Pinal County developers and leaders discuss importance of transportation, look towards future growth
by Melissa Johnson | Rose Law Group Reporter
In the first half of 2005, Pinal County’s share of single-family home permits jumped to 30.5 percent, up from 19 percent in 2004, concluded a study conducted by Arizona State University.
The panel at Pinal Partnership’s 10 year celebration. Left to right: Michael Martindale, Jackob Andersen, Jason Barney, Jordan Rose, Supervisor House, Harold Christ, Sandie Smith
The county experienced a 66.5 percent burst in growth, the fourth highest rate in the nation. This wasn’t a surprise for the people who were already developing Pinal County; it was at that time they, along with land owners, business owners and government leaders realized there was a lot of work to do in the county to aid in this massive amount of growth that was occurring and was foreseen to continue for years to come.
And that was how Pinal Partnership was born.
Rick Merritt, senior vice president of Elliott D. Pollack and Associates, told the inaugural Pinal Partnership meeting in 2005 growth was likely to be increasingly concentrated in the West Valley and Pinal County because they still had large tracts of land available for development. Ten years later, that same statement was echoed by Michael Martindale, an original member of Pinal Partnership and the principal and designated broker of CRA, at the ten year celebration of Pinal Partnership on September 11 at the Copper Sky Recreational Complex in Maricopa as the group reflected on the past and looked to the future.
