Nick Bastian's Blog

I was a little surprised that SunCor decided to sell one of their two office towers at Hayden Ferry Lakeside to New York based Sumitomo corp. While some of the projects in and around the Mill Avenue District have been delayed, canceled or had different "financing issues" come up, the Hayden Ferry project is one that seems to have it all. Great location, great views, easy access to freeways, the airport and the upcoming light rail line etc.. The project is a wonderful mix of commercial and residential uses.

The commercial building that has been sold has a decent tenant in Smith Barney. Several other high profile tenants include KPMG, MetLife and the new corporate offices of Fidelity National Title. Fidelity decided to lease the entire 11th floor, leaving the posh 24th / Camelback location for this awesome area. Believe me, the management group at Fidelity knows a thing or two about real estate. The $92.5 million price tag is a lot of money but given the demand for the area, the growth and excitement surrounding the Mill Avenue District and the future developments that SunCor has talked about in the area, this might end up being a great deal for all involved. These "New Yorker's" are not exactly new to town. In fact, they recently sold out of the Phelps Dodge Tower in Phoenix prior to picking up this trophy property along the Tempe Town Lake. If you haven't seen these buildings, they are worth a look. The following pic is one I took in the lobby of the Hayden Ferry building. The lobby was designed with a really cool nautical theme where you feel like you are looking through the hull of a ship. :-)

Here, you can see the homes currently for sale at Hayden Ferry. These buildings are just East of the commercial buildings.

The lifestyle along Tempe Town lake and in and around the Mill Avenue District is changing drastically. This is a growing, vibrant community with excellent access to amenities..

To Live, work and play, our great city is hard to beat! Tempe is very centrally located with easy access to our freeway systems and to the airport. Here, you will find some amazing housing opportunities, a great arts community, wonderful restaurants, great schools, lot's of different jobs, enthusiastic sports fans and a wonderful lifestyle in an amazingly convenient location that is close to many of the things our great state has to offer.

If you have any questions about the community of Tempe Arizona, please feel free to visit our web site at http://www.nickbastian.com/ or feel free to call us at 602-803-6425 or toll free at 1-888-343-6425.

So, what is with this blogging thing, anyway? I began blogging about a year and a half ago. VERY slowly at first but it has picked up (slightly)as I learn more of the benefits for myself and for my clients. Yes, my clients. You see, I have never been a "writer." (many will attest to that) BUT, for the past 15" years, I have been a REALTOR. It is in my blood, it is what I do. Currently, the percentage of agents that have a blog is very small but I promise you, that percentage has begun to change. My clients benefit from my real estate endeavors in several ways. The more successful I have become, the more people I meet. The more people I meet, the better chance they will be interested in what I have to offer. Everything we do is geared towards providing the best information possible to customers, clients and consumers. Blogs help people get to know me, they help with search engine optimization and they help drive traffic to our web sites. It is easy to sit back and rely on the "old school" way of doing things but, it makes more sense (to me) to change with the times. Heck, many of our clients have no idea what a blog is.. That's ok too. We still rely on many other forms of communication and try to keep in frequent contact with them. Blogging just seems to create more opportunities to reach modern consumers. Everything is "Googled" these days.

In addition to the benefits of my business, I have made many friends while blogging. Some have been through the AZ Real Estate Blogging Network and others from reading other blogs, participating in social networks etc. I have met some great people and have learned a lot. Of course, I have a TON more to learn but it is time invested in my business. For me and for many business owners, blogging can be a great way to reach a whole new audience.

So.. I hope you don't mind if I occasionally ramble on, write about some of my favorite neighborhoods, talk about a house or two and just share part of my real estate endeavours.. One great thing about a blog is that you can click away if bored. :-) I hope you will stick around and maybe even check back from time to time..

If you care to follow along with some of my other ramblings, you can find me occasionally writing things on the following blogs as well. "Just Call Nick!" (.com) , Rail Life's blog , AZ Real Estate Blogging Network.. In fact, I posted a very similar article on our AZREBN blog recently but thought it might be fun to add it here as well. Thanks for stopping by to check it out! :-)

We all know that location is a big part of determining a properties "value." In today's paper, there is an article titled "Chandler may expand bus route from Tempe."  Part of the article says.. "According to a transportation study released earlier this year, more than 60,000 people travel between central Chandler and Tempe every day for school, business, shopping or dining"

With gas at four bucks a gallon, many commuters are taking the bus or even biking to work.  In communities where this is possible, I believe you will see much higher appreciation, in the near term than other parts of the valley. Back in December of 06' I mentioned my belief that with "the struggles and inventory issues of Queen Creek, Maricopa and some of the outlying areas, there may be a shift to properties with easier access to more centralized locations." Heck, way back then, gas was much more affordable too..

Tempe is well positioned to take advantage of peoples desire to be close to work, shopping, restaurants, sporting activities and the conveniences of life without having to spend a fortune getting there.

Our bus systems have been expanded with express routes running through the city. We have big buses, small buses and medium sized buses, the choice is yours.. There will be more changes soon to hook up to the new Light Rail routes. Next weeks meetings for the Tempe South Transit Study will discuss the future additions of more options through South Tempe. All of these changes should make it easier for people to get around if they choose not to drive a car. Given that, one would think property values in Tempe should do well as it is just another one of the many great benefits this city has to offer.

To Live, work and play, our great city is hard to beat! Tempe is very centrally located with easy access to our freeway systems and to the airport. Here, you will find some amazing housing opportunities, a great arts community, wonderful restaurants, great schools, lot's of different jobs, enthusiastic sports fans and a wonderful lifestyle in an amazingly convenient location that is close to many of the things our great state has to offer.

If you have any questions about the community of Tempe Arizona, please feel free to visit our web site at http://www.nickbastian.com/ or feel free to call us at 602-803-6425 or toll free at 1-888-343-6425.