Life Coach in Scottsdale, AZ

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - The city of Scottsdale has a new initiative for water saving, and they’re asking all residents and businesses to not overseed this fall season.

Overseeding means you add grass seeds to lawns to fill in bare spots or create a more lush look. Of course, you need to water them a bit more for them to grow.

A homeowners association (HOA) in particular put this practice to the test last season to see how well it works, and it was a huge success.

Typically, homeowners and HOAs overseed in September and October, but this time last year, a Scottsdale homeowners association chose not to do it, and they were able to save 1.5 million gallons of water.

"This year it’s about $3,200 to do the winter seeding. So, if you think about it, if we don’t do the winter seeding for this season, we’ll save $3,200, plus we’ll save on the water," said Montage Homeowners Association president Paul Traiforos.

He says they decided to skip overseeding last fall and the benefits are both financial and environmental. Scottsdale Water hopes other HOAs will follow suit.

Bill Casenhiser is a water conservation specialist for the city of Scottsdale and says, "As a city, we’re asking all of our customers to do a 5% reduction in water use right now."

The city’s current initiative is asking others not to overseed as we enter the season. All of this is happening as Arizona faces drought and so does the Colorado River.

Scottsdale Water says on average, 70% of the water used residentially is used outside the home, so it’s imperative to try and cut back right now.

"Constantly in a struggle trying to keep water where water needs to be," Casenhiser says.

A small act like choosing not to overseed this fall makes a big difference.

"I’ve been on the HOA board since 2008, so I know a lot of the neighbors. Everyone’s really behind us with us doing this for the environment, for the community, and for the state," Traiforos said.

The HOA says they plan to skip overseeding each season. Scottsdale Parks and Recreation says they are leading by example and will be reducing overseeding in the city's parks.

The complaint claims this battle has been going on for years.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz — Multi-million dollar homes, fancy cars, and Sissoo trees.

That's what you will see when you first enter the Arcadia at Silverleaf community in North Scottsdale. There are about 126 dream homes and more than 600 Sissoo trees.

“The trees are beautiful and provide so much shade,” said Tasha Carson. Carson told 12News that the towering green trees in front of nearly every home were a big draw when she and her family found a place to live in Arizona.

Carson said, “All of our kids want to play out here because it's so nice and cool.”

Now, she admits there are some problems with these beloved trees. "They can have aggressive root systems." Those roots can break pipes or sidewalks.

This is why the Home Owners Association, DC Ranch, wants to cut down the trees. Despite major pushback from those in the neighborhood.

"Eighty percent of the owners in this neighborhood do not want the trees removed," Carson said.

Those who want to keep the trees said they don't mind if they are removed if they are actually causing an issue or if a neighbor just doesn't want them in their front yard. However, the ones that aren't should stay.

"I don't want all of the park trees gone," Carson said

Last year, Carson said the HOA asked the City of Scottsdale if they could remove the 670 Sissoo trees in front of people's homes. The request was denied, given that they were on private property. Still, Carson said board members tried another route by asking homeowners to remove them and offering them reimbursement to do so.

That led to a civil lawsuit being filed against DC Ranch Association. Residents did not want their HOA fees to go toward removing trees.

"We're becoming very frustrated," Carson said. "We feel like that HOA is being very reckless with their decision."

The lawsuit also claims that the trees had been in the community since it was first built. It blames the association for not properly maintaining the trees, leading to the issue at hand.

"The root of the issue really comes down to the fact that they have a responsibility to these trees," Carson said.

12News reached out to the Executive Director of DC Ranch for an interview or statement. Because of the pending litigation, she declined to comment.

There will be a mediation between both parties later this month. Carson is hoping common ground will be found. She does not want the neighborhood she loves to completely change.

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A Scottsdale-based startup that has created a freight shipping management software platform for businesses said the $22 million it just raised during its series B funding round will allow it to expand its offerings and reach new kinds of clients.

The funding round was led by NewRoad Capital Partners, an Arkansas firm that describes itself as operator-led that works with innovative supply chain and logistics companies and brands. Existing investors Greycroft and Lerer Hippeau also participated.

MyCarrier works with small and midsized businesses to connect them to carriers to ship goods. The company launched in 2017 with a focus on what is called less-than-truckload, or LTL, service. It now also handles full truckload, or TL, needs, and the company says the new funding will allow it to expand its offerings beyond that to handle other multimodal shipping needs.

A company spokesperson said the funding will support new investments across all departments, including product/engineering, sales, marketing and operations.

The company was co-founded by CEO Michael Bookout and President Chris Scheid and it operates out of a space in north Scottsdale that it had just moved into in the spring of 2021, when it raised $8 million in series A funding.

After that round, MyCarrier’s leadership said it planned to use the money to enhance its platform and grow its team. Since that time, the company’s headcount has more than doubled from 35 to 74.

MyCarrier’s stated goal has been to become the ubiquitous platform giving shippers instant connections to carriers. Bookout said in a statement that the vision has been based on strong partnerships with carriers and shippers.

"From the beginning, our vision and approach were based on strong partnering, working hand-in-hand with carrier partners and customers to streamline the carrier and shipper experience to create exceptional business and customer outcomes," Bookout said in a statement.

Scheid said the company has been able to overcome technology fears among many businesses.

“Today, we are providing small and medium-sized businesses with visibility into their supply chains, once only available to large enterprises,” he said in a statement. “And it's absolutely needed given global supply chain disruptions and chaos."

MyCarrier's platform shipments up 52%

MyCarrier’s platform works by taking data about a shipment and generating automated quotes, enabling booking execution with electronic bills of lading and providing insurance and other payment details. The company works with 5,162 shippers, and it has platform automation partnerships with 15 top-rated LTL carriers and more than 70 integration carriers.

The company said its platform shipments have grown by 52% year over year, and the number of active shippers grew by 57% in the second quarter, with corresponding revenue up by 124% and insurance revenue up 150%, though it didn't provide actual financials.

NewRoad Capital Partner Tracy Black will join MyCarrier’s board of directors as a result of the investment. He said his firm looks forward to applying MyCarrier’s technology to more shipping modes and to the freight audit and payment process. He also praised the Scottsdale company’s expertise.

"Mike and Chris are industry veterans that really understand the challenges in the industry and have built an outstanding team and technology platform that is easy to use and drives major operational efficiencies for both shippers and carriers," Black said in a statement.

Keep Digging

Western Real Estate Business and the InterFace Conference Group are pleased to announce the annual InterFace Phoenix Industrial conference will take place in person on September 14th, from 7:30 – 11:30 a.m., at The Hilton Scottsdale Resort & Villas. The event will include those who are buying, selling, developing, redeveloping, leasing or financing industrial properties in Arizona.

Speakers at the conference will discuss the latest trends in industrial development and investment, as well as how evolving logistics patterns are impacting the industrial market in the Phoenix area.

The logistics industry and distribution facilities continue to evolve to meet the increasing demand for online shopping and to adjust to pressures from supply chain disruptions. Meanwhile, new technology continues to drive changes in real estate intended for manufacturing companies. Where are the opportunities for industrial space developers, investors and occupiers in the Arizona market? Hear insights from local market leaders and network with industry decision-makers.

The event will attract attendees from throughout Arizona and surrounding western states, including owners, investors, developers, managers, buyers and lenders who are active in industrial real estate properties. If you are active in industrial real estate in Phoenix, mark your calendar to attend!

Topics To Be Discussed:

Who Is Planning On Attending:

For information about speaking and sponsorship opportunities, contact Scott France at 404-832-8262 x108.

InterFace Conference Group will also host InterFace Phoenix Retail conference on the morning of September 13th and InterFace Phoenix Multifamily conference on the afternoon of September 13th.

France Media Inc. is publisher of Shopping Center Business, California Centers, Retail & Restaurant Facility Business, Seniors Housing Business, Student Housing Business, Southeast Real Estate Business, Texas Real Estate Business, Northeast Real Estate Business, Western Real Estate Business, Heartland Real Estate Business, Southeast Multifamily & Affordable Housing Business, Texas Multifamily & Affordable Housing Business, Western Multifamily & Affordable Housing Business, Midwest Multifamily & Affordable Housing Business, and Northeast Multifamily & Affordable Housing Business.

For more information about all of the commercial real estate magazines, websites, and newsletters published by France Media Inc., click here.

Terryce Blanchard did not want to just have a bachelorette party.

She wanted an incomparable experience that took her far away from the cold shores of her home state of Michigan — and even further away from the busy streets of Nashville, Tennessee.

"Everyone around here goes to Nashville," Blanchard told Insider. "I was trying to do something different."

Blanchard knew wherever she was going, it needed to be larger than life — a must for a bride traveling with 18 companions.

For her, nowhere better fit the bill better than Scottsdale, Arizona, a well-to-do suburb of the Phoenix metropolitan area. A city that offered her a surplus of restaurants, numerous outdoor activities, and a prime selection of spacious Airbnbs to host a large wedding party.

"We wanted to be outside and in a space where we didn't have to get a bunch of hotel rooms." she said. "Scottsdale has a bunch of big spaces for people. So that was how we figured it out."

Scoot over Nashville. After Tennessee's capital city became the bachelorette destination of choice in recent years, Scottsdale could be stealing the crown. The New York Times reported that more than 11,600 parties are being planned in Scottsdale this year. While that's only a fraction of the 30,000 being planned for Nashville, Mike Petrakis, the founder and chief executive of bachelorette planning site Bach, told NYT it could potentially eclipse bookings for Nashville. That's because the city's popularity has grown during the Covid-19 pandemic, which has helped boost local businesses and strengthen its housing market.

Blanchard fears Scottsdale's new reputation might dull its shine.

"I feel like it is going to be overdone, kind of like how Nashville was," she said

Scottsdale's budding bridal popularity is boosting tourism

For Scottsdales' business owners, the surge in popularity is more than welcome news.

Especially for Casey Hohman, the owner of party planning company Scottsdale Bachelorette, who told Insider that he has seen "a huge uptick in party requests."

The traffic has helped him expand his business.

"This year has been absolutely insane," he said. "We had set a goal to book 500 parties for the year and we hit that at the end of April. We were totally caught off guard by how popular it's been this year."

Hohman says Scottsdale's bachelorette party success derives from two main factors — lenient Covid-19 protocols and a historically high number of weddings throughout the United States.

"Scottsdale was one of the few places open for business in terms of very few mask mandates, no really big restrictions on restaurants and bars," he said. "So we saw a lot of people redirecting their parties from places like Vegas and Miami to Scottsdale.

"You pair that with the fact that there are more weddings this year than since 1984 and that Scottsdale is becoming such a cool new destination for people in their twenties — it sort of started it all," Hohman said.

Indeed, Arizona has seen an uptick in tourism and homebuyer migration. According to The Arizona Office of Tourism, both visitor spending and overnight stays outpaced the national average in 2021. Additionally, data from real estate brokerage Redfin also shows that out of all US cities, Phoenix was the most popular migration destination last year, followed by the cities of Dallas and Orlando.

The increase in migration has encouraged more homeowners to either list their properties for sale or make them available as Airbnbs — both have helped to push the state's home prices to historic highs.

Although it has made Arizona's housing market more unaffordable, it has helped brides like Blanchard celebrate their bachelorette parties in both comfort and style.

"I think it's a good place for people with a wide variety of interests," she said, adding that "it was the best weekend" of her life and that if she had a chance, she would do it all over again.

Did you move to a new city? Reach out to this reporter at alloyd@insider.com.