Arizona Real Estate Informer

Housing notes from the West Valley

Hacienda Builders has opened Fiore, a new neighborhood in Waddell's Cortessa master-planned community. The builder is offering 120 home sites at the development, west of Loop 303 at Olive Road. Fiore at Cortessa will offer five plans ranging from 2,660 to 3,923 square feet. The homes include a selection of four to five bedrooms, 2 1/2 to three baths, a covered patio, three-car garage and choice of three exterior elevations. Options include a bonus room, fireplace, den and expanded media center.

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Camelback/44th building heights raise concerns

The proposed height of the $450 million luxury residential resort on the northwestern corner of 44th Street and Camelback Road is irritating some residents who say the building could be obtrusive. The proposal includes 300,000 square feet of retail, commercial and residential buildings ranging up to 98 feet. "You wouldn't want to be looking suddenly at 110-foot buildings, would you, when you were promised they would stay below 40 feet?" asked Arcadia retiree Paul Barnes, 75, who says he supports responsible and appropriate development.

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Custom homes OK'd near airport

A gated cluster of custom homes will go up near Chandler Municipal Airport over objections from the Planning and Zoning and Airport commissions. The City Council voted 6-1 Thursday to approve Vina Escondida - a 15-lot subdivision on 12 acres southeast of McQueen and Germann roads. More...

Urban redo: Brothers creating infill projects in historic Phoenix neighborhoods

Jag Development, a Phoenix-based urban infill developer, has broken ground on an ultra-modern, multifamily project northeast of downtown in the North Garfield Historic District. The Portland 38 project at Seventh and Portland streets is 25 percent presold, even though the sales office hasn't been open for long. Prices for the three-story townhomes, ranging in size from 1,200 to 1,500 square feet, start in the low $300,000s. More...

'Liar loans' taking toll in housing downturn

Cheating on mortgage applications is so widespread and so seldom punished that it's fueling an increase in foreclosures that will prolong the housing slump, says one expert. Borrowers and brokers commit fraud when they exaggerate the applicant's income, qualifying the borrower for a home he otherwise couldn't afford. Such fraud robbed lenders of an estimated $1 billion last year, according to data collected by the Washington-based Mortgage Bankers Association and the FBI. More...

Taking on the HOA

Where should you and your homeowners association go to fight — to court, or to a new, lower-cost hearing process?  Phil Ewing's experience with a garage door and a lawsuit shows why people might want to avoid court — the stakes are high and the cost is enormous. But Don Nevins is one of the few trying the new, cheaper system of administrative hearings — and he's given up on it already. More...

Run-down Downtown to cost $381 million

Upgrading Downtown's aging streets, sewers, water and utility lines, and sprucing up the buildings and sidewalks to a standard that would attract world-class development will cost $381 million. 

That's the conclusion of a public-private panel commissioned to recommend how to make Downtown more accommodating to the development envisioned for Rio Nuevo over the next 20 years. More...

Homeowners get 17 options for street widening

City transportation planners are offering Chaparral Road area homeowners 17 alternatives to widening their street. Some alternatives would retain or add traffic capacity without removing homes, such as making the center lane reversible during peak hours, or making the street one-way. More...

Downtown condo project works through delays

Construction workers are discovering underground surprises as they excavate land for the San Marcos Commons condominiums, causing project delays in a key piece of downtown Chandler's redevelopment.
Workers are finding buried utilities that weren't on a map, and utilities that were not mapped correctly, developer Niels Kreipke said in a letter he sent to City Manager Mark Pentz. More...

Light-rail test a smooth ride

It stopped traffic. It turned heads. It worked. Crawling down Washington Street like an overgrown toddler, a Metro light-rail vehicle made its maiden voyage under its own power on Tuesday. The train crept down a mile of track at a top speed of 3 mph with a team of engineers strutting alongside like proud parents. More...