdivisions about that time. McDonald said he cannot reveal the builders’ names until deals are finalized.

Mesa to Annex Two Chunks of Former GM Desert Proving Ground 
________________________________________________________________________
SAINTS HOLDINGS -  
They call it "Heritage Arizona"
Southwest’s Fastest Growing CorridoLocation: Coolidge, Arizona in Central Pinal County
Size: 11,438+/- Acres
Water Rights: 34,000 Acre Feet +/- Per Year
Access: Interstates I-10 and I-8
Rail: Union Pacific unit train capable
Future home of the proposed high speed train from Los Angeles
 
"Heritage is a multi-generational community with immediate developability that is unmatched in scope. . . . Just 45 minutes from the fifth largest city in the United States Heritage spans over 11,438 acres of prime development land in Pinal County, Arizona. With Arizona’s population set to double by 2030, developable land is quickly becoming a scarce commodity. The Phoenix to Tucson corridor has been and is expected to be one of the fastest growing megaregions in the U.S. in the next decades. More than one million people currently work and reside within 35 minutes of Heritage. It is projected that more than 100,000 jobs will be created in the region in the next decades. Welcome to Heritage. See more > http://www.heritagearizona.com/ 
MORE SAINTS HOLDINGS: You can easily see where this starts at the top: Salt Lake City, part of The CanaMex Corridor now called The Sun Corridor  and sometimes The Mormon Corridor
Central Arizona Commerce Park 
( this image was updated 5/8/17 )
 
Conveniently located along the Canamex corridor and I-10 to California
• 45 minutes from Phoenix and Tucson and international airports
• Well established multimodal transportation in road, rail and air with direct      routes to the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach
• Plentiful resources and raw materials for agriculture, aviation and aerospace   technology, mining and specialized manufacturing
• Extremely affordable municipal utilities
• Excellent workforce draw
https://www.cazcp.com/ 
_________________________________________________________________________
08 April 2019
Is Mesa City Manager Now Punching-Above-His-Weight-Class In 2019??
Back in 2012 with former Mayor Scott Smith standing behind him, Chris Brady launched one of the first hard-fisted sales pitches for what was then the biggest $200M jab on the backs of Mesa taxpayers to pay for Municipal Debt Bond Obligations for the Republican Chicago Billionaire Ricketts Family to finance their "Field of Dreams" Sloan Park.
In 2016 taxpayers rejected a low-blow hit under-the-belt for the City of Mesa's "Higher Education Initiative" to build a satellite-campus" for ASU here in downtown Mesa.
MESA TAXPAYERS REJECTED THAT. . . In 2018 Brady came back with a series of blow-by-blow punches to score one more huge Debt Service obligation. 
_________________________________________________________________________
Now in 2019 after almost 14 years on-the-job as the highest-paid salaried official inside City Hall, wielding more power as the City's Chief Executive than Mesa Mayor John Giles, he's making the rounds again in a series of presentations before the Mesa City Council that has the power and final approval on proposed budgets: FY2019/2020 and FY2020/24.
All the figures presented as "Power Points" are from the city's OMB working with a group from ASU. There is no other outside objective independent financial analysis, except from one group named Truth In Accounting . . . Furthermore, these jumbles of numbers on slide-after-slide take more time than  the typical one-day or two-day releases ahead of time for council meetings to the public for study and examination. The City's Annual Financial Reviews are, likewise, not submitted in a timely manner in the usual 180-day time period. Nonetheless, in the most recent January 2019 review by Truth in Accounting, they find Mesa's financing troublesome
When asked a while ago, the City of Mesa's Chief Financial Officer Michael Kennington was reported as saying, he has no idea what Truth In Accounting is.
Kennington was hired in 2012 according to a brief press release in an announcement  from the city's newsroom
WHOA!!
Why worry now after all their projections and cost analysis  were wrong? 
"We are concerned as we get to the later part of it, when we deliver big parks and libraries, that will put a lot of strain on the budget"
-- City Manager Chris Brady
 _______________________________________________________________________
SCAMMING THE VOTERS:
Not just so-called "amenties" - ASU is the bigger scam-scheme.
One new building ASU @ Mesa City Center estimated to cost $63,000,000 in preliminary fast-plans to get it started - a scaled -down $200-million "satellite ASU campus" that Mesa taxpayers rejected two years ago - now requires extensive investigation according to a City Council Report last week. 
_________________________________________________________________________
Rose Law Group 

Disclosure: Rose Law Group represents Saint Holdings

Tell us about your holdings across Arizona—you seem to have a mix of income producing and land assets—where and what?
These assets include:
  • Two shovel ready Advanced Manufacturing and Distribution Industrial Parks.
  • Central Arizona Commerce Park (CAZCP) in Casa Grande – home to Tractor Supply Company and the future home to Lucid Motors.
  • Inland Port AZ (IPAZ), a 2700 =/- rail served Industrial Park in the heart of Pinal County in the City of Coolidge.
  • The 11,447 acres former Mesa Water Farm, now land planned for the much expected and fast approaching future growth of Pinal County and its ideal position in the ‘Sun Corridor’ between Phoenix and Tucson.
  • Offices in downtown Scottsdale at the Waterfront.
  • Various residential assets.
How did you end up purchasing what had been known for decades as the “Mesa Water Farm” property in Coolidge
  • how many acres is it
  • what are you planning there
  • what do you have entitled?
It is 11,447 acres.
We believe in the path of growth between Phoenix and Tucson. There is an abundance of infrastructure in the area from Power, gas, rail lines, the convergence of the I-10 and I-8 (to major interstates) and several adjoining highways.
The will of the leaders of the county, Cities and residents have expressed their desire to see the area prosper and grow.
You were a leader in getting the Pinal Roads and Freeway proposition approved—why do you feel so strongly about those roads getting built?
Simple—look at the growth corridors in Maricopa County and the mechanisms in place to pay for the roads and freeways to pave the way for that growth… we are not reinventing the wheel, we are doing what is needed to fund much-needed infrastructure that is and will be needed for Pinal County and its current and future residents and workforce. I applaud the County and the hard work of the staff and local Cities in getting this done.
You have a great accent—where are you from and how and when did you move to Arizona?
I am Danish by nationality, was born in London, lived there for over 30 years and moved here in 2004
_________________________________________________________________________________
Flash forward five years and it is now 2019.
City Manager announces selection of new Chief Financial Officer
May 23, 2012 at 3:03 pm
Michael Kennington is the City's new Chief Financial Officer, effective July 2. It is the highest financial position within the City and is responsible for the City's overall financial policies, strategies, planning and forecasts.
LINK > http://www.mesanow.org/news/public/article/209