Recovery from The Great Recession? Mesa Ranked at #143

With a new Q3 Economic Report from the City of Mesa Office for Economic Development for July-September due to be published after the end of this month, the same organization Wallet Hub that rated Mesa #1 for retirement places now puts the city close to the bottom on the list for recovery.
For many Americans today, the Great Recession is nothing more than the distant shadow of a troubled economic past. The longest downturn since the Great Depression officially ended six years ago . . . To measure the progress of local economies since the financial crisis and how much work remains to be done in the name of recovery, WalletHub compared the 150 largest U.S. cities across 17 key economic indicators.
Rank for  Mesa = 143

Plan Ahead > Next Month 2nd Friday Night Out

 



Why is it, dear readers, that on certain days of the month Night Time + Nights Out make the streets of the New Urban Downtown Mesa come alive?

Whaddya mean - they're usually dead during the day?

Well, let's just say it's a different scene and cooler.

A Block Party that goes on for more than one block? Hmmm . . . it started like that.

A Pop-Up Event?

For sure, with ten bands and sixty artist/handmade crafts enterprises incubating right before your eyes - here for one night with maybe some other tangible benefits.

It's a strategy in the urban planner's toolbox that attracts people.

Some brick-and-mortar retail businesses say these nights are their biggest nights for customer traffic and sales. One estimate, that will no doubt have to get updated after Valley Metro Light Rail going into operation, is a figure of $19,000 in increased sales on event days.

See this link for 2nd Friday Night Out

http://www.2ndfridaynightout.com/index.html

 

 

Mark Your Calendar: Fundraiser for New Documentary by Bruce Nelson

Image courtesy of NEDCO

Volstead Public House will be the venue on October 3 from 7-9 pm to stage a fundraiser for the completion of a new here-in-Mesa production by artist/documentary film maker Bruce Nelson.
The world-famous Nile Theater, cited here on MesaZona in a post on July 24th as an early example of Creative Place Making [1924 when it opened], will be the focus for the sense of place this Main Street location has generated for over 90 years with the people that made that happen in a script and stories developed by the same Mesa-born talent who produced "North Town" featured in a post on this site on June 13th.
In a telephone conversation with Bruce he stated that more funding and support will be useful and welcome to continue researching source materials in historical archives, interviewing first-person accounts about the Nile Theater over decades of change and transformation in the location, then recording and filming and editing the finished documentary that will cover nearly everything from the era of silent films, traveling productions, Saturday kids' movies and up to the current roster of music performances staged by the Mantooth Group.

Bruce gratefully acknowledged being selected as a Ripple Grant recipient from NEDCO, with early additional financial support from Pomeroy's, the Farnsworth family and research help from Sarah Morehead.
Other benefactors are encouraged, either at the October 3rd Fundraiser or contributions can be sent to:
NEB Productions
POB 802
Mesa, AZ 85211

For more information, questions, or letting the producer know about Mesa residents who have stories they want to be heard, please email: niletheaterdocumentary@gmail.com

Here's a link to the Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/Nile-Theater-An-Oasis-In-The-Desert-1638651643066267/timeline/

Jennifer Disbrow on the staff of NEDCO had this to say:

We are so excited to support Bruce's documentary on the Nile Theater. He came to us with a great head start on the research which showed how thorough and detailed the film had the potential to be.

It is great to be able to focus on a local theater with so much history that represents a space for community to gather and celebrate the arts.

Ripple grants support projects that use artistic expression to celebrate local business and engage community members, and the Nile Theater: An Oasis in the Desert is a wonderful example of this.

Readers of this blog can read more about Creative Place Making in  a previous post on this site dated August 6 - you'll find a link to the full playlist.



Play Ball: Sports Tourism Arizona Cactus League Scores Big Numbers

At the same time that questions are being asked about taxpayer-subsidized financing of sports stadiums as engines of local economic development, two new widely different reports on tourism benefits and impact on the Metro Phoenix economy appeared yesterday: one in the Phoenix Business Journal and another in the Arizona Republic.
Seems like major Arizona news media are all loading the bases with covering good things about The Cactus League, even if the figures or studies or dollar amounts might differ, at least they're in the same ballpark numbers.

It's A Wonder! Mesa Bread Bakery Acquired for $120 Million

Alpine Valley Breads at 300 E Southern Avenue, started nineteen years ago by a health-conscience family with young children, had a vision to bake bread that was nutritious, natural, organic, and flavorful.
It's an interesting turn of events and a big change in consumer buying preferences that Flower Foods, the big baked goods distribution conglomerate that acquired the Hostess empire with its brands Twinkles and Wonder Bread for $360 Million in 2013, has recently been on a very big buying spree for bakers of whole grain, natural, nonGmo, organic and kosher-certified bread bakeries: $120 Million for Alpine Valley Breads just a couple of days ago and Dave's Killer Breads for $275 Million last month.



Who knows, in spite of the wide popularity of Wonder Bread [who doesn't remember peanut butter/jelly sandwiches packed in their school lunch boxes?]
The family wanted something else: A bread that was free from artificial ingredients, chemicals and preservatives. Their philosophy was simple; great bread is made with just five carefully selected ingredients, whole grains, salt, yeast, water, and honey.

In 1995 Alpine Valley Bread opened the first bakery in a strip mall in Mesa, Arizona and soon captured a growing local market and loyal customers. Opportunity knocked in 1996, Alpine Valley Breads were now being sold in grocery stores. As demand increased Swiss Oven Bakery joined the Alpine Valley Bread group in 2003. Together, Alpine Valley Bread and Swiss Oven were able to provide the right bakery product to a wide range of customers and still maintain our excellence in quality and service.
Today we are proud to say that after two facility moves from the strip mall, Alpine Valley Breads has flourished to a nation-wide customer base. We are recognized as a leading producer of certified organic and All Natural breads in the United States. We continue to expand into new markets and we have remained true to our beginning philosophy of baking great nutritious, natural, organic, and flavorful breads, from the finest carefully selected ingredients.

[Information from company's website alpinevalley.com]

The company believes in giving back to the community when possible in a big way - over forty organizations benefit from Alpine Valley Breads generous philanthropy as you can see from a list on their site.
Readers might also take notice that the company employs 282 with projected income of $95 Million for 2015 . . .
That's a lot of bread, folks.

Heritage Academy: Public Charter School Teaching & Promoting Religion??

According to a report   by Heather Clark yesterday in the Christian News Network 

Church-State Separation Group Demands School Remove God from Government Class

MESA, Ariz. — A prominent church-state separation group is demanding that officials at an Arizona high school cease referencing Christianity in its government class under threat of a lawsuit.
“In sum, we have confirmed that Heritage Academy’s mandatory government class for seniors teaches and promotes religion—through written material, oral instruction, and assignments students must complete—in plain violation of the U.S. and Arizona Constitutions,” the letter reads.

You can read the 5-page letter and all the attachments from Americans United for Separation of Church and State by going to this link:
 https://www.au.org/files/Demand%20letter%20to%20Heritage%20Academy%20--%20with%20exhibits.pdf

Copies of the letter and attachments were also sent to:

• Whitney Chapa Executive Director Arizona State Board for Charter Schools P.O. Box 18328 Phoenix, AZ 85009 whitney.chapa@asbcs.az.gov 
• Diane Douglas State Superintendent of Public Instruction Arizona Department of Education 1535 W. Jefferson Phoenix, AZ 85007 adeinbox@azed.gov

Americans United is a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. 

Founded in 1947, the organization educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom.

On August 28, 2015 Americans United for Separation of Church and State sent out this press release:

Ariz. Public Charter School Must Stop Promoting Religion In Government Classes, Americans United SaysHeritage Academy In Mesa Teaches Religion Instead of Civics, Says Church-State Watchdog

This is the third letter Americans United has sent to Heritage Academy. 

The first was mailed in December 2013 and the second in June 2014. Heritage Academy Principal Earl Taylor Jr. has denied any wrongdoing.

The letter asks for a response within two weeks and warns that Americans United is prepared to file suit if Heritage Academy does not cease its promotion of religion. 

Founder/Principal Earl Taylor

The same allegations were written about back in July of 2014 in the Arizona Republic
www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/ mesa/2014/07/14/mesa-charter-school-religion/12615041/.
The National Center for Constitutional Studies (NCCS) is a conservative, religious-themed constitutionalist organization, founded by Latter-Day Saint political writer Cleon Skousen. It was formerly known as The Freemen Institute.
Impeached Arizona governor Evan Mecham was also a regular donor to the center.In the early 1990s, an effort to build a conservative community in Southern Utah to house the center collapsed amid the developer's unfulfilled promises.

The NCCS has found a number of new organizational allies among Constitutionalist groups such as the John Birch Society, the Eagle Forum, and the Oath Keepers.

Heritage Academy charter school in Mesa, Arizona is partial to the writings of Cleon Skousen, a conservative Mormon theologian and former FBI agent who declared that the founding of the United States was a divine miracle.
Don’t know Skousen? If you were a Tea Party–type, you might; he is largely read in those circles. Christina Botteri, a spokeswoman for the California-based National Tea Party Federation, was quoted in this article by Cathryn Creno in The Republic to say that one of Skousen’s books is considered “a handbook of tea-party ideals” and specifically inspired her to join the Tea Party movement. TV and radio personality Glenn Beck, who rediscovered religion in the late 1990s when he became a Mormon, is a fan of Skousen and wrote in the foreword for Skousen’s The 5,000-Year Leap that the book was “divinely inspired.”

According to the profile for Heritage Academy available on Public School Review 

• Minority enrollment is 19% of the student body (majority Hispanic), which is less than the state average of 58%.
• The school district's 67% graduation rate is lower than the AZ state average of 74%.
• 37% Male / 63%Female
• Mesa, AZ public schools have a diversity score of 0.59, which is higher than the Arizona average of 0.42. Heritage Academy's diversity score is .33
• AZ School average for hispanic students is 43% while Heritage Academy's school average is 13%
• Heritage Academy has a white enrollment of 81%, while state average is 42%
• Spending/student of $6,588 is less than the state average of $8,323.

TEA PART PATRIOTS 
HERE IN MESA??
New Old Glory and a new flag for the State of Arizona are hoisted up on a flagpole at the school entrance on 32 S Center Street - they're there 24 hours/day, not being raised or lowered every day as is the usual custom with flags on public school premises.
But, any inquiring mind might want to know why the Tea Party Don't Tread On Me yellow flag is raised on a flagpole 24 hours/day in front of the classroom annex building right next door at 42 S Center Street.

Does anyone know if there's a requirement, or a permission, to display the Gadsden Flag on public education school buildings in Arizona??

BTW the Gadsden Flag has a history and a heritage going back to South Carolina, just like the recent much-in-the-news reactions to the Confederate Flag that was removed by state buildings.

In its place, up went this flag:

Courtyard Towers Sells for $21 Million

Press release just out 08 Sept 2015 @ 10:17 a.m. EST

Greystone Real Estate Advisors Closes $21M Sale of 175-Unit Mesa, AZ Seniors Housing Community
See entire release with this link:
http://globenewswire.com/news-release/2015/09/08/766738/10148543/en/Greystone-Real-Estate-Advisors-Closes-21M-Sale-of-175-Unit-Mesa-AZ-Seniors-Housing-Community.html
NEW YORK, Sept. 8, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Greystone, a real estate lending, investment and advisory company with offices in News York City, today announced its Real Estate Advisors group has closed the sale of Courtyard Towers in Mesa, AZ for $20,864,569.Sierra Capital and Investment Inc purchased the seniors housing property from Harrison Street Real Estate Capital on June 30.
In a listing of recent deals posted online by Western Capital located in Holladay, Utah a bridge loan of $13 Million was provided for the purchase of Courtyard Towers.
A distresses property?
Rumors have circulated for months that the property was only 50% occupied and ripe for some kind of restructuring eliciting a number of investor interests for conversion to student housing or to a mixed-use condo development.
Perhaps this very recent transaction is another signal for opportunities of real estate development and increasing property values along the extension of Valley Metro Light Rail transit into downtown Mesa.
Whether this is an acquisition or a disposition remains to be seen.

According to crunchbase.com Harrison Street Real Estate Capital, LLC is a real estate private equity firm founded in 2005. The firm currently owns real estate assets which includes over 14,500 student housing beds, 4,000 senior housing / assisted living units, over 60,900 self storage units, 2,800 dry & wet boat storage and 855,000 square feet of medical office space.
See more at: https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/harrison-street-real-estate-capital#sthash.KCINQ5Q2.dpuf

Just last month the company acquired Dwight Lofts, a 771-bed, student housing property located in Chicago’s South Loop neighborhood in a transaction of $105 Million.

Currently the firm and its affiliates manage approximately $7.5 billion in property assets and publicly traded securities through multiple investment vehicles on behalf of Sovereign Wealth Funds, Public & Corporate Pension Funds, Endowments, Insurance Companies, Foundations and Family Offices.