O Zone + An O Fund > How To Drive Long-Term Capital Into Distressed Communities

For some O = Opportunity > Caliber Opportunity Fund II, LP 
A fund existing 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.
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Blogger Note: After all the bragging and over-hyped rhetoric that Downtown Mesa is 'vibrant and exciting' and a Great Place to Live, Work and Play, it must be truly EMBARRASSING to Mesa City officials that 'The Old Donut-Hole' is a distressed [neglected] community, a series of contiguous low-income census tracts.

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Overview

An ideal structure to gain access to directly investing in a hand-selected, diversified portfolio of commercial, multi-family, self-storage and hospitality properties.

Benefits

The Caliber Diversified Opportunity Fund II, LP allows individual investors to exceed the risk-adjusted results they could otherwise attempt to achieve investing alone

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Fund Purpose

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Mesa Mayor John Giles, W Tim Sprague [Habitat Metro] 

Caliber Principals on Lightrail Tracks Main Street

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.
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Vision

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Caliber 8-Property Portfolio on Main Street Mesa AZ

While the Caliber Diversified Opportunity Fund II, LP may grow into diverse markets and pursue various strategies according to market conditions, the underlying investment model of purchasing assets that produce attractive income or significant equity upside (or both) will not change. In five years, the Caliber Diversified Opportunity Fund II, LP will have gained national recognition as the best place for individual investors and registered investment advisors to place capital accessing superior risk-adjusted returns

> Income Creates Value

Regardless of the strategy or market cycle, strong income streams as compared to our investment basis will build value we can rely on

> Manage Each Asset as Owners

Responsibility stems from taking ownership, the core of a great General Partner

> Limit Leverage, Reduce Risk

The maximum allowable leverage on the portfolio reduces to 60% of asset values by the 5th year of the Fund

 

 

Fund Benefits

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Secured Investment

Your capital is secured through direct ownership of a diversified portfolio of commercial, multi-family, self-storage, and hospitality assets.

Growth

By purchasing at a discount, building value through construction, renovation, or development, and then managing as owners, we will seek to grow the value of your investment.

Increasing Income

Caliber’s strategy to purchase a blend of income and value-add properties will seek to ensure you experience income distributions early in the Fund’s lifecycle that will grow over time.

Insider Access

The best commercial investors live and breathe real estate. Your Fund Manager will do that part, allowing you the same level of access without the time requirement.

Diversification

Through the Fund, an individual investor can own in multiple markets, pursue multiple investment strategies, and utilize sophisticated techniques which are typically reserved for institutional investors

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https://www.caliberdiversified.com/
 

REAL NEWS: The Trust For Public Land Ranks Mesa #96 Out of 97 - Among The Lowest In The 7th Annual Scoring

Photo credit: Ivan Martinez

It's not often that a message your MesaZona has been sending for more than three years now gets some more momentum from a non-profit organization named The Trust For Public Land.

What's the message?

> To empower people to hold their leaders accountable

> To ensure residents are involved and engaged.

When is Mesa Mayor John Giles, captured in the opening gonna get that??????? Clue-Less is NO EXCUSE.
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NEW YORK, NY — A new report has ranked the best cities in America for park systems.The Trust For Public Land, a San Francisco based nonprofit group that aims to create parks and protect land for people, released its 7th annual ParkScore rankings 3 days ago 

The Trust for Public Land Releases 2018 ParkScore® Index, Ranking ...

https://www.tpl.org/.../trust-public-land-releases-2018-parkscore®-index-ranking-par..

3 days ago - The Trust for Public Land Releases 2018 ParkScore® Index,

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Ranking Park Systems in the 100 Largest U.S. Cities 

" . . . The national nonprofit organization is leading a movement to put a park or natural area within a 10-minute walk of every U.S. resident. More than 200 mayors have endorsed the 10-minute goal.

"The research is clear: quality, close-to-home parks are essential to communities. Everyone deserves a great park within a 10-minute walk of home," said Diane Regas, President and CEO of The Trust for Public Land. "These rankings are the gold-standard for park access and quality, and empower people to hold their leaders accountable.” . . .
This shows how the onus is on cities to make parks as attractive as possible and also to ensure their residents are involved and engaged.

Source: https://www.smartcitiesdive.com/news

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Dive Insight:

TPL is pushing hard for city residents to be a 10-minute walk or less from a park. The organization unveiled its ParkServe tool earlier this year in collaboration with mapping software Esri to provide information on who does and does not have such access. The benefits of parks, especially for those who live in cities, include higher levels of physical activity for residents while mitigating the risk of storm damage and helping with issues like carbon emissions. “High quality parks make cities healthier in nearly every way,” Adrian Benepe, TPL’s senior vice president and director of city park development, said in a statement.

ParkScore’s rankings are based on access, acreage, investment and amenities, which counts the availability of features like off-leash dog parks, playgrounds, basketball hoops, “splashpads” and restrooms. The rankings added the latter two this year as part of its calculations on amenities, as well as volunteer hours and charitable contributions for spending.

The ParkScore rankings were based on four factors:
park access,
acreage,
investment
amenities
Here are the lowest-ranking park systems:
90. Baton Rouge, LA: 32.9
91. Memphis, TN: 32.8
92. Winston Salem, NC: 31.9
93. Laredo, TX: 31.5
94. Fresno, CA: 30.9
95. Hialeah, FL: 29.7
96. Mesa, AZ: 28.4
97. Charlotte, NC: 25.0
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VIEW FULL RANKING ANALYSIS
Park Score Rankings 

City Profile for Mesa > http://parkscore.tpl.org/city.php?city=Mesa
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The 2018 ParkScore® rankings... - The Trust for Public Land - Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/TheTrustforPublicLand/posts/10155861806474735

BREAKING: The 2018 ParkScore® rankings are here! See how your city's parks stack up against the country's best. Surprised? Share in the comments below

Sunspots, Flares, USA Tropical Risk, Comet | S0 News May.24.2018

Intense streams - !!

Published on May 24, 2018

Views: 10,316

Daily Sun, Earth and Space Science

AGENDA + VIDEO: The 24 May 2018 Mesa City Council Study Session

Any reasonable person might ask why some of these 'Study Sessions' are scheduled at this time of the day when most people and members of the public are either getting-ready-to-go-to-work or getting-their-kids-off-to-school.
The timing is more than just inconvenient, likewise not conducive to encourage citizen interest, engagement or involvement in their elected government.
We need more oversight and public scrutiny of what elected and salaried officials are doIng: YOU PAY THEIR SALARIES.

City Hall has a long way to go to achieve any milestones in being Open, Transparent and Accountable
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Stumbling for words or what? ....and this goes on for about an hour

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6PSwtq_utY
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Perhaps citizens or councilmembers can work out a better way to make it easier for THE PUBLIC RIGHT-TO-KNOW. 
On top of that there's the matter of Notice to The Public, usually required two or four days before the day/time of the meetings and sometimes changes are made within 24 hours before. . . that leaves little time for scrutiny, oversight and informed analysis of what City Hall presents on the agendas that all to frequently do not items from the public put on the agenda to get discussed at the next meeting.
Comments from the public are limited to just three minutes. There are rarely seen any exchanges or discussion between the public - few can show up in-person - and either their elected officials or anyone other city officials like the City Attorney and City Manager sitting on the stage at all during public meetings. Presentations are made by people sitting with their backs to the public audience  

"The Mesa City Council believes that its people, not leaders, are what makes a City great and actively works to encourage citizen participation in the decision-making process. Whether it is through neighborhood meetings, advisory boards and committees, telephone calls and letters, or email, the Mesa City Council sets policies based on the input and needs of its citizens. . . ."
HERE'S A LINK TO GET IN-TOUCH WITH THE MAYOR AND THE CITY COUNCIL
> http://www.mesaaz.gov/city-hall/mayor-council 
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HISTORIC SIRRINE HOUSE RESTAURANT PROPOSAL????

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BACKGROUND 1 : See streaming video above
BACKGROUND 2: See streaming videos below

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This morning's study session agenda - where ya gotta wonder if the mayor and the other six members have done 'their homework' or listened to input from their constituents - has three items: ( Link to the source > Council, Board & Committee Research Center )
A good question to ask is what dollar figures are involved and are they included in the presentations and discussions? At the same time ask if the figures are reliable and accurate and more than just estimates.
1. A comprehensive update of Mesa’s i.d.e.a. Museum Master Site Plan, which includes phased concepts for optimizing existing spaces and program, and space improvements.
2. There are 2 parts to this one:
> The release of a request for proposal for the redevelopment of the Sirrine House (160 North Center Street) into a "farm-to-fork" restaurant and urban agricultural space,
> A Request for Interest in operating a downtown farmers' market.
3.The Council's Strategic Priority for Transforming Neighborhoods including projects, statistics, and key performance indicators.

PLEASE NOTE: File Numbers and Agenda Item Indicators with links are shown below for you to access more details and information
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Meeting Name:

City Council Study Session

Agenda status:

Final

Meeting date/time:

5/24/2018 7:30 AM

Minutes status:

Draft

Meeting location:

Council Chambers - Lower Level

Published agenda:

Agenda

Published minutes:

Not available

Meeting video:

Not available

Attachments:

File # Agenda # Type Title       18-0638 1-a Presentation Hear a presentation, discuss, and provide direction on a comprehensive update of Mesa’s i.d.e.a. Museum master site plan, which includes phased concepts for optimizing existing spaces and program, and space improvements.                                                                  18-0480 1-b Presentation Hear a presentation, discuss, and provide direction on the release of a request for proposal for the redevelopment of the Sirrine House (160 North Center Street) into a "farm-to-fork" restaurant and urban agricultural space, and a Request for Interest in operating a downtown farmers' market.                                                                  18-0539 1-c Presentation Hear a presentation and discuss the Council's Strategic Priority for Transforming Neighborhoods including projects, statistics, and key performance indicators.     Not available

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File #:

18-0638

Type:

Presentation

Status:

Agenda Ready

In control:

City Council Study Session

On agenda:

5/24/2018

Title:

Hear a presentation, discuss, and provide direction on a comprehensive update of Mesa’s i.d.e.a. Museum master site plan, which includes phased concepts for optimizing existing spaces and program, and space improvements.

Attachments:

1. Presentation

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File #:

18-0480

Type:

Presentation

Status:

Agenda Ready

In control:

City Council Study Session

On agenda:

5/24/2018

Title:

Hear a presentation, discuss, and provide direction on the release of a request for proposal for the redevelopment of the Sirrine House (160 North Center Street) into a "farm-to-fork" restaurant and urban agricultural space, and a Request for Interest in operating a downtown farmers' market.

Attachments:

1. Presentation

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File #:

18-0539

Type:

Presentation

Status:

Agenda Ready

In control:

City Council Study Session

On agenda:

5/10/2018

Title:

Hear a presentation and discuss the Council's Strategic Priority for Transforming Neighborhoods including projects, statistics, and key performance indicators.

Attachments:

1. Transforming Neighborhoods - City Council Priority

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Here in 'The Old Donut-Hole' > Thanks So Much For Hitting-Up This Blog: 186,000+ Views

It's very nice that more and more people are interested in a robust and mellow multi-media multi-input for hyper-locally aggregated and sourced news, information, opinions, comments and entertainment.  
. . . Everyone is welcome and invited to fill in the gaps . . .
After all - and before everything else - it's THE PEOPLE HERE IN MESA THAT CAN MAKE THIS GREAT, not the so-called 'leaders'
We are not all Bozos on this bus!
Be Less Stupid or you pay for the consequences

 

IMHO: The Times Media Group = News With A Slant To The Deal Makers

In the interest of a more robust public discourse, this brings to your attention a Guest Opinion Piece published on May 20,2018 in The West Mesa Edition of The East Valley Tribune. 
"The Opportunity Zone is a 'rare gift'
by Jordan Rose and Jim Belfiore
It's a rare gift handed-out to a local independent report when the two PR Hounds go on say about a compelling new tool to promote investment in the second paragraph: " . . .The law provides for a reduction or total waiver of capital gains tax if an investment is made into an O Zone location. . ."     'O Zone' huh? funny enough for sure

Let's clear the air out of this public relations pollution with some well-intentioned good blow-back.
First: Disclosure
These two Guest Opinion writers are deep into deal-making. It's their business and how they make money:
". . . In just the month since the federal government approved Gov. Doug Ducey's suggested sites, we have collectively advised a wide variety of people and corporations on how to fully use this new (and really fantastic) tool) . . . "

Here's what they say about the O Zone:
"The O Zone promotes investments in assets like commercial property and land - pumping some serious oxygen and opportunity into the Arizona market that didn't exist a week and a half ago . . ."

Jordan Rose is the president of the Rose Law Group
Jim Belfiore is president of Belfiore Real Estate Consulting

". . . So,  you can see this is really compelling for anyone who has assets they might sell for a gain . . . it becomes a bit more involved than the land holding option. . ." 
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QUESTION: What about everyone else?
We talk about major capital investment, but little about investment in a city’s people.
Here in Mesa that matters:  
> It’s time to change the collective understanding of what we call “economic development.”
It’s time to permanently attach the words “inclusive” and “equitable” to the very framework of economic development.
Two Words Are Missing From the Economic Development Conversation
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Your MesaZona blogger is inspired by this Op-Ed from https://nextcity.org
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So what do we do?
". . . Ultimately, it comes down to who and what we value as legitimate participants in a city’s economy, and what we value as its lifeline.
What catalyzes robust city life?
Is it merely down to the numbers, the amount of financial investment it can attract? Or is it about its people?  

Gremlins Demo Program @ International Air Response Testbed in Mesa,

ROBOTICS AND AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS                                                                                       

Gremlins Program Enters Demonstration Phase

By Vivienne Machi    5/22/2018

Artist’s concept of the Gremlins program.

Art: DARPA

The goal of launching a series of small unmanned aerial systems packed with advanced payloads from a military aircraft to perform sensitive missions is a step closer to reality.
Dynetics, a Huntsville, Alabama-based defense contractor, has been awarded a follow-on contract for the demonstration phase of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Gremlins program.
The agency is looking to develop low-cost reusable drones — or “gremlins” — that could be launched from military aircraft and retrieved post-mission, according to Dynetics.
The systems could carry a variety of high-tech payloads for distributed missions.
Phase one of the effort involved four companies and centered around developing a concept for the program, Tim Keeter, deputy program manager and chief engineer for the Gremlins program at Dynetics, said in a media call.
Dynetics and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems were selected for the second phase contract for technology maturation in 2017.
The phase three contract, which was awarded in mid-April, will last 21 months and is worth $38.6 million, according to Dynetics.
The entire program will last 43 months and cost $64 million. DARPA did not reply to requests for comment.
Dynetics began flight and ground testing prior to the contract award, Keeter said.
So far, it has demonstrated that it can stabilize and deploy a docking system for the unmanned aerial vehicles, and has successfully performed “safe separation” from the aircraft.
In phase three Dynetics will demonstrate “the ability to recover multiple air vehicles safely and in a fairly rapid fashion,” he said. The goal is to accomplish four recoveries in under 30 minutes by the end of the contract, he added.
The company will use a C-130 transport aircraft provided by International Air Response during the testing period.
The ultimate goal is to be able to launch the systems from a variety of military aircraft, he noted. Some testing will be performed at IAR’s testbed in Mesa, Arizona, as well as test ranges along the West Coast, Keeter said.
For more details and information > National Defense Magazine
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Topics: Robotics and Autonomous Systems, Robotics, Defense Innovation, Research and Development, Science and Engineering Technology