I’d like to introduce you to my friend Christy McClendon. She’s the VP of Programs for New Pathways for Youth, a non-profit organization located in the Garfield district of downtown Phoenix.

Christy is in charge of overall strategic and operational responsibility for the programs at New Pathways for Youth.  Her passion in the role comes from having been a child mentor for 8+ years. She understands the power of mentoring youth in need and the abundant opportunities to help them become their best self.

I believe that there are no bad kids.  Unfortunately, however, some youth have lesser opportunities than their more advantaged peers. Through mentoring, caring adults can transform lives by exposing youth to opportunities they  may not otherwise have to be successful in school and life.” ~ Christy McClendon

There’s over 100 Phoenix valley youth on waiting lists. They’re hoping and praying for adult mentors to enter their lives and guide them towards positive and bright futures. You remember what the years between 6^th grade and being a senior in High School were like, right? An adult like you being a consistent, dedicated, non-family member in their life can make all the difference. The flip side is also true: an energetic and wide-eyed youth looking to you for guidance and support as they make their way in the world can make a huge difference in your life as well.

 Join me on November 8^th, 2013 for the New Pathways for Youth Fundraising event: Date for a Cause, and help us raise $20,000 for this worthy cause. It will be a fun and informative evening dedicated to making a powerful impact on the future of Valley Youth, and your life as well! With programs for both elementary and high school students, wonderful youth of all ages are waiting to be matched with you. Please forward this invitation. I look forward to seeing you on Nov 8th.

Please visit the DATE FOR A CAUSE website to learn more

If you want to buy or sell your home, or ask me why I’m going to the New Pathways for Youth fundraiser on the 8th, please give me a call at 602-456-9388 or email me at ken@getyourphx.com

Ben Bethel, one of the most visionary hotel owners in the United States, has done it again. 

On the first weekend in September 20+ Phoenix artists will collide with The Clarendon Hotel to form ARTELPHX.

We’re turning The Clarendon Hotel and Spa into a living art exhibition with dozens of artists featuring performance art, building projections, a laser tunnel, dance, and the conversion of hotel rooms into art exhibits.  It’s going to be truly amazing.” ~ Ben Bethel, Owner+General Manager

Bethel knows a fair bit about innovative concepts like this. He’s been declared “America’s Most Innovative Hotelier” by Hotel Business and “One of ’10 to Watch’ ” by the International HotelWorld Conference. With preference given to artist pop-up art that includes innovative designs and multi-media installations, and with many featuring live performances, sound, and video, and exterior projections going into the mix, this is an event not to be missed.

And before you tell your friends about this great event, don’t forget to mention that in the next few weeks, The Clarendon is getting a new spa. Is this a big deal, you ask? It’s so sweet, this new spa, that Bethel is changing the Hotel’s name to The Clarendon Hotel and Spa.

The full-service spa features five treatment rooms, including three
treatment rooms large enough for romantic couples massages.  Guests
can elect to have their services performed in one of The Clarendon Hotel and Spa’s poolside cabanas, gorgeously located next to the 60 foot-wide, glass, water wall, or on the rooftop SkyDeck overlooking the city skyline and surrounding mountain ranges. Tod Miller, the founder of Beyond Massage Therapy, is their Spa Director. He’s been featured on “Shark Tank” and “The Doctors”, has competed in several dozen Triathlons and specializes in something called BodyWalking.  The Spa is open from 9am to 6pm daily, but all services are available 24 hours a day.

The final unveiling of the Artel Phx exhibit at The Clarendon Hotel and Spa is scheduled for…

When:

Exclusive V.I.P. Preview –
Thursday, Sept 5, 2013 – 7pm to 10pm

Public Unveiling –
Friday/Saturday, Sept 6 & 7, 2013 – 7pm to 10pm.

Where

401 W Clarendon Avenue, Phoenix 85013

If you want to buy or sell, please give me a call at 602-456-9388 or email me at ken@getyourphx.com.

How can you get FREE law services for your established Phoenix business if you’re unable to afford it?

The Delgado Law Group, PLC was just awarded—for the 3^rd time—the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) from the City of Phoenix (yep, just like in a previous post when we noted that an architectural firm won the grant for their free architectural services),if you’re within the City of Phoenix you just might qualify as one of a few firms to get their law services for free.

“The CDBG grant allows my firm to provide entrepreneurs and small businesses located in Phoenix with business legal services, including but not limited to, business formation and planning, contract drafting and compliance, commercial real estate, trademarks, employer/employee relations, and other legal services relating to day to day business operations.” ~ Jennifer Delgado

Why was the Delgado Law Group selected for this grant?

In 2009 and 2011 they were also awarded the grant to provide legal services to low/moderate income business owners through the City’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. Because of how well the Delgado Law Group provided their clients in the program with individual attention, integrity, efficiency and commitment, the City then awarded Jennifer’s firm with the Economic Development Award of Excellence in 2011.

How can you take advantage of the CDBG Grant and put these community-driven lawyers at Delgado Law Group to work for you?

Follow these steps:

1. Contact the Delgado Law Group at (602) 821 – 7461 or reach Jennifer Delgado directly – jrd@delgadolawgroup.com
2. Give them your business address and/or household income stated on last year’s tax returns and they’ll see if you’re a qualified participant.
3. Note that you must intend to hire people and that the program is not available for non-profits or churches. However, the program is flexible and is sincerely looking for people who really need the help.
4. Delgado Law Group will give you a CDBG application.
5. Fill it out and they’ll make a determination of whether your business qualifies.
6. If approved, Delgado Law Group will provide all legal services and associated costs free of charge.

The principal of Delgado Law Group, Jennifer Delgado, received her undergraduate degree with honors from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1996, and her law degree from Boston College Law School in 2000. She is a member of both the Business Law and Real Property Law sections of the Arizona State Bar and is licensed to practice before the Arizona Supreme Court, the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Ms. Delgado sits on the Board of Directors of Roosevelt Row Community Development Corporation and is a past president of the organization.  The firm is also a charter member of Local First Arizona, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting independently owned local businesses in Arizona.

If you want to buy or sell a home, be ye a Lawyer yay or nay, please give me a call at 602-456-9388 or email me at ken@getyourphx.com.

Jump back to late 2010. At an urban infill site on the south end of downtown Phoenix, designer and visionary Vincenz Saccento has just installed three multi-units of his shiny, silver, boxes:  called V100 Modboxes. Watch this 3-min video produced at the time. Be awed. Be inspired. Be proud of these inventive Phoenicians. Then keep reading.

Did you watch the video?

Now hear this: From Get Your PHX, I bring August 2013 news of what has not been publically known until this very moment…

In the video you saw, you learned that the V100 Modbox can be constructed in just few days by people with no technical training. Well, get this. In my conversation with designer Vincenz Saccento last week, he told me something not previously announced to the public:

A full modbox can now be constructed in just 7 hours, by a single person, with no tools, and zero prior building experience!

That’s right. Seven hours. Still with no nails, screwdrivers, or hammers required. No screws, nails, or wood.  This baby is high-tech structural, aviation and aerospace materials that a school teacher or college student could build. But wait, there’s more!

That’s right, folks. When the last article about V100 Modbox was published in 2010 by Blue Vertical Media, the 2010 material for the walls was 4″ thick.

That’s the thickness of the walls in which Vincenz lives, today. They exceed the standards for LEED Platinum certification (meaning that out of 100 possible points in categories of the sustainability of the site, water efficiency, energy & atmosphere, materials & resources, indoor environmental quality, and innovation in operations, the V100 Modbox far surpasses this rating).

So those 4″ walls are maybe an R35 insulation rating. He then showed me a piece of the wall for the next incarnation they’re building with today:

It’s 5/8 of one inch thick! Much less expensive. AND…

It’s like an R-zero rating. It could be 3000 degrees outside and that heat’s not getting through,” said Saccento.

The neighborhood in this hugely rundown area of town has been changing for the better since the V100 Modbox came here. Attitudes are changing. Neighbors are cleaning up outside their homes. Surprisingly, nobody has graffitied the Modboxes.

More of the same?

The “shimmery 10’x10‘x10’ boxes” are ready to go. Vincenz Saccento could have 100 of them ready in a month, if an order asked for them. But that’s not what he’s preparing to do next. He’s got his sites on a pop-up mall.

You go to an empty piece of land for 3-5 years and put in coffee, breakfast, lunch, bar, working/co-working space. Maybe it’s 40ft x 40ft x 20 ft.” ~ Vincenz

You have an established business in Phoenix and you need architectural services for a new building or rehab structure, but you can’t afford it.

What do you do?

If you’re aware that the architectural firm C&H Associates—informally known as Abraham James, Patrick Hallman and Weldon Alexander—just won (for the second year in a row, mind you) the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) from the City of Phoenix (in conjunction with HUD), you just might qualify within the City of Phoenix, as one of a few firms to get their architectural services they need for free.

The last time C&H Associates were awarded the CDBG was in 2011, and they were able to help Jobot Coffee, the Firehouse Gallery, and the Canvas site (Pallet restaurant and the former Scratch restaurant) on Roosevelt Row.  They also worked on an auto body shop and an electrician’s office.

When Patrick, Walden, and Abraham were originally presented with the RFP and the opportunity to work with low to moderate-income clients within the city of phoenix, they knew it was perfect for them since they were basically already doing what was required to apply for the grant.

Wow, this is what we do. We have done this before, who better to do this than us. This is our clientele. ~ Abraham James

Despite eight other firms pursuing the CDBG Grant in 2011, C&H Associates were selected by the City of Phoenix as the only architectural firm in the program. Here we are in 2013, and the architects with a passion for bringing LEED certified architectural help to those who could not otherwise afford it—and a passion for urban farming, to boot—have again been selected by the City with the honor of passing on the rewards of the CDBG Grant to a few qualifying businesses.

This year, the guys expect to help [insert the number of] businesses with the funds they’ve been provided by the grant.

We are currently in discussions with a beauty salon, a bakery, a food preparation kitchen, and doctors office about their qualifications for CDBG funding and the potential of their projects. There are so many considerations which go into a project before starting. We are looking at every material from the ground up [with the objective] in mind to have beauty, energy savings and affordability. We like to believe that by outlining a framework of those components, we are even helping those who ultimately decide to not move forward with an actual project. ~ Patrick Hallman

The CDBG program is ideal for the kind of business that is moving forward but struggling with the 5% – 10% architectural fees of their project. By example only, a $200,000 project may have architectural fees in the $10,000 to $20,000 range.

How can you take advantage of the CDBG Grant and put these community-driven architects to work for you?

• Understand:  The program is not for non-profits or churches, but small businesses.
• Now contact C&H Associates (602) 265-0660 or Abraham James (abrahamj (at) cox (dot) net)
• Give them your zip code and they’ll see if you’re in a qualified ‘HUD Red Zone’.
• Understand:  There are opportunities if you’re not in a red zone, but you must prove you’ve hired people. The program is flexible and is sincerely looking for people who really need the help.
• C&H Associates will give you a CDBG application.
• Fill it out and they’ll submit it to the City of Phoenix Neighborhood Service department.
• If approved, C&H will develop your proposal for other consultants who will be involved in your project.
• Understand:  This program provides the architectural services only. Other services, such as engineering and construction must be paid by the client.
• Once a client’s approved, C&H reviews a host of design services to help assess needs and give you a clear vision of what those needs are. This includes an understanding of what you can afford and options to lower your energy bills.

If you want to buy or sell a home, instead, please give me a call at 602-456-9388 or email me at ken@getyourphx.com.

The average website visitor reads from a screen at 180 words/minute. I’ve already used 15, so I better get to the point of the matter. Which is this:

The only thing that really affects our supply and demand of homes in Maricopa County is people going out of, and people coming in to, our County. ~ Tina Timboer, The Cromford Report

That’s right, folks. Migration.

There used to be other things that affected supply and demand (and we’ll get to those in part 2 of this market analysis) but not any more. Some of you are looking to buy. Some are looking to sell. After you hear what I have to share with you, you may want to rethink your plans. Or, you may find your plans are confirmed by what you learn.

Some of you may want evidence that what I’m about to tell you is certifiable and trustworthy. I’ll tell you. It’s because it comes from The Cromford Report. For those who’ve not been following my blog posts for long, you don’t know how much I admire this report. If The Cromford Report were touring like The Grateful Dead or Phish, I’d follow them around. If Ben & Jerry’s were looking for a new flavor, I’d suggest they call it ‘Cromford’. Don’t just take my word for it. Listen to what Tina Timboer, the absolute Guru of all things Cromford, has to say:

Prices will continue to go up in Maricopa County for the foreseeable future.

How do we know this? Because Michael Orr, the founder of The Cromford Report is an Oxford educated mathematician. Because he is the Director for the Real Estate Theory and Practice of ASU. Because he personally cleans up all the public record data for ASU’s Real Estate department. Because The Cromford Report does not buy/sell property, but is solely an analytical firm. Michael Orr puts together all the data at The Cromford Report. Nobody knows the real estate market better than Orr.

Let’s get back to supply and demand. You’ve been hearing a lot about interest rates and you want to know what the long-term trend will be? How will interest rates affect buying/selling homes? Next week, I’ll share what Tina had to say about the macro view on the issue of supply and demand here in Maricopa County and how we know that prices will continue to go up in the foreseeable future. Yes, because Michael Orr said so, but more importantly, it’s why he says so.

Trust me, you’ll nod your head and think, “That makes perfect sense. I should look at the macro view more frequently before I hear the news tell me the Case–Shiller Home Price Index says homes are selling for X amount nationwide. Which is just like saying the average temperature in the country is 76 degrees, but golly it’s 110 degrees in Phoenix!”

Exactly. Come back next week to hear what the supply and demand “temperature” really is in Phoenix and why.

To buy or sell, informed and with confidence, give me a call or email me at 602-456-9388 or email me at ken@getyourphx.com

  [migration photo:  Billtacular]  

Get out of the summer heat. Join monOrchid gallery for their first ever annual Family Day!

Saturday
July 27
10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Children of all ages invited!

This is an opportunity to celebrate the greatest gifts in our lives–our families– and the culture and community that sustain them. Fun and wonderful activities for all ages and cultural underpinnings that “elevate” to boot.  People in the know will bring their swimsuits too – there are persistent rumors of a kiddie pool in Dorina’s office 🙂  Show your love for your super extended Phoenix family and participate in making our city stronger. As the yogi says, “be here now.” ~ Wayne Rainey, owner of Monorchid

• Docent-lead tours of the exhibit.
• Live painting by local artist Jayme Blue from the Thermal PHX exhibit.
• Limited edition Thermal PHX Color sheet and drawing tables for children to create in the gallery.
• Hip Veggies will be creating awesome veggie art and debuting their new screen-printed canvas tote by artist Rafael Navarro.
• Yoga in the grass at “The Lot” (all ages, bring your mat): 10am to 11am.
• “Tales of a Tombstone, Arizona Tortoise” reading by authors Heather and Tad Smith.
• Performance by local musicians Andrew Waterhouse and Steven Totten (of Tres Lunas).
• Local treats from great Phoenix restaurants Carly’s Bistro and Pallets Food & Bar along, delicious cookies from Urban Cookies Bakeshop and Brilliant Sky Bakery.

The exhibition is meant to be a “thermal” for emerging local artists, helping them elevate their work by providing an exhibition opportunity in a major art space during our long, hot Phoenix summer. This wonderful exhibition offers a variety of art that will appeal to everyone. We hope you will join us for this very special event!

On June 30th of this month, this coming Sunday, the sun will raise the temp over 115. (At precisely 2:47pm, on June 26, yesterday, in 1990, the temperature hit 122 degrees. That record is unbroken. We hope this weekend it will remain that way.) And yes, anything over 110 is plenty hot enough, but their are two golden reasons you should get exited about this coming Sunday:  “Indie Week” starts!

Here be ye Golden Coupon.

It’s the ticket to saving 20% off purchases from 282 local Arizona businesses being honored and recognize by Local First Arizona. This list of participating businesses will be continually added to through the month of June. Simply print the Golden Coupon from the LFA website or pull it up on your smartphone and use it at as many participating locations as you like (some restrictions may apply).

 Local businesses are the backbone of this country and we have a lot to thank them for.”  ~ Local First AZ news page

The official name is “National Independents Week”, but if you’re cool and hip “Indie Week” is the bee’s knees. (I may have lost some cool points on that last bit).

What better time to thank independent local businesses who are responsible for local job creation and so much community involvement?

Independents Week is especially important in Arizona during the slow summer months for many of our local business owners,” says Kimber Lanning, Director of Local First Arizona.

Our hope is that consumers will learn about the value of supporting local businesses during Indie Week, and then continue to support our independent businesses far beyond our week-long celebration.”

Step up and take the pledge to support Indie Week. Everyone who takes the pledge will automatically be entered into a contest to win a staycation: the package includes a one night stay at Globe’s Noftsger Hill Inn Bed and Breakfast and a meal at Safford’s A Step Back in Time Coffee & Deli.

When:   Sunday, June 30 through Sunday, July 7

Where:  All over Arizona in 282 independent businesses.

I chose to work with HomeSmart because it is locally-owned. I left my previous brokerage because it was bought out by an out-of-state company. I put my money where my mouth is and I will do that with the purchase or sale of your home. Please give me a call at 602-456-9388 or email me at ken@getyourphx.com.

 You have to give it to them. Despite upcoming triple digit temperatures, the Phoenix Bike Community never stops peddling.” ~ Me, in 2012.

I wrote that in a post just over a year ago (“Can we measure distance in miles per doughnut?“) and the (then) upcoming Celebration of the city’s growing bike scene, as an event we know as Pedal Craft was just kicking into its second volume.

Here we are: June 2013. My, how quickly things pick up when people get excited about the possibilities of something… This past April, just five months after Phoenix Spokes People (PSP) formed–a group of urban cyclists dedicated to making Phoenix a friendlier, more welcoming place to ride a bike–they were represented at nearly all of the 19 community budget hearings for the City of Phoenix.

It’s not sexy, standing up and asking politicians for a much-needed increase in funding for bicycle infrastructure, but it gets the job done. Prior to PSP’s activation in the budget hearings, the city of Phoenix was spending a paltry $50,000 per year on bike safety and improved infrastructure.

Word spread quickly and we are fast becoming a popular group to join in the Phoenix bicycling community. We believe that bicycling should be an easily accessible form of transportation for people of all ages, incomes and abilities. We imagine a Phoenix with people dressed up or down – going to work or heading out for a night on the town – and getting there safely by riding their bike in a proper bike lane.” ~ Lisa Parks, PSP advocate

To put that $50,000 city of Phoenix bicycle budget in context: The country average for a bike infrastructure spending is $1 per person. In Atlanta, it’s $6 per person. Phoenix is a mere 3 cents per person!

 April 2013 Bike to Work Day (photo by Jonce Walker)

Or rather, that WAS our bike budget… That was before the Phoenix Spokes People took to our Phoenix streets and raised their voices with facts, figures, encouragement, and accountability on how the money should be spent. The result is that PSP made a difference!  The approved budget for the City of Phoenix now includes $1,500,000 to make our city more bike-friendly!

We’re sending the message that biking and walking and all multimodal transportation is as important as vehicular traffic in the city of Phoenix,” Mayor Greg Stanton.

Phoenix Spokes People has monthly meetings and monthly rides. If you bike Phoenix, they’d love for you to join them!

PSP members (Lisa Parks, John Romero, Mayor Stanton, Sean Sweat, and Joey Robert Parks) with Mayor Stanton at the first budget hearing of 2013 (photo by John Romero)

Providing neighborhood choices and transportation choices, and neighborhood choices that allow you to reduce transportation costs — are really essential for the success of Phoenix,” says Curt Upton from the city’s planning department, who’s part of the Reinvent PHX management team. “From an economic development perspective, the stakes are pretty high for us to make sure that we’re a livable city and we’re an attractive city going forward.” ~ The Atlantic, ‘Phoenix’s Walkability Gamble Might Actually Pay Off‘

(And what about Pedal Craft volume three? Sign up for details at the link.)

If you want to buy or sell, please give me a call at 602-456-9388 or email me at ken@getyourphx.com.

Did you know the largest reading room in North America is at Phoenix Burton Barr Central Library?

Get yourself over to the 43,000 square reading room on the fifth floor of the library and witness the precise moment of the summer solstice.

Folks, this is one of those “hidden secrets” of Phoenix that everybody should see at least once.

In fact, you can only see it once per year, on the summer solstice. And on that day, “The ceiling will seem to float and the columns glow like candles.”

The summer solstice is the day when the sun reaches its highest point in the sky, marking the longest day of the year.

The top floor roof structure of the library has the most to offer viewers of the indirect light. Blue skylights above each column illuminate the tips of the columns at noon on the summer solstice.

“Summer solstice reminds us that we are not just Arizonans, not just Americans, but we are children of the universe,” said Will Bruder, architect/designer of the library.

On Friday, June 21, Bruder will describe the unique features he designed to create a visual effect at solar noon on the summer solstice.

EVENT DETAILS

Event: Summer Solstice Celebration
Registration: Not Required
Date: Fri, Jun. 21, 2013
Age Level: All
Time: 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM
Location: Burton Barr Central Library

Enjoy live music by Canyon Records recording artist Anthony Wakeman. Music begins at 11:30. (After the event, join the Hance Park Conservancy in the Fourth Floor Lecture Room for a preview of the Hance Park redesign.)

If you want to buy or sell, in fall, spring, winter, summer, or summer solstice, please give me a call at 602-456-9388 or email me at ken@getyourphx.com.