MR.WILSON’SAMENACE INWINBack’s 194 yards pushCats past Nevada SPORTS

Final

• •

Sunday, September 13, 2015$2 plus tax • $3 outside Southern Arizona

COMING THURSDAY IN CALIENTEFALL FILMS: Spectacles like “StarWars: The Force Awak-ens” invade Hollywood’s traditionally serious season.

LEE ENTERPRISES • Vol. 174, No. 256For home delivery, call 1-800-695-4492email: circulation@tucson.com

INSIDE TODAY’S STARHome + Life E1-12Lottery B11Obituaries C6

Sports B1-11TV CL7Weather B12

GETPLANTINGTipsonpreparingawintergardenthat’sgoodenoughtoeat

PAGE E9

$223 Total savings incoupons inside

By Gabriela RicoARIZONADAILY STAR

After a tough few years, Tuc-son’s luxury housingmarket is onthe rebound.

For the first half of this year,sales of homes priced $800,000-plus were up 7 percent comparedto the same period in 2014. At thesame time, the number of unsoldluxury homes languishing on themarket was down 6 percent fromlast year — and down 19 percentfrom January.

The Residences at TheRitz-Carlton, Dove Mountainhas sold nine properties totaling$18millionsofarthisyear.Eachonesold for $1million to $3.4million.

“With another couple of sales

by year’s end, it will be our bestyear ever,” said Rich Oosterhuis,director of sales and marketingforDoveMountainRealty LLC.

Things are going so well thatthe company is building spechomes that will be available thisfall.

The rebound in luxury salesis due to several factors: “animprovement in consumer

Million-dollarhomemarketroarsbackto life inTucson

PHOTOS COURTESY OF LONG REALTY

The first half of 2015 saw a sharp rise in the sale of Tucson homes priced $800,000 and higher, and the number of unsold luxury homes declined.

Want some sports cars under your chandelier? There’s a house for you.

See LUXURYHOMES, A6Builders targeting northeast side / D1

By Tony DavisARIZONADAILY STAR

A shortage of ColoradoRiver water would affectArizona and the Southwestmore than many peoplepreviously believed, a newstudy says.

Called “The BathtubRing” after Lake Mead’s

whitish coating, the studyexamined potential sideeffects of a Colorado Riversupply shortfall. It warnsthat electricity costs forHoover Dam power cus-tomers would rise sharply,that visitation to LakeMeadcould tumble and that Cal-ifornia, not just Arizona,would suffer from an earlyshortage.

The fragile Colorado Riv-erDelta inMexicocouldalsosuffer from a shortagewhen

irrigation water that nour-ishes the delta is cut back,the study says.

The study was done byfour master’s students, allsince graduated, at the Uni-versity of California-SantaBarbara under the directionof Douglas Kenney, a vet-eran Colorado River waterresearcher at the UniversityofColorado inBoulder.

When it was finished inmid-May, it appeared thatthe river’s first shortage

could be declared next yearand was almost certainfor 2017. Thanks to heavyrains in Colorado, though,a shortage has been post-poned, possibly until 2018.Still, Southwestern waterofficials remain concernedabout the river’s health be-cause in most years, peopletakemorewater fromit thanit carries. Even this year,LakeMead is predicted tobe

Scenariodire for citiesunderColoradoRiverwatershortageCost of electricityfromHoover Damcould rise fivefold

JOHN LOCHER / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 2014

Hoover Dam, a reliable supplier of low-cost power for theSouthwest, is especially useful when demand is high. SeeWATER, A4

By EricaWerner and Julie PaceTHEASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON — A lame-duck president, an empoweredopposition, a looming election:They’re hardly the ingredients fora resounding White House tri-umph.

Yet President Obama clincheda huge victory on the Iran nucle-ar deal inCongress this pastweekwhen Senate Democrats blockedGOP attempts to get a disapprov-al resolution to his desk and frus-trated House Republicans settledfor passing two related measuresdestined to gonowhere.

The outcome was especiallynotable for a White House witha history of bungling legislativeinitiatives on Capitol Hill and apresident known for a hands-off relationship with lawmakers,evenhis ownDemocrats.

This time was different, ac-cording to administration offi-cials and lawmakers of both par-ties. The reasons involved policy,politics and a president lookingfor one last big success to burnishhis foreign policy legacy

Obama threw everything intouniting Democrats behind theaccord, writing letters and flyinglawmakers on Air Force One withhim to Africa. House MinorityLeader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.,gave the White House the namesof 57 House Democrats to call inAugust;Obama called each one.

“The White House gets greatcredit for this. This is the crown-ing jewel achievement in for-eign policy of the White House,”

ObamapulledoutstopsonIrandealSuccess in blockingGOP seemed unlikely

See IRANDEAL, A8

ANALYSIS

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A6 • FROM THE FRONT PAGE Sunday, September 13, 2015 / Arizona Daily Star

confidence and the economy,growth in housing overall andthe fact that affluent buyers arewatching the Tucson market,”Long Realty CEO Rosey Kober-lein and vice president of mar-keting and technologyKevin Ka-plan said in a joint email.

Because luxury markets inPhoenix and Scottsdale are wellinto recovery, buyers find Tuc-son prices more attractive, theysaid.

“There is still a sensitivity hereto pricing in the luxury segment,”Koberlein andKaplan said.

The overall housing marketcontinues a steady improvementwith median home prices up 16percent since 2011, data from theTucson Association of Realtorshows.

Traditionally, the luxury mar-ket has been concentrated inthe Foothills, but now aboutone-third of those sales are onthe northwest side, such as theResidences at The Ritz. Sinceopening for sales in 2009, thedevelopment has sold 40 homesfor $70million. In addition tocustom homesites, buyers canchoose from eight customizablefloor plans.

Among the amenities, res-idents have access to TheRitz-Carlton Dove Mountainresort, which earlier this yearreceived a five-star rating fromForbesTravelGuide.

Buyers are a mix of people,Oosterhuis said.

“We have high-end executivesbuying second homes, newly re-tired couples and, recently, wehave had two families with chil-dren in junior high who view theResidences as the best place toraisea family,”hesaid.“Ourown-ers love the fact that our project is

debt-free, and all the amenitiesare in and available for them toenjoy right now.”

In 2010, Google executive RaySidney poured an undisclosedamount of cash into The Resi-dences at The Ritz-Carlton toclear the developer’s debt. Localdeveloper David Mehl said Sid-ney’s investment was crucial tomoving the project forward at atime when many projects werestalled because of the housingdownturn.

Increased sales in the commu-nity prove “that people want theperfect blend of homeownershipwiththeresort-styleof livingthatThe Residences provides,” Mehlsaid. “The recent accolade fromForbes Travel Guide is anotherstrongvalidationof our guest andowner experiences.”

The community is in the Tor-tolita Mountain Foothills, anda full resort membership is in-cludedwith each home purchase.That gives residents access tothe Ritz-Carlton hotel and spa, a45,000 square-foot clubhouse,27 holes of Jack Nicklaus Signa-tureGolf,anOlympic-size swim-mingpool andmore than 25milesof hiking, biking and horsebackriding trails.

Homes range in size from1,668square feet to 5,400 square feet.Custom lots are one to sevenacres.

Contact reporter Gabriela Rico atgrico@tucson.com

LUXURYHOMESContinued fromPageA1

TOP PROPERTIESVisit Tucson.com to see a slideshow of some of the priciesthomes on the market right now.Coming at the end of September,we’ll feature the top-dollar homessold each month.Special thanks for Long Realty’sassistance with this project.

COURTESY OF LONG REALTY

The Tucson luxury market has shifted a little from the Foothills to the northwest side.COURTESY OF LONG REALTY

With luxury markets in Phoenix and Scottsdale well into recovery, buyers are turning to Tucson.

RON MEDVESCEK / ARIZONA DAILY STAR

Purchasing a property in the Residences at The Ritz Carlton, Dove Mountain in Marana, such as this partiallyfurnished resale home priced at $2,295,000, gives the buyer full resort membership.

COURTESY OF LONG REALTY

Several factors are cited for the rebound in luxury sales, including an improvement in consumer confidence.