Reported from the Arizona Daily Independent, June 2, 2013

HB-2443 passed the House Final Read with a unanimous vote and was signed into law April 10th by the governor, effective 90-days after the end of the 2013 legislative session. The new law is significant for Tucson businesses because it makes it more difficult for the city to circumvent the Regulatory Bill of Rights (SB-1598) that was passed last year requiring municipalities to establish and adhere to reasonable time frames for decision-making on licensing permits.

The aim of SB-1598 was to create faster, more uniform, and more transparent processes for any new ordinance or code requiring a license. The City of Tucson has been using an “Agreement to Waive any Claims Against the City Pursuant to the Regulatory Bill of Rights” and a “Flexible Application Process”.

For instance, Tucson gave itself an 85 day time frame (more than double that of Pima County’s 40 days) to decide on a construction permit while telling applicants ‘that it should only take 20-days, but they will need to sign a waiver’ as part of the process. With HB-2443, all discussions with a person about waiving their rights or their refund are prohibited.

HB 2443 requires a municipality to have in place an overall time frame during which the municipality will either grant or deny each type of license that it issues. The overall time frame for each type of license shall state separately the administrative completeness from the review time frame and post the substantive review time frame on the municipality’s website for public viewing.

A process is also created in the new law to allow a city or town to consider an application withdrawn from consideration. Regulatory entities are authorized to make an additional request for corrections based on the response from applicants. Cities and towns may also seek to extend the overall time frame by 50% with mutual consent of both parties.

Denied applicants must be provided information about their right to resubmit the application, the fees associated with it and the method by which those fees were calculated. The right to receive a refund cannot be waived by an applicant. A process for reducing the reapplication fee for resubmitted applications is also created. Various municipal departments are exempted from statutory requirements and numerous technical changes were also made.

The bill exempts fire and life safety inspections from statutory inspection requirements and clarifies SB-1598 does not apply to tax licenses.

Representative Justin Olson of District 25 in Mesa was the Prime-Prime Sponsor of the Bill.

For full story and more local news from the Arizona Daily Independent , click here.

OFFICE SPACE – 707 N MAIN AVENUE, TUCSON
Max Medical Solutions, Inc. a medical device sales company, owned by Jeffrey and Jennifer Bell of Tucson, leased 5,000 sq. ft. at 707 N. Main Avenue in Tucson, from Main Avenue Ventures, LLC.  Paul Hooker, Industrial Specialists with Cushman & Wakefield | PICOR Commercial Real Estate Services, handled the transaction.

RETAIL SPACE – 4811 E GRANT RD, STE 141, TUCSON
Amy’s Hallmark will reopened their 4,418 sq.ft. space at Crossroads Festival, located on the northeast corner of Grant Rd. and Swan Rd in Tucson. Amy’s specializes in the sale of greeting cards, party supplies, gift wrap and related products and services. Hallmark will do a complete interior renovation before reopening for business in August 2013.  Andy Seleznov and Melissa Lal, represented the Landlord, Larsen Baker

RETAIL SPACE – 4470 N 1ST AVENUE, TUCSON
Los Betos Mexican Food leased a 2,250 sq. ft. at Riverfront Village, 4470 N. 1st Ave. in Tucson located just north of Wetmore Rd. Los Betos is a Mexican style fast food restaurant and leased the space formerly occupied by Big Juan’s Tacos Y Burros, also a Mexican food restaurant. Andy Seleznov and Melissa Lal represented the landlord, Larsen Baker.

RETAIL SPACE – 5460 E SPEEDWAY BLVD. STE 102, TUCSON
Ella 6 Salon leased 1,210 sq. ft. at Craycroft Plaza, 5460 E Speedway Blvd. Ste 102 in Tucson. Craycroft Plaza is located on the southwest corner of Speedway Blvd and Craycroft Road. Ella 6 Salon is a full service men and womens’ hair salon that also sells related products and services. Andy Seleznov and Melissa Lal, represented the landlord, Larsen Baker.

To submit sales and leases please email REDailyNews@outlook.com

A recent report from Cushman & Wakefield indicates a stong correlation is found between U.S. retail sales and U.S. industrial leasing activity.

We know retail sales measure economic activity in the economy and thus serve as an important indicator of economic health.  But, only those retail categories subject to the state’s transaction privilege (general sales) tax are included in the retail sales data produced by the Arizona Department of Revenue. For example, sales of food items at grocery stores that are not taxed by the state are not included.

The state Department of Revenue reports consumer spending is up to prerecession levels based on April sale tax receipts, covering March spending in Arizona, in fact up by a large 8.2% increase from the same period a year earlier, with taxable sales of $4.78 billion in March 2013. Monthly data for Arizona becomes available approximately two months after the sales were made to allow time for adjustments, as retailers sometimes report late and multi-establishment retailers sometimes misreport sales by county.

The Cushman & Wakefield research shown in the above graph indicates that industrial leasing activity in markets where they track have followed the U.S. retail sales closely year over year since 2000.  Industrial leases exceeded retail sales from 2000 – 2007, and as retail sales dropped in 2008 – 2009 industrial leases trended in the same direction.

According to the the Tucson Cushman & Wakefield / Picor industrial report for Q1 2013, “for the first time in two full years, the Tucson market had consecutive quarters of significant positive absorption… with lease activity fairly broad based”.  To view the full Q1 2013 Tucson Industrial report click here.

Economists with the Arizona Department of Revenue have stated April collections are typically high, with spring training and winter visitors still around. But it should also be noted that this spending increase is still on top of the record set last April for March sales. It seems to all be trending in the right direction and something to keep an eye on.

For the full Cushman & Wakefield “US Retail Sales vs. Industrial Industrial Leasing Activity” report  click here.