Inside Tucson Business, July 2, 2021

Chamber Chatter

Celebrating Small Businesses, One Copper Cactus Trophy at a Time | Page 2

July 2, 2021

Volume 29• Number 14

InsideTucsonBusiness

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The Home Stretch TECH TALK

A map of the stars and local science fair champions Page 11 Tucson’s rising housing prices are putting home ownership out of reach for many.

Christina Duran

INTERNATIONAL TRADE

BORDER DIFFICULTIES Officials ‘devastated’ as feds extend nonessential border travel ban

Page 12

Inside Tucson Business / Page 4

FINANCIAL LITERACY

HOME EQUITY Another line of credit

Page 13 BOOK OF LISTS

THIS YEAR’S NUMBERS PEOPLE IN ACTION

REAL ESTATE

Real estate appraisers, brokers , and mortgage lenders

New promotions, hires and awards Page 3

Meritage Homes Developing Multiple Communities in Vail Page 10

Page 15 1

Chamber Chatter Engaging in the Political Process

Page 2 1

May 7, 2021

Volume 29• Number 10

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Education Acceleration Nonprofit Perspective Would your business benefit from lower energy and water costs? | Page 2

May 21, 2021

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You could have this prime advertising spot!

Call 520-797-4384

Volume 29• Number 11

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An Outpouring of Optimism

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TECH TALK

Volume 29• Number 12

InsideTucsonBusiness

@AZBIZ

TECH TALK

Page 12

Engineering Awards, Solar-Powered GoKarts and Martian

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BUSINESS SUPPORT

EQUITY AND SUSTAINABILITY

| Page 6 in a virtual year Volcanoeslearning Pima JTED balances hands-on

Local First Arizona and YWCA

Page 8

LOCAL Gardnertheir Local venues are once again scheduling shows andJeff opening doors Inside Tucson Business / Page 4 STARTUPS

‘HOWL-ITOSIS’

TECH TALK

UA researchers study how to cure bad breath in dogs

Space bucks and robot surgeons

Margaret Regan Inside Tucson Business / Page 10

PEOPLE IN ACTION

THIS YEAR’S NUMBERS

New promotions, hires and awards THIS YEAR’S Etherton Gallery to move locations after three decades NUMBERS Page 5 Page 3 Art Galleries

BOOK OF LISTS

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

PIVOT PLAYBOOK REAL ESTATE

THIS YEAR’S NUMBERS Texas-based Builders FirstSource acquires Arizona building materials supplier for $400M | Page 4

BOOK OF LISTS

Page 8 PEOPLE IN ACTION

BOOK OF LISTS

REAL ESTATE

New promotions, hires and awards Page 3

Page 10

VENUE GRANTS

Sen. Kelly tours Rialto, highlights aid program

UA researchers stops COVID reports

Page 6

Hospitals, hospice, and assisted living facilities

Pages 14 & 15

REAL ESTATE

Colleges, universities and optics companies

Page 15

Page 14 DEVELOPMENT

Sunawards Corridor releases post-COVID plan Tucson ranks among hottest rental markets in nation New promotions, hires and Page 10 Page 5 Page 3

PEOPLE IN ACTION

LEGAL PERSPECTIVE

Understanding health care law changes

FEDERAL FUNDING

PANDEMIC RECOVERY

“PAST THE WORST OF IT”

COBRA SUBSIDY

Page 4

Page 13

Healthcare Heroes

Nurses look back on lessons learned during the past year Christina Duran Inside Tucson Business / Page 8

Photo courtesy UA / NASA

Galactic Maps and Cancer Treatments

Chamber Chatter Improve Local Workforce Development Efforts

Page 2 June 4, 2021

Plaza Liquors and Fine Wines Still in business after 43 years

ON THE MENU

Culinary Confluence

Zio Peppe fuses classic Italian with flavors of the Southwest

Page 7

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JULY 2, 2021

Inside Tucson Business is published 26 times per year (once every other week on Fridays) plus the Book of Lists in January.

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CHAMBERCHATTER

BY HEATHER WUELPERN SPECIAL TO INSIDE TUCSON BUSINESS TUCSON METRO CHAMBER

Celebrating Small Businesses, One Copper Cactus Trophy at a Time

W

e just opened nominations for this year’s Copper Cactus Awards, presented by Wells Fargo, which will be held in person at Casino del Sol on Friday, Oct. 1. The Copper Cactus Awards have been at the forefront of local business awards since its start in 1997, and traditionally has more than 800 people in attendance. Not only because of its longevity, but the event also stands out because of the unique judging criteria, the inclusivity of the categories— including two brand-new categories for this year— and the trophy itself. Plus, we have some surprises up our sleeves to ensure everyone has a great time!

Zoom-Formal Since this year’s in-person event follows more than a year of many of us only needing to look professional from the waist up, we’ve decided to have a little fun while helping everyone transition out of their comfy clothes. Somewhat like a mullet—business in the front, party in the back—we strongly encourage everyone who attends the Copper Cactus Awards to be dressy up top but comfortable from the waist down. Wear a suit and tie, fancy sequin top or fabulous cocktail dress along with sweatpants, sneakers or fuzzy slippers.

There will even be a prize for the best Zoom-Formal outfit.

which are most often from coworkers of the nominees, the businesses themselves or customers. Nominees Director of Communications then fill out the online at Tucson Metro Chamber applications. Each category has three judges assigned to score those applications.

Judges use the scoring criteria provided on the score sheets and keep their Staying Power 2021 marks the 24th con- answers strictly confidential. secutive year the awards have The point system ensures a been celebrated. Originally, fair and measured selection.

Wells Fargo orchestrated the The Chamber staff does not event, and the Tucson Metro judge the applications.

Chamber sponsored the This Year’s Categories Small Business Leader of the (and Category Sponsors) Year category. In 2012, Wells • Best Place to Work (Blue Fargo switched gears and Cross Blue Shield of Arizona) passed the duties of manag• Small Business Leader ing the entire event over to of the Year (CopperPoint the Tucson Metro Chamber.

Wells Fargo has been the title Insurance Companies) • Business Growth (Cox sponsor ever since and the partnership remains strong Business) • Diversity, Equity & Inand vibrant. clusion Champion (DPR Construction) Not a Participation • Innovation (Nextrio) Trophy • Employer/Employee The Copper Cactus trophy stands 16 inches tall Development (Pima Comand weighs 4 pounds. It is munity College) • Startup of the Year (Tech made from solid, locally Parks Arizona) sourced copper from the Rosemont Mine and CAID • Social Impact (Tucson Electric Power) Industries manufactures the custom-designed masOther sponsorship opterpiece. It is a beauty and portunities are available as the rinky-dink participawell.

To learn more about tion trophy you received as this event where you can a kid pales in comparison. hobnob, have fun and celPast winners display their ebrate amazing businesses, trophies with the same pride as Oscar winners do. check out our website. Once there, nominate your comWinner Selection Process pany and/or your favorite Southern Arizona businessThe Tucson Metro nonprofits Chamber accepts nomina- es and charitable ITB at July 12. tions from the community, Heather Wuelpern

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WEEKLY TOP

BY LISA LOVALLO

Summer heat safety tips for employees

M

any Tucson residents are required to be in extreme heat or work in hot environments throughout the summer months. At Cox, we have hundreds of employees working outside during Arizona summer months, so this is a top concern. Here are some tips that we employ at Cox and can help ensure that your employees are safe in the heat.

1. Provide training.

Offer training for employees who work outdoors so they understand what heat stress is, how it affects their health and safety, and how it can be prevented.

2. Implement heat-friendly uniforms.

During the hot Arizona summer, you will see Cox field employees wearing light-colored clothing, Bermuda shorts, golf shirts and wide brimmed hats, that will protect them from harsh sunrays. Be sure to remind your employees to wear sunscreen as well to avoid burns.

3. Encourage skin checks. The Arizona sun can be harsh on our bodies.

Encourage employees to schedule yearly exams at their dermatologist to stay proactive against skin cancer caused by sun exposure.

4. Update summer hours. Consider allowing employees to begin their workdays earlier to avoid being outdoors in the afternoon. In the summer, we allow our field teams to start their days as early as 7 a.m. and also restrict technicians from working in customers’ attics after 10:00am when temperatures are particu-

larly high, so this work is scheduled first thing in the morning.

5. Offer free resources.

When temperatures reach 110 degrees, Cox supervisors are in the field, passing out Gatorade, Propel, towels and water to field technicians, which is not only a chance to keep our teams hydrated but also allows leaders to check in with those working outside all day.

6. Implement regular rest periods. Ensure employees have adequate amounts of time to rest indoors during workdays. We hold our company meetings in the afternoons so employees can take a break in the cool indoors.

7. Start a hydration challenge. Promote proper hydration by challenging employees to drink at least 100 ounces of water each day. The person who logs 100 ounces every day could win a prize!

8. Set up shaded areas. If possible, set up frame tents or canopies at the jobsite to give employees a place to retreat from the sun. Fans with misters are also a great way to cool down.

9. Distribute emergency alerts. Set up an alert system that sends text messages to employees who are outdoors during extreme heat or dust storm warnings.

10. Create a buddy system. Assign each employee a “buddy” to check in with on a daily basis to ensure everyone is safe and accounted for.

Lisa Lovallo, a lifetime Arizonan, is the Southern Arizona market vice president for Cox Communications.

Reach her at lisa.lovallo@cox.com.

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PEOPLEINACTION

LaToya Singletary

JULY 2, 2021

EMAIL YOUR PEOPLE IN ACTION DETAILS TO JEFF@TUCSONLOCALMEDIA.COM

LaToya Singletary is joining the University of Arizona’s College of Medicine as the new senior director of development. Singletary joins from the UA’s Alumni and Development Program, where she served as the director of development principal giving. In that role, she worked closely with the UA’s largest donors and top leadership to bring resources to campus. She has worked in development at multiple other universities, such as the University of Michigan and Wayne State University.

According to the College of Medicine, Singletary will lead the development team to grow philanthropy in support of the college’s core missions and top fundraising priorities. She will work closely with college department chairs and center directors and will serve on the college’s senior leadership team. Specifically, she is partnering with Drs. Andrew Weil and Victoria Maizes on fundraising efforts for the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine.

Community Foundation for Southern Arizona Appoints Jenny Flynn as Chief Executive Officer Andrew Keim

Mark Montoya

Rory Bennett

Colin Anderson

Cushman & Wakefield | PICOR has welcomed commercial real estate agent Andrew Keim to their Industrial Brokerage Team. Keim brings 10 years of combined sales experience from working in the pharmaceutical medical supply and wine industry before joining Cushman & Wakefield | PICOR earlier this year. A native Tucsonan, Keim earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology, sports management and Spanish from the University of Arizona, and earned his real estate license from the Arizona Department of Real Estate. According to Cushman & Wakefield | PICOR, whether his clients need to expand, consolidate, relocate or invest, Keim focuses on client-driven solutions in every transaction.

Mark Montoya, who currently serves as the interim president and CEO for the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona, has also been appointed as the foundation’s Chief Operating Officer. For nearly a decade, Montoya has led CFSA’s operations. He also provides management oversight of the Community Foundation Campus. Montoya has been recognized as a leader in the community foundation field and currently serves on the Community Foundations National Standards Board.

“It’s been a privilege and honor to serve as interim president and CEO for CFSA,” Montoya said. “I look forward to working alongside Jenny in my role as chief operating officer to support our donors and the Southern Arizona community.”

Snell & Wilmer law firm is pleased to announce that Rory Bennett has joined their Tucson office as an associate in the firm’s commercial finance practice group. Bennett previously served as a summer associate at Snell & Wilmer in 2020, as well as a summer extern at the Van Alsberg Law Firm. He has also worked as a commercial video editor at Brava in San Francisco. Bennett obtained his J.D. from the University of Arizona’s James E. Rogers College of Law and his B.F.A. in Film Production from the University of Arizona.

The University of Arizona College of Medicine’s Division of Cardiology has selected resident physician Colin Anderson to receive the Charles W. Hall Jr. and Virginia C. Hall Memorial Endowment Award for Outstanding House Officer in the Cardiac Care Unit.

Anderson grew up in Tucson and attended St. George’s University School of Medicine before joining UA. The Hall Award recognizes the most outstanding internal medicine residents based on their performance and excellence.

“I want to thank the entire Hall family for this very generous award. It is an absolute honor to be recognized with this award, especially being from Tucson,” Anderson said.

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The Community Foundation for Southern Arizona, a non-profit agency that connects charities and startups to funding, has appointed Jenny Flynn as their president and CEO. Following a nationwide search, Flynn rose to the top and will enter her new role effective August 30. Since 2001, Flynn has served Southern Arizona in multiple leadership positions at the University of Arizona Foundation. She has worked with a broad array of national and local partner foundations, and has raised more than $100 million for the university. She currently serves as senior vice president for development services and is a member of the University of Arizona Alumni and Development Program executive team.

Flynn is also a current board trustee for the Women’s Foundation of Southern Arizona.

“Having raised my family and grown my career here in Southern Arizona, I am struck by the richness, diversity and resilience of our community. As our region navigates through and out of the pandemic, I am also aware of the many challenges and opportunities in front of us,” Flynn said. “I could not be more thrilled to join the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona’s talented staff, many partners, and dedicated board to serve a community I love and have been part of for more than 20 years.”

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INSIDETUCSONBUSINESS.COM

JULY 2, 2021

COURTESY PHOTO

Tucson’s rising housing prices are putting home ownership out of reach for many Christina Duran

Inside Tucson Business

I

n December 2019, Eric Smith found out he and his wife, Janelle, were expecting their first child, so they wanted to move out of their apartment and into a home.

Then the pandemic hit in March 2020. Smith, a bartender at midtown seafood restaurant Kingfisher, was soon out of work.

Smith and his wife decided to hunker down instead and wait out the pandemic.

In April of this year, they renewed their house hunt, feeling optimistic about their chances of finding a good home at a fair price.

Despite having heard about the “crazy market,” Smith thought the process would at least be fun.

Instead, it was stressful.

Smith had only returned to work full time in Feburary after being out of work for most of the past year. He struggled to get pre-approved for a loan.

In April, the loan broker told them they were pre-approved for up to $300,000 and with the help of their friend and real estate agent Akala Jacobson, the couple felt excited about starting the process of buying a home.

But that optimistic attitude wouldn’t last.

“I’ve lived here for 30 years, but going and seeing these houses and all these different little neighborhoods is supposed to be fun. It ended up really stressful,” said Smith.

“I don’t know what I was expecting. I was expecting it to perhaps be a little bit more affordable.”

Smith and his wife were looking for a three-bedroom, two-bathroom home at no less than 1,100 square feet. They found nothing available below $200,000.

“I don’t feel like we’re looking for a lot,” said Smith. “That for me was kind of shocking to me. I had lived in a house that I was renting that sold three years ago. It was three bedrooms, two bathrooms, approximately 1,400 square feet. It sold for $140,000.”

Not only were the homes less affordable, but in a highly competitive market, they lost out to several offers way above the price point.

His craziest experience came when the couple put in an offer $25,000 over list price for a midtown

house near Rosemont and Broadway boulevards that was less than 1,200 square feet and listed at roughly $265,000. They were told someone came in at $335,000 and waived the appraisal fee, offering to cover anything the appraisal would not cover with cash. In another case, a house they put in an offer for had about 25 other offers.

At that point, Smith said they considered calling it quits and renewing their lease.

“We feel like we’re in a pretty good position financially but it gets dispiriting,” Smith said.

“It’s hard to keep looking.

Homeownership, it’s this goal. It’s this thing that you want to get to that helps set you up for later in life and then something like that

happens and you’re like ‘God, are we ever gonna be able to buy a home?’”

Despite the high price of homes, they were still motivated to continue the hunt because they didn’t know how much longer the current low interest rates would last.

“We could wait. We could re-sign a lease but are we going to be able to get a 3.25% interest rate next year? Who knows?

And at a higher interest rate, obviously we would be able to afford less house,” said Smith.

With a pre-approved loan, little debt and $44,000 in Jeopardy winnings Smith took home after winning two shows back in September 2019, Smith felt he could be competitive in the market.

“That’s what allowed

us to offer concessions to the seller, to offer to cover a low appraisal. That all rests on the fact that I won on Jeopardy,” said Smith.

“Without that we would have either had to borrow money from parents or we wouldn’t have gotten the house that we have that we had an offer accepted on, that’s for sure.”

They saw hundreds of houses and made seven offers before finally finding a home and having their offer accepted on June 1.

“When your agent calls you up and is like, ‘They accepted your offer,’ it’s just joy and then it’s terror at all the things that could happen after the offer is accepted,” said Smith.

Smith found a home that the owners had bought in February for $166,000.

Smith’s offer was

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$280,000. They ended up offering $5,000 in seller concessions and offered to cover a spread on the appraisal of $11,000.

While they wait for the appraisal of their home, Smith estimates they would have to pay an additional $33,000 if they receive a low appraisal, plus the down payment and closing costs.

Additionally, Smith said the house and yard need some sprucing up.

Including the mortgage, the principal, the interest, mortgage insurance, homeowner’s insurance and property taxes, Smith expects to pay roughly $1,400 a month.

“We’re fortunate to be in a position where we can do that, but I know there’s a lot of people out there (for whom) that would be a

JULY 2, 2021

non-starter,” said Smith.

Smith is hardly alone in struggling to make a house purchase in Tucson’s bonkers market. While the pandemic has been rough on bars, restaurants, performing arts venues and other sectors, the housing market has seen prices skyrocket.

The surge in housing prices has been partly driven by more people moving to Arizona and a lack of housing inventory, according to University of Arizona’s Economic and Business Research Center Director George Hammond.

“As a segment of the workforce finds itself allowed to work from home by and large—and it looks like a significant segment of those who are allowed to work from home during the pandemic will be

allowed to do that on a more permanent basis— that frees them up to move around the country,” said Hammond. “Significant numbers of people are looking to move out of the high-cost, Western metropolitan areas, particularly those in Southern California, where Arizona draws most of its migrants, and are choosing to move to Arizona.”

The migration into the state is increasing the demand for housing, which is relatively affordable compared to highcost Western metro areas, but not enough houses are being built to fill the demand.

“We’ve also seen a big decline in the housing inventory. It was trending down before the pandemic and it really declined rap-

idly during the pandemic,” said Hammond. “So we have increased migration into Arizona, which is increasing demand for housing. People are looking for houses and at the same time that fewer people are selling their houses and that’s a recipe for really rapidly rising house prices.”

The Tucson Association of Realtors did see a dip in listings through 2020, but it only lasted for a few months before they began to see a rebound effect, said CEO Randy Rogers.

Aside from increased net migration, he said people began to feel more comfortable to move.

“People that were holding it off because they couldn’t find another house, so they said, ‘Well I’m just gonna hang tight,

because I need to live somewhere,’ and rentals were hard to come by. New houses were hard to come by. They didn’t want to act that quickly, so they held tight. Now they’re feeling better about it,” said Rogers.

Also, lower interest rates have given people more buying power.

“If you’re paying 8% on interest, you could buy ‘X, if you’re paying 3% interest or less you can buy ‘X plus,’” explained Rogers.

“I think that is allowing homeowners to get into these homes that they, maybe in a higher interest rate market, would not be able to get into.”

Home sales are up and existing houses on the market are also selling incredibly fast. Rogers said their pending sales are

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up by 35% for the month of April and almost 18% for the year. He remembers a time when houses would stay on the market for a month or more. For the month of April, time on market was down to 15 days and for the year through the end of April it was down to 21 days on market, said Rogers.

“It’s not like there aren’t houses selling,” Rogers said. “There are a lot of houses selling, more houses selling. We’re almost back to where we were, just shy of 2019 and 2019 was a very strong year. We just don’t have the inventory out there. We don’t have new home inventory.

We don’t have existing inventory that sits for any period of time.”

See Housing Market, P6

6

INSIDETUCSONBUSINESS.COM

JULY 2, 2021

Housing Market: “We’re not going to see a break from that anytime in the near future” Continued from P5 Since the Great Recession, the number of houses built in Pima County significantly declined, with fewer than 4% of homes built after 2009, according to the Making Action Possible (MAP) Dashboard Housing Market Study, a regional housing market study conducted in partnership between the City of Tucson, Pima County and UA’s Economic and Business Research Center.

“We’ve had a five- to almost 10-year lag time of new home building, and that’s not that they’re not building,” said Rogers.

“Our partners at the Southern Arizona Home Builders Association, and all of their members are doing a great job of building. We just had a lag here, and we didn’t see the growth in Tucson that we saw in Austin or Dallas or some of those cities.”

The severe shortage in inventory, coupled with increased lumber, concrete and copper prices, makes building homes more expensive as prices for the construction industry rapidly increase.

“They’re off the charts, practically,” Hammond said. “Copper prices are up significantly, really pretty much across the board. Input prices for construction are rising rapidly.”

Construction firms also face continued difficulties in attracting workers.

Hammond said this is a long-term trend for Arizona since the end of the Great Recession, with the huge employment declines.

“We’re not going to see a break from that anytime in the near future,” Rogers said. “We’re probably two to five years away from catching up on some of those things. I’m not sure things like lumber, or concrete will come back down.

I think it’s just the material costs to build a home. It’s not the builder jacking up the price just to jack up the price. The builders’ costs are going up, so they have to in order to maintain profit.”

Because of the low inventory and high demand, homes are selling at list price or above list price, according to Rogers.

“If you list your home at $100 it’s definitely gonna sell at $100, and in most cases it’s going to be higher than that,” Rogers said.

“Somebody needs your house, they can pay $20, $30, $40,000 more, because they need a house.”

The short time that houses remain on the market means not only paying at the listed price or more, but also buying a home without concessions.

“If you go back in time, you would put an offer on a house and you would say,

‘I would like them to fix the carpet and leave the washer and dryer and maybe do one or two other things.’

Today that’s not even an option,” said Rogers. “It’s not unusual for a home to have 10, 20 or more offers on that house, sometimes cash offers.”

If a seller can decide between a cash offer with the house as is, a cash offer with a buyer seeking concessions, or a financing offer, the seller will choose the cash offer with no requests, explained Rogers.

He said buyers should be pre-qualified and prepared to purchase.

“Be ready to move and be ready to move on quickly and make decisions fast.

It’s not a time to wait,” said Rogers.

Hammond cannot say for sure how much of the current market is caused by ongoing trends or the pandemic, but expects net migration surge and supply chain issues caused by the pandemic would gradually subside.

“I think that the increases that we’re seeing in construction inputs, some of what’s driving that are essentially supply chain problems and adjustment problems that are caused by trying to come back to full production after a pandemic, it’s just hard to do. So I think things will gradually subside,” said Hammond. “More homes will start to come on the

Homes for sale around Tucson can receive multiple offers during their first day on the market, forcing buyers to act quick — sometimes not even seeing the property prior to purchase. Staff photo.

market. Once you get to the end of the pandemic they’ll start making more longer-term decisions and more of those homes will come on the market.”

Hammond noted that both single family and multifamily house permits are up to just over 60,000 permits this year, the highest level of permit activity since 2006.

“The new homes coming on the market will increase over the next couple of years as well and that will help to slow the growth in house prices,” said Hammond.

Overall, Rogers believes the growth will continue, but different segments of

the market will balance out.

“Your higher-end Foothills, Oro Valley, Marana homes, those will still maintain, but I think we’ll start to see some moderately priced homes will begin to balance a little bit more if things stay the same,” said Rogers.

Higher interest rates would also cause the market to balance, but after speaking with an economist, Rogers said while they anticipate a slight rise in interest rates, he expects they will still be in the 3% range at least through 2022 “unless there is some major world issue similar to what we had, be it a war, be it an

economic event in the world or within the nation.”

While housing prices increase creating a booming market, housing affordability continues to decline in Arizona, trending down from where it was five or 10 years ago.

“We reached a peak in affordability not long after the Great Recession when house prices hit bottom, but since then house prices have been rising at a fairly rapid pace, generally faster than the income growth and certainly over the past year house prices have risen at a faster pace than overall wage growth,” said Hammond. ITB

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JULY 2, 2021

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Low-income residents are getting locked out of the housing market as prices rise Christina Duran

Inside Tucson Business

A

s home prices rise, it’s getting harder and harder for firsttime homebuyers to find a house.

According to the MAP Housing Market Study, the Tucson Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), meaning all of Pima County, had a median home price of $238,900 in 2019.

When compared across 12 western metropolitan areas, Tucson ranked fourth lowest median home price through the end of 2019, but had the second-highest growth rate of median home prices at 7.1%. As of 2018, 62.4% of households in the Tucson region own their home.

“Statistics prove, over time, that the home, your home, is the single biggest wealth building opportunity you have and so it is imperative of us to figure out the American Dream, to buy a home, and how do we make that the most affordable and the most accessible for the number of people who are in it,” said Tucson Association of Realtors CEO Randy Rogers. “Generational wealth is created by this. I mean it’s staggering. The difference between homeowners and non-homeowners, as to wealth that they build as well as wealth that they potentially transfer down to their families.”

However the generational

wealth created by owning a home is also maintained by higher wage earners, as housing affordability differs across income groups, with single family housing affordability much better for high income groups than lower income groups, said University of Arizona’s Economic and Business Research Center Director George Hammond.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development defines affordable housing as housing in which the occupant(s) pays no more than 30% of their income for gross housing costs, including utilities.

The MAP regional housing study calculated what housing affordability would look like for different households with varying income across the Tucson MSA based on HUD’s definition.

Based on their calculations, households with two or more members and a higher income are better able to afford a home. With an estimated household income of $80,000 and four household members, the maximum home price would be $232,000. A single parent construction worker with estimated household income of $40,000 would be able to afford a maximum home price of $116,000.

However, the lower income earners with only one household member themselves would be unable to afford the median home price in Pima County.

Many zip codes around Tucson saw sales price increases of more than 20% over the past year. Graphic courtesy of Long Realty.

They calculated that a healthcare support worker earning $27,000 a year could afford a maximum home price of $78,300 and a part-time retail worker earning $13,000 could afford a maximum home price of $37,000, about six times lower than the median home price.

“Typically, folks who are minimum wage or on the lower economic spectrum, they rent, and individuals and families on a higher income spectrum, they own, because they recognize that it creates that generational wealth,” said Arizona Housing Coalition Executive Director Joan Serviss.

“What happens is we have a lot of our extremely low-in-

come households suffering, because their rent has just gone up too much, and COVID-19 has exacerbated this situation.”

Those lower-income earners may rent due to the lack of housing affordability, but also face greater cost burden than homeowners, meaning those households pay greater than 30% of their income on housing costs, including utilities. According to the MAP housing study, about one-third of households in Tucson are burdened by housing costs. In 2019, Tucson renters were more than two times more burdened by housing costs than homeowners, which is consistent with the state

and nation.

“Rents are just not keeping up with incomes and wages and so ultimately n top of that, the lower the income for Arizona can only meet a a renter household, quarter of our state’s housthe greater the housing cost ing needs in terms of rental housing,” said Serviss. burden. Almost 90% of extremely low income rental Arizona only has 26 affordable and available households are burdened by housing costs and about rental homes for every 100 extremely low income rental three quarters are severely households, according to burdened, meaning they the National Low Income spend more than half of Housing Coalition. The their income on housing costs and utilities, accord- state has 183,652 extremely low income renter houseing to the National Low Income Housing Coalition. holds. In order to afford a two-bedroom rental home This is compared to only in Arizona, someone would 19% of middle income rental households who are need to earn $21.10 an burdened by housing costs hour; at the current mini(and just 1% are are severely See Income, P8 burdened).

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Income

‘Oh that they’re abusing drugs or they have mental illness.’ Oftentimes the real reason is they just Continued from P7 cannot afford that first and last month’s rent.” mum wage, they’d need to In order to bridge the work 70 hours per week. gap in affordability, the Without affordable Arizona Housing Coalihomes, people face home- tion continues to advocate lessness, an existing issue for mainly two things to in Arizona exacerbated by increase state investment the pandemic. towards housing and “COVID has really homelessness: enacting a shone the spotlight on the state low-income housing importance of home betax and the restoration of cause it’s now a place that the Housing Trust Fund. we not only find respite The State Low Income from the virus, but it’s Housing Tax Credit miroften not just our home,” rors the federal program Serviss said. “It’s now our that has been around since workplace. It’s now for the mid ’80s and, Serviss my kids, it’s their jungle said, “is frankly responsigym. It’s basically a respite ble for about 96% of all the from the pandemic, but affordable housing in our far too often, there’s folks nation, a wildly successful who can’t shelter in place. program.”

They’re really struggling She explained the tax and those folks that can’t credit would be helpful for shelter in place are those anybody with Arizona tax folks who are experiencing liability, like big instituhomelessness.” tions, organizations and Before the pandemic corporations that would in Arizona, the Arizona take that credit. If impleHousing Coalition would mented, Arizona would conduct their annual join 22 other states that point-in-time “street and have a state low-income shelter count.” From the housing tax credit. last count conducted in “It serves as an addiJanuary 2020, Serviss said tional layer of financing to 10,979 individuals were make affordable housing experiencing homeless, work, to make it pencil, to either sleeping outside make more units become or in a shelter, emergenavailable to be built,” said cy shelter or transitional Serviss. “Construction housing. In urban comcosts are so expensive right munities such as Tucson now. We have a lumber and Phoenix, Serviss said shortage and supply shortthey are seeing an increase age on so many different in unsheltered homelesses, fronts and so if we have a with people sleeping in state low income housing cars or encampments. tax credit, because you’re “We’re seeing that not able to charge market obviously because there’s rate rent, you still have just not enough affordto build the unit, and so able housing supply,” said that tax credit helps make Serviss. “People often say, that deal work, makes it

pencil.”

Using impact analysis from state economist Elliott D. Pollack and Co, the Arizona Housing Coalition expects the tax credit would result in the construction of at least 6,140 additional affordable rental units over six years.

The coalition also hopes to restore the state Housing Trust Fund used to financially support services, such as rental assistance, foreclosure and eviction prevention, construction for affordable housing and emergency housing needs. Until 2010, the sale of unclaimed property made up a large part of the fund’s budget, but recession-era cutbacks capped the Housing Trust Fund at an annual $2.5 million.

“That’s really not a lot of funding to address the housing crisis in our state, and the Housing Trust Fund is a really flexible fund to meet housing challenges,” said Serviss. “Obviously, right now, we’re dealing with this current challenge of the pandemic, but four years ago we didn’t have the pandemic, and yet the Housing Trust Fund was highly responsive to whatever else was going on four years ago or 10 years ago, but it’s not that responsive when it’s capped at $2.5 million.”

At its peak in 2007, the Fund received $40 million and provided housing relief for more than 12,000 households, according to the Arizona Housing Coalition. They hope to restore the fund to its original level of 55% of unclaimed property proceeds.

“That’s why we’re seeing

these increases in homelessness. That’s why we’re not having enough affordable housing development supply or stock, because we’re not making the proper investments,” said Serviss.

Joanna Carr, the coalition’s research and policy director, created an Affordable Housing Toolkit with best practices and suggestions for local leaders. At the heart of the suggestions is zoning, Serviss said.

“How can we create more density in what’s typically been a single family residential zoning area? How can we make the building process expedited? How can we waive fees and fines and can we make the housing development process faster and more efficient, because that obviously is going to reduce costs,” said Serviss. “But ultimately it’s our local jurisdictions in our cities and counties that received the majority of the federal funds from HUD, and from Congress when they passed COVID-19 relief packages. It’s our local jurisdiction leaders that are taking these funds and trying to fill in the gaps and put it to where it’s best needed.”

As housing advocates, Serviss said they advocate for how to use those funds, like converting unused hotel, motel and office spaces into permanent housing. Aside from a lack of resources, the biggest challenge they face is community opposition.

“Not everybody wants a shelter or affordable housing development in their community, so we have a lot of ‘Not in my backyard’

NIMBYism,” said Serviss.

She argues the developments are much nicer than what people would normally imagine as the “big ugly brown buildings” found in NYC projects.

“We need to lift up the importance of ‘Home’ because ‘Home’ is that foundational support of which you can go to school and access health care, and you can get a job, if you have that safety and stability of home,” she said.

Addressing housing is a way of addressing systemic racism and pandemic will exacerbate the connection between race and housing, Serviss said.

“We’re gonna have a K-shape recovery where our low-wage workers, who are typically workers of color, are going to be more impacted by job loss and then ultimately eviction crisis, eviction impacts,” said Serviss. “If you get evicted, that stays on your record for a while so you’re gonna have that much of a harder time to get into your next apartment. And let’s say you rebound with jobs—we know that workers of color face significant barriers in accessing those employment opportunities (compared to) their white counterparts.”

A renter-versus-owner analysis on the MAP dashboard found that any minority household in the Tucson MSA, consistent with the nation, is less likely to own their home than white households.

The report published

last year found Black households were the least likely, with 36.3% living in owner-occupied homes, and American Indian and Alaska Native had the second-highest percentage at 56.2% of those living in renter-occupied homes in Tucson.

Despite a lack of census data on the housing cost burden by race and ethnicity, the MAP Housing Market Study found that among all the minority groups in the Tucson MSA, more than half of households have the potential to be burdened by housing costs if they pay a mortgage on their home. When renting, more than half of American Indian/Alaska Native households in the Tucson MSA have the potential to be burdened by housing costs and fewer than half of households in all other race groups have the same potential.

“When we talk about housing, that’s really where we can start addressing some of these imbalances of power with households of color,” said Serviss. “If we invest in housing, we can start to really fix that imbalance. Because then kids can grow up and receive the same kind of educational attainment that white counterparts can, and they have that much more of a leg up. I think oftentimes politicians will think about education, but again, where you live very much impacts your education, what schools you can go to.” ITB

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EMAIL YOUR REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS TO JEFF@TUCSONLOCALMEDIA.COM

REALESTATE &CONSTRUCTION

Meritage Homes Developing Multiple Communities in Vail Jeff Gardner

Inside Tucson Business

I

n discussions about Tucson’s booming housing market, the scarcity of new homes is a common point of emphasis. While it won’t relieve the immediate need, Meritage Homes has announced a new community coming to Vail: Hanson Ridge. The community is going to be located off of Interstate 10 and less than 10 miles from the University of Arizona Tech Park at Rita Road. The community is designed to appeal to first-time homebuyers, and will feature homes starting in the mid $300,000s. The one- or two-story homes will come in five floor plans. These homes will be up to 2,600 square feet.

According to Meritage, due to increased demand for homes, they have designed an entry-level line of homes that include many features typical in upgraded homes such as kitchen islands, home automation features and granite counter tops, as well as upgraded cabinets, laundry rooms and appliances.

Meritage Homes, which is the public homebuilder behind Tucson communities like Celebration at Gladden Farms and Boulder Vista at Stone Canyon, is building Hanson Ridge only a few minutes from their other new community in Vail: Vistas at Rancho del Lago.

Vistas at Rancho del Lago

will have 140 homesites next to the Del Lago Golf Club and Cienega Creek Nature Preserve.

For more information, visit meritagehomes.com/state/az/tucson

SALES Equilibrium Villas, LLC purchased a 10,650-squarefoot apartment complex located at 3414-3426 E. Kleindale Rd. in Tucson.

Kleindale Apartments, a 22unit multifamily property was purchased from JCIL, LLC for $1,100,000. Allan Mendelsberg, Principal, and Conrad Martinez, Multifamily Specialists with Cushman & Wakefield | PICOR, represented both parties in this transaction.

The warehouse manufacturing property was purchased for $450,000 from Amelia O. Hernandez, as Trustee Under the First Restatement of the Survivors Trust in the Hernandez Family Trust.

Ron Zimmerman, Principal, and Industrial Specialist with Cushman & Wakefield | PICOR, represented the seller in this transaction.

WV, LLC purchased a 2,580-square-foot office building located in Old Farm Executive Park, 6045 E. Grant Rd. in Tucson.

The single-tenant office property was purchased from FMR Associates, Inc. for $361,926. Thomas J. Nieman, Principal, and Ryan McGregor, Office Specialists with Cushman & Wakefield Marlin Investments, LLC | PICOR, represented the seller in this transaction. purchased 2.17 acres of vacant industrial land located Pepper Viner Management Co. II, LLC, represented the in Butterfield Business buyer.

Center, 4525 S. Coach Dr. in Tucson. Lot 36 was Lacey Property Holdpurchased from Butterfield Tucson Limited Partnership, ings, LLC purchased a 2,400-square-foot indusLLP for $331,247. Robert trial building, located at C. Glaser, SIOR, CCIM, 2950 E. Silverlake Rd. in Principal, and Industrial Tucson. The single-tenant Specialist with Cushman property was purchased from & Wakefield | PICOR, represented the seller in this The Estate of John Everett transaction. Gordon Wagner Thornhill, for $300,000. with NAI Horizon, Tucson, Paul Hooker, Principal, and Industrial Specialist with represented the buyer.

Cushman & Wakefield | PICOR, represented the seller Venetian Investments in this transaction.

Services, LLLP purchased a 10,295-square-foot, DCM Development Comsingle-tenant industrial pany, LLC purchased 2.00 building located at 2445 N. acres of vacant land located Huachuca Dr. in Tucson.

Icewater Transportation Consulting and Leasing, Inc. purchased 1.50 acres of vacant land located in Swan Industrial Park, 4639 E. Eco Industrial Place in Tucson. The industrial land parcel (Lot 12) was purchased from Swan Industrial, LLC and Kazolt, LLC for $109,500. Paul Hooker, Principal, and Industrial Specialist with Cushman & Wakefield | PICOR, represented the seller in this transaction. Esther Empens with Tierra Antigua Realty Western American Investments, LLC purchased a (Oracle), represented the 6,710-square-foot industrial buyer. building located at 242, 252 and 262 S. Plumer Ave. in LEASES Tucson. The multi-tenant industrial property was Zhintz, LLC leased 5,568 purchased from Mary R. square feet of industrial Keller, as Successor Trustee space from Tin Cup Propof the Curtis B. Keller 2014 erties, LLC, located at 230 Declaration Trust and Mary E. 27th St., Suite 101 in R. Keller, as Trustee of the Tucson.

Ron Zimmerman, Mary R. Keller 2014 Declaration Trust, for $233,000. Principal, and Industrial Paul Hooker, Principal, and Specialist with Cushman & Wakefield | PICOR, repreIndustrial Specialist with Cushman & Wakefield | PI- sented the landlord in this COR, represented the seller transaction. in this transaction.

Plato’s Closet leased 4,325 square feet of retail space, Copper Villas, LLC located in Cottonwood Plaza purchased 800 square feet Shopping Center, 7306 of industrial space located at 2209 W. Wetmore Rd. in N. Oracle Rd. in Tucson, from Cottonwood Plaza, Tucson. The commercial LLC. Greg Furrier, Prinproperty was purchased cipal and Retail Specialist from Bedrock Masonry for $225,000. Molly Mary with Cushman & Wakefield | PICOR, represented the Gilbert with Cushman & tenant in this transaction.

Wakefield | PICOR, repDavid Carroll, with Romano resented the seller in this Real Estate Corporation, transaction. represented the landlord. at the northwest corner of Valencia Rd. and Sandario Rd. in Tucson. The land parcel was purchased from SMT Investors, LP / CFG-Hubbard Masterson I, LLLP / Boa Sorte, LP for $275,000. Dave Hammack, Principal, and Retail Specialist with Cushman & Wakefield | PICOR, represented the buyer in this transaction. Brian Rosella with Kidder Mathews, Inc., represented the seller.

Paris Nail Lounge (Tenant) has leased 1,158 SF at 845 E. University Drive, Suite #155, from West Main Gate Center, LLC (Landlord). Cameron Casey of Oxford Realty Advisors represented the Tenant and Bourn Advisory Service represented the Landlord in this transaction.

Venario, Inc. leased 1,200 square feet of industrial space at Commerce Plaza, 245 S. Plumer Ave., Suite 18 in Tucson, from Plumer Partners, LLC. Robert C. Glaser, SIOR, CCIM, and Paul Hooker, Principals and Industrial Specialists with Cushman & Wakefield | PICOR, handled this transaction.

Myk Brown leased 1,200 square feet of industrial space at Clairemont Plaza, 1660 S. Research Loop, Suite 146 in Tucson, from Clairemont Partners, LLC. Robert C. Glaser, SIOR, CCIM, and Paul Hooker, Principals and Industrial Specialists with Cushman & Wakefield | PICOR, handled this transaction.

Corella Counseling, PLLC leased 378 square feet of office space at West Grant Centre, 1955 W. Grant Rd., Suites E & F in Tucson, from WestGrant Investors, LLC. Molly Mary Gilbert, Office Specialist with Cushman & Wakefield | PICOR, represented both parties in this transaction. ITB

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TECH TALK

The ultimate map of the stars and local science fair champs Jeff Gardner

Inside Tucson Business

W

ith a major research university right in our backyard, a strong military presence and innovative companies throughout the metro region, there’s often a plethora of interesting science and technology news to be found in Southern Arizona. Here’s a breakdown of the most interesting recent developments.

A Map of the Stars.

University of Arizona scientists, in collaboration with an international team of researchers, have completed the largest-ever map of the universe, which captured more than 200 million galaxies. The project is known as the Dark Energy Survey collaboration, which includes more than 400 scientists from 25 institutions in seven countries. The sixyear cosmology analysis resulted in 30 scientific papers that examine galaxy clustering and how gravity distorts light. (Cosmology is the study of the origin of the universe.) According to UA, scientists found that the amount of matter in the universe and its distribution are consistent with the expectations from the standard cosmological model based around the Big Bang theory. Scientists with the Dark Energy Survey studied galaxies both (relatively) near and far, in order to create a “snapshot” of the current structure of the universe, as well as how it has progressed over the past 7

billion years.

“It’s exciting to quantify how our universe has evolved over time,” said Elisabeth Krause, UA assistant professor of astronomy and physics, who provides scientific leadership of the Dark Energy Survey as co-chair of its science committee.

“Basically, we are looking at the spatial distribution of galaxies at different ages of the universe, and we track how this distribution has changed over time. It’s like watching the universe grow up, starting from when it was only one-third of its age today.”

The Dark Energy Survey examined one-eighth of the entire sky (5,000 square degrees), resulting in 226 million galaxies observed over 345 nights. Scientists used the 570-megapixel Dark Energy Camera on the Victor M. Blanco 4-Meter Telescope located in Chile, which was specifically built for this project.

“This data set pushes the boundaries of cosmology to a new level,” said Tim Eifler in a press release, UA assistant professor of astronomy, who co-led the Dark Energy Survey Theory and Combined Probes working group. “The sheer number of galaxies that we observe requires a new level of precision in the data analysis methodology.”

For more information, and to access the research papers and images stemming from the Dark Energy Survey collaboration, visit darkenergysurvey.org International Science Projects. After competing at the annual Southern Arizona Research, Science

and Engineering Foundation’s Regional Science and Engineering Fair, five Tucson students moved on to the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair, which serves as the gateway for more than $5 million in awards and prizes. The 2021 Regeneron ISEF included 1,833 finalists representing 49 states and 64 countries from across the world. Three of the Tucson students secured grants in the fair, but all five had their research projects presented on an international level. Alexander Nelson, an 11th grader who is home schooled, secured a $10,000 scholarship to the University of Arizona for research on mRNA sequence analysis. Esha Mathur, a 12th grader from University High School, secured a $10,000 scholarship to UA for their research on prophages in cyanobacteria. Karah Mayer, an 11th grader from Tanque Verde High School, won an ASU Renewable Scholarship and a UA $10,000 Renewable Scholarship for research on Lateral Sclerosis Patient Tissue. Aaron Trinh, a senior at Canyon del Oro High School, presented the “Feasibility of the Extraction of (2E)-3phenylprop-2-enal from Cinnamomum cassia Bark Using Water and Aqueous Ethanol as Solvents in Distillation.” Ethan Lee, a 12th grader at University High School, presented on the implications for tissue engineering of an implantable organ.

Hot Spots. New research

The Dark Energy Survey has mapped more than 200 million galaxies. Photo courtesy Reidar Hahn / Fermilab / University of Arizona.

out of the University of Arizona indicates that the tropics, not the arctic, will see more record-breaking heat due to climate change. “Quantifying the Occurrence of Record Hot Years Through Normalized Warming Trends,” published in Geophysical Research Letters, examines temperature data from the last 60 years in various areas around the globe. According to UA, raw temperature data over the

polar region reveals a huge range in temperature. And over the tropics, raw temperature data reveals smaller temperature fluctuations.

But when temperature is normalized by the temperature fluctuations over the same period, the data shows that the tropics have “greater normalized warming and are actually experiencing more record-breaking heat events.”

“We realized that very few

researchers have addressed the relationship between warming and extreme hot events between different regions, but when you do, the answer is unexpected,” said lead study author Xubin Zeng, a UA professor of atmospheric sciences.

“Temperature trends in the tropics don’t need to be as large to break records and affect the environment, ecosystem and human well-being.” ITB

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Officials ‘devastated’ as feds extend nonessential border travel ban Brooke Newman Cronkite News

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order officials said they were “devastated” last week to find that the federal government has extended a COVID-19 ban on nonessential border crossings for another month, potentially crippling businesses there.

“The ban is a terrible and now-exaggerated response to the pandemic,” said Andy Carey, executive director of the U.S.-Mexico Border Philanthropy Project. “It’s reinstated every month for another month, and it’s been going on for nearly a year-anda-half now, it’s time for the ban to end.”

The ban was first imposed in March 2020 on nonessential travel—essentially tourists or family visitors—between the U.S., Mexico and Canada in response to the first wave of COVID-19. It was regularly extended but was set to expire Monday, June 21.

Customs and Border Protection said that the situation has improved in both Canada and Mexico, as vaccinations have risen and infections have dropped. But it announced Wednesday that things were still too uncertain, particularly given the rise of new variants, to lift the restriction, which was extended to 11:59 p.m.

July 21.

CBP did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday. But border community leaders, who had been looking for the ban to end this week, were not happy.

Nogales Mayor Arturo Garino said his city has lost billions of dollars in business from the ban that “should have been lifted months ago.”

“You know it’s going to hurt when 65% of our sales tax comes from residents in Sonora coming here and shopping,” Garino said. “That money keeps us afloat.”

Officials in Yuma and in San Ysidro, California, echoed his comments, saying border communities are suffering from a travel ban that has “outlived its purpose.”

“I represent about 800 businesses, and we would do $895 million in retail sales during a normal year,” said Jason Wells, executive director of the San Ysidro Chamber of Commerce. “We are estimating from March 2020 to March 2021 that the number is about $250 million. That’s about a 72% loss.”

In the Nogales district alone, according to data from the University of Arizona, the number of people crossing the border fell from almost 2 million in January 2020 to 552,827 in April of that year, before climbing

Nogales, like all ports of entry on the southern border, saw traffic plummet after the U.S. and Mexican governments banned nonessential travel to head off the spread of COVID-19. Local officials had hoped the ban would end last week, but the government extended it to July 21.

Photo by Miranda Cyr/Cronkite News.

back to 1.25 million in March 2021.

Jaime Chamberlain, chairman of the Greater Nogales and Santa Cruz Port Authority, said his community is desperately missing Mexican shoppers and visitors, and that “stores are closing down left and right.”

He said the travel ban has dealt “a horrendous blow to our economy, not only to the city, but to our state economy…. Before the pandemic, Hispanic consumers were spending over $9.5 million a day in the state of Arizona.”

Officials complained that they have reached out repeatedly to the Biden administration about lifting the nonessential travel ban, but so far have

not received a response.

“I’ve written two letters to Vice President Kamala Harris, one in April and one in the beginning of this month asking her to come to Nogales and visit our port to understand more the economic impact and I haven’t gotten a response from her office or any staff of hers, not by email not by phone,” Garino said.

Wells said he also reached out, with no luck, and that until the ban is lifted border businesses will continue to suffer.

Local leaders said the ban is not logical. It allows the cross-border movement of cargo and travel for schooling, medical care, work or

government business, among other exceptions, and only applies to land ports—not airports.

“Thousands and thousands of people are still crossing the border every day,” said Kimberly Kahl, executive director for the Yuma County Chamber of Commerce. “We’re not stopping the spread of COVID-19, all we’re doing is stopping people from being able to cross the border and provide patronage to businesses or visit family.”

Carey asked what health protections are offered if “you can fly to Mexico City, you can fly to Cancun, but you can’t drive across the border?”

Chamberlain said that the travel ban served a

purpose when vaccines were not readily available and COVID-19 cases were spiking. But Santa Cruz County today has “an 84% vaccination rate, which is the best of counties in Arizona,” he said.

“We’ve been working really hard, and we’re proud of the work we’ve done,” he said of local vaccination efforts.

Garino said it’s past time to lift the restrictions.

“To use the COVID-19 pandemic to continue closing our border and prohibit trade is devastating,” he said. “The Biden administration needs to put a stop to this and they need to open up the border.” ITB

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Financial Literacy: What’s a Home Equity Line of Credit?

The equity in your home allows you to borrow a certain amount set What’s a Home Equity Line of Credit by the lender and just like aybe you’re think(HELOC)? a credit card, as you pay ing of remodeling back your balance along your kitchen, A home equity line with interest, you have putting in a new pool for of credit, also known as the option to borrow that those hot Arizona suma HELOC, is a revolvamount again. mers or looking to finish ing line of credit that’s If you’re approved, up some repair work. secured by the equity you’ll have what’s known Whatever big project it in your home.

Borrowas a “draw period” which may be, you can probably ers often go this route is a fixed amount of time assume the costs will be because HELOCs usually in which you’re allowed high. If you don’t have offer a lower interest rate to withdraw funds. Once the funds readily accesthan other types of loans. the draw period is over, sible, you might want to you’ll need to repay the consider a home equity How does it work? balance owed. Depending line of credit to help on your situation, you make any pricey action

By Annetta Derricotte

Special to Inside Tucson Business

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items possible.

may need to pay a large lump sum and/or fees once the draw period is over and you’ll have what’s called a repayment period where you can make payments over a specified time (usually up to 20 years).

What you should know Interest rates on HELOCs are typically variable which means your rate can change on a monthly basis. Your interest rate is based on an index, which is used

as a financial standard sourced from the Wall Street Journal Prime Rate and a margin which is determined by your credit score. If the index rate fluctuates, so does the HELOC interest rate.

Remember to review your financial situation and goals. Look at your budget and assess whether you can make the monthly payments and how you’ll be using those funds. HELOCs are typically used for home renovations or to make major repairs, which can

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add value to your home.

If you’re thinking of making improvements to your home, the interest on your HELOC may also be tax-deductible but be sure to consult with your tax advisor to be aware of any changes in tax rules.

Learn more about Hughes’ Home Equity Line of Credit at HughesFCU.org/HELOC . ITB Annetta Derricotte is the Vail branch manager at Hughes Federal Credit Union with over 34 years of experience in the financial services industry.

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Tucson’s Dogtopia locations unique from national sites Road. The following year, a second Dogtopia opened on Tanque Verde Road.

According to Dogtopia ucson’s franchise Dogtopia locations are relationship manager David Duran, both Tucson locarelatively new to the area, but after a large trans- tions underwent a massive formation last year, they’re transformation during COVID, briefly shutting seeing plenty of business down and receiving a new and wagging tails. With locations across the US and management team.

These local locations now Canada, Dogtopia brands operate under a “weekly themselves as the leading enrollment model,” where all provider of dog daycare in daycare dogs are required to North America. However, come in and play at least once the two locations in Tucson per week to ensure familiariand one in downtown ty.

The locations offer various Phoenix operate under a enrollment plans from one slightly different model to facilitate a tight-knit com- day per week to unlimited daycare. In addition, only munity of dogs. dogs enrolled in daycare are The first local Dogtopia eligible for boarding. opened in Oro Valley in “Our complete focus on March 2018, on Oracle

Jeff Gardner

Inside Tucson Business

T

regular daycare vs. boarding or occasional drop-in daycare means that our dogs know us, we know them and they know each other,” Duran said. “It makes for a much better daycare experience because they are really able to be themselves and have a great, stress-free time with their friends… This is precisely why we believe so much in our enrollment plans.

With all of our daycare dogs first having to pass a Meet & Greet prior to enrollment, we are able to ensure that our playrooms are filled with a tight-knit group of dogs that Local Dogtopia locations are at 7285 E. Tanque Verde Road and 7621 N. Oracle Road, suite 120. Photo courtesy Dogtopia enjoy playing together.”

The Meet & Greet proyear.” situation in the rare cases member, followed by a cess includes one-on-one But despite the increased that they do,” Duran said. slow introduction to two or time with a Dogtopia staff heat, Dogtopia keeps their Beyond lodging, they three dogs from one of the play areas air-conditioned provide dogs with treat playrooms. Once the dog while being open seven days, photo parties, spa feels comfortable and staff days a week, 365 days a time and, lately, they’ve is confident, they are introyear, with available extendbeen hosting community duced to the rest of the pack events for their customers ed early drop off and pick inside the playroom. After as well. Duran explains up hours from 5 a.m. to 10 some further observation p.m. Customers can even in the playroom, they assess that they want their “dog parents” to find community access playroom webcams whether weekly daycare is through Dogtopia the same so they can watch their a good fit. According to dogs from afar.

Duran, they generally only way other parents find “Outside of our dayschedule two Meet & Greets community through their kids’ schools. cares, Dogtopia is very per day so that they don’t “Between people return- proud of its Dogtopia rush the process and take ing to work as well as taking Foundation, which funds the proper time with each much needed vacations, we programs focused around dog to ensure maximum three worthy causes: service safety. These Meet & Greet have seen a huge increase in new sign-ups. We might dogs for veterans, youth takes between 30 minutes literacy programs and and an hour. Each location have to start a waitlist employment initiatives for has three playrooms to ac- soon!” Duran said. “It’s commodate different sized certainly been getting busy adults with autism,” Duran said. “Both of our Tucson but hard to tell if that is dogs and their play styles. stores are on their way to from the heat or people “Of course, there will be raising enough to each going back to offices and minor disputes among dogs sponsor their first service travelling.

Demand from at times but our Canine dogs for veterans and we the heat in the summer is Coaches, who undergo extensive training, includ- typically complemented by could not be prouder of our teams and thankful to ing how to read a dog’s body an increased number of Northern visitors wintering our generous dog parents language, are trained to spot issues before they hap- down in Arizona so we are who continuously donate pen and to safely resolve the fairly steady throughout the to the foundation.” ITB

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Mortgage Lenders Rank 2021 2020

Business Address

Parent Company Headquarters Phone Company Email Website

Top Local Executives

Year Establ. Locally

Guild Mortgage-Meg Swain 3110 N Swan Road Tucson, AZ 85712

(520) 471-8073 meg.swain@guildmortgage.net https://branches.guildmortgage.com/az/tucson/megswain-110-ntms.html

Meg Swain

2013

Ranked by Arizona deposits Ranked information is provided by business representatives at no charge and is ranked alphabetically in case of ties. There is no charge to be included in Inside Tucson Business listings.

NL=not listed last year NR=listed last year but ranking criteria not provided

Real Estate Appraisers Rank 2021 2020

Business Address

Phone Company Email Website

No. F-T Lic. or Type of Appraiser: Specialties Cert. Real Estate Commercial / Appraisers Residential / Both

Top Local Executives

Year Establ.

Locally

1

Valbridge Property Advisors 6061 E. Grant Rd., Ste. 121 Tucson, AZ 85712

(520) 321-0000 mnaifeh@valbridge.com valbridge.com

5

Commercial

Commercial, industrial, land, special purpose, litigation, consulting and international evaluation.

Michael J Naifeh Carolyn Van Hazel Craig W. Johnson

1986

2

AXIA Real Estate Appraisers 3320 N. Country Club #110 Tucson, AZ 85716-1579

(520) 545-0000 info@axiaappraisers.com www.axiaappraisers.com

4

Commercial

Litigation, industrial, retail, multi-family, subdivision, office, land

James S. Bradley Andres Rubal

1988

2

Baker, Peterson, Baker & Assoc.

4547 E. Ft. Lowell Rd., Ste. 401 Tucson, AZ 85712

(520) 881-1700 tbaker@bakerpeterson.com bakerpeterson.com

4

Both

Litigation support, expert witness testimony, estate planning, condemnation purposes, consultations

Thomas A. Baker Sara R Baker

1974

2

CBRE 3719 N. Campbell Ave. Tucson, AZ 85719

(520) 323-5100 N/A www.cbre.us/tucson

4

Commercial

Commerical Real Estate, Property Management,

Matt Siegel

1967

5

Southwest Appraisal Associates 6019 E. Grant Rd. Tucson, AZ 85712

(520) 327-0000 steve@swaa.biz swaa.biz

3

Commerical and residential

Commercial, Residential, Condemnation, Market studies

Steven R. Cole

1982

6

AM Valuation Services, PLLC 2030 E. Speedway Blvd, Suite 114 Tucson, AZ 85719

(520) 441-9030 info@amvaluation.com www.amvaluation.com

2

N/A

Student Housing and Apartments

Ajay S. Madhvani

2011

6

Ferenchak Appraisal Services of Tucson P.O. Box 18880 Tucson, AZ 85731

(520) 731-0696 cotyfern@hotmail.com N/A

2

Both

All types of appraisal services in the Tucson metro area

Coty Ferenchak John Ferenchak

2006

8

Singleton Valuations 770 N Country Club Rd Tucson, AZ 85716

(520) 881-5984 chsingleton@yahoo.com www.southernarizonaappraisers.com

1

Commercial

Industrial, office, apartments, hotels, retail and land

Charlie Singleton

1991

8

The Havins Co. Inc. 2518 E. Allen Road Tucson, AZ 85716

(520) 327-0022 havinsco@aol.com www.storagetucson.com; www.silverbellstorage.com

1

N/A

Real property brokerage; residential, commercial and land

Herb B. Havins

1988

8

Tucson Appraisals 326 S Convent Avenue Tucson, AZ 85701

(520) 495-0778 tucsonappraisals@gmail.com http://www.tucson-appraisals.com

1

Residential

Estate, divorce, residential listing/purchase

Robert Wenzel

2006

MAS Real Estate Services, Inc. 4750 N. Oracle Road suite 210 Tucson, AZ 85705

(520) 888-5127 N/A www.masrealestateservices.com

0

N/A

N/A

Michael A Stilb

1987

Ranked by the number of full-time licensed or certified real estate appraisers (2 P-T = 1 F-T) Ranked information is provided by business representatives at no charge and is ranked alphabetically in case of ties. Other businesses were contacted but either declined or did not respond by deadline. There is no charge to be included in Inside Tucson Business listings.

N/A=not provided WND=would not disclose NL=not listed last year NR=listed last year but ranking criteria not provided

Residential Real Estate Brokers Rank 2021 2020

Business Address

Phone Company Email Website

1

Tierra Antigua Realty 1650 E. River Rd., Ste. 202 Tucson, AZ 85718

(520) 544-2335 kimandmattclifton@tierraantigua.net www.tierraantigua.com

2

Russ Lyon Sotheby's International Realty 3450 E. Sunrise Drive Suite 150 Tucson, AZ 85718

3

No. of F-T Lic. Residential Real Estate Agents

No. of F-T Support Staff

Specialties

Top Local Executives Year Establ.

Locally

Residential and Commercial Real Estate

Kimberly S. Clifton Matthew Clifton Robin Serna

2001

947

N/A

(520) 742-1335 info@russlyon.com russlyon.com

78

3

International Marketing with White Glove Treatment

Will Rose

2010

Backus Realty 14901 East Old Spanish Trail Vail, AZ 85641

(520) 490-7419 peter@backusrealty.com www.coyotecreektucson.com

12

1

Exclusive agents Coyote Creek Development

Debbie G Backus Peter Backus

1980

4

Goldsmith Real Estate 5431 N. Oracle Road, Suite 191 Tucson, AZ 85704

(520) 219-3100 info@goldsmithtucson.com www.goldsmithtucson.com

5

1

Sales, Leasing, Property Management.

Ellen Golden Claud Smith

2015

5

Stevens Realty & Tax Service 333 W. Ajo Way Tucson, AZ 85713

(520) 294-2800 sandy@stevensretax.com stevensretax.com

4

3

Residential Purchase and Sales

Sandy S Mozingo Julie A Stevens Claudia T. Stevens

1968

6

Summit Residential 4400 East Congress Street Tucson, AZ 85711

(520) 618-3799 leasing@summitrez.com www.summitrez.com

3

5

Property Management

Megan Titche

2006

Ranked by the number of full-time licensed residential real estate agents(2 P-T = 1 F-T) Ranked information is provided by business representatives at no charge and is ranked alphabetically in case of ties. Other businesses were contacted but either declined or did not respond by deadline. There is no charge to be included in Inside Tucson Business listings.

N/A=not provided WND=would not disclose NL=not listed last year NR=listed last year but ranking criteria not provided

16

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