Life Coach in San Tan Valley, AZ

Lightning delayed the start of numerous high school football games across the Phoenix area Friday night, and caused stoppages or postponement of others.

The delays were mostly centered in the West Valley, but also occurred at games in Central Phoenix and the East Valley.

The Arizona Republic's high school football game of the Week on Friday night between Phoenix Pinnacle and Liberty in Peoria was postponed until 7 p.m. Saturday.

Lightning in the area initially delayed the start of the game. With about 20 minutes before the 7 p.m. kickoff, the public-address announcer called for all fans to head to their cars or a safe place. Players and coaches from both schools went to the locker rooms. But ater more than an hour delay the decision was made to play on Saturday at 7 p.m.

Games at Cactus High School in Glendale and Camelback High School also were either delayed or stopped because of the lightning, with the Cactus game against ALA Queen Creek eventually canceled for the night and rescheduled to resume at 11 a.m. Saturday.

The Brophy-Centennial game was postponed unti Saturday after a lengthy lightning delay. The Peoria-ALA Foothills West game also was postponed, but until Monday evening.

And in the East Valley the weather was having an impact. The Corona del Sol at Chandler game started after a delay due to the weather, but later was stopped again and the stadium emptied before again resuming.

Saguaro at Queen Creek also had a weather delay but eventually started play. The Chaparral at Williams Field game continued in a downpour.

This is the second consecutive Friday that weather has impacted high school football games in the Valley.

The Hamilton-Centennial game didn't start until nearly 1 hour, 30 minutes after its original start time.

Phoenix St. Mary's and Combs moved the game from Friday night to Saturday morning in San Tan Valley, where St. Mary's won the game 21-15.

This is a developing story, check back for updates

To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on Twitter @azc_obert.

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Landsea Homes Corporation, a publicly traded residential homebuilder, announced today that it has closed on approximately 136 acres of land made up of 461 homesites for a new community called Wildera in Pinal County, Arizona.

“As our growth continues in Arizona, we are excited about extending our presence into the San Tan Valley area of Pinal County where Landsea Homes will offer high quality, attainably priced homes with great community amenities,” said Kaylee Smith, Arizona Division President, Landsea Homes. “Wildera will be Landsea Homes’ first master planned community in this region, with robust recreational and cultural opportunities. We know home buyers will experience a great overall quality of life and we look forward to providing them with an opportunity to ‘Live in their Element’ in the near future.”

READ ALSO: Could Pinal County become the Detroit of electric vehicles?

Conveniently located on Bella Vista Rd., just two miles from Hunt Highway, Wildera will initially offer 461 homes of varying product types including single-family homes with modern, desirable architecture for the active lifestyle. Initial planned community amenities include a 13-acre centralized park with an aquatic center, picnic areas with a shade trellis and BBQ, gathering areas, an open lawn, children’s play structures and outdoor activity areas.

Development is expected to begin immediately, with the grand opening slated for December 2023.

All homes at Wildera will also contain Landsea Homes’ renowned High Performance Home features including smart home automation technology utilized by the Apple HomeKit™ environment and energy savings to make life at home healthier and more comfortable. The smart home automation features include an Apple® HomePod mini™, wireless network Internet throughout the home, entry door locks, thermostat control, garage door opener control, light dimmer switches, doorbell camera pre-wire, and white glove service with an individualized training session.

Pinal County is the third most populous county in Arizona’s Phoenix metropolitan area. Home to over 439,000 residents, the county has two distinct regions: the eastern mountainous area and the western lower valley desert area.

The County is centrally located and in close proximity to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and others. Not to mention various national, state and county parks, and recreation areas nearby including Casa Grande Ruins National Park, Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park, and McFarland State Historic Park, among others. Water sports and fishing opportunities also abound at San Carlos Lake.

For information about Landsea Homes’ Arizona communities, visit: https://landseahomes.com/arizona/.

ALL GAMES START AT 7 P.M.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15

Mica Mountain (1-1) at San Tan Valley Poston Butte (1-1)

Mica Mountain is coming off a 41-14 loss at home against Bradshaw Mountain. Poston Butte played in the 4A state championship game last year, losing to Casa Grande.

Catalina (0-3) at Kingman Academy (1-3)

Catalina forfeited its game at Phoenix Cortez last week because of a lack of eligible players but the Trojans will make the trip to Kingman this week, according to coach Greg McKinstry.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16

Basha (1-0) at Salpointe (1-1)

Basha comes to Tucson 2-0 after winning at Los Alamitos (Calif.) High School and beating visiting Desert Ridge. Division I RB prospect Deshaun Buchanan has committed to Idaho. Salpointe counters with Division I Class of 2024 prospect Elijah Rushing.

Vista Grande (0-2) at Ironwood Ridge (0-1)

Ironwood Ridge was originally to have a bye week this week but last week’s cancellation because of lightning at Campo Verde forced the Nighthawks to schedule another game to play 10 games. Vista Grande of Casa Grande obliged.

Desert View (0-1) at Canyon del Oro (1-0)

Desert View’s game at Willow Canyon was also canceled last week because of lightning. The Jaguars will play a CDO team that has also not played in two weeks after beating Walden Grove 28-7 at home.

Goodyear Millennium (2-0) at Cienega (1-0)

This is a great test for Cienega, whose coach Justin Argraves tries to put together a difficult non-region schedule to bolster the program’s chances to make the playoffs at the end of the year. Cienega QB Brayden Cherry leads his offense against a Millennium defense that blanked Agua Fria 49-0 last week.

Buena (1-1) at Nogales (0-1)

Buena is coming off a 35-0 loss at home to Marana last week hoping that another trip to southwestern Arizona is fruitful after winning at Sahuarita two weeks ago. Nogales had two weeks to work out the kinks after losing 10-0 at Rio Rico on Sept. 2.

Douglas (1-0) at Cholla (1-1)

Douglas has not played since earning The Pick trophy at Bisbee two weeks ago while Cholla is coming off a stirring 14-11 win at Sahuarita, a game in which nine of Virgil Henderson’s regular team did not play because of academic ineligibility.

Rincon/UHS (0-2) at Phoenix Alhambra (0-2)

Khyree Copeland’s Rangers are hoping last week’s 12-6 overtime loss at home to Copper Canyon has more of a positive effect than being a downer playing at winless Alhambra, which has been outscored 99-14 in losses to Sierra Linda and Arizona Lutheran.

Phoenix Thunderbird (1-1) at Amphitheater (0-1)

The schools have a series going playing each other for the second consecutive season at Amphi. Last year’s game, won by Thunderbird 24-7, was played on a Monday night.

Walden Grove (1-1) at Chandler AZ College Prep (1-1)

Corey Noble’s Red Wolves rebounded strong from the opening loss at CDO by routing Greenway 48-7 last week behind QB Gabe Smith’s 219 yards passing and three TDs.

Phoenix Sierra Linda (2-0) at Empire (1-0)

Empire has the chance to begin a season 2-0 for the first time since 2012, when the Ravens, coached by Jorge Mendivil, went 8-4 and lost in the second round of the state playoffs.

Rio Rico (1-0) at Flagstaff (0-2)

The Hawks make the uncommon trip to northern Arizona to in attempt to start 2-0 for the first time since 2014.

Sabino (3-0) at Palo Verde (2-2)

3A South opener for both teams. Palo Verde has two straight wins after beating visiting Catalina 60-0 two weeks ago and winning by forfeit over Santa Rita (not enough eligible players) last week. The Titans — playing their first varsity season in two years — face a tall order against Sabino, which is strong on both sides of the ball and is led by junior QB Cameron Hackworth (45 of 66 for 836 yards and 11 touchdowns without an interception).

Benson (3-1) at Pusch Ridge (4-0)

In another 3A South opener, Benson is somewhat of a surprise starting 3-1 after losing most of its starters and coach Chris Determan after last season. The Bobcats are also at the 3A level for the first after transitioning from 2A. Pusch Ridge is unbeaten largely because of the play of junior QB Bubba Mustain (63 of 92 for 1,016 yards with 14 TDs and one interception).

Phoenix Cortez (3-1) over Santa Rita (0-4) (forfeit)

Not enough eligible players forces the Eagles to forfeit another game.

Willcox (3-0) at Morenci (3-0)

One of the top games in the state any classification — Morenci, the defending 2A state champs, host a Willcox team with one of the most potent backfields in the state with Ayden Fuentes and Cristian Pando (1,025 yards rushing combined in only three games).

Tombstone (1-2) vs. St. John Paul II at Sierra Linda (0-3)

Tombstone may have experienced its breakthrough win last week under coach Dominic Bonilla, topping Globe 47-8 behind QB/LB DJ Elias‘ 231 passing yards with five touchdowns, 90 rushing yards with two touchdowns and also an interception on defense.

Gilbert San Tan Charter (3-1) at Tanque Verde (1-2)

Jay Dobyns’ team had the unenviable task of playing at defending state champ Morenci and state title contender Pima on the road in two of the first three weeks of the season.

Bisbee (1-2) at Phoenix Veritas Prep (1-3)

After losing to rivals Douglas and Benson at home the last two weeks, Bisbee travels from State Route 80 up the I-10 to face a struggling Veritas Prep team in Phoenix.

Baboquivari (2-2) at Kearney Ray (1-3)

The Warriors can improve to 3-1 in the 1A South with a win at Ray. They are trying to earn their first overall winning record since 2003.

Heber Mogollon (3-1) at St. David (4-0)

The matchup of the week in the state at the 1A level. St. David will try avenge a loss in the state championship to Mogollon as well as a regular-season defeat last year.

San Manuel (3-1) at Valley Union (0-4)

The Miners will attempt to start 2-0 in the 1A South with a game potentially for the region title at St. David looming Sept. 30.

BYES: Flowing Wells (1-1), Marana (2-0), Sunnyside (1-1), Mountain View (0-2), Tucson (1-1), Catalina Foothills (0-2), Sahuarita (0-2), Sahuaro (1-1), Pueblo (2-0).

ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon. He became an educator five years ago and is presently a special education teacher at Gallego Fine Arts Intermediate in the Sunnyside Unified School District.

More than 450,000 square feet of Arizona office buildings are now under new ownership.

A consortium led by Thomas Rizk and Roger Thomas, the founders of Workspace Property Trust, have scooped up more than 50 office buildings across several markets in a more than $1 billion deal.

The Boca Raton, Florida-based commercial real estate company announced earlier this week that it closed on three office buildings in Arizona. El Segundo, California-based Griffin Realty Trust sold 53 office buildings across 41 locations in 14 metro regions to Workspace Property Trust, which totals about 8 million square feet, for $1.13 billion.

The three Arizona properties that traded hands include:

In an unrelated deal, the Gilbert DoubleTree has been acquired by a San Diego firm.

Pacific Orchid Holdings purchased the 121-room hotel for $27.25 million. At more than $212,000 per room, that is a record sale in southeast Phoenix, according to commercial real estate brokerage Colliers International.

“The sellers built the DoubleTree in 2009 and it was always a very successful asset for them,” said Mike Montoya, associate vice president with Colliers in Arizona, in a statement. “They received a great offer that allowed them to shift focus to their upcoming developments.”

Montoya, Jon Grantham and James Meng with Colliers in Arizona handled the sale transaction. Power Hotel Group of Mesa was the seller of the hotel, which is located at 1800 S. San Tan Village Parkway.

This is Pacific Orchid Holdings' first acquisition in the Grand Canyon State, according to Colliers.

Scottsdale-based HARRI5 Manufactured Housing & Commercial Brokerage negotiated the sale of a mobile home park and RV resort for a combined total of $115 million.

The William Corrigan family paid $80 million for the 1,230-space Sun Vista Resort in Yuma and turned around and sold the 180-space Pueblo Manor in Apache Junction for $35 million.

Derek Harris, founder of HARRI5, represented both seller and buyer in both transactions.

Institutional investors remain bullish on manufactured housing and RV resort communities, Harris said.

Both products maintained strong rent collections during the coronavirus pandemic, which amplified strong and stable income from these assets, he said.

"Investors recognized these stable assets and allocated additional capital to the space," Harris said. "With the limited inventory, additional capital and competition, the value of these communities remains strong."

Manufactured housing will continue to supply affordable housing to lower-income seniors and families, he said.

"The institutional investors are sensitive to the seniors and families living within their communities, and don't typically raise rents aggressively," he said.

Keith Vanderhout, founder of Scottsdale-based Silver King Cos. who bought Pueblo Manor from the Corrigan family, started out as a broker of these types of properties and ended up as an owner/operator.

Meanwhile, Sun Vista GP sold Sun Vista to the Corrigan family.

Sean Thayer, one of the general partners of the Sun Vista general partnership, said his father, Ron Thayer, also a general partner of Sun Vista GP, built Val Vista Village in Mesa in 1970.

"He and my mom were both instrumental in writing much of the manufactured housing regulations in Arizona and were the first to build upscale RV resorts in the East Valley," he said. "To my family, it's the end to an era of our involvement in the resort business in Arizona."

In an unrelated deal, Berkadia has arranged $55.5 million of equity for two multifamily projects for Phoenix-based Moderne, which will build bring 358 units in Phoenix and Glendale.

Cody Kirkpatrick, Noam Franklin, and Chinmay Bhatt of Berkadia JV Equity & Structured Capital secured the joint venture equity partner, Atlanta-based BCDC, as well as the preferred equity provider, a Texas-based investment manager, who together contributed a total of $55.5 million to the two projects.

The preferred equity provider contributed $18.93 million in equity behind a $40.6 million senior loan by Pacific Western Bank for The Governor and another $18.1 million behind a $38.3 million loan from Pacific Western Bank.

Moderne started construction on the 176-unit The Governor at 1717 E. McDowell Road on Aug. 1, and will begin construction on the 182-unit Moderne Arrowhead, 15431 N. 67th Ave., Glendale, on Sept. 19.

Over in Chandler, San Diego-based MG Properties paid $107 million for the 2150 Arizona Ave South Apartments.

The seller was represented by Mark Forrester and Dan Cheyne with Berkadia. The acquisition of the community was financed with a loan from Fannie Mae, originated by Chuck Christensen and Lowell Takahashi with Berkadia.

Vizzda LLC records show Acacia Capital Corp. paid $32.9 million to an entity tracing to PEM Real Estate Group for the complex on Oct. 31, 2013. The apartments at 2150 S. Arizona Ave. were built in 2001 on 18.89 acres, according to Vizzda.

Over in the West Valley, about three acres of land recently sold for $700,000 in Glendale, according to Marcus & Millichap, which brokered the sale.

The property is located at the northwest corner of West Glendale Avenue and 77th Lane to the east of Loop 101 and the sports and entertainment district.

The owner of the site initially started a townhouse project on the property in the 1980s and has been looking for a buyer to complete the complex, Marcus & Millichap said.

“With all of the development activity in the immediate area of the property, we received significant buyer interest and an offer above list price," said Art Rullo, an investment specialist for Marcus & Millichap.

Rullo, Michael Farrar and Ross Smith of Marcus & Millichap served as the brokers for the property owner. Real estate database Vizzda shows that Glencort Crossing LLC purchased the property from Glencourt Two Townhouse Association Inc. in August.

Sweet Creek Boutique plans to hold a grand opening for its family-owned business on Sept. 3 at 1542 W. Ocotillo Road in San Tan Valley from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. San Tan Valley is a census-designated area south of Queen Creek in Pinal County.

The new location is San Tan Valley's newest boutique, which supports more than 30 local small businesses with items such as home decor, baby items, jewelry, clothing, bath bombs, food and drink options.

“We’re thrilled to be able to offer a store of this caliber in an area where not much other shopping is available,” said Nicole Onwuasor, co-owner of Sweet Creek, in a statement. “Most importantly, we know the importance of supporting small business and shopping local, and to be able to offer that here is very rewarding. The response from the community since opening has been incredible.”

The grand opening event will feature vendors, a bounce house, snow cones and more with participation from businesses including Maritza's Papusas and Americano Ammunition Coffee.

Editor's note: The real estate deal wrap is published regularly by the Phoenix Business Journal. Send new real estate transactions and retail/restaurant leases to managing editor Erin Edgemon, eedgemon@bizjournals.com.

SAN TAN VALLEY – It was a long ride back to Vail on Thursday night for the Mica Mountain Thunderbolts Football squad after a 40-0 loss to the Poston Butte Broncos. While the score looks ugly, it’s not necessarily a true reflection of the level of effort on the field for the Bolts; that’s why coach Pat Nugent gathered his players on the field afterwards for an uplifting speech about their performance on the night.

“I thought our defense played hard all night,” Nugent said. “We gave up only two long passes in the first. It was only 15-0 at half. They just were grinding us. … We’re banged up up front. We’re playing with a small group but our kids never quit tonight, and that was the thing we were proud about.”

One of Mica Mountain’s significant injuries is the loss of senior defensive end Kaspen Colbert, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in the opener at Ironwood Ridge.

Going into the season, Nugent knew it was going to be a challenging season. Facing a number of storied teams with both playoff history and state championship experience, the Bolts were going to be put to the test. With the program still in its infancy stages as Mica Mountain prepares to graduate its first set of seniors, it’s all part of Nugent’s plan to continue trusting in the process of building a program from scratch.

One of the programs with state championship experience is Poston Butte, who faced off against Casa Grande last year for the title.

“Obviously we’re so young, and we knew, and I want our kids to play high-level football,” Nugent said. “We’re going to get our program better by playing great teams like Poston Butte and [last week’s opponent] Bradshaw Mountain so we’ve got to learn.”

It was a slow start for both teams offensively in the first quarter, but things looked a bit more rocky for the Bolts as they tried to get things rolling. A high snap caused a fumble on the fifth play of the game, almost a precursor of what was to come for the Bolts on the night.

While Poston Butte’s offense couldn’t do anything on their opening drive either, Mica Mountain’s next drive resulted in a blocked punt attempt. From there, Poston Butte was able to drive down the field, opening up the second quarter with the first points of the game on a two-yard touchdown run from Gaven Thrower.

After lining up for a kick, Poston Butte ultimately ended up going for two and converting, with long snapper Josh Furman finding Reginald Auelua in the end zone. With 11:32 left in the second quarter, the Broncos had been able to establish dominance with an 8-0 lead.

Another quick three and out on the following possession led the Bolts to punt once again, but they quickly got the ball back after a fumble by the Broncos at the 13-yard-line. It looked as if it was going to be a quick three and out once again, but a roughing the kicker call against the Broncos helped to extend the drive.

It seemed as if the Bolts were going to get some momentum behind them leading into the half with the penalty, but they unfortunately weren’t able to do anything with the gift and ended up turning the ball over on downs with 1:41 left in the second quarter.

Taking over at their own 42-yard-line, senior quarterback Max Larson was able to throw an absolute dart to Connor Lopez for a 58-yard touchdown. Electing to kick the extra point this time, the Broncos took a 15-0 lead with 1:32 left before the half.

Trying to make the most out of the remaining time before heading into the locker room, Bolts’ sophomore quarterback Jayden Thoreson tried airing it out a few times, but couldn’t connect. Mica Mountain ended up running out the remainder of the clock and heading into the half with hopes to regroup.

After winning the toss and electing to defer, Poston Butte had the ball first coming out of the half, along with all of the momentum they had going into it. Continuously moving the chains, the Broncos were able to punch in another touchdown, this one coming on a three-yard run by senior Aidan Contreras. The extra point attempt was blocked, though, by sophomore Jaysen Criswell, making it 21-0 with 8:23 remaining.

Mica Mountain’s following possession started off with some hope, but it was quickly squandered following a run for no gain, an incomplete pass that was bobbled and dropped and a quarterback sack for a loss of three yards.

On Poston Butte’s following drive, the Bronco’s once again struggled with ball security in the red zone, this time fumbling it away at the 15-yard-line. Criswell had another huge defensive play for the Bolts, coming up with the fumble recovery with 3:27 remaining in the third. While they weren’t out of the game yet, pressure was starting to mount with time ticking away.

Trying to pass the ball on a third and six, Thoreson was absolutely hammered on a hit, sending him over to the trainers table and forcing the Bolts to punt the ball. The Broncos had hit their stride, though, and were able to come up with a blocked punt to take over at the Mica Mountain 42.

Opening up the fourth quarter with a bang, Thrower had another touchdown run, this time from six yards out to make it 27-0 with 11:55 left to play.

At this point, the win was nearly solidified, but an unfortunate fumble followed by two interceptions on the following three possessions would officially put an end to their hopes of coming back. Fighting until the end, Mica Mountain left everything it had on the field that night knowing how much it can take away from this game.

“Coming up [towards Phoenix], they were playing a big-time football team, a first senior-year varsity team,” Nugent said. “Our kids played hard and that’s the thing we’ve got to take out of this.”

Thoreson finished the night completing 10 of his 17 pass attempts for 82 yards, while the Bolts were only able to pick up 58 total yards on the ground. They also had two fumbles, both caused by high snaps at the line of scrimmage.

Now sitting at 1-2 on the season, the Bolts will prepare to take on Catalina Foothills next week at home. Nugent gave his players the weekend off from practice to rest their bodies, told them to watch their own film and spend time with their families and friends. He knows it’s going to be critical in getting them mentally prepared for the Falcons on Friday.

“We’re a little banged up right now. We aren’t playing with a full group of kids,” Nugent said. “It’s showing a little bit especially in the third and fourth quarter. So, we’re going to try to keep getting better every day and know that we’ve got a local team coming in for Homecoming next week. Take what we did wrong tonight and play the next game.”