editor: fred miller October 17, 2021 Bisbee Wire #17/October 2021
Hello,
The sun is bright, daytime air warmish, stars are brilliant in the crisp night air. It is good for me (and perhaps you) to pause and absorb the natural environment because it helps keep perspective about what is truly important in these oft confusing time. (And, as the Anita forcefully tells me, it gets me off the computer too!)
As far as the unnatural environment... The dough is flowing in and out of town these days with the housing market hotter than Phoenix in the summer and lotsa business properties on the market. There are 96 hotel rooms for sale; 51 in an auction (Copper Queen Hotel) and 45 in four other properties. Details below.
Cochise County wants proposals for the acquision and redevelopment of the original Bisbee High School,100 Clawson St. The 45,000 sq. ft. building is on the historic register, has a parking lot, and uniquely-has four floors each with an entrance onto the street. They had an open house to show the building. Lotsa chatter about a mix of affordable housing, shops, and offices. To be seen if there will be any specific proposals that actually involve organization or person putting up real dough to make anything happen.
And Fall has arrived most def, cause Maralyce and Chuck, creators of Pan Terra Gallery on Main, are back in town returning from the summer in Maine. They are among the bestest of Bisbee.
fred
BISBEE
COUNCIL MEETING Tuesday October 19 7:00 915 Tovreaville Rd. Agenda and background here: http://www.bisbeeaz.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_10192021-386 ....................... JESUS HARO, PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR RESIGNS The job posting is at http://bisbeeaz.gov/Jobs.aspx?JobID=55&fbclid=IwAR0m_-Iwc2CrfN0Gdf9xe4YTK3RKuy5R9NGe-KSTRHobwNRlLLXoF8KJDbA ................ BEST OF BISBEE Ahem... Roka won best dinner and best place to have a drinkie. Copper City Inn was second to Bisbee Casita Chiquita? go figure. Watch The Presentation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8alh7tzlqsw ............ CLASSIC ROCK COUTURE FEATURED IN AZ STAR A flattering feature about owner Claire Harlan's fashion creations. https://thisistucson.com/tucsonlife/this-bisbee-shop-sells-groovy-desert-inspired-jackets-that-have-been-spotted-on-celebrities/article_e811c5b8-2254-11ec-9be3-43a7f87ce854.html
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COPPER QUEEN HOTEL OPERA DEBUTS AS MOVIE
The Copper Queen Hotel is not only up for auction but the subject of a commissioned opera. Originally scheduled on stage, the pandemic forced a change to make into a movie. Set in Room 315 of the Copper Queen Hotel it details the life Julia Howell forced into prostitution and her ghost experienced in the same room 100 years later by another woman. Alert! for those uninitiated in opera it features.. operatic singing! See at Harkins Pavilion or Harkins Tucson spectrum. After nov. 4 paid streaming available at ondemand.azopera.org. See a tickler here:https://tucson.com/news/local/watch-now-arizona-operas-the-copper-queen-trailer/video_efa8402c-0c98-5100-b7b7-4137942c0582.html
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MILE HIGH RANCH HALLOWEEN
The new owners of the former Gardens at Mile High, have planned a community Holloween event for Fri/29.Sat/30, Sun/31. The free scary event is oriented towards kids and families. More info at: 432-3866.
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I received a letter from Sparklight offering backup my internet service if the net goes down for the low price of $29.99 a month. When interrupted internet service is often caused by Sparklight, it seems disingenuous to ask a customer to pay for both providing internet service as well as internet downtime.
On the Other Hand...your organization can get some of their dough for doing some good works... SPARKLIGHT CHARITABLE GIVING GRANT SESSION OPENS Applications due by October 31/21 and April 30/22.
They support the following priority areas:
Education and Digital Literacy
Hunger Relief and Food Insecurity
Community Development
Requests for special projects (e.g., program expansion or capacity-building efforts)
Requests for capital campaigns (e.g., building construction, facilities improvements and renovation, or infrastructure enhancements)
Go here to apply: https://www.sparklight.com/grantapplication
BISBEE ECONOMY
Bisbee lost 11.7% of our population to 4,923 people. 2010/5575. That has ramifications for many kinds of government programs and will impact planning for Bisbee's future. So although there may be peeps moving in-as evidenced by the number of houses sold, there certainly are peeps moving out. More exploration of what this means in coming issues. https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=bisbee,%20arizona&tid=DECENNIALPL2020.P1 Fall has become all about commercial real estate for sales. Several properties/businesses for sale and one big auction of the Copper Queen Hotel. Beginning with.... ....Copper City Inn; Danielle Eason and Chuck Roskam have bought our inn. Whatta relief! Not that it was a ton of work, but it had become interruptive in our lives. After 15 years of building the business, it was time to turn the page. Ms. Eason has roots in Cochise County and Bisbee,her grandfather graduated from Bisbee high and her father Dan Eason owned the building that is now the Royale, as well as a couple more buildings in OB. Her mother-in-law, Dawn, was my landlady. Chuck was a Coast Guard guy traveling the world and after that kicking around Bellingham WA. We are fortunate to have found people that will continue to operate the Inn at the standard we promoted. And when you have family in town and love them dearly but...don't want constant exposure, heh, heh, send them to CCI. Lodging buildings/businesses up for sale (and auction) ...The 51 room Copper Queen Hotel at 11 Howell Av. is up for public auction November 30. Auction listings do not note a minimum amount for beginning bids. The original principal balances was $2.982 million. The attorney/trustee handling the sale is Michelle Ghidotti-Gonsalves in Orange CA. 714 520-5737. The sale, as all trustee's sales, will be at the County courthouse on Quality Hill. ...The 8 room Canyon Rose Suites in the Allen Block is for sale at 27 Subway, listed at $2.250,000 mil. The building also houses 11 retail spaces. ...The 18 unit Gym Club Suites at 39 Howell is for sale listed at $1.950,000 ... The nine room School House Inn at 818 Tombstone is for sale for $950,000 ...Stock Exchange at 15 Brewery Av. with 10 rooms, 3 restaurants, bar for $2,750,00. Other commercial buildings/businesses for sale... High Desert Market $1,200,000 203 Tombstone Canyon Contessas Cantina, $395,000 202 Tombstone Canyon Finders Keepers $497,000 81 Main Hitching Post $385,000 also has a open door adjacent restaurant, 316 Pirrug (Bisbee Road across from B&D) Lyric Building $485,000 (houses Bisbee Realty and the old theater) La Ramada $499,000, 1948 Naco Hwy Blue Moon Bungalows up for $329,000 Miner's and Merchants Antique business & building. Price depends on Floyd's mood. In other business news... ...Ken Wallace's Bisbee Bicycle Brothel is gone from 78 Main St. The space is up for rent with hopes for some sort of food establishment next to Munchies. ...Just about next door at 86 Main, Bonnie and Steve have opened a new store, B-Active, 520-352-9696, for renting electric bikes (2 hrs minimum). They also sell various kinds of biking related gear as well as electric bikes. ...Kafka coffee on Subway continues to grow their business. Lisa and Bruce are doing a good job of making a nice place to hang. ....Roka, 432-5153, continues to be busy on Fri/Sat (reservations strongly suggested for tables and even the bar) and may be adding Sunday in November. Knock me a greet at the bar. Darrin of flamenco based MajaVia renown or Kurt Hauser, a classical guitarist, are playing music on the second floor. ...Boho Bisbee Tapas at Le Cornucopia Café , 432-4820 open on Friday, Sat nights and Sunday midday, will be having a new chef. Thayer Kuehne, a former co-worker of mine at Roka, will be replacing Anna's in the kitchen next month. ...Thayer also make killer scones available at Heather's coffee booth (complete with painted ironing boards on which to set your beverage (what a dope idea!) while checking out the scene and listening to killer music!) at the lovely Bisbee Saturday Market at Vista Park..... ...Speaking of which, the market continues to make progress, adding more vendors weekly, including a few more food outlets each week. There has been a couple threads on FB, basically stirring ca-ca and trying to gin up some sort of rivalry. I guess it bears repetition... There is no rivalry. There is no animosity on our part. We do not try to steal vendors. There is no merger possibility. Sure I hope that vendors now in the parking lot of La Ramada (for sale by the way), would return to the park; they would be welcome. However it is unlikely that those vendors will move until their customers tell them that they would prefer to patronize them at Vista park. The vendors that have moved to the Bisbee Saturday Market seem to be happy with location and are making bank. If anyone has a picnic table in good condition to donate or would like to sponsor one, we would be grateful. Contact BSM manager Tracy Taylor at bisbeesaturdaymarket@yahoo.com. ........... INCORPORATIONS Lost Vault Records 120A Quality Hilll Rd Robert Page Daniel Simonis Sunrise Surveying 14 Mojave Tr. Stephen Sample H.C. Dangerfields LLC 207 Arizona St. Heather Reddon, Chris Dangerfield Cosmic Bisbee 2052 S. Barnett Rd Melanie Greene Zoya Reyna Greene
HOUSES SOLD
Selling and buying of houses continues to be robust. In the past three months 42 houses have been sold for a total of $9,542,741. There were 12 sold in OB, 18 in Warren, 9 in San Jose, and 3 in other sub districts in Bisbee.
14 in July for a total of $2,986,900.
17 in August for a total of $3,417,500
11 in September for a total of $3,138,341
It is always difficult to draw conclusions from cold hard stats alone, but it would seem the Warren district is likely seeing increased purchases because there is so little for sale in OB and prices in OB have risen substantially while there is still affordable buys in Warren and San Jose. (One house on OK street sold for $295k while another on Tombstone Canyon sold for $672,000, while houses in Warren can still be had for under $200k.
Address….......Ask price/Sale price JULY 84 Cochise Row $69,000/$54,000 89 N. Pittsburg $65,000/$60,000 624 Bisbee Rd. $164,900/$154,000 1452 S. Calle de Rosas $155,000/$155,000 114 McNeish $160,000/$160,000 1455 Calle de Jardin $198,000/$187,000 315 15th Terrace $224,900/$222,000 67 Mohave Dr $235,000/$230,000 409 Bisbee Rd $249,000/$245,000 305 Hovland St.$265,000/$259,000 406C Mason Hill $279,000/$280,000 69 D OK St. $295,000/$295,000 110 Nighthawk Av $325,000,$325,000 5b Moon Canyon $365,000/$360,000
AUGUST 414 N St. $68k/$60k 5, 5A Cochise Rd. $65k 410 E Saguaro Ln $74,900 61 A Shearer $85k 32 Old Douglas Rd $89k/$93k 248 Cochise Ln $115k/$119k 400 Hovland St $149k 300 H Hovland St $130k/$150k 84 Neptune $154,900/$157k 415 Center Ave $165k/$159k 117 San Jose Dr. $172.9k 512 Douglas St. $239k/$215k 521 Ruppe Ave $297k 305 OAK Ave $347k/$355k 57 Angius Ave $352k/$355k 539 Tombstone Canyon $339k/$383k SEPTEMBER 971 W. Hgw 92 $25k/$18k 205 Ft. Huachuac Lane $59k 211 Douglas St $92.5k/$75k 617 Santa Cruz Dr. A $99k/$95k 636 Mulberry Lane $115k/$120k 438 OK St. $229.5k/$227.5k 122 Whelan Av. $249.9k/$255k 820 Tombstone Canyon $259k 508 Camino de Nevada $259k/$260k 142 Brewery Av. $279.9k/$275k 114B Quality Hill $315k 510 Vista St. $365k/$357k 632 Tombstone Canyon $682k/$672k ............. BUILDING PERMITS Unfortunately June and July permits have not been released so difficult to see what is happening this summer. However since the housing market is so active, it seems safe to say that the remodeling and maintainance work would continue apace. That seem true for August for sure with 40 residential permits worth $517,649. Of the commercial permits the county has been rehabbing their court complex to the tune of more than a million bucks. Other commercial activity negligible. ............. SALES TAX (tax reports reflect sales two months ago) The September taxes closely resembled August and July reports with one exception. Retail sales were $24k more than the previous month $124,778/$100,459. The tax report verify anecdotal chats with several businesses owners that this has been an excellent summer for business. Across the board taxes-bed, restaurant bar, hotel, retail, home food-were almost twice as much as September/19. Internet sales did not begin till November/19 and are now topping $18k.
WORD PLAY
The Washington Post published the winning submissions to its yearly contest, in which readers are asked to supply alternate meanings for common words. And the winners are: 1. Coffee, n. The person upon whom one coughs. 2. Flabbergasted, adj. Appalled by discovering how much weight one has gained. 3. Abdicate, v. To give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach. 4. Esplanade, v. To attempt an explanation while drunk. 5. Willy-nilly, adj. Impotent. 6. Negligent, adj. Absent mindedly answering the door when wearing only a nightgown. 7. Lymph, v. To walk with a lisp. 8. Gargoyle, n. Olive-flavored mouthwash. 9. Flatulence, n. Emergency vehicle that picks up someone who has been run over by a steamroller. 10. Balderdash, n. A rapidly receding hairline. 11. Testicle, n A humorous question on an exam. 12. Rectitude, n. The formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists. 13. Pokemon, n. A Rastafarian proctologist. 14. Oyster, n. A person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms. 15. Frisbeetarianism, n. The belief that, after death, the soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there. 16. Circumvent, n. An opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men.