The February Get Your PHX at the Dressing Room as been a long time coming. monOrchid owner, Wayne Rainey, has been dreaming of turning this structure in to a micro restaurant for years. After lots of hard work and a few set-backs, he’s finally done it.

Of course, it would not be what it is without the people behind the restaurant itself. You will have a chance to meet Kyu Otsunomiya and Troy Watkins, the brains behind the venture. The two have been friends for 20 years and have worked some of the top restaurants and hotels in the world. They will tell us how they used Kickstarter to launch the Dressing room, and their vision for the future.

The Dressing Room is designed to serve “Global Street Food” from a Micro Restaurant that also has a respectable craft cocktail list, wine & beer. The will be a full service, fast causal restaurant.  

They have also activated the back alley to include a 40 seat patio, designed around a full grown Native Mesquite Tree and a converted construction dumpster, which had been turned into a full fledged prep kitchen.

So, there you go: adaptive reuse.

They will be open Mon – Thurs:11am to 11pm; Fri – Sat: 11am – Midnight & Sun – 11am to 10pm. They will also have a happy hour every day (Half-off all specialty drinks, beer & wine from 11am to 6pm).

So, there you go: day drinking on Sundays!

The dressing room has a storied history, in case you don’t know. Decades ago there was a bar where the apartment building is now next door. You may have known that building at Greenhaus boutique. That bar had an original piece of art on the wall by Ettore DeGrazia, which was destroyed when the developer put up the apartments. (tisk, tisk).

Anyway, when that building was a bar, local drag artists would put on shows for adoring crowds. Because the bar was so small, the performers had to go to the little structure across the dark alley to get ready to go on, then scoot back in time for their next performance. It was their dressing room.

The current owners have kept the name in honor of the performers. At a time when downtown Phoenix was a little dangerous and in an era when performing in drag could put you in real danger (even more than today), these artists really put themselves out there for their craft.

When: February 16th at 5:30 pm
Where: 220 East Roosevelt.
Sign up at this link to reserve your spot.

Its that time of year again. The Devour Culinary Classic is February 26th through March 5th.

The Devour Culinary Classic is the region’s premier annual event hosted by Phoenix Art Museum, Local First Arizona and the Devour Phoenix Restaurant Coalition. Now offering a week-long series at multiple venues in Phoenix, the events showcase the fine food and drink restaurants, producers and purveyors of Arizona while furthering metro Phoenix as a dining destination worthy of international prestige.

An event for every taste, the series culminates into the ultimate two-day Devour Culinary Classic featuring culinary curators and purveyors who support the Arizona food, wine and restaurant industries. Attendees have the chance to partake in innovative culinary demonstrations, meet top chefs and restaurateurs as well as taste an enormous array of culinary excellence from the region’s best chefs, restaurants, local food artisans, brewers, and vintners.

In 2017, the Devour Culinary Classic will celebrate its eighth annual event with over 100 of Arizona’s best culinary personalities from restaurant owners and chefs to food producers, wine makers, distillers and craft brewers who will come together to create an incredibly unique culinary experience for 4,000 lucky guests. Attendees can expect the utmost in lively food experiences: partake in innovative culinary demonstrations and taste workshops, meet the makers of your favorite edibles and drinkables and taste an enormous array of culinary excellence from the region’s best.

And since Devour is put on by our besties at Local First Arizona, of course we want to make sure you know about it!

Your February Market update indicates a continued strong market with sellers having the advantage as we go in to the busiest time of year.

Here’s what our friends at the Cromford Report have to say:

“New listings have been arriving at a slower rate than last year, adding to the problems faced by buyers. Although the overall number of active listings excluding UCB increased by 2.4% during the month, this is an unusually low growth for January and many areas have experienced an unexpected decline in listings over the past 31 days.

This imbalance between supply and demand is true throughout most of the low and mid price ranges, but is less of a factor in the higher price areas, particularly in the outer locations. While this imbalance persists, it is likely to lead to further price rises. We saw a substantial 1.1% rise in the average price per sq. ft. during last month, but the median sales price remained flat for the second month. The average price per sq. ft. is a better reflection of what is going on.”

Anecdotally in CenPho and the historic neighborhoods, we are continuing to see a strong seller’s market, as well as new listings. There is a little dip in prices in the chart below, but it is yet to be seen as to whether this is the hold-over from the end of the year. I would guess that it is more of a blip because the contract ratios are still moving upward, as we would expect this time of year.

In short, if you are looking purchase, you will want to either get on it now or wait for at least a year.

If you are thinking of selling, 2017 is definitely the time to do it.

By the way, we also work in other areas of town. We do this analysis for CenPho and the historic neighborhoods because we get most requests for that analysis.

If you would like us to analyze the market for you in any other area of Maricopa county, please give us a call at 602-456-9388.

Handy-dandy charts for your February Market Update are below:

The market analysis shows a small shift in prices, but probably not significant.

The seller’s advantage continues upward as the year begins.

The number of listings continues to climb. Will that eventually put a downward pressure on prices?

Contract Ratios -the ratio of homes that close in any given month, of all of those on the market of any status

The new Recyclebank innovation from the City of Phoenix allows you to get credits at local businesses for recycling your trash.

Recyclebank, Phoenix’s new partner in waste diversion and sustainability, invites Phoenix residents and other members of the community to a family-friendly event 5 to 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 31, at the Arizona Science Center, 600 E. Washington St. The goal of the event to introduce the Phoenix community to a new rewards program that educates participants on how to divert more waste from the landfill while earning redeemable points.

The rewards program works by going to recyclebank.com, where participants can easily sign up to activate their account. The website offers several sustainability articles and waste diversion tips participants can read and then earn points that will be added to their account. The site also has videos, recycling tips, craft ideas using recyclable materials, as well as opportunities to enroll in any of Phoenix’s solid waste programs, all of which allow participants to earn points.

Points can be redeemed for savings at local businesses and national chains, such as Bunky Boutique, AMC Theatres and Target.

For mobile device users, the Recyclebank app can be downloaded for free.

At the free, family-friendly community event, guests can enjoy activities that help them understand the importance of sustainability through hands-on demonstrations presented by the Arizona Science Center staff. In the Urban Heat Island demonstration, guests will explore ways to change landscapes to adapt to hot environments and conserve water; the Plarn demonstration, guests learn how to make yarn out of the world’s most thrown-out objects; and in the Water Roll demonstration, guests become a sustainability scientist and learn about water conservation.

There is no cost to attend the event, but RSVPs are strongly encouraged at Eventbrite.

Recyclebank’s rewards program is part of the city’s effort to educate the community about recycling more, recycling right and other waste diversion programs. Under the Reimagine Phoenix initiative, Phoenix strives to reach its goal of a 40 percent waste diversion rate by 2020 through enhanced solid waste programs, public-private partnerships and expansion of its community and educational outreach.

The Green Cleaning Tip for February from our friends at GoingGreenHouse.com is particularly useful if you have any stainless steel in your home and you don’t want to use poisonous chemicals.

Many of our major household appliances are stainless steel. If you’ve owned one for long enough, though, you know it’s not exactly “stainless”.  Greasy fingerprints and water stains are all too common on refrigerators, dishwashers, and stoves—and it definitely doesn’t look pretty. Luckily, there is an amazing, all natural way to clean the unsightly mess from your stainless appliances. All you need is olive oil and vinegar.

You’ll need:

• Spray bottle
• 1 part vinegar and 1 part water mixture
• Microfiber cloth
• Olive oil

1. Start by cleaning your appliance with the vinegar and water mixture. Be generous. Use paper towel or cloth to wipe clean in the direction of the grain. This should remove the basic debris, like stuck on food or sticky fingerprints.
2. Dip your microfiber cloth in a small bit of olive oil. You can always dip again if you need more.
3. Polish the appliance in the direction of the grain. The fingerprints and water marks should start to disappear.
4. Buff out any streaks, and BAM! Now you’ve got a shiny appliance again!

It really is as simple as that. If you’ve used this natural magic to clean all your stainless appliances, and are bummed you have nothing left to make shiny, you can also do something similar to your stainless steel sink! Yep, that’s right!

Now, obviously the sink gets a lot more use than the other appliances, so olive oil would not be used for this, but hang on to that vinegar and water mixture!

You’ll need:

• Spray bottle
• 1 part vinegar 1 part water mixture
• Baking soda
• Water
• Microfiber towels

1. Spray the vinegar and water mixture all over the sink to clean the initial mess. For added shine (and fresh, citrusy goodness) cut a lemon in half and rub all over sink and faucet.
2. Mix baking soda and water together until it forms a paste.
3. Scrub the sink with the paste. For extra tough stains or spots, let it sit for 20 mins. Then rinse clean.
4. Dry with microfiber cloth.

All this heavenly shine from just a few ingredients you probably already have lying around the house! So, if you’re tired of your dull, messy stainless steel appliances, give this a try! It’s amazing!

Green Cleaning Tip for February

Our January Get Your PHX will be at JoBot….the reincarnated Jobot, that is.

And we want to take this opportunity to start a conversation with you about how you see the future of Roosevelt Row.

When Jobot announced that they were closing their doors on 5^th and Roosevelt Streets, I think we can agree that a shock a shock ran through our downtown community. It wasn’t just that we were losing another local business, or that 5^th Street was changing faster than we were ready for. No, it was that we felt the fate of the Roosevelt Row’s future was sealed because a giant had been brought down.

For many, Jobot represented a haven. Stories flooded the comments section of owner John Sagasta’s post about when they first came to Jobot. How it was the only place they felt they fit and that it represented a community of artists, welcomed resident ‘derelicts’ and changemakers alike… it was the hub for people who love Phoenix and are Roosevelt Row lifers, for better or worse.

The future seemed grim indeed…

But the storm has now cleared and Jobot has made a triumphant return. Now in its new location at the 3^rd Street split inside the Roosevelt Point high-rise, John Sagasta and his crew have retained the feel of Jobot in the industrial space with high-ceiling space. Behind the counter is an enormous art piece of the view from the patio of the former location taken from a photo by a fan. The new patio features the tilted red and white striped umbrellas we all know to be a Jobot exclusive.

The new location at the corner of a row of retailers inside Roosevelt Point’s ground level is also triumphant. The longtime success of Roosevelt Row is arguably due to the funky uniqueness created by the galleries, restaurants, bars, bike shops, tattoo shops, etc. In a word it has been the businesses that have created the community and will keep the community thriving.

So raise your pint with us this month as we congratulate John Sagasta and toast to their long future on RoRo!

When: Thursday, January 19^th from 5:30-7:30PM
Where: Jobot: 333 E. Roosevelt St.
Details: Free raffle ticket for each attendee, more to be announced!
RSVP: Click here and see our Facebook invite here.

Is the closing of Jobot Coffee in December the canary in the coal mine for the Roosevelt Row Arts District? While this closing was mostly a result of a dispute about rent, I see this as a regrettable result of costs going up for the long-time businesses and artists in our arts district downtown.

Source: Phoenix New Times

This is an area that was recognized in recent years as one of America’s best arts districts. But recently, the changes have been so drastic that people are questioning the future of arts in downtown.

As you drive south on 3rd St from McDowell, you no longer see the mish-mash of small structures and lots that used to be home to the arts. Now, you are met with a veritable canyon of apartments, which serve as a sterile gateway to downtown. They lack the affordable store-front space necessary for artists to thrive. They are over-built (there has been a 6 to 1 ratio of apartments to owner-occupied condos developed in Phoenix over the last two years), and they are too expensive.

We’ve also seen these developments squeezing local favorites. Art Haus is gone. The building that replaced it, with the help of APS almost unilaterally vetoed in-progress modifications by monOrchid to install a roof-top bar by moving electricity cables (unannounced) from one side of the dividing alleyway to the other. The wires would be a hazard to anybody seeking to enjoy a roof-top space because they are now within arm’s length reach of the rooftop space. So those plans were scraped and that money was lost.

It further hurt the community that, in a fit to undermine an arts district improvement plan that they saw as too personally expensive, a few businesses and their lobbyists at the Arizona Legislature torpedoed the plan while also making similar community improvement plans around the state virtually impossible.

So, this and other developments beg the question: can an arts district survive its own popularity? We know that three major groups drove the development of downtown over the last 20 years, making it a viable spot for ASU and others to expand. Those groups were the LGBT community, the arts community and historic preservationists.

Is it destined that any area that becomes popular like this will ultimately move out the people who made it popular? If so, where will they go? This thought has brought some of my friends to tears, who have worked for years to make downtown great. What of their vision, of the blood, sweat and personal treasure that they poured in to this area? Does it now belong to out-of-state apartment investors?

Or, is it possible as some of my friends maintain, that the city can support local artists and their business models?

Watch for public conversations about this in 2017. I don’t know yet where they will come from or who will lead them. But, I promise to report on them when they evolve. Could the canary in the coal mine spur positive changes?

We need to find a response to this trend as a community, or face losing that which makes us unique.

We are huge fans of the Desert Botanical Garden. We often send friends and clients who are moving to the valley to the garden to understand more about the beauty and sensitivity of our Sonoran desert.

So, we were thrilled to learn that in the latest round of ArtPlaceAmerica grants, the “Desert Botanical Garden will complete the design and construction of an 18-acre urban farm and amphitheater as a solution to the lack of access to nutritious food in South Phoenix. Building and programming the area’s first farmers’ market and community performance space, they will dismantle the stigma of farming for local residents by turning this food desert into an affordable, local-food oasis.”

As modern realtors, we know that the old mentality of scraping valuable habitat and spreading homes out in to the desert is counter-productive in the long term. The future is about smart density. part of that future also includes urban gardens. So, congratulations to our friends at the Desert Botanical Gardens for this new development.

As we do monthly, here’s a green cleaning tip of the month from our friends at Going Green House cleaning. We like their green cleaning tips and the fact that they make the choice to clean using all natural, non-toxic products. We like to think we are helping move the ball forward on sustainable living.

This month, April and her crew are extolling the virtues of one product, Dr. Bronner’s.

If you’ve been to an organic grocery store, you’ve probably seen rows of Dr. Bronner’s Castile soap, in a variety of scented mixtures, promising to have 18 different uses—and if you’re a devoted fan of the product, you know that there are MANY more than that.

Named after the olive oil based soaps that originated in Castile, Spain, Castile soap comes in liquid or bar form. It uses only vegetable oils like coconut, olive, hemp, and sometimes avocado, almond, or walnut oils instead of animal fats, so it is certified vegan.

Castile soap is also biodegradable and non toxic, making it a good friend for the environment. It’s also safe to use for pets and kids. If you’re particularly concerned about the heavy, toxic chemicals your current household cleaners and detergents contain and are looking for an all natural solution, this is a great place to start!

To mix up a batch of all-purpose cleaner that works great on countertops, toilets, and everything in between:

1. Choose your favorite Dr. Bronner Castile soap
2. Fill a spray bottle with water about ¾ of the way full
3. Add a ¼ cup of Dr. Bronner’s
4. If you want an anti-bacterial spray, add 15 drops tea tree oil
5. Fill the rest of the bottle with water
6. Finally, shake it up and it’s ready to make your home sparkle!

If you’re looking for a superb floor cleaner, with a fresh, but not overpowering smell, Dr. Bronner’s has a solution for that, too!

1. Choose your favorite Dr. Bronner Castile soap
2. Pour ½ cup of soap into a bucket
3. Dilute with 3 gallons of hot water

This all natural mop mixture is also what April and the Going Greenhouse gang use to make their client’s floors fresh and flawless!

For beautiful windows, try this recipe for window cleaner:

1. Add a tablespoon of Dr. Bronner’s into a quart of water in a spray bottle
2. Shake it up, and it’s ready to work it’s magic!
3. Follow up with a mixture of half water/half vinegar to prevent streaking

Use caution with Castile soap and vinegar, though. The more alkaline Castile soap mixing with the acidic vinegar can leave objects and surfaces with a white film that is difficult to remove. They also cancel each other’s potency if mixed together, so it’s best to use separately.

If this green cleaning tip hasn’t convinced you to ditch the harsh, unfriendly cleaners you may currently use, try it for yourself! You can purchase Dr. Bronner’s Castile soap at organic grocery stores like Whole Foods, Sprouts, or even at big box stores like Target.

I can tell you that we’ve tried this green cleaning tip

at home. We’ve had good results and I like the fact that we can control the scents of the soaps on our own, using extracts from mint, spearmint, tea tree oil, eucalyptus, and others. Its worth the effort to know that you are making a difference.

Real estate is like surfing. If you observe the waves long enough, you get to know the rhythms of the market. You can see how certain seasons advantage buyers vs sellers, or even when conditions might be better for new home buyers.

Have a look at this graph to illustrate. This is called the “contract ratio”. Its the ratio of all properties that actually sell and close, out of all of those listed each month.

For our purposes, the ratios represented in of this chart are not as important as the pattern you can see – the rhythms of the market. Notice that the percent of homes that sell and close tends to go down at about the same time every year: July – January. The percent goes up at about the same time every year: February – June. If you look closer, you will also see that Sept – Oct often stay very stable.

Why?

Well, more people are looking and purchasing from February to June. That means more buyers and more sellers. But, look. If you consider that most homes take 4-6 weeks to close from the time they are listed, then you can see that the homes listed in January represent the up-tick that you start to see each February.

The converse is true, too. If you are listing a home to sell in June, you have already crested that wave and fewer people are out looking for homes.

What I’ve observed by watching the rhythms of the market over the years is that you should list in January if you can. If you can list in the first half of the year, then aim for September. People tend to be back from vacation, and they get serious until Thanksgiving, when the tryptophan in their turkey puts them to sleep until about mid-January.

What you absolutely want to avoid doing, if you can, is listing in October or November. You will likely just accumulate days on market with fewer people out looking for homes.

Michelle and I have several new listings coming on in January and February. We know already that 2017 is supposed to see Phoenix as one of the busiest markets in the country. Now is the time to look (before interest rates go up) and now is the time to list (when people are the most active).

If you have questions about listing your home, give me a call at 602-456-9388. We can help you surf those market waves.