East Valley Tribune: West Mesa Edition - July 2, 2017

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THE VOICE OF THE EAST VALLEY SINCE 1891 AND WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR LOCAL REPORTING

THE SUNDAY

Gilbert group works to save Clydesdales

Tribune

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West Mesa Edition

INSIDE

This Week

NEWS ............................. 4 Orbital ATK opens new satellite building in Gilbert

COMMUNITY ....... 10 Mesa gun show finds more women, less urgency to buy weapons

SPORTS ......................16 Like father like son: Two generations tied to Rattlers football

MOVIES ................... 20 Chandler native Michael Cienfuegos makes film debut in ‘Fat Camp’

BUSINESS.....................13 OPINION.................... 14 SPORTS........................ 16 FAITH............................. 17 CLASSIFIEDS............. 23

Get dazzled by fireworks on the Fourth

EAST VALLEY

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Sunday, July 2, 2017

East Valley becoming a place to play Entertainment projects bloom BY WAYNE SCHUTSKY Tribune Staff Writer

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rom dine-in movie concepts to bowling, developers are increasingly opting to invest in entertainment destinations in an attempt to keep up with consumer demand, and no market better exemplifies this trend than the East Valley. Several new entertainment projects and plans have popped up in recent months, including an Alamo Drafthouse-anchored complex in Tempe, a bowling concept in Gilbert, and a massive entertainment district near Ahwatukee in the Gila River Indian Community. These new developments will compete for consumer dollars with other established entertainment brands that have hit the East Valley in recent years, from Top Golf in Gilbert to Main Event Entertainment, which has locations in Tempe and Gilbert. “The key in retail today is to make sure there is an experience behind it (and to make sure it) is not run of the mill,” said Todd Folger, CBRE Retail Services first vice president. With so many entertainment options, there is a risk that consumer dollars will be stretched thin. Success in the space largely depends on creating products that the market can support and, in that sense, not all retail is created equal.

(Photos by Kim Carrillo/Tribune Staff Photographer, and LGE/Special to the Tribune)

With complexes like Main Event in Tempe (top) and Bowlero in Gilbert (left), developers are scrambling to give the East Valley more entertainment centers like The Collective, a proposed 50,000-square-foot entertainment destination anchored by Alamo Drafthouse Cinema (right) in Tempe.

“Entertainment isn’t a single thing, it’s many,” Mark Stapp, Fred E. Taylor professor of real estate at W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, said via email. For example, the market can support many restaurant and food options, but the same is not true for bowling alleys, which are more

of a niche product. “There is competition for every disposable dollar,” Stapp said. “People will pick the best experience – the market votes with its dollars, so the market will pick financial winners.” See

ENTERTAINMENT on page 5

Canadian for-profits eye EV as they cash in on marijuana market BY WAYNE SCHUTSKY Tribune Staff Writer

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anadian companies are investing millions of dollars into Arizona’s medical marijuana market in order to turn profits and wield influence over the state’s lucrative non-profit dispensary market. One company, Canadian Bioceutical Corp., has paid $30 million to acquire management

firms that provide services to two Mesa dispensaries. These Canadian corporations are purchasing management companies that provide a range of services to medical marijuana facilities. Multiple companies like Canadian Bioceutical Corporation refer to Arizona’s marijuana market as highly profitable, a statement seemingly at odds with the non-profit nature of Arizona’s medical marijuana industry.

According to the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act, “A registered nonprofit medical marijuana dispensary shall be operated on a not-for-profit basis.” However, that does not mean there is not money to be had. Canadian Bioceutical paid over $30 million over the course of three deals between January and May of this year to purchase a range of See

MARIJUANA on page 8


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