Entries from May 2008 ↓
May 15th, 2008 — Commerical Developments, Consumer Resources, Tucson News
In today’s Arizona Daily Star, there is an article about the final gasp of the De Anza Drive-In to make way for another big-box “Power Center”. A short excerpt:
A developer is finalizing a deal to buy the De Anza Drive-In, at 1401 S. Alvernon Way, and has already started marketing it as a retail complex.
Evergreen Development Co. is calling the project De Anza Crossings, a 20-acre retail “power center,” in marketing materials distributed by Picor Commercial Real Estate Services.
Gregg Alpert, Evergreen managing principal, declined to say when he expects the sale to be final, saying only that it would be “later this year.” As far as Alpert knows, De Anza Land and Leisure doesn’t have plans to keep running the theater after the sale, but “we would be open to it,” he said.
The past several years in Tucson has seen a tremendous amount of growth and if you stop and think about it, these commercial “power centers” are fast becoming a mainstay of every burgeoning city. Here’s a list (I typed “short list” at first but then realized my mistake) of “power centers” in the Tucson area.
List of Tucson Power Centers
- Rooney Ranch - Located on the SW corner of 1st Avenue and Oracle (technically Oro Valley), Rooney Ranch, developed by Barclay, sits on 65 acres and consists of a Home Depot, Fry’s, Target, Ross, Sport Authority, PetSmart, Office Max, and Starbucks.
- Tucson Spectrum, a 1 million square-foot power center at the SW corner of I-19 and Irvington Road. Also developed by Barclay, this power center boasts giants such as Best Buy, J.C. Penney, Sports Authority, Pier 1 Imports, Old Navy, and a Harkins Theatre occupying 620,000 square feet.
- Oro Valley Marketplace - Located at Tangerine/Oracle Road and developed by Vestar, Oro Valley Marketplace is 800,000 square feet and features merchants such as a Wal-Mart Supercenter, Best Buy, Century Theatres, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Cost Plus World Market, and a few restaurants to boot.
Upcoming List of Tucson Power Centers
- Marana Spectrum - In my previous post I wrote about this development, to be located at the southeast corner of Camino de Manana and Linda Vista Boulevard (east of I-10 between Cortaro and Avra Valley) and will cover nearly 170 acres. Estimated to have roughly 100 stores, Marana Spectrum will carry 3 “anchor stores” of at least 100,000 sqft, making the total square footage approximately equal to that of the Tucson Mall.
- Tangerine Crossings - a 1 million-plus square foot project at the NE corner of I-10 and Tangerine Road in Marana being planned by Westcor, developer of La Encantada in the Catalina Foothills. The new Tangerine road (realigned and 4 lanes) is officially set to open June 25, 2008.
- De Anza Crossings - 20 acre spread located where the current De Anza Drive-In resides. Projected to be finalized late 2008.
- Passages of Tucson - This may stand in category by itself. When (and if) completed, Passages of Tucson will be 4.3 million square feet of retail, commercial, and residential space. Featuring a series of villages, the developer plans on building eight themed areas, grouping similar stores, restaurants, offices and activity centers into one area. The villages would follow a Southwestern motif, incorporating “new urbanism” design principles, with pedestrian-friendly streets and open courtyards. With final buildout not scheduled until 2020 (wow!) it remains to be seen if this behemoth will ever take shape.
I think that growth overall is good for Tucson. The De Anza development will be first power center that actually is built in town, everything on the list above basically sticks to the lifeline of the freeway for traffic flow, and with the limited transportation system in Tucson, there are only a few ways to expand.
What do you readers think? Good or bad?
UPDATE 6/14/2008:
May 13th, 2008 — Consumer Resources, Tucson Real Estate
Good Morning everyone, the Tucson Association of Realtors, (TAR), has released the Tucson Housing Market sales statistics for April 2008. Here is a summary of the important points:
Sales Analysis
Average and Median Sales Price Decreases
Average and median sales price both decreased in April 2008. Average sales price declined to $253,729 - down 8.91% from April 2007 and down nearly $6,000 from last month! Median sales price also declined nearly $30k from April 2007.
Active Listings Continue Declining
Active listings have declined since January and in April 2008 stood at 8,808 units. With the summer season coming up we should see a slight rise in inventory.
Days on Market Rises Again
Average time on market continues to float near our highest level in several years with 78 days the average DOM for April 2008.
Home Sales Snapshot
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Home Sales Volume
Decreased 49.31% from $367,164,710 in April 2007 to $246,878,039 in April 2008. Graph on page 5. |
Average Days on Market
Increased 35.3% from 65 days in April 2007 to 78 days in April 2008. Graph on page 10. |
Home Sales Units
Decreased 26.17% from 1,318 in April 2007 to 973 in April 2008. Graph on page 4. |
Pending Contracts (not yet closed in escrow)
Increased 27.11% from 1,217 in April 2007 to 1,547 in April 2008. Graph on page 7. |
Average Sales Price (all residential types)
Decreased 8.91% from $278,577 in April 2007 to $253,729 in April 2008. Graph on page 6. |
Active Listings
Decreased 15.2% from 10,387 in April 2007 to 8,808 in April 2008. Graph on page 9. |
Median Sales Price
Decreased 13.3% from $2224,921 in April 2007 to $195,000 in April 2008. Graph on page 7. |
New Listings
Decreased 20.87% from 3,085 in April 2007 to 2,441 in April 2008. Graph on page 11. |
Tucson is feeling the final repercussions of the housing market decline and credit crisis. All market indicator bearings are in the red and the sole statistic that is on the rise is the Days on Market! All of this points to the Tucson market finally coming to terms with the events of the past few years and sellers who are finally realistic about the value of their home.
As I wrote about last year (Tucson May 2007 Housing Report), a large part of the inflated market that seemed to exist in Tucson were the homeowners who still believed that they could fetch top dollar for their homes like they could back in 2004-2005. Once it became apparent this was not the case homes began to fall off the market and/or were priced more realistically.
Foreclosures and short sales continue to have a place in the Tucson market but it certainly seems that these two issues are not nearly as rampant as they were in the better part of last year. Perhaps a sign of things to come?
So there you have it, Tucson real estate news for April 2008. If you have any questions or are in the market for a home in Tucson please feel free to contact me on my Tucson Real Estate website!
May 12th, 2008 — Tucson Attractions
Being in Tucson and missing out on Sabino Canyon is a tragedy. Sabino Canyon is a natural desert oasis located in the Coronado National forest and is home to numerous eco habitats, rare species of trees, animals and birds. It’s a perfect place for a family picnic or maybe you can quench your thirst of nature photography with the sun playing hide and seek behind overgrown pear cacti. The Canyon also offers the pleasure of walking through miles and miles of wilderness that is teeming with wildlife.
Located in southern foothills of the Catalina Mountain Range, Sabino Canyon is easily accessible by taking Sunrise Drive east until you run into Sabino Canyon Drive. Sabino Canyon is a very popular hiking destination and offers several trails of varying skill levels.
Blackett’s Ridge Trail
An adventurer’s prescription of the day will be the Blackett’s Ridge Trail. It is called the classic hike of Sabino Canyon and you can wander through the thick vegetation and over the ridge that lies between the Sabino Canyon and Bear Canyon. It begins where the phoneline trail ends and is an upward climb through a forest of ocotillo and saguaro but once you reach Blackett’s Ridge you will find spectacular views of Tucson and Mt. Lemmon.
Facts
Length of the trail: 1.7 miles
Highest elevation change in the trail: 4410 feet
Best Season: Anytime
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