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Friday Volume 3 Issue 7 By Subscription Only Issue Date: March 9, 2012 CONNECTING THE LOCAL BUILDING INDUSTRY State Unemployment Sits at 8.7%; Construction Remains Virtually Flat The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for Source: Source: Arizona in January was 8.7%. The unemployment rate AZ Dept of for December 2011 was revised upward from 8.7% to Administration 9.0%. As a consequence of the annual benchmarking process, unemployment rates for prior months were also revised. See pages 4 and 5 for details on this year’s annual benchmarking. The U.S. unemployment rate in January fell two‐tenths of a percent from 8.5% in December to 8.3% in January. Over‐the‐month job losses are typical in January. Arizona lost 34,300 or ‐1.4% of the Nonfarm jobs in January. Leaner hiring in the fourth quarter was a contributing factor for lower than average seasonal losses in January. The recent tenyear average (2002‐ 2011) was a loss of 59,700 Nonfarm jobs or ‐2.4%. The pre‐recession ten‐year average (1996‐2007) was ‐2.4% or a loss of 55,500 jobs. Jobs were lost in both the Private Sector (‐27,000) and Government (‐7,300). The majority of the losses in the Private Sector were seasonal. Retail Trade (‐ 8,700) and Employment Services industries (‐6,500) lost the most jobs, reflecting typical staff reductions after the holiday shopping season. Construction lost 100 jobs or ‐0.1% well below the average (‐5,700 or ‐3.3%). The Construction Sector has significantly reduced the size of its workforce over the last few years and companies now tend to have much leaner staffing levels. (Continued on page 3) IN THIS ISSUE: (Click on Hyperlink to Jump to Starting Page) 31 Design/Consultant 17 Commercial 11 Products/Equipment 75 Horizontal/Utilities 37 Maintenance 67 Bid Results/Awards The Arizona Builder’s Exchange is a compilation of information gathered from the public domain. Individual articles are protected by their respective copyright. The publication as a whole is copyright protected to the Arizona Builder’s Exchange. To forward or share the information with others is a violation of that copyright, punishable by law. 2 Volume 3 Issue 7 Table of Contents Dysart Unified School District Short on Salt-River Indian Community Withdraws 3 Bond Funds 11 Support from Riparian Project Aging Schools Put Mesa Public Play Ball! The Economic Impact of 4 Schools in Bond Mode 12 Spring Training & The Cactus League Peoria & Deer Valley Consider Peoria Renews Spring Training Lease, 5 Bond Issues 13 Will Invest $48M As Part of Deal ADOT Seeks Federal Grant to Chandler May Put off Bonds Indefinitely 5 14 Finish Hwy 260 Widening Chandler’s Award-Winning Use Developers Corner 7 14 of Recycled Asphalt 7 Goodyear Settles Lawsuit Over Land 14 Goodyear Backs Loop 303 Extension Midwestern to Invest $90M in Development Project Opportunities 8 16 Veterinarian School Bullhead City Discusses Interest in Holiday Inn Express Planned 8 Section 12 Development 16 for Bullhead City House Revives Bill Requiring Tucson 9 to Deliver Water to Planned 17-22 Bid Results/Awards Development 9 Phoenix Land Prices Bottoming Out 23 Business News City of Phoenix Moves to Electronic Plan Industry Events 10 Review 25 Audit Finds Maricopa County Project Solicitations 10 Planning is Inconsistent 26-43 AZBEX News: Editor’s Pick from the Last Issue: Be sure to check out the new 'Developer's Corner' on page 7. Feds Set Aside Another 40,000 We're always working to improve Rebekah Morris Acres for Renewable Energy Chief Projects in No AZ the quality of the publication! ABM Development Services We set a record for Bid Results/ Rachel Kettenhofen Proposes $80M Resort Near Awards this week with 67! Indian Poland Junction 3 Friday, March 9, 2012 State Unemployment Sits at 8.7%; Construction Remains Virtually Flat Over‐the‐Year Changes Source: AZ Dept of Over the year, Arizona had a net gain Administration of 37,800 jobs or 1.6% (see Figure 4). Ten of the eleven major sectors gained jobs. The Construction sector added 5,400 jobs. Gains in Construction were in the Specialty Trades (+6,100) and Heavy Construction (+300) industries. The Construction of Buildings industry lost 1,000 jobs. For the entire report with data across all industries, click here. Source: Prepared by the Arizona Office of Employment and Population Statistics, in cooperation with the U.S. Dept. of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics Dysart Unified School District Short on Bond Funds By Amy B Wang In the spectrum that runs between the "haves" and the have had voter approval but can't issue bonds because "have nots" for school facilities, the Dysart Unified School for the Arizona sagging property prices have left them over their legal District counts itself as one of the more fortunate districts Republic debt cap. in the state. All 24 schools in the district, which quadrupled in size Read more at: AZCentral over the past decade, have been either renovated or built since 2000. All 24 schools in the Dysart Unified School As a result, most of the district's buildings are in relatively District have been good repair, said Scott Thompson, the district's executive either renovated or director of business services. built since 2000. However, nearly all maintenance projects for the district have been put on hold for the past three years. The list includes tasks like painting buildings, replacing carpet, resealing roofs and repairing parking lots. Dysart currently has no budget for capital projects. So far, the district has postponed repairs and used money from renting out its facilities to repaint some buildings. In addition, Dysart is over its bonding capacity by about $50 million -- the result of declining property values in Surprise and El Mirage -- and cannot issue new bonds to cover capital projects until their debts are either paid off below its limit or until the state Legislature raises the statutory limit. Dysart is not alone. More than half of Arizona school districts with Class B bonding authority either have not issued any bonds in more than a decade, have been shot down by voters every time they have tried to do so or Photo Credit: Amy B Wang/ The Republic 4 Volume 3 Issue 7 Aging Schools Put Mesa Public Schools in Bond Mode By Cathryn With six schools that date to the 1950s and 10 more that Along with agreeing that the district needs to ask voters were built in the 1960s, Mesa Public Schools struggles to approve a bond, the district governing board agreed Creno for the daily to keep faucets flowing, classrooms cool and floors that the district needs a 10-year maintenance and Arizona Republic dry in buildings that are more than a half-century old. construction plan. Mesa, the largest school district in Arizona, spends more The district also will hire an architect and a pollster to than $20 million annually on building maintenance and make recommendations to the panel. has a staff of more than 500, including construction, In some cases, said Bobette Sylvester, the district's maintenance and custodial assistant superintendent for business and support Mesa building maintenance by the numbers: workers who are ready at the services, the panel might recommend that schools be torn first sign of a cooling problem, $20 million: Mesa Public Schools annual down and replaced instead of remodeled. plumbing problem or roof leak. maintenance budget. Read more at: AZCentral Governing board members are 7.3 million: Number of square feet in considering asking voters in district's school and administration buildings. November to approve a bond 566:Number of district construction, that would allow the district to maintenance and grounds workers. make repairs to buildings and also invest in new classroom 84: Number of schools operated by MPS. technology. The general amount that has been discussed is $250 million, but an exact figure has not been determined. Sixty percent of a $250 million bond -- about $165 million -- would go to new construction and repairs and remodeling of existing buildings. The district has about $1.9 million remaining from a bond approved by voters in 2005. But that money will be spent on two major projects: demolishing 60-year-old Mesa Junior High, which will close at the end of the school year, and remodeling half-empty Brimhall Junior High, built in 1992, into a Franklin basics school. The district, with its 64,000 students and annual operating budget of $572 million, is in better shape than many smaller districts: It had the funds to keep 103 skilled tradesmen, from plumbers to electricians to HVAC specialists, and four licensed construction inspectors on its staff to repair much of what breaks. "I have talented guys who can do things for just the cost of materials," said Mesa schools construction director Dennis Gearhart, who ran a contracting company for 14 years before joining Mesa schools. Photo Credit: Charlie Leight/The Republic The 10-year-old cooling tower walls show significant rust damage at Longfellow Elementary School in Mesa Is there something you want us to track that we aren’t already tracking? Let us know and we may add it to our list, so you can take it off yours!! Email [email protected]. 5 Friday, March 9, 2012 Peoria & Deer Valley Consider Bond Issues By Kristena Voters in the Peoria and Deer Valley have approved because of declining unified school districts may be asked for property values, according to data Hansen for the more local funding this year as state collected by The Arizona Republic. Arizona Republic money for school facilities has largely The governor and state lawmakers are vanished.

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