Ba-Da-Ding! Bad-Da-Boom! COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE BOOM IN MESA

HEADLINE: Mesa thrives in the center of the commercial real estate boom

Real Estate | 4 hours ago | AZRE

The Mesa community is comprised of several master-planned communities including Taylor Morrison, Shea Homes, Maracay Homes, Meritage Homes, Pulte Homes, Woodside Homes, and ranked once again at No.7 in the nation and No.1  in Arizona is Eastmark by RCLCO, Top-Selling Master-Planned Communities.

This development is one of the largest residential developments in the nation. 

It is a community that was built on rich connections and creativity that continues to evolve - around the outskirts of what was once the center of commercial activity.

Downtown Mesa has been neglected for more than 40 years while investors and developers have 'moved-on' to expanding suburban sprawl to the Inner Loops and Outer Loops and tech corridors.

Maricopa County is now the fastest-growing county in the country.

IT'S THE RIGHT TIME: investors and developers can capitalize Big Time and enjoy the cyclical Boom-and-Bust while it lasts.

Fast times and fast growth could be the breeding-ground for scandals - make no doubt about that even for "Family Guys."

Maricopa County Assessor was nabbed by The Feds in a joint operation coordinated with the states of Utah and Arizona. There was a quick 3-day internal audit by The Board of Supervisors. They tried to clean-up that adoption/human trafficking commotion real quick, put Petersen on a 120-day leave and suspension - and appointed a temporary replacement from the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. An odd selection to say the least.

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According to Wallethub, Mesa was recognized as

“The best Big City to Live In” based on affordability, economy, education, health, safety, and quality of life.

Niche ranked Mesa #7 among the “Best Suburbs for Millennials in Arizona.” 

It is 3^rd most populated city in Arizona on is the 35^th largest city in the United States. 

The city boasts a highly skilled workforce which has contributed to its economic expansion, rapid growth and numerous development activities within the City of Mesa. 

Director of Retail Leasing & Sales Investments with SVN Desert Commercial Advisors, Rommie Mojahed stated in an interview from 2017, that the “southeast valley would be fueled by the rise of employment and developers moving into the area to build.” 

True fact, indeed!
Since 2017, there have been several major economic projects that have come to fruition. 

“With the leadership of former Mayor Smith and current Mayor John Giles, Mesa has grown with the redevelopment of the Fiesta District, Downtown Mesa, and the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway airport,” stated Rommie Mojahed. 

“As a Mesa native, it’s great to see all the progress.” 

The Economic Development of Mesa, a smart location for intelligent companies such as Apple, Boeing, Bridgestone, Dexcom, Fujifilm, Mitsubishi, and the new $1B Google Data Center to name a few, all have significant operations in Mesa.
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The area has created a

• A sustainable economy,
• An educated workforce and
• A promising partnership between government and industry. 

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> “A few years ago, we developed a vision to take an under-utilized stretch of Elliott Road and create the Elliot Road Technology Corridor,” said Mayor John Giles. 

The mayor continued to state, “This was a deliberate attempt to diversify the economy in the area by attracting tech companies.” 

> A development that was in the works for over one year was named “Project Red Hawk” due to the confidentiality of the project. 

> In July of 2019, the Mesa City Council approved the plan to build the $1B Google data center at the northwest corner of Elliot and Sossaman Roads. 

“The investment and infrastructure is in place and the City of Mesa has a tremendous amount of resources,” said Bill Jabjiniak, the Economic Development Director.  

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> Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport one of the fastest-growing airports in the U.S serves 45 destinations around the country. 
 

> SVN’s Mojahed said, “We hope to add to Mesa’s growth/employment at our 72 acres of land at Ellsworth and Pecos, just south of the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway airport.”

 

> Mayor Giles added, “The Gateway area is a 35 square-mile developing aerotropolis that is ideal for international companies, aerospace/aviation and defense firms, high-tech manufacturers, large industrial users, research and development, data centers, and educational systems. 

> Case in point, the vision of having ASU Polytechnic, Pecos Advanced Manufacturing Zone, Elliot Road Technology Corridor and now SkyBridge in the area has boosted the national visibility for the City of Mesa.

> The Economic Development Director Jabjiniak added, “We are now starting to see the tech companies come into play.” 

The airports all serve a different purpose and the investors and developers can capitalize on its purpose. 

With Falcon Field, a corporate aircraft and general aviation, we are positioned for future advantages. We took strategic efforts in the Falcon district to support the diversity in the growth around it,” said Jabjiniak.

> Just north of their developments is also the new industrial complex, Landing 202 announced by Marwest Enterprises.
In addition, Falcon Field is the busiest aviation airports in the United States with over 700+ aircraft based at Falcon Field with over 270K flight operations annually has made traveling into the State of Arizona much easier

< Just recently, the long-awaited four-story, 64,000 square-foot Hilton hotel broke ground for the Home2 Suites Hilton Hotel near by the airport. 

NO DUST COMPLAINTS PLEASE!

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The city’s economic development efforts are also centered on healthcare

> The city is home to Banner Desert Medical Center, the largest comprehensive hospital in the East Valley. 

> California-based WageWorks also leased 150,000 square-feet at Lincoln’s Property Co.’s new office park in Mesa as its main U.S. operating location, providing jobs for 500 current employees and adding another 500 new jobs at the site according to reports from Lincoln Property Co. Executive Vice President, David Krumweide. 

> The first building at Union development project is located in the heart of Mesa’s Riverview mixed-used district; the epicenter of District 1. 

With an accelerated amount of growth, it may raise some concern about the investment laid down for the groundwork for the thriving growth in the area. 
"Our residents understand the needs of growing communities and have recently passed bonds for public safety, transportation, parks and cultural amenities,” said Mayor Giles.  The City of Mesa will be adding 65 new police officers and 45 new firefighters that the public safety bond project entails. 

> SRP has also been heavily involved in developing the new electric infrastructure that is required to support the growing technology industry in the area.  In August of 2019, SRP began to inform the public of the upcoming development on the 187-acre parcel

Starting in November, there will a series of SRP public hearings to address the CEC (Certificate of Environmental Compatibility) Line Siting requirements as well. 

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Inevitably the diverse aerospace and technology companies have been a thriving economic engine for the entire City of Mesa.  The pandemonium of the economic development has attracted more than half a dozen Fortune 50 companies into the area that continues to create employment for the Mesa, southeast communities.

Retail Director, Rommie Mojahed has over 6.1M square feet of development, industrial and retail opportunity in between Falcon Field and the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway airports to fill. 

With the additional tax incentives for the Opportunity Zone parceled land, Mayor Giles stated, “We expect to see many more companies invest in Mesa.”

 

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey Bans Political Ads in Swipe at Facebook

Opportune time . . . Dorsey
makes a moral stance on Free Speech

Published on Oct 31, 2019

Views: 495+

Oct.31 -- Twitter Inc. Chief Executive Officer Jack Dorsey tweeted Wednesday that the site will ban all political ads, delivering a jab to Facebook Inc., which has come under fire for the way it’s handled advertising by candidates.

Bloomberg's Kurt Wagner reports on "Bloomberg Technology."

Why 5G's Future Depends on Spectrum Access | WSJ

Published on Oct 30, 2019

Views: 75,070+

In the global race for 5G, U.S. telecom firms have a unique disadvantage: limited access to the “goldilocks” band of radio frequencies.
That's pushing U.S. firms toward a less practical version of 5G.
WSJ explains the science and its implications.
Illustration by Carlos Waters / The Wall Street Journal
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#WSJ #5G

PRIVATE EQUITY :: Investors Desperate To Boost Returns

Private equity is an alternative investment class and consists of capital that is not listed on a public exchange. Private equity is composed of funds and investors that directly invest in private companies, or that engage in buyouts of public companies, resulting in the delisting of public equity.
The Returns Are Spectacular. But There Are Catches

• Returns can be gamed

• The value of private investments is hard to measure

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Here are excerpts from Bloomberg Business Week

Everything Is Private Equity Now

Spurred by cheap loans and investors desperate to boost returns, buyout firms roam every corner of the corporate world

‎October‎ ‎3‎, ‎2019‎ ‎1‎:‎00‎ ‎AM Corrected ‎October‎ ‎8‎, ‎2019‎ ‎1‎:‎10‎ ‎PM

Private equity managers won the financial crisis. A decade since the world economy almost came apart, big banks are more heavily regulated and scrutinized. Hedge funds, which live on the volatility central banks have worked so hard to quash, have mostly lost their flair.

But the firms once known as leveraged buyout shops are thriving.

There are now 8,000-plus PE-backed companies, almost double the number of their publicly listed counterparts

Almost everything that’s happened since 2008 has tilted in their favor.

• Low interest rates to finance deals? Check.
• A friendly political climate? Check.
• A long line of clients? Check.

The PE industry, which runs funds that can invest outside public markets, has trillions of dollars in assets under management. In a world where bonds are paying next to nothing—and some have negative yields—many big investors are desperate for the higher returns PE managers seem to be able to squeeze from the markets.

The business has made billionaires out of many of its founders. Funds have snapped up businesses from pet stores to doctors’ practices to newspapers.

PE firms may also be deep into real estate, loans to businesses, and startup investments—but the heart of their craft is using debt to acquire companies and sell them later. . .

> In the best cases, PE managers can nurture failing or underperforming companies and set them up for faster growth, creating outsize returns for investors that include pension funds and universities.

> One of PE’s superpowers is that it’s hard for outsiders to see and understand the industry, so we set out to shed light on some of the ways it’s changing finance and the economy itself. —Jason Kelly

The Magic Formula Is Leverage ... and Fees

PE invests in a range of different assets, but the core of the business is the leveraged buyout

The Returns Are Spectacular. But There Are Catches

For investors the draw of private equity is simple: Over the 25 years ended in March, PE funds returned more than 13% annualized, compared with about 9% for an equivalent investment in the S&P 500, according to an index created by investment firm Cambridge Associates LLC 

• Returns can be gamed

• The value of private investments is hard to measure

• The best returns might be in the rearview mirror

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PRIVATE EQUITY TITANS QUIETLY DISCOVER HOW TO GET RICHER

Published on Oct 29, 2019

Views: 2,180+

Oct.29 -- Vista Equity Partners' Robert Smith is one of the world’s richest people with a $6 billion fortune. He sold about 30% of the company he founded. His first deal with Dyal Capital Partners in 2015 helped popularize sales of minority stakes, upending the conventional wisdom that only weaker businesses would sell a piece of themselves. Bloomberg's Tom Metcalf and Lisa Abramowicz discuss this trend.

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The following extracted information is taken from Forbes 30 Oct 2019

Private Equity Firms Have Caused Painful Job Losses And More Are Coming

Mayra Rodriguez Valladares Senior Contributor

"The American Investment Council (AIC), a private equity lobby, recently partnered with Ernst and Young to write a report that describes private equity’s contributions to the U.S. economy. 
 One main finding of the report is that “The US private equity sector provides employment and earnings for millions of workers. Overall, in 2018, the US private equity sector directly employed 8.8 million workers earning $600 billion in wages and benefits. The average US private equity sector worker earned approximately $71,000 in wages and benefits in 2018. For a full-time worker this is approximately $36 per hour.”
Just in that one finding, there are quantitative and qualitative shortcomings. Private-equity backed companies buy out companies with existing employees.
Private equity companies are not job creators.  
In fact, private equity firms cause significant unemployment
. . . economists at Harvard University and the University of Chicago found that when private equity take over companies, employment in the private-equity backed  companies decreases by over 4%  in the first two years following the buyout. The research piece “The Economic Effects of Private Equity” also described that when private equity firms buy out large publicly traded companies with numerous employees, job losses are far worse, about a 13% decrease in jobs in the first two years. Eileen Applebaum, Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research rightly points out that “If you are a worker at a company that has been acquired by a private equity firm, these are the numbers that matter to you – the probability that you or some of your colleagues will lose their jobs.” . .

The table lists select ratings actions on the debt of an LBO-backed company by either Moody's Investors Service or Standard & Poor's since January 1, 2019

Private-Equity Backed Distressed Rated Companies

Source: Standard & Poor's, Moody's Investors Service and Buyouts; ratings are current as of Oct. 7, 2019

 

 

 

 

 

Culture of Consumption: The Biggest Part of The American Economy

Power to The Shoppers!
When in doubt in volatile uncertain times, what do ya do?
Consume more . . . GO SHOPPING!
The Fed’s preferred underlying inflation measure, the personal consumption expenditures price index excluding food and energy, rose at a 2.2% annual pace in the quarter, about in line with policy makers’ 2% objective.
On a year-over-year basis, GDP increased 2% during the quarter, the weakest pace of Trump’s presidency and putting his goal of 3% annual growth further out of reach for the full year, following 2.5% in 2018.

Still Spending

U.S. consumers saved the day again, offsetting business weakness

Source: U.S. Commerce Department

Note: Figures show contributions to percent change in real GDP

The gain mainly reflected strength in consumer spending, the biggest part of the economy, which increased at a 2.9% rate and exceeded projections for a 2.6% rise. For businesses, nonresidential fixed investment fell the most since late 2015.

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What Bloomberg’s Economists Say

“The most important question lingering over the growth outlook for the next few quarters is whether consumers will be able to adequately shoulder the burden, as business investment and exports languish in response to economic uncertainty, trade tensions and dollar strength. As of the third quarter, consumers were holding up adequately; this is not surprising to Bloomberg Economics, given the resilience of consumer attitudes and relative health of the labor market.”

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"As the longest U.S. expansion on record shows more signs of cooling, in part because of the fading effects of the 2018 fiscal stimulus, different parts of the world’s largest economy are giving mixed signals.
The unemployment rate has fallen to a half-century low, underpinning consumers and keeping sentiment readings near historical highs. Today’s report showed disposable incomes after inflation increased an annualized 2.9% after a 2.4% pace in the prior quarter.

On the flip side, manufacturing, which makes up 11% of the economy, has weakened further as a widely watched private gauge hit a 10-year low. Companies, including oil and gas exploration firms, have reined in capital outlays to preserve shareholder value.

The weakness in business investment was led by structures and equipment, which both dropped the most in more than three years. Structures contracted at a 15.3% rate, shaving nearly a half a percentage point from growth, driven by a decrease in oil and gas exploration. Computers and aircraft led the decrease for equipment.
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Read more:

economics                     

U.S. Economy Holds Up With 1.9% Growth on Consumer Strength

By

Jeff Kearns , ‎October‎ ‎30‎, ‎2019‎ ‎5‎:‎30‎ ‎AM    

• 
  
  Third-quarter expansion beats estimates for slowdown to 1.6%
• 
  
  Consumer spending tops forecasts and remains key growth driver

SPECIAL FEATURE TODAY: A Video-On-Demand (VOD) Dump > More Doo-Doo From City of Mesa

Whew! We are so blessed! to get one moreof these short-feature segments from a city-owned and taxpayer-funded media outlet -
it's almost as good as the City of Mesa Newsroom for producing content we really have a NEED-TO-KNOW for issues that impact everyone who lives here.
Nothing ever about the crisis in affordable housing.
Nothing ever about the lack of public engagement in the government that somehow manages to get elected to serve "special interests" . . . 
QUESTION: Is this the kind of programming you want ??

Mesa Skybridge Is Just "Breaking Ground" Now...After All That Hype

Take a look - looks like NOTHING THERE. Right?
But there are 'all the dignitaries' and it looks like all the dirt is shovel-ready for Mesa's inland e-commerce customs port.
They all could be hitting pay-dirt with just the start of the first two buildings on a 360-acre tract of open barren land that they really need-to-sell.
Just one big problem: that modernized NAFTA trade agreement USMCA has yet to get approved by passing through Congress and signed-off on President Trump.
Reaching through Canada and Mexico
[Giles says 200 airports in Mexico]
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SkyBridge, construction, airport and city representatives breaking ground on SkyBridge's new development at the Gateway Airport.
From left to right are:

• Jose Pablo Martinez from SkyBridge
• Pete Wentis from CBRE
• Felipe Monroy from SkyBridge
• Ariel Picker from SkyPlus
• John Giles from Mesa
• Kevin Thompson from Mesa
• Jeff Flemming from ADM Group
• Rusty Martin from Graycor Construction
• J. Brian O'Neill from Gateway Airport

(Photo: Alison Steinbach/The Republic)
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Huge SkyBridge project with customs facility at Mesa's Gateway airport gets underway

Alison Steinbach, Arizona Republic Published 4:27 p.m. MT Oct. 28, 2019

azcentral

"The nation's first inland air cargo hub to house a joint U.S.-Mexican customs facility broke ground Monday at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport.

The customs facility is planned as part of a larger, 23-building development in and around the airport near Ellsworth and Ray roads in Mesa.

The development, called SkyBridge, is projected to bring 17,000 long-term jobs to the area, directly and indirectly, according to development officials. 

Skybridge plans call for four million square feet of building space sprawled across 360 acres at the airport and 88 acres just outside the gates. The construction now getting underway is on the first two buildings.

"I think we're all pinching ourselves — we've been really looking forward to this day,"
Mesa Mayor John Giles said at the ceremonial groundbreaking . . "

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How about a 1-minute video?

Covering Mesa: Skybridge breaks ground

Published on Oct 28, 2019:

Views: 50+

 

Convenient link to a press release from City of Mesa Newsroom > http://mesanow.org/news/public/articl

Direct link to view upload on YouTube > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXuAbk0rbG8 

 

Rising Global Risks > Demonizing China Instead of Facing The New Reality

From Axios / by Dave Lawler 6 hours ago
A world of rising risks and little leadership

"The era of American dominance is "definitively over," war with China is growing more likely, and world leaders are risking long-term security by refusing to face challenges like climate change, according to a new Atlantic Council report titled "Global Risks 2035." 

[ Illustration: Rebecca Zisser/Axios ]

The big picture: Author Mathew Burrows, a CIA veteran who previously steered long-term risk forecasts for the U.S. intelligence community, writes that the world is slipping into a "new bipolarity" defined by competition between the U.S. and China. . .

The U.S. has so far been unwilling to adapt to the changing global reality, Burrows tells Axios. No other country would imagine it could "only ensure national security through primacy," he says. . .

The big picture: Most of the worst-case scenarios Burrows envisions are based not on an unexpected event, but on failure to act on entirely foreseeable challenges like struggling middle classes in the West, growing mountains of debt and climate change.

• "These things are fixable," he says, but they require leadership and a sense of purpose that eclipses the partisan divide. Burrows doesn't sound particularly optimistic.

The bottom line: "Is there any way to stop the descent?" Burrows writes in the report. "No leader believes he or she has the means to stop it. At home in all the major powers, growing populism, nativism, and jingoism come to the fore, militating against saving the world."

Go deeper: Read the report.

Opinion, Politics & Ideas: Watch Out Arizona Republicans! The Democrats Most Comfortable Path To Victory Runs Through Mesa . . .

That's right! ...looks like there's definitely a rising tide here in Mesa that could sweep-out the generations-old GOP entrenched establishment that's ruled for far too long.
Hard-to-believe for sure.
What's next when this news strikes a incongruent chord in the usual perception of Mesa as a majority-red city - one of the fastest growing in the country?
And a big change decades in coming that's changing the demographics in voter registrations creates both a rising tide in other-than-Republican circles with asurprise surge inside the most conservative city in Arizona!!

Arizona Could Decide the 2020 Election

The Democrats’ most comfortable path to victory runs through Mesa, not Milwaukee.

By William A. Galston

The Wall Street JournalWilliam A. Galston

Oct. 29, 2019 6:53 pm ET

"Assume, as I do, that President Trump survives a Senate trial and is renominated as the Republican candidate for president. With one year to go until the election, here are a few things we can say about the emerging contest.

First, Mr. Trump is unlikely to win any state he did not carry in 2016. As of Tuesday, according to Civiqs polling, 43% of Americans approve of his performance as president and 54% disapprove—a net rating of minus-11. But in each of the seven states where Mr. Trump fell short by 10 points or less in 2016,...  "

To Read the Full Story > Wall Street Journal

Riots in Iraq serving as legacy of US failure

15 years after U.S. invaded Iraq to establish a beacon of democracy, the government wants to kick out American forces

Sun, Cold Records, Deep Signals Before MegaQuakes | S0 News Oct.30.2019

   B4 MEGA-Quakes
Major existential concerns about Dark Matter > Rumbles and Deep Signals

Repo: How Roughly $1 Trillion Moves Overnight | WSJ

A Technical Malfunction??
The rates spiked on Sept 16 and Sept 17 . . . then 'a crash' and a shock

Published on Oct 29, 2019

Views: 57,250++

The repo market shook the financial world in September when an unexpected rate spike choked short-term lending, spurring the Federal Reserve to intervene. WSJ explains how this critical, but murky part of the financial system works, and why some banks say the crunch could have been prevented.
Illustration: Jacob Reynolds for The Wall Street Journal

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