The Phoenix area may be in the Southwest, but it offers a lot more than Southwest-flavored houses and neighborhoods.

While there are many neighborhoods featuring stucco homes with tile roofs, there are also historical houses with mature trees, homes from the post-World War II boom years, homes in desert areas and luxurious mansions.

One [...]]]> Phoenix AZ Housing Options

The Phoenix area may be in the Southwest, but it offers a lot more than Southwest-flavored houses and neighborhoods.

While there are many neighborhoods featuring stucco homes with tile roofs, there are also historical houses with mature trees, homes from the post-World War II boom years, homes in desert areas and luxurious mansions.

One of the most exciting developments is the rise of hundreds of new condos in urban settings, particularly in downtown Phoenix, Scottsdale and near a man-made lake in downtown Tempe, home of Arizona State University. The downtown Phoenix and Tempe areas are linked by a light-rail line.

Backyard swimming pools are popular because of the 110-plus-degree summers.

A boom in freeway construction over the past decade has opened up numerous areas for living, especially on the edges of the Phoenix area. Some of these areas are so near the desert you can hear coyotes howling at night.

So choose your lifestyle, your swimming pool and your own oasis, whether that’s life in a high-rise condo within walking distance of sporting facilities, restaurants and art museums, mowing a grass lawn or tending to a low-maintenance desert-landscaped home.

Resale homes

Like everywhere else in the country, sales of existing homes have slowed, creating a large selection of about 53,500 homes from which to choose. Prices have been dropping.

Resale residences include homes on the edges of the Phoenix area that may be only a few years old, especially in Surprise, Maricopa and Queen Creek. While the commutes may be longer and the lots smaller, the prices are lower than in more central areas.

Homeowners associations are more commonly associated with newer homes.

Advantages to buying older homes include shorter commutes, larger lots and established neighborhoods. And some areas can make you feel like you’re back in the Midwest, California or wherever you are moving from.

Master-planned and gated communities

People like these communities because of the security and because the homeowners associations generally help the homes hold their values. Many are built around golf courses.

Typically, these communities feature several builders, common swimming pools and lush but low-water landscaping and recreation facilities.

Active-adult communities

Retirement communities have been part of Phoenix-area history for almost 50 years. The first retirement community in the country, Sun City, opened in 1960 in the northwest Valley. Now there is a Sun City West near the original Sun City, and far across the eastern side of the Valley, Sun City Anthem in the historic town of Florence.

There is also Sun Lakes, near Chandler, and hundreds of age-restricted communities featuring manufactured and site-built houses around swimming pools, recreation and fitness centers and sometimes golf courses. Mesa is known for dozens of manufactured-home communities that cater to retired visitors.

Custom homes

Luxurious homes are still located mostly in the Scottsdale, Paradise Valley and Carefree areas. But there are now also pockets of mansions in east Mesa; the Ocotillo area of south Chandler; Tempe; north Phoenix; and the Ahwatukee Foothills area of Phoenix.

The mansions usually sit on at least three-quarters of an acre and have a swimming pool. They often also offer the refreshing sounds of trickling water.

Condominiums

There has been a boom in condo construction in recent years as more homeowners choose shorter commutes, more culture-oriented lifestyles or nighttime views of thousands of twinkling lights from high-rise windows.

Just about every downtown has condos from which to choose.

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The financial storm brewing around Mortgages Ltd. has touched two key downtown Phoenix projects, a blow to ongoing efforts to reinvigorate the city’s heart.

There is no more loan money to fund construction and renovation work for Hotel Monroe, a high-profile luxury project, the developer said Tuesday.

And a proposed Jackson [...]]]> Lender’s downfall puts Phoenix downtown in limbo

The financial storm brewing around Mortgages Ltd. has touched two key downtown Phoenix projects, a blow to ongoing efforts to reinvigorate the city’s heart.

There is no more loan money to fund construction and renovation work for Hotel Monroe, a high-profile luxury project, the developer said Tuesday.

And a proposed Jackson Street entertainment district is looking for new lenders for a land deal.
And it was unclear if other downtown projects could be next.

It’s unknown what developments are among the estimated 70 loans in the embattled Phoenix company’s $925 million loan portfolio.

The downtown projects are significant because Phoenix and state officials have invested years of planning and millions of taxpayer dollars to resuscitate what had once been a sleepy business district.

On Tuesday, city officials downplayed the impact, noting that Phoenix has many successful downtown projects under way. That includes the expanding Arizona State University downtown Phoenix campus, the $600 million convention-center expansion and the nearly complete 1,000-room Sheraton hotel project, said Phoenix’s downtown-development director John Chan.

“One segment of the market is slowing down, but there are a lot of positive things going on in downtown Phoenix,” said Chan,adding that the Mortgages Ltd. meltdown is a symptom of the national credit crisis.

Yet, the Mortgages Ltd. fallout left two projects scrambling for new lenders.

• On Tuesday, the developer behind a $100 million boutique-hotel project announced that renovations at the historic 1930s office building are winding down. The renovated hotel was expected to open Oct 1.

Its developer, Grace Communities, has been paying contracting expenses out of its reserves because Mortgages Ltd. has stopped funding its loan, which was for $75.6 million, said Jonathon Vento, a partner with Grace.

He declined to estimate how long the project would be delayed, noting that the company is in the process of renegotiating contracts with vendors.

Mortgages Ltd. has said it believes lawsuits filed by Grace and other borrowers are efforts by borrowers that are in default to buy time.

Vento insists Grace has not defaulted on any loan payments to Mortgages Ltd. and that the lender’s claims are attempts to distract attention from its financial situation.

• Mortgages Ltd. has also loaned an undisclosed “seven figures-plus” sum to Dale Jensen, one of the developers behind a planned Jackson Street entertainment district near Chase Field, Jensen said.

Jensen is looking for another lender to take over the loan, which helped finance a land deal connected to the entertainment district.

“That’s all I am doing night and day, arranging alternate financing,” Jensen said, adding that the loan helped to buy two city blocks directly south of the Summit at Copper Square condo tower.

Jackson Street has also faced delays, but they are unrelated to the Mortgages Ltd. problem, Jensen says.

Mortgages Ltd., the state’s largest private lender, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Monday. On Tuesday, Judge Randolph Haines granted Mortgages Ltd.’s motion to convert the case to voluntary Chapter 11, but tabled a request from Grace to appoint an independent trustee to take over the lender’s operations.

Mortgages Ltd. has made several changes to its business, prompted by the apparent suicide of Chairman and CEO Scott Coles on June 2.

The company financed commercial real-estate projects for developers using money it raised through accredited investors to fund the loans.

Since Coles’ death, the company said it is no longer making loans or accepting new money from investors.

Effects from the case have rippled to projects across the Valley. In addition to Phoenix projects, the lender’s borrowers include developers in Tempe and Scottsdale.
Source: AZ Republic

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