Mesa Got A Good Deal from This Federal Reclamation

and a legacy of one-story brick-and-mortar [or disintegrating adobe brick] that line both sides of what is now Main Street with mercantile façades in the late 18th century and early 1900's
Theodore Roosevelt Dam: Arizona's Living Legacy

Published on Jun 21, 2012

Views: 2,950

Learn about the history of Theodore Roosevelt Dam and its place in Arizona history

Capital Markets Holding Back: Boom-or-Bust HangOver?

PHX is a Triumph, but Challenges Remain

Posted on May 19, 2017 by Annalise Lullo 

Spoiler Alert:

Larry Pobuda of The Opus Group summarized a lengthy exchange in just a few words:
"The capital markets just aren’t there yet.”
According to another long-term outlook it might be 2020

[that from Fortune] but let's see what Arizona Builers Exchange had to say on May 19, 2017

Anyone looking for negativity or opposition to the bustling pace of development in Phoenix’s Downtown – or anywhere else in the metro area for that matter – would have found themselves in hostile territory at this week’s Bisnow Phoenix New Construction and Development event.

In fact, the only complaints to be heard were that some challenges and headwinds still remain in place and keep the pace more restrained than many would like.

 Stanton Keeps Swinging

In his keynote address to the roughly 200 attendees, Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton simply reveled in the progress the city’s development community has made since the Great Recession brought the city and state’s economies to a grinding halt.

All these successes, he said arose directly out of the city’s and region’s investment in transit and its accompanying services, such as a focus on walkability and permitting process improvements. Since its inception, the half-mile corridor around the area’s light rail lines have seen $9B in investments, a figure Stanton only expects to increase as more routes and service lines are implemented.

Despite these economic and cultural wins, however, Stanton pointed out many threats and impediments still remain, most particularly from Arizona’s state leadership. Harkening back to a theme he has raised with increasing frequency, most recently in his State of the City address, Stanton derided the State Legislature for its increased opposition to Government Property Lease Excise Tax and Tax Increment Financing incentives for development.
Arizona is the only state that prohibits cities from using TIF incentives, and, he said, “GPLET, the one tool we do have, is constantly under threat. Our downtown would not look the same if we had not wisely used the GPLET economic development tool.”
He cited the Arizona Center, which is in the midst of a $25M renovation program and will soon get an accompanying $100M residential tower, as a GPLET success story. “Arizona Center would not have happened without partnership with the City of Phoenix and use of a GPLET. Arizona Center has now come off the GPLET. It now pays taxes to our local school district of more than $4M per year. That’s a successful public-private partnership that helped reinvigorate our downtown. There’s no doubt that without that partnership, Arizona Center would never have been built.”
He continued, “Despite our success, despite the city’s wise use of the GPLET, it was further restricted during the last legislative session. I believe the Legislature needs to better understand and work with the business community. It’s not a giveaway. It’s a tool to build the better community that we want.”

Experiential Development

The first of the day’s two panels concentrated primarily on the trend of developing projects with an eye toward how they fit in with surrounding offerings and amenities to give the user a comprehensive experience, rather than merely developing to fit a single need.

• “When I hear ‘experiential’, I hear people say they’re tired of the same boring recipe that’s been used for 50 years. We always need to find new ways to provide a more interesting experience,” said Laura Ortiz of Evergreen Devco.

The other panelists agreed, stressing the importance of gathering community input before entering the actual planning stages with activities such as focus groups, open meetings and surveys.

• Perhaps the most cogent summary of the trend and its requirements came from Jeff Moloznik of RED Development.

He said, “There’s been a real embracing of craft and authenticity. We try to create an environment for our retail and office tenants to showcase their skill and uniqueness to their consumer. From a development standpoint, we have to be very fluid, loose and organic with what we do so that no two projects are the same, because no two projects are delivering to the same tenants.”
While there is no bubble any of the panelists see in the immediate future, in Phoenix or across the country, there are some minor corrections looming.
> Affordability in trendy areas has become a concern, as has saturation in some market segments. Regarding the explosion in fast-casual dining, Ortiz advised attendees to watch out for rent rates and overbuild risks, as she sees the niche as a “micro-bubble”.

That necessity of uniqueness was a point of concern for panelist Terry O’Neill of SET Development.
Given Marriott’s acquisition earlier this year of several hotel flags, he sees a need for variety and distinction in hospitality in hot markets.
One tool O’Neill has embraced and expects to be a production differentiator for him is the incorporation of modular hotel room construction.
“The hotels I’m going to put up are going to be built modular,” he disclosed. “While my ground crew is preparing the site, the hotels will be built off-site, and they will be delivered complete. They will arrive with everything but the TV hanging on the wall.” This flexibility, he said, will not only allow for more distinctive and situational personality in each new construction, but, “I will change my construction from ten months to four.”
> Regarding risks and retail constriction, all the panelists agreed it is the mid-range, lowest common denominator segments in all service areas that are facing the greatest challenge, largely because their offerings are so repetitive.

• Joshua Simon of Simon CRE used Nordstrom and TJ Maxx as comparison points for the healthy ends of the economy and markets. He said if a consumer can afford $100 for a pair of khakis, they’re probably going to be drawn to Nordstrom because the store offers shoppers an experience through its offerings and amenities. He added a shopper who just wanted a $20 pair of pants had no resistance to a downmarket shop’s no frills, in-and-out arrangement. It is the middle range shops trying to survive on sales of $45 pants that will be pinched because they are homogenous and offer neither significant value nor unique experience.

Hot Projects in Phoenix

The second panel, “Hot Projects in Phoenix,” was a bit of a misnomer, as none of the panelists could talk about anything that was not already in development.

Panelists mostly focused on projects that were currently running, how they got there and other issues that have already been covered, both in AZBEX and elsewhere.

The greatest insights and information came in discussing trends impacting development other than legislative foot dragging.
For most of its current existence, Phoenix and Arizona have been viewed as cyclical economies unduly influenced by boom and bust cycles in real estate. The wake of that reality in a post-Recession world has both positives and negatives stuck in a tug of war between a burning desire to expand and diversify and a need to not get smacked around by overly abundant enthusiasm.
For its part, Phoenix and the state have finally embraced diversification and solid, multi-disciplined economic development. The downside is, national investors and institutional lenders lost nearly everything in their Arizona portfolios but their kids’ Tooth Fairy money in the last crash, and they are slow to accept both that the area has grown up and to fund wide scale, high-dollar projects.
One region in which this is particularly apparent is in the West Valley. Despite massive investment of time and treasure in economic development programs, and numerous success stories, the one thing every WV city cites as essential for its continued success – high-end office space –  can’t get nearly enough institutional funding.
Panelists cited several reasons, but they all came back around to one core issue: the hesitancy of high-value funding providers outside of Arizona to reach the same level of faith as those looking to come out of the gate running.

 

 

 

 

Hmmm...He's Gone Mad

The Court of King Donald

Niall Ferguson

May 21 2017, 12:01am, The Sunday Times

"Surrounded by warring factions and intrigue, Trump rules like a latter-day George III. To understand his administration, America needs to realise it now has an elected monarch. . . "

Blogger Note: Oops! Make that a would-be

[Illustration by James Cowen from article]

 

"Last summer, when a friend gave me a baseball cap bearing the slogan “Make America Great Britain again”, I didn’t really get the joke. Was it, I wondered, some oblique allusion to the resemblance between the Brexit referendum and the coming US election? I smiled, but didn’t laugh out loud.
Now I get it. For months I have been irritated by commentators on Donald Trump’s presidency drawing misleading historical analogies. On one side there are the hysterical academics who insist that Trump is Adolf Hitler or Benito Mussolini and we are on the brink of American tyranny. On the other are the feverish journalists convinced that Trump is Richard Nixon and this is their Watergate.
Clearly both analogies cannot be right: you’re not much of…"

Want to read more?

Register with a few details to continue reading this article > The Times UK

 

In Mesa: Here's Azzaron WorkSpace As A Service Provider

Azzaron, the company that provides you with cloud computing services, was acquired by Evolve IP, The Cloud Services Company^TM. Evolve IP is a Gartner "best-of-breed" cloud services provider based outside of Philadelphia, PA and one of the nation's oldest, largest and fastest growing cloud services firms. With this new alliance you will gain immediate access to a broader set of cloud services. Most importantly, you're part of an innovative family that continues the kind of personal and comprehensive support you have today with Azzaron. http://azzaron.com/

Evolve IP Acquires Arizona-Based Cloud Services Provider Azzaron, Inc

MENAFN Press - 19/05/2017



Source: Middle East North Africa Financial Network

MENAFN Editorial) Evolve IP, The Cloud Services Company, today announced that it has acquired Azzaron, Inc., a Workspace as a Service provider located in Mesa, Arizona. The strategic purchase, Evolve IP's 10th acquisition, is part of the company's ongoing growth strategy and will provide an increased presence in the American Southwest and deeper penetration into the veterinary, construction and legal vertical markets. Established in 2009, Azzaron provides cloud computing solutions including Desktop as a Service (DaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and a secure, compliant file sharing and collaboration service. 

"We're very excited to welcome Azzaron's associates and customers to the Evolve IP family," said Guy Fardone, President and Founding Partner of Evolve IP. "Azzaron has spent the better part of the last decade building a strong presence in California and the Southwest with a Workspace as a Service product suite that will integrate perfectly with Evolve IP's award-winning services. In addition, their shared vertical focus will enable us to accelerate growth in these markets even faster." 

"We are thrilled to be joining Evolve IP and excited to have new opportunities due to the company's tremendous growth," said David Lawson, President of Azzaron, Inc. "In addition to opportunities for our associates, our customers now have access to more world-class cloud computing services along with an entirely new suite of cloud communications services like hosted contact centers, IP phone systems and unified communications. As an organization, we're looking orward to leveraging Evolve IP's international presence and infrastructure to further penetrate the veterinary, construction and legal verticals."
One of the nation's fastest growing cloud companies, Evolve IP provides cloud services in virtually every industry including: healthcare, finance, veterinary, legal, insurance, construction, technology, travel, and retail and to some of the world's most recognizable brands.
Morning Call , in August, Evolve IP announced it had been named in Inc. magazine's list of the nation's fastest-growing private companies for the fourth time since 2012. The company's 2016 Inc. 5,000 rank was No. 2,482, with a three-year growth rate of 144 percent. Inc. reported Evolve IP had 2015 revenue of $58.6 million.

According to Here's a bit more about what you can expect:

• Your products, technology platform, services and pricing will remain exactly the same.
• The Azzaron team will remain in its entirety and will continue to provide you with the same fantastic level of support. We anticipate growing the team and the regional focus substantially.
• With our OneCloud^TM solution you can migrate both cloud computing and cloud communications services onto a unified, award-winning, and geographically redundant cloud platform.
• Evolve IP is a Gartner "best-of-breed" cloud services provider and has been noted by analysts in their research for both cloud communications and cloud computing including UCaaS, DRaaS and DaaS.
• One of the nation's largest and fastest growing cloud services providers
• Customers will gain access to enhanced management tools as well as new cloud services like unified communications and contact centers.

About Azzaron from Linked in

Azzaron infrastructure products power agile companies around the world. Our mission is to bring Enterprise-level computing concepts to the SMB/SME market space with best-in-class services at affordable rates. Based in Mesa Arizona, Azzaron provides quality, reliable computer and technical support services for businesses across the country as an Infrastructre as a Service (IaaS) provider and a Managed Services Provider (MSP).

Specialties

Infrastructure as a Service, Construction IT, Managed Services, Veterinary IT

• Website
  http://www.azzaron.com
• Industry
  Information Technology and Services
• Type
• 
  Privately Held
• Company Size
  1-10 employees
• Founded
  2009

How Do U Get Your Vertical Lift? . . . Next after MRO

While 'broken-down birds' are big business here in Mesa for Able Aerospace and Boeing for weapons re-exports out-of-the-country [BTW a big boost to ancillary logistics and transportation companies],

The U.S. Army Wants to Replace Its Helicopters With These

@justinbachman

‎May‎ ‎17‎, ‎2017‎ ‎1‎:‎00‎ ‎AM

Source: Bloomberg

 

Defense contractors are taking very different approaches to fixing America’s broken-down bird problem. . . For the most part, however, these aircraft are aged and require immense maintenance to stay aloft, which is costly to taxpayers and dents combat capability. The Pentagon, meanwhile, has been struggling to maintain aviation readiness across all service branches, with helicopters among the worst offenders. As a result, the military is working overtime to find a less burdensome way forward for what it calls vertical lift aircraft.

Bell’s Valor

Bell Helicopter is modifying the tilt-rotor technology featured in the existing V-22 Osprey for a smaller Army craft called the V-280 Valor.With a flat carbon composite wing, the V-280 offers a crucial difference from the larger Osprey, which is built in conjunction with Boeing, in that the rotors move but not the entire engine housing. The flat wing design is aimed at affordability, ..The craft has a composite airframe and will cruise at 280 knots (322 mph), slightly speedier than the Osprey but dramatically faster than a helicopter. Bell plans to fly the V-280 Valor later this year. It’s designed to carry four crew and 14 troops.

Sikorsky’s Defiant

 

The SB>1 Defiant is based on what Sikorsky calls “X2 Technology,” which encompasses a coaxial rotor system, an aft propeller, active vibration controls, active rudders and elevators, and fly-by-wire controls. The Defiant will cruise at 250 knots (288 mph) and offer greater hover stability, too. The helicopter is said to offer less downdraft and noise due to its dual rotors.
Sikorsky, however, has faced questions about whether its new tech can translate to heavier helicopter platforms. The company has so far tested it on smaller aircraft such as the S-97 Raider, while the Defiant as currently designed is meant to carry four crew and 12 fully equipped troops. This spring, Sikorsky pushed its first flight test back to 2018. In a statement, the company expressed confidence that it can make the leap to larger aircraft, citing “analytics, and wind tunnel testing.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

BIG AGENDA for Mesa City Council Tomorrow

First try this.> see how much time it takes the average member of the public to find out: Do a simple time-test and fill-in the blanks:

1. Time to find the city homepage and link to City Council Meeting Agendas: ____
2. Find the meeting time/date and access the link: ____
[notice it's only available in a .pdf format]
3. How much time to download and read - all the pages: ____
4. What embedded links do you want to look at: ____
5. How much time to read each and every one: ____

QUESTION: Are you now informed?    Yes.   No.

In case you don't know here are the elected members of the Mesa City Council: Do you know who they are and who represents you in the district where you live?
Mayor John Giles
Vice Mayor David Luna - District 5
Councilmember Mark Freeman - District 1
Councilmember Jeremy Whittaker - District 2
Councilmember Ryan Winkle - District 3
Councilmember Chris Glover - District 4
Councilmember Kevin Thompson - District 6

QUESTION: Do you know how to reach-out and contact them to express your views and opinions on current issues that might affect your quality of life or impact your income?

Here's the agenda for Monday, May 22,2017 - it's 12 pages and starts of like this
CITIZEN PARTICIPATION All citizens are permitted and encouraged to speak on agenda items including and preceding “Items from citizens present.” If you are interested in speaking on such an agenda item, please fill out a blue card in the back of the room and give it to the City Clerk. 
When the Council considers the item, you will be called to speak.

CONSENT AGENDA All items listed with an asterisk (*) will be considered as a group by the City Council and will be enacted with one motion. There will be no separate discussion of these items unless a Councilmember or citizen requests, in which event the item will be removed from the Consent Agenda and considered as a separate item. 
If a citizen wants an item removed from the consent agenda, a blue card must be completed and given to the City Clerk prior to the Council’s vote on the consent agenda.
[Note: all text from http://mesa.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx]

Items on this consent agenda include:
$150,000 for safety shoes/boots for 750 city employees [$200 each]
$150,000 for auto body repair for Fleet Services
$275,000 for network equipment for Mesa Public Library
$    7,600 for add'l/upgraded wireless network analysis/security tools for IT department
$150,000 for asbestos and lead paint abatement
$. 21,000 for forensic computers for police department
$240,000 for heavy-duty ballistic body armor for police department
$135,000 for sludge machine rental
$10,000,000 for master contract for Water & Wastewater

Resolution to be approved for a Medical Marijuana Facility

Items starting with 5-h: Modifying Fees + Charges for

• Arts & Culture
• Business Services
• Development Services
• Engineering
• Mesa Municipal Court
• Transportation Department

Items not on the Consent Agenda

10 Take action on the following contract:

17-0583 Three-Year Term Contract for

Private Jail Services for the Police Department (Citywide)

The Mesa Police Department's Holding Facility is a temporary holding facility and processing center located in the Police headquarters building.  Subjects that are arrested and waiting for an initial court appearance before a Mesa City magistrate, are held in the holding facility for no longer than 24 hours.  Currently, subjects who have been arrested on misdemeanor and/or felony charges, or have been ordered to remain in-custody by a judge, are transported by Mesa Police Department personnel to the Maricopa County Jail.

Through this contract, the Police Department will establish an agreement with CoreCivic to provide jailing services to include booking, transportation, maintenance and operations of the temporary housing of misdemeanor offenders for the City of Mesa. CoreCivic will provide care and treatment, including the furnishing of subsistence, all necessary medical care and applicable social service programs.

The annual expenditure is estimated to be $4,000,000. 

With additional capacity for variances within the number of misdemeanants processed, the Police Department and Purchasing recommend awarding the contract to the highest-scored proposal, CoreCivic, at $5,000,000 annually.

10-a

 

11 Conduct a public hearing and take action on the following resolution relating to the annual assessments for the Mesa Town Center Improvement District No 228: 17-0603 Conduct a public hearing.11-a 17-0556 A resolution approving the 2017 District Assessments for Mesa Town Center Improvement District No. 228.  The proposed final assessments do not include any rate increases. (District 4)

 

12 Conduct a public hearing and take action on the following ordinances adopting modified City-owned utility terms/rates/fees/charges: 17-0475 Conduct a public hearing on modifications to terms/rates/fees/charges of City-owned utilities: items 12-b through 12-g. 12-a 17-0468 An ordinance modifying terms/rates/fees/charges for electric utility services. (Districts 1 and 4) 12-b 17-0469 An ordinance modifying terms/rates/fees/charges for natural gas utility services. (Citywide) 12-c 17-0470 An ordinance modifying terms/rates/fees/charges for water utility services. (Citywide) 12-d 17-0471 An ordinance modifying terms/rates/fees/charges for wastewater utility services. (Citywide) 12-e 17-0472 An ordinance modifying terms/rates/fees/charges for solid waste utility services. (Citywide)  12-f 17-0473 An ordinance modifying terms/rates/fees/charges for utility service fees. (Citywide) 12-g

 

13 Conduct a public hearing and take action on the proposed Five-Year Capital Improvement Program for fiscal years ending 2018-2022:

17-0560 Conduct a public hearing.

13-a 17-0285 A resolution approving a Five-Year Capital Improvement Program for fiscal years ending 2018-2022. (Citywide)

 

Tim, I'm A Looney-Lefty >>The Pie Manifesto

Fighting talk

Published on May 21, 2017

Views: 2,891

Pie looks at the policies behind the (lack of) personalities