This article has been archived, please login for access or sign up now for a free trial.

Richmond American Homes of Arizona (Michael Del Castillo, Regional Vice-President), a wholly owned subsidiary of M.D.C. Holdings of Delaware (NYSE:MDC), bought 40-lots at Oasis Hills II in Marana from Red Point Development (Daniel Leung, President) for[mepr-show rules=”58038″]$810,000 ($20,250 per lot). Located southeast of Camino De Manana and Oasis Road in Marana, the lots were platted and engineered at time of sale with an average lot size of 5,420 sq. ft.

Richmond will join builder, D.R. Horton, in this Northwest subdivision. D.R. Horton began building in June 2012 after buying 83-finished lots with an average lot size of 6,277 sq. ft. for $42,000 per lot.

M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1972 and is based in Denver, Colorado. M.D.C. reports in their 2012 Annual SEC report:
“As a result of our strategic initiatives and a recovering housing market, we achieved full year profitability of $62.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2012, which represented four consecutive quarters of operating profits and more than a $160 million improvement in our net income over 2011. Our favorable results were largely attributable to better operating profits from our homebuilding segment, which experienced significant revenue growth as well as operating margin expansion. In addition, our financial services segment profit increased considerably as we took advantage of favorable mortgage market conditions, including higher volume and margins for our mortgage loan products.”

Presidio Engineering of Tucson (John Wood, President) provided the civil engineering services for preliminary and final plat preparation of the new 40-lot residential subdivision on 9.89 acres, zoned “F” in the Cascada Specific Plan and MDR (Medium Density Residential) in Marana. Engineering of the lots included mass grading plan, paving and sewer plan, water plan, a Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) and construction observation.

Dan Feig of Chapman Lindsey in Tucson represented the seller in the trasaction.

Del Castillo can be reached at (520) 229-5454. Leung is at (520) 408-2300. Feig can be contacted at (520) 747-4000.[/mepr-show]

This article has been archived, please login for access or sign up now for a free trial.

Ethan Christopher, LLC of Encina, CA, a syndicator of the purchase of medical office buildings and shopping centers in Southern California and Arizona purchased through its affiliate, EC Irvington Foundation, LLC the shopping center at 1758-1850 E Irvington Road and 4980 S Campbell Ave in Tucson for[mepr-show rules=”58038″]$5.95 million ($108 PSF). Leon, LLC (Gabriel Gutierrez Gomez) was the seller.

The 54,480 sq. ft. shopping center at Irvington Road and Campbell Avenue was fully leased to sixteen tenants when it sold. Tenants include Goodwill of Southern Arizona, O’Reilly Auto Parts, KinderCare, Sunny Daze Cafe, Ace Cash Express, Advance Cuts, Liberty Tax, Egee’s, New Nails, Major League Barber Ship, Wash Mill, Oasis Insurance, T-Mobile and Sue’s Fashion and two kiosks leased to Wells Fargo ATM and Rjen Aqua – Water.

Ethan Christopher was founded in 1999, and owns and operates approximately 1.6 million sq. ft. of medical office buildings and shopping centers. The Company is a hands-on operator for approximately 700,000 sq. ft. of medical office properties and another 900,000 square feet of shopping centers. The Arizona subsidiary of the firm, Ethan Christopher Arizona LLC, manages shopping centers in the Phoenix area and claims to be the largest landlord for Goodwill stores in Arizona. Ethan Christopher AZ, LLC coordinates the management activities of the firm’s Arizona assets from its Peoria office.

“O’Reilly’s is a beautiful store and the Walgreen’s on the corner was recently upgraded; the only work needed at the center is parking lot repair, that will be expensive and will probably be done this Fall,” said Browne.

Ethan Christopher has holdings in California, Nevada, Oklahoma, Texas and Arizona and is actively looking to acquire additional medical offices and shopping centers in Tucson. The Company’s preferred products are valued at $3 million and up, with preference for value-added transactions (70-85% leased), but the Company will consider stabilized properties with an upside and at least five tenants, with staggered lease expirations.

Mark Ruble, Senior VP of Investment at Marcus & Millichap, in Phoenix represented the investor. David Lee of the David Lee Real Estate Company in Tucson represented the seller.

For more information on Ethan Christopher contact Aric Browne or Mark Hamermesh at (818) 986-9174. Ruble can be reached at (602) 687-6766 and Lee is at (520) 795-3199.

[/mepr-show]

This article has been archived, please login for access or subscribe now for a free trial.

[mepr-show rules=”58038″]

Rosemont Copper Company, a subsidiary of Canadian-based Augusta Resource Corporation (TSX/NYSE:AZC), acquired 7.8 acres for $600,000 at 18500-18590 Old Nogales Hwy in Tucson from John J Thomas and Sutah J Harris, for utilitarian use. Located between a gravel pit and the Green Valley water recharge station, the property included four older buildings (built 1957-1972) totaling 5,065 sq. ft., but was purchased for its land value and for use to support access to power switching and water pipeline stations to the copper mine, about 30 miles south of Tucson in the Santa Rita Mountains, partly on US Forest Service land and therein lies the delays.

Over seven years have passed since Rosemont started the approval process for the project, and it has now received seven of the eight major permits needed, all but one to begin construction. Earning a license to mine in Arizona is a complex process, with years of study, analysis, paperwork and permitting before proceeding to construction. Get the federal government involved and the process becomes even more complex and even longer. Rosemont’s commitment and perseverance has paid off however, and the Company is optimistic this last major permit, the Clean Water Act Section 404 Permit from the US Army Corp of Engineers, will be received by the Fall if not by midsummer.

Although Rosemont Copper promises new environmental standards that employ water conservation and recycling techniques that are the first-of-their-kind in Arizona for mining, permits have come slowly. The Company has tried to meet the public challenges head-on by open disclosure and transparency in its dealings with the public. Rosemont continues to grow supporters from former opponents, for its much needed job creation that would jump-start the economy in the region. It continues to offer tours of the site twice a week and host numerous public information meetings.

During the mines’ first 20 years, 450 annual direct and an estimated 1,700 indirect jobs would be created locally, 2,900 created at the state level and 4,200 national jobs. It is predicted that the mine will have an annual economic impact of $701-million to Pima, Cochise and Santa Cruz counties, a $900-million impact to Arizona and $1.3-billion impact to the United States.

When finally in production, the mine will account for about 10% of the US copper production. With proven and probable reserves of 2.67 Mt (5.9 billion pounds), the mine is expected to produce 110 kt/a (243 million lbs/year) of copper, 2.4 kt/a (5.4 million lbs/year) of molybdenum and 90.2 t/a (2.9 million oz per year) of silver.

Construction will take about 22 months from final approval, with production expected in 2015, without further unforeseen delays.

Bill McReynolds of Genesis Real Estate & Management in Tucson handled the transaction for seller and buyer.

McReynolds can be reached at (520) 247-8077. Rosemont is at (520) 495-3500.

[/mepr-show]