WHITE-WASHING: How Chris Loeffler re-shaped Downtown Mesa - AZ Big Media

TRUTH OUT: “The reason why we were attracted to join was that our partner Bob Worsley had quietly organized the ability to purchase nine buildings at once so we could come in at scale and buy up about 30% of the square footage in Downtown Mesa in one single transaction,” he continues. “That allowed us to renovate all those buildings to a higher standard, which we felt would then lift the standards for everybody else.”

 

 

 REALITY CHECK

Just coincidentally - and probably not - in the same month and just  weeks after  facing public anger, conservative Mesa Mormon Millionaire Republican AZ State Senator Bob Worsley was forced to reveal himself as the grand wizard of a rampant real estate speculation scheme who just managed somehow to snap up ten commercial properties on Main Street in a package-deal with a Caliber Private Wealth Fund LLP II.

Above is a map of the original 8 properties (now10) of the commercial properties built from 1910-1954 that were purchased by a syndicate of holding companies formed by private investors on the stretch of both sides of Main Street from Country Club to Center Street. 

✓NOTE

arizonadailyindependent.com

Mesa’s ASU Project Needed To Make Good On Worsley’s “Bet”

About ADI Staff Reporter 18400 Articles

7 - 8 minutes

Prior to the vote, with former congressman and ASU lobbyist Matt Salmon sitting behind him, Sen. Bob Worsley pleaded with the Council to protect the speculative investments he made in the area based on the ASU scheme

Mesa public safety put at risk for risky investment 

"At the February 26 meeting of the Mesa City Council, Sen. Bob Worsley made a rare appearance in an effort to promote a proposal to enter into an Intergovernmental Agreement with Arizona State University. The senator’s appearance surprised many Mesa residents who had never before seen their representative show any interest in the City’s business

It is not the city’s business however, that prompted the appearance by the wealthy developer/senator.

In May 2016, Mesa Mayor John Giles announced plans to build a new campus for Arizona State University (ASU) featuring film, media, gaming, virtual reality programs. In November 2016, Mesa voters rejected a sales tax that would have funded the project and public safety.

According to Mesa City Councilman Kevin Thompson, constituents “time and time again” told him that they would support the increase for public safety, but could not support using public money to build ASU a . . ."

CH Mesa Holdings was registered on June 27, 2017 in Delaware. Maricopa County Recorder documents shows that CH Mesa Holdings, LLC, a registered limited liability corporation (File Number: 6458344) filed deeds for the following properties:

APN	Address	Last Deed Date
138-35-015	114 W MAIN ST MESA, AZ 85201	10/03/2017
138-35-016 120	120 W MAIN ST MESA, AZ 85201	10/03/2017
138-36-008A	18 W MAIN ST MESA, AZ 85201	10/30/2017
138-36-012 48	48 W MAIN ST MESA, AZ 85201	07/19/2017
138-42-022 155	155 W MAIN ST MESA, AZ 85201	07/07/2017
138-42-030	137 W MAIN ST MESA, AZ 85201	12/12/2017
138-55-004	202 W MAIN ST MESA, AZ 85201	10/03/2017
138-55-009	206 W MAIN ST MESA, AZ 85201	10/03/2017

All of the above properties show a mailing address of 4320 E Brown Road, STE 110, Mesa, AZ 85205. Lyons Development LLC shares the Brown Road address with CH Mesa Holdings, LLC. According to the Arizona Corporation Commission, as of 2017, Worsley has been registered as a member of Lyons Development LLC.

Lyons Development LLC registered the following entities in 2017:

L21665169	LYONS DEVELOPMENT LLC	MESA 114 W MAIN LLC
L21757686	LYONS DEVELOPMENT LLC	MESA 137 W MAIN LLC
L21853908	LYONS DEVELOPMENT LLC	MESA 48 W MAIN LLC
L21638767	LYONS DEVELOPMENT LLC	MESA 155 W MAIN LLC
L21657535	LYONS DEVELOPMENT LLC	MESA 18 W MAIN LLC

Ranch Communities of America, owner of 29 West Main Street, is listed on Worsley’s financial disclosure statement along with CH Mesa Holdings.

 [View Worsley 2018 Financial Disclosure Statement]

CH Mesa Holdings, LLC bought all buildings for sale in downtown Mesa within 1000 ft. of the proposed project; one such property being as close at 237 ft from the site.

Same players different town

On the same day as the Council meeting, Caliber Wealth Development Company, “a real estate investment, development and management firm, and project partner, Habitat Metro,” announced the purchase of eight downtown buildings for $7.5 million on Main Street. In a press release, Caliber claimed that “the nearly 100,000 square-feet of historic urban buildings are important project components to the economic strengthening and downtown transformation efforts of Arizona’s third largest city.”

Caliber Development, a subsidiary of Caliber, will serve as design-general contractor. . ."

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azbigmedia.com

How Chris Loeffler re-shaped Downtown Mesa - AZ Big Media

Kyle Backer

3 - 4 minutes

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'It takes guts to be an entrepreneur even during the best of times. Chris Loeffler, CEO and co-founder of Caliber, showed he’s got more than his fair share of chutzpah when he told his parents that he planned to quit his job to start a real estate company — in 2009. At the time, he was working as a senior associate in the audit and assurance practice for PwC in Phoenix, but he had always liked the idea of becoming an investor and saw an opportunity to pursue that path.

More than a decade later, Caliber is a thriving business helping shape the ever-expanding Valley. One of the places Caliber has its fingerprints all over is Downtown Mesa. Loeffler says the city had a vision of a vibrant downtown area so Mesa residents wouldn’t have to go to Scottsdale, Tempe or Phoenix for those types of amenities and experiences. Prior to Caliber’s involvement, the buildings in Downtown Mesa had different owners, which meant that they were poaching tenants from one another and pursuing their own individual goals. . .

Since the buildings were in an opportunity zone, it gave Caliber more flexibility to spend years turning the downtown area around instead of being bound to a tight timetable, which Loeffler says was necessary because the buildings were vacant for a while as Caliber figured out the right mix of tenants to create a unique identity and not simply be a carbon copy of what other cities had done.

Loeffler adds that City of Mesa took a novel approach to revitalizing its downtown. Typically, someone like Loeffler will come in, buy some buildings and put together a plan to change the area. Afterwards, the city will step in to invest in infrastructure around the area.

 

“Instead, the City of Mesa put $100 million into their performing arts center. They transformed Pioneer Park. They brought in [Arizona State University], supported light rail, did all the sidewalks, curb cuts, streetlights — everything was done,” Loeffler says. “That opened the door for us to think about Mesa in ways we probably wouldn’t have, had we not seen that.”

Looking forward, Loeffler notes that there is turbulence in the market, but Arizona will manage it well.

“We have some market forces that are creating a floor for how far things will come down,” he concludes. “With interest rates going up, there should be an expectation that property values are going down. But there’s a floor because there’s so much success going on with attracting businesses — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the Intel expansion, Virgin Galactic — and that’s attracting people from all over the country. If you’re trying to pick a place to invest, I would want to own as much Arizona real estate as I could.” 

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26 March 2018

Opportunity Funds > Opportunity Zones for Who?

INFORMATION PLEASE: To qualify and be eligible as 'Opportunity Zones' OZ certain criteria are required. They sound nothing like the words vibrant and exciting used by city officials to describe what used-to-be the Central Business District before the 1970's: low income, chronically poor, blighted, neglected and under-developed
PRESS RELEASE

Caliber and Habitat Metro buy eight Arizona buildings for $7.5M

February 26, 2018 By Iris Dorbian

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Caliber – The Wealth Development Company, a real estate investment, development and management firm, and project partner, Habitat Metro, have purchased eight downtown buildings for $7.5 million on Main Street in Mesa, Arizona.
(See other posts on this blog for more details)

Caliber’s $7.625 million purchase consists of eight historic buildings along Main Street between Country Club Drive and Center Street.

Investment in, and re-development plans for, the nearly 100,000 square feet of historic urban buildings are important project components to the economic strengthening and downtown transformation efforts of Arizona’s third largest city.

Caliber Development, a subsidiary of Caliber – The Wealth Development Company, will serve as design-general contractor.
Initial concepts for revitalization include, among others, a rooftop restaurant on The Newberry building. According to Roy Bade, Executive Vice President of Commercial Acquisitions and Development, “Caliber is proud to play a part in this important project for the city of Mesa. We’re currently working on restoration plans with prospective new tenants to renew the energy and excitement of these underutilized historic buildings.”
He added, “The retail and commercial concepts under review including restaurants, office space, and family/entertainment venues will bring vitality and support the influx of residents and visitors to the city’s urban core.”
The eight-building acquisition was purchased with the Caliber Diversified Opportunity Fund II, LP (the “Fund”). The Fund offers accredited investors and registered investment advisors (RIAs) direct access to invest in “middle market” U.S. commercial real estate assets that can deliver attractive risk-adjusted return through a combination of current income and capital appreciation.

(Information from https://www.pehub.com
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Currently, Schrader says there isn’t a whole lot to do in Downtown Mesa. Caliber wants to add options to the area through its redeveloped properties and create a setting where visitors will want to spend an entire day in Downtown Mesa.

“I hope people really fall in love with the community again,” Schrader says. “Mesa has an opportunity to really create a good family setting, somewhere where people will want to raise their kids, will want to spend time and not be so transient anymore.”
Blogger Note: Hmmm... Students are transients

“By luck and by chance and a lot of hard work, this Downtown Mesa is what people want,” Giles says.

“We set this stage now, for creating this environment people want.”

Blogger Note: Right...huh? Just like he 'set the stage' for this bogus charade and privately-funded $500,000++ bogus Public Relations campaign that turned into a major screw-up radically transforming Downtown Mesa into a satellite ASU campus???

Giles says it’s great to see private investment from Caliber that will help further transform the Downtown Mesa area, making it more attractive for future employers and private investment.

Here's the Punchine: Caliber’s developments could also bolster Mesa’s efforts of bringing ASU into Downtown Mesa as well, Giles says.
He says economic developers have to make areas around universities attractive for students, and public investment on things like the light rail and the Mesa Arts Center are one part of that.

“We also need the business community infrastructure to create an environment that’s welcoming and attractive for people,” Giles says.

Caliber will create these attractive environments as it brings the historic vibe back to Downtown Mesa. All eight of the buildings Caliber purchased were built between 1910 and 1954.

The purchased buildings have a lot of character,???

Bade says Caliber is currently working on getting six to eight tenants to move into the buildings, and then another three to six months would be needed for tenant improvements.

“Our goal here is for people to want to stay in downtown,” Bade says. “They don’t want to come here for breakfast or lunch. They want to stay here, live here, make it their home in downtown, versus a place to visit.”

An aerial view shows the buildings that Caliber, The Wealth Development Company purchased and will redevelop in Mesa. They are outlined in red.

 

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Caliber Diversified Opportunity Fund II, LP

Published on Mar 27, 2017
Views: 11, 763

The Caliber Diversified Opportunity Fund II, LP exists to produce income and capital gains that pass through to investors through purchasing assets or land at potentially attractive prices, developing those assets with in-house expertise, and managing each asset to its full potential. The Caliber Diversified Opportunity Fund II, LP allows investors diversify their investment across multiple properties while also allowing access to assets that are much larger than they could purchase individually.
Website: http://caliberdiversified.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CaliberCompa...
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calibercomp...
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/caliber 

Two announcements from Aug 2017

Arizona firm launches $100M investment fund

Phoenix Business Journal-Aug 9, 2017

“We are deeply grateful for the continued support of our investors who we work diligently for to provide the best returns,” said Chris Loeffler, co-founder and CEO of Caliber. “Providing our clients with insider-level access to secure commercial investments that offer superior risk-adjusted returns and growth potential is the ...

Caliber opens $100 million commercial real estate fund

AZ Big Media-Aug 8, 2017

Caliber – The Wealth Development Company today announced the launch of a $100 Million real estate fund, the Caliber Diversified Opportunity Fund II, LP (the “Fund”). The Fund will invest in “middle market” U.S. commercial real estate assets that can deliver attractive risk-adjusted return through a combination of current ...