Southeast Valley Development News

[Kroney]

^^ A paved pathway along the Western Canal is excellent news for East Valley bicyclists, joggers, etc. Unfortunately, the article made no mention of tunnels or pedestrian bridges... which would be necessary for users of the canal path to completely avoid vehicular traffic. As it stands now, users of the canal trail would still need to play a real-life game of Frogger every mile or so as it crosses a major north/south streets. At the very least, they should install crosswalks with traffic control lights.

It's time for Phoenix to step up and become a more bicycle friendly city. Sure, it has paved pathways along the Salt River between 19th Ave and 24th St, but I don't see any reason why this paved pathway can't be extended to Tempe Town Lake. Imagine bicycling from downtown Phoenix to Tempe without having to contend with cars for most of the route.

Finally, it would also be nice if Phoenix & Scottsdale joined together to pave alongside the Arizona Canal between 24th St (near the Biltmore in Phoenix) and the Indian Bend Wash (in Scottsdale)... complete with tunnels or underpasses of course. That would connect two existing paved pathways and create a super-long route where cyclists could ride for miles without having to cross a major intersection or sharing space with cars.

[Sonoran_Dweller]

There is going to be pedestrian activated traffic signals.
http://www.azcentral.com/ic/pdf/0523canalmap.pdf

[combusean]

Elevation Chandler owner gets reprieve
8 comments
by Luci Scott - May. 29, 2009 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

By the skin of his teeth, developer Jeff Cline held on to Elevation Chandler in an emergency hearing Thursday in Bankruptcy Court.

Judge Sarah Curley ruled that a non-refundable $10 million needs to be solidly committed from a lender to a prospective buyer within 31 days.

Otherwise, a trustee's sale will be expedited, at which time the current mortgage holder, Point Center Financial, can foreclose.

A trustee's sale had been scheduled for Monday. Elevation Chandler is the highly visible 10.6-acre construction site south of Chandler Fashion Center at the intersection of Loops 101 and 202. It was to be a hotel and luxury condos. For more than three years, the shell of the first tower has sat abandoned.

Curley ruled that $500,000 needs to be solidly committed within two weeks, and $9.5 million in 31 days.

"If it doesn't happen, no further hearings," the judge said.

Joe Cotterman, an attorney for California-based PCF, wanted the trustee's sale to happen Monday.

"We don't believe there's a buyer waiting in the wings," Cotterman said.

"We've had promises, and promises to make a promise. We've seen a lot of talk."

PCF is not a wealthy entity but a collection of retirees who need return on their investments, Cotterman said.

Cline filed for bankruptcy protection in April 2008. His plan called for him to sell the property by Sunday or PCF could foreclose. In her ruling, Curley effectively extended that deadline.

Court papers filed this week say that Cline's new broker, Brayden Management, has prospective buyers, including the Navajo Nation, the Gila River Indian Community, John Q. Hammons Hotels, Windsor Hospitality, HCW Inc. and White Lodging Services Corp.

Cline has a contract with Smith and Bryant Inc. as the buyer, court papers say.

The most recent appraisal put the site's market value at more than $36 million. The appraisal done by Lyons Valuation Group of Scottsdale set that value as of Nov. 11.

Cline's attorney, Scott Goldberg, recently said that Cline was in such dire financial straits that he was living on the street.

But after the hearing Thursday, Cline said, "I'm not homeless. I'm fine."

[HooverDam]

http://www.azcentral.com/community/c...ation0616.html

Elevation Chandler fails to draw buyers
Mortgage holder apparently reclaims property
8 comments by Luci Scott - Jun. 16, 2009 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
Developer Jeff Cline apparently has lost Elevation Chandler, a 10.6-acre construction site that was to be a hotel and luxury condominiums at the intersection of Loops 101 and 202.

A trustee sale was held Monday, and there were no buyers, leading the mortgage holder, California-based Point Center Financial, to believe it has taken the property.

A bankruptcy hearing was held at the same time the trustee sale was going on down the street.

Cline was not in court. His attorney, Michael Walker, was asked after the hearing how Cline felt about losing the property, and Walker replied, "No comment."

Joe Cotterman, the Phoenix attorney representing PCF, said the new owner took no joy in foreclosing.

"Like any lender, they would have preferred to be paid rather than take the property back," he said.

Cotterman was asked what sunk Cline.

A combination of factors likely led to the downfall, he said.

"A situation this big and complicated is rarely caused by one reason," Cotterman said.

The project was to be a 10-story tower occupied by a hotel and topped by two floors of luxury condominiums. Also planned was a second 15-story tower of condos and a fitness center, but construction never began on those two structures.

Construction had been ahead of schedule on the first tower. In April 2006, work stopped. Subcontractors walked off the job because they weren't being paid.

A flurry of mechanic's liens was recorded, along with some foreclosure lawsuits. Cline saved the property by obtaining a short-term bridge loan to pay off Mortgages Ltd., an early lender, and the general contractor, Weitz.

In April 2008, Cline filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11.

At a bankruptcy hearing two weeks ago, Cline still maintained that he had several prospective buyers.

At that hearing, Judge Sarah Curley decreed that a lender must commit a non-refundable $500,000 within two weeks, and another $9.5 million in a month.

That first half-million didn't come through, leading to Monday's public auction.

The most recent appraisal put the site's market value at more than $36 million.

The appraisal done by Lyons Valuation Group of Scottsdale set that value as of Nov. 11.

[Leo the Dog]

I never understood Elevation Chandler at all. Of course it was going to fail.


Who wants to live in "high rise" in the middle of a parking lot, in the middle of suburbia, with views of Best Buy, the 101/202 freeways and bland, desolate Indian Res. land??

[HooverDam]

This is kind of interesting...

http://www.azcentral.com/community/p...creek0618.html

Queen Creek area: We're not Queen Creek
Community south of town on quest for own name, identity
by Lindsey Collom - Jun. 18, 2009 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
In Pinal County, just north of the San Tan Mountains, a community is having an identity crisis.

The U.S. Postal Service calls it Queen Creek, though it is not affiliated with the town of the same name.

Residents sometimes refer to it as San Tan.

Soon, the area may have a third moniker.

And the only difference it will make is what the place will be called in the mail.

Residents of unincorporated Queen Creek will vote Monday on a new name for their community. That name won't necessarily appear on a map; it will only represent what the Postal Service calls it.

The heart of the issue is the county line that divides Maricopa and Pinal counties. To the north is the town of Queen Creek itself. To the south, the unincorporated Pinal area.

The line itself is clear. The issue of Monday's renaming vote is murky.

About 80,000 people live in Pinal County on the outskirts of Queen Creek. That's about 79,000 more than lived there 10 years ago.

Mail for the area came from the Queen Creek post office, and back then, it was just practical to call the whole stretch Queen Creek.

Then, new housing sprang up rapidly from 2003 to 2007, with giant subdivisions like Johnson Ranch, San Tan Heights, Copper Basin and others cutting across the once rural land southwest of Hunt Highway near the San Tan Mountains.

The Queen Creek name began to be a problem. A steady stream of newcomers was requesting services from Queen Creek - but they didn't live in town. Officials there estimate they receive 10 to 15 such calls each day.

The growth brought another change: The post office was revising ZIP codes to create a new number for unincorporated Queen Creek. The new ZIP code is set to take effect July 1.

And that, Pinal County Supervisor Bryan Martyn decided, was the perfect opportunity for a new identity.

Name selection
Martyn said he spent two months polling several hundred unincorporated residents at Block Watch meetings, homeowners-association meetings and online to select a new name.

Picking a name wasn't easy.

San Tan is the name of a town of the Gila River Indian Community and could not be used.

Other choices ranged from native plants (ocotillo, mesquite) to names with historical precedent (Combs, Gantzel, Schnepf).

The consensus according to Martyn? Bella Vista, which is also the name of a county road.

He turned in a name-change request to the Postal Service to give the new ZIP code a new name, too, just in time for the July 1 change.

Not so fast, cried business and community leaders.

Richard LaPorta a resident and business owner in the area, called Martyn's actions "dictatorial" and an "abuse of authority."

"It's an issue of the name and whether or not we feel comfortable with it," LaPorta said. "We don't want a name that's unacceptable."

Martyn decided he'd need more input.

To him, time is of the essence. The ZIP code will change soon.

"Many businesses/individuals are in the process of changing letterhead and the like," Martyn said in an e-mail to constituents. "The costs associated with these changes can be into the thousands of dollars. Therein lies the rush. How do we get a name/ZIP change at the same time? We hustle and try to talk to as many citizens as possible given the constraints of time and money."

But businesses that have already changed printed materials to reflect their new ZIP code may continue to use Queen Creek in the address line. Peter Haas, a spokesman for the Postal Service, said the post office will recognize the town name as interchangeable with a secondary name.

The last place to request such a name change was Anthem, a master-planned community in north Phoenix. That was a decade ago.

Incorporation next?
For those south of Queen Creek, the identity change is a baby step toward incorporation.

Martyn said the push for a new name shouldn't be seen as a bid for a new city. At least not yet.

Two attempts at incorporation have failed in recent years when petitions fell short of the required number of valid signatures.

"There's no doubt that one day, sooner or later, this community must incorporate," Martyn said. "Although I personally think it's the best direction, it's up to the community."

For now, it's all about the name.

A grass-roots marketing campaign is under way. The campaign is run by a community leader who opposed Martyn's plan for a quick name change.

Tisha Castillo, president of the San Tan Area Chamber of Commerce, said she's not even sure a name change is in order.

Now, it comes down to a vote.

The whole thing is happening so quickly that this week, Martyn and other organizers were still unable to say where the vote will be held.

Castillo envisions some kind of ballot with a list of names and putting that ballot online to increase the number of voters.

Somehow, somewhere, on Monday, the residents of not-in-Queen Creek are planning to choose a new name.

Martyn said he'll be there.

"I'm happy to play that role to help this community move forward," he said. "They just have to decide when they're ready to."

It seems like so often larger cities in the Valley have eaten up smaller unincorporated areas that never got the chance to blossom on their own- Phoenix annexing Sunnyslope, Mesa overtaking "Lehi", Buckeye eating up Liberty, etc. So its nice to see this go the other way, I'd much prefer more small, localized municipalities. It gives people more direct access to their government and gives the potential for an area to develop its own personality (though Im sure this area will likely just be more sprawl garbage).

[HooverDam]

http://www.azcentral.com/community/m...light0707.html

High hopes, high hurdles for rotting corner in Mesa
8 comments by Gary Nelson - Jul. 6, 2009 05:28 PM
The Arizona Republic
Fiesta Village, one of the Southeast Valley's go-to places until a few years ago, is now blanching behind chain-link fences as nature slowly takes over.

Weeds have established beachheads in the blacktop, boarded-up stores and restaurants slowly crumble in the pitiless heat, and even the massive signs that once lured shoppers and movie-goers look like they've been under artillery fire.

It's a classic study in urban life cycles, one that Mesa hopes to use to its advantage as an example of the Valley's next generation of development: An infill project to make the area look more like a big city than a suburban wasteland.


"It's a great opportunity for a signature development that can help set the pace and tone for the Fiesta District," said Dennis Kavanaugh, who represents that neighborhood on the Mesa City Council.

Getting there will not be easy, however. The company that owns the land has only recently resumed negotiations, and only under threat of eminent domain. Meanwhile, several other projects in the neighborhood have stalled in the down economy.

When it opened a third of a century ago, Fiesta Village was at once a boon and a curse for Mesa. With a shining six-theater AMC movie complex, a Bobby McGee's restaurant where costumed waiters both served and entertained their guests, and a rich array of retail offerings, it was one of the area's most popular hangouts.

At the same time, it was the sort of place that was sucking economic oxygen out of downtown Mesa, which has struggled ever since the word "mall" entered the American lexicon.

Over the past 15 years, however, it was Fiesta Village that suffocated as shoppers fled to bigger, newer, better venues. The movie theaters closed 10 years ago; the last retail outlet, a clothing store, held on until last year.

Its long and agonizing death occurred despite its proximity to the venerable Fiesta Mall, directly across Southern Avenue, and the gleaming Bank of America tower, one of the Valley's iconic structures, just to the southeast.

Its demise and unsightliness have been thorns in the side of southwest Mesa residents, some of whom have repeatedly voiced their displeasure in public meetings over the past few years.

"The Number 1 complaint in the area is Fiesta Village," said Nate Caine, a southwest Mesa resident who frequently attends and speaks at City Council meetings.

By early 2007, citizens' aggravation reached the point that two community groups filed formal code compliance complaints against the property.

The 15-acre site is owned by W.M. Grace Development Co. of Phoenix, whose representatives have not responded to requests for comment. In 2006, however, the company said it was keeping the property as vacant as possible to minimize its value for tax purposes. At the same time it suggested Mesa should subsidize redevelopment efforts.

Mesa said no. Other than property code enforcement, the city's involvement was minimal until last year, when Mayor Scott Smith said he had some promising discussions with company president Howard T. Grace.

After those talks petered out, Kavanaugh asked the city this spring to explore using eminent domain on at least part of the property. Mesa needs to build a police station in that part of town and some have suggested Fiesta Village as a possible site.

Kavanaugh believes the threat of eminent domain led to renewed talks between Grace and Smith. Those meetings were expanded two weeks ago to include Kavanaugh and City Manager Chris Brady.

Kavanaugh said Grace told the city his company was scheduled to talk with several potential buyers who want to redevelop the site. In turn, the city shared its expectations for what could happen there.

Those expectations are high.

Mesa recently completed an exhaustive study of the Fiesta area, which stretches along Southern Avenue from the Tempe border to Extension Road. The area is rife with high-end uses such as Banner Desert Medical Center, Mesa Community College and Fiesta Mall. But its retail base, especially on the north side of Southern Avenue, is badly eroded, with numerous empty big boxes and other stores.

Kavanaugh sees Fiesta Village as a great place for an urban-style development combining residential and business uses. Rather than a 1970s-style strip mall separated from the streetscape by acres of parking, new structures would abut the major thoroughfares and surround the interior parking areas.

While fulfilling that vision may take time, Kavanaugh said the company will soon be addressing the blighted nature of its property.

"They would want to take steps to at least clean the site up," Kavanaugh said. That could include removal of the battered landmark signs and demolishing some structures on the perimeter of the property.

Im so glad to hear people at least talking like this. The transformation of dilapidated strip centers is going to be an increasingly huge issue for the Valley in coming years and if they can be converted to mixed use, urban areas it will be a tremendous blessing for the City.

This spot in particular interest me because I spent so much time there as a kid. Growing up in Ahwautukee when there was nothing there but open desert, we spent most of our time in and around Fiesta Mall since my Mother worked in the area and our grandparents lived there. Id love to see this are revitalized in the next decade.

[Leo the Dog]

Good find Hoover,
I remember I saw Cable Guy at those theaters when I was a kid. In the early 1990's we had to drive to Fiesta Mall/Southern Ave corridor to do any shopping at all. This was before Ahwatukee Towne Center was built by Vestar. (We lived in W. Chandler.) I remember when Best Buy opened up SE corner of Alma School/Southern, that was HUGE! It is crazy how that area of town went down hill so fast.

AZ Mills was the first punch then Chandler Fashion Center (and surrounding shopping) was the knockout. Even Mesa contributed to Fiesta's decline with the building of Riverview a couple of miles away.

[combusean]

Yup. I lived on Warner and the 101, which was just Price back then. I grew up on Fiesta Mall.

The site, however, seems to be the victim of a particular developer's long time plans for it than any downward trend in the area. This quote reveals all.

In 2006, however, the company said it was keeping the property as vacant as possible to minimize its value for tax purposes. At the same time it suggested Mesa should subsidize redevelopment efforts.

[Leo the Dog]

Salt River tribe chosen for new D-backs spring training site
18 comments by Peter Corbett - Jul. 16, 2009 10:50 AM
The Arizona Republic
The Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community announced today that it will build a stadium and spring training complex for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies at Loop 101 and Indian Bend Road.

The 11,000-seat stadium and 12 practice fields, with an estimated price tag of $100 million, will occupy a 140-acre site on the Indian community east of Scottsdale.

Tribal officials say they believe it will be the first Major League Baseball facility built on an Indian community.

“This multipurpose facility is an ideal match for the vision of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community as we develop land along our western commercial corridor,” said Diane Enos, tribal president. The spring training complex, which will allow the Diamondbacks and Rockies to leave their Tucson training sites, is to be ready for the 2011 Cactus League season.

The teams and Salt River have signed a memorandum of understanding on the spring training complex.

“We are certainly excited that we have come to an agreement on our future spring training home with a wonderful community,” Diamondbacks President Derrick Hall said.

Salt River will fund, build and operate the baseball complex. The two teams and Salt River officials are planning a news conference next week to explain other details of their plans.

HKS Architects, which designed the Camelback Ranch stadium for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago White Sox, will design the stadium at Salt River.

The Diamondbacks and Rockies are the last two teams playing in Tucson. They are scheduled to play there for one more Cactus League season.

[HooverDam]

http://www.azcentral.com/community/m...istas0807.html

Planners to roll out visions for Vistas development
11 comments by Gary Nelson - Aug. 5, 2009 08:37 AM
The Arizona Republic
Despite the suffocating recession and a change at the helm of the Arizona Land Department, one of the biggest land-planning projects in Arizona history is nearing the end of a crucial early phase.

By late this summer, the East Valley Partnership and the Pinal Partnership will host public meetings to unveil four possible scenarios for developing Superstition Vistas, a 275-square-mile area that lies at the Southeast Valley's doorstep in northern Pinal County.

The partnerships are consortiums of businesses, civic, educational and political and tribal leaders, that has pushed economic growth and planning on the east side of the metro area since the early 1980s.

The current president of the East Valley Partnership, Roc Arnett, is credited with originating the term Superstition Vistas in 2003 to focus attention on the area that stretches in a rough triangle from Mesa's eastern border nearly to Florence, the Pinal County seat.

The entire tract is owned by the state and overseen by the land department, which uses money from sales and leases to help fund public schools.

Of the 9.2 million acres of state-owned land, Superstition Vistas may be some of the most important to Arizona's future economic and environmental health. It lies directly in the path of the growth that has gobbled hundreds of square miles of Southeast Valley real estate over the past few decades.

And while the recession has retarded that growth over the past two years, Arnett believes development of Superstition Vistas is inevitable. "All the work we're doing is still going to be very much apropos and in order and in vogue," he said.

Armed with that conviction and $1.7 million in donations from public and private sources, Arnett enlisted famed urban planner Robert Grow as the chief consultant in a study that is being overseen by Mike Hutchinson, a former Mesa city manager.

The study is on track, he said, despite a recent change at the top of the land department.

Mark Winkleman, who ran the department for six years, resigned in May and was replaced by Maria Baier, a former Phoenix City Council member with a long history of involvement in environmental issues.

Winkleman had strongly supported the two partnership's planning efforts for the Vistas, and Arnett expects no change under Baier.

Jamie Hogue, the land department's deputy commissioner, concurs. She said the EVP exercise might, in fact, serve as a test case for what the department could do if it had more resources and legal tools that could come from land-reform efforts that have sputtered in the Legislature for years.

"The land department doesn't have the resources on its own to engage in a planning exercise of this magnitude," Hogue said. She added, "This could definitely be kind of a poster child" for development projects that might emerge as the department sells its holdings in coming decades.

It's crucial, Arnett said, that the land department be allowed to use some of its revenue to plan the future of its properties.

The alternative is a continuation of the "leapfrog" sprawl that has planted massive subdivisions in outlying areas without adequate transportation or assurances of a future water supply.

MORE ON THIS TOPIC
As planning efforts accelerate for Superstition Vistas, major questions remain.
The biggest: Whether it's even a good idea to plan for perhaps a million residents in those 275 square miles over the next 50 years.

PENDING ISSUES
East Valley Partnership president Roc Arnett admits there are big hurdles ahead. It's crucial, he said, for Arizona to reform its land laws to ensure good planning in areas the state now owns.
He says water is probably the key factor in whether the Vistas will be sustainable. And he says the huge area - bigger than Mesa, Gilbert and Tempe combined - will need to create strong, competent governance to ensure its quality of life.

VOICE CRYING FOR THE WILDERNESS:
Sandy Bahr, director of the Sierra Club's Grand Canyon chapter, said while the environmental group has never taken a formal stand on Superstition Vistas, "we've been very critical of it." She called it "a massive development far from where existing infrastructure is, far from the developed landscape. It's, I guess, urban sprawl by any other name."
She fears taxpayers and existing residents could be forced to subsidize the developers who stand to grow rich from building in an area that will depend on a never-ending flow of cheap gasoline for survival. With an iffy water supply and other issues, she said, "We are going to create this massive urban area to the east and it's not going to be a good thing for us."

BUT THAT'S WHY WE'RE DOING THE PLANNING:
Mike Hutchinson, a former Mesa city manager who is coordinating the Supervision Vistas study, admits there are potential problems. But the nation's population will keep growing and people will keep coming to Arizona over time, and not all of them will want to live in even the best urban infill projects.
"Our goal is to really have this as a showpiece of sustainability and how development in Arizona can really be a leader in terms of new building design, new land-use patterns" and similar issues, he said. "Our project's going to be unique in that we can have this emphasis on sustainability."

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
After the East Valley Partnership and the Pinal Partnership roll out its Superstition Vistas study in September, it will gather public input and ask its Vistas steering committee to recommend a preferred development "scenario" by late this year.
Hutchinson hopes those recommendations eventually will become part of Pinal County's master development plan.

Wowzers thats a lot of land. The phrase "Doorstep to Northern Pinal county" cracked me up, as if thats a door step people are just dying to get on.

The article is disconcerting because it does nothing to make me think this won't be the largest swath of sprawl yet. Which cities jurisdiction will all this land be under? Will one of the SE Valley cities grow even larger and more unmanageable or will all of this at least be under its own jurisdiction giving at least some chance of developing unique character and image? While they do mention things like 'sustainability' Im sure that just means slapping on a few solar water heaters and xeriscaping the yards. While thats all well and good it doesn't help with the spaghettification of typical suburban streets that forces every trip to be made by car and absolutely no mixes of use which leads to the same.

[Sonoran_Dweller]

Why, why, why???? This city is so fucked up. Just because land is there, does not make it something you should make money off of. Why can't people see the benefit of beautiful, mostly untouched, Sonoran Desert lands. Why do people have to build on these lands, when there is still so much land in the built in areas of our city? This upsets me so much. I hope the Sierra Club can stop these assholes.

I am not just upset about the destruction of the desert, but the stupidity of these planners to help build more useless sprawl devoted to their idol, the automobile. Don't they see the waste and stupidity of these types of developments?

God this pisses me off so much!!

[kingofleos]

From azcentral.com (so take it for what it's worth)....

Investors file plans to build production studio in Mesa



by Angelique Soenarie - Aug. 14, 2009 09:33 AM
The Arizona Republic

Mesa could become a filmmaker's destination if plans for a production studio can come to life, but proposed power line and the expiration of the state's motion picture incentive program could kill it.

A Gold Canyon developer and a private investment group have filed plans with the city of Mesa to build a $70 million production studio complex called Gateway Studios near Hawes and Power roads in east Mesa. The 55-acre campus would be the first major production studio and sound stage to be built in Arizona in decades.

Vince Stark of CBC Inc., a firm that builds churches and luxury homes, said he and his investment partners hope to cash on the film projects that are leaving Los Angeles because of the high costs there.

"A lot of the film industry is trying to expand outside of California and looking for other avenues other than Los Angeles. That's what you're finding in Michigan and New Mexico," Stark said.

"I saw it has a niche. My company is part owner in the land, and that was part of the driving force. I went out to find investors to do this," he said. Stark said a future luxury resort and the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport make it a prime spot for movie makers. "This is something we think is necessary for the state. I don't think the state has taken advantage of the film industry."

He noted that the economic impact of New Mexico's film industry is 10 times that of Arizona's, and virtually all of it has to travel through Arizona from California.

Construction for Phase I of the complex is scheduled for next fall, Stark said, depending on approval from the city. Stark said he is scheduled to go before the zoning board in October or November. Plans include four soundstages, ranging from 15,000 square feet to 22,000 square feet, production facilities, storage buildings, an auditorium, daycare center, gym, spa, medical services building, large back-lot production areas and street production sets. The studio would generate 250 direct jobs and 300 indirect jobs, Stark said.

"We feel that Arizona, due to its proximity to California think it should be the first to benefit from the expansion of the film industry," he said.

Scot Rigby, Mesa's economic development project manager, said he believes the project has potential.

"I think he stands a good chance to get through the city process. We think it's a great location and a great project. I think Arizona stands to benefit from this," said Rigby.

There are potential pitfalls, however.

Salt River Project is proposing a major power line route near Hawes and Germann roads, which would cut across Stark's property.

The utility wants to install four power lines to serve the Pinal County and Queen Creek, and the lines could interfere with delicate sound recording equipment.

Mesa is opposed to the power line because it threatens future business developments near Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport such as Gateway Studios.

"We're not willing to threaten the viability of the airport," said Rigby, adding that the potential development of Gateway Studios is "a great case in point of why we're opposing the power line."

Another potential obstacle is the fact that the Arizona Motion Picture Incentive Program, which provides tax breaks for movie industry projects in Arizona, expires at the end of next year.

Last year, film productions that participated in the incentive program spent an estimated $44.9 million in Arizona. That's not including direct expenditures of $67 million from productions that did not participate in the program.

"When the projects come in here it's about location. But the incentive is the no. 1 driver. It is the most aggressive tool in our toolbox. If that goes away, we're going to see a dramatic drop in future film production," said Ken Chapa, program manager of the Arizona Film Office.

Lobbyists are already working on getting the program extended.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

This would be great, and something we should have had long before now!

[HooverDam]

Yes this needs to be moved to the EV thread. I hope that happens as it would benefit me directly, but every year or two there seems to be another plan for a big studio that never happens. New Mexico is kicking our ass in the film world right now and they shouldnt be. AZ is closer to LA and has more varied scenery to shoot in, as well as a larger city and thus more people to draw on for crew and extras (as well as being a more appealing place for celebrities to stay while they shoot). However our State leadership is probably going to kill the tax credit, and thus our local Film Industry which was on life support anyway and Ill probably have to move to fucking LA.

[nickkoto]

He noted that the economic impact of New Mexico's film industry is 10 times that of Arizona's, and virtually all of it has to travel through Arizona from California.

He must be excluding the local porn industry.

[Vicelord John]

yeah... FTVgirls.com and the parent company RHS are making money hand over.... fist?

[HooverDam]

Originally Posted by Vicelord John

yeah... FTVgirls.com and the parent company RHS are making money hand over.... fist?

I saw a Lamborghini on the 101 in Scottsdale once with a custom license plate that said "FTVGirls", so yah I think they're doing alright.

[TAZ4ate0]

bawhachikichikiwhaowowow...College Girls Go Wild #6...7...8...

Yep. We are doing fine in the porn dept.



j/k...j/k

[Vicelord John]

I wonder if it was the yellow gallardo.

[nickkoto]

I believe the FTV Girls Lambo is the same one from the infamous Youtube video of a couple years ago going 220mph down the Loop 202.