New-home construction stayed slow through April in the Tucson area.

There were 129 permits issued in Pima County for new-home construction last month, said John Strobeck of Bright Future Business Consultants in his latest Southern Arizona Housing Market Letter. That’s down from 157 permits issued in March.

“March typically is a very good permit month and April’s drop in volume is in line with the trend of previous years,” Strobeck said.

The number of permits for residential construction is still down compared with last year, though. In April 2010, 191 permits were issued.

Sales of new homes are also slow, with only 93 new-home closings in April.

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The Arizona Department of Real Estate will close its Tucson office May 31.

The agency, which regulates real estate statewide, is closing the office due to budget constraints.

The closure isn’t likely to have much effect on Tucson, as most of what was done at the office can be handled online, said Phil Tedesco, CEO of the Tucson Association of Realtors.

“From a cost-benefit analysis, I don’t think it made sense to keep the doors open,” Tedesco said.

The office, in the state building at 400 W.

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Lazydays, a Tampa, Fla.-based recreational vehicle company, has acquired the property in Tucson once owned and occupied by Beaudry RV.

Lazydays paid $9.55 million for the RV campground, sales and service center previously operated by the prominent Tucson RV dealer near Interstate 10 and East Irvington Road.

The Florida company, founded in 1976, plans to open the campground and service facilities in midsummer and then sell RVs there a short time later, said Thom VanderKlipp, its director of marketing.

“We were looking at expanding the operation west of the Mississippi, and Arizona made a lot of sense as a strategic location,” VanderKlipp said.

Having completed the purchase, Lazydays is now obtaining the necessary business permits to operate in Tucson.

The company bought the property from a liquidating trustee appointed last year by U.S.

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A cash-strapped local developer has been hit with foreclosure notices on projects throughout the Tucson area.

In separate filings in the Pima County Recorder’s Office, three properties tied to Pomegranate Development LLC recently received notice of impending foreclosure sales:

• In a residential project, 42 lots southeast of East Old Spanish Trail and South Camino Loma Alta have slid into default. Borrower Sonoran Ranch Estates III LLC is delinquent on a loan recorded in October 2008 with an original principal balance of $4.365 million.

The beneficiary is Casas Reales First Mortgage LLC of Phoenix.

The property is scheduled for auction July 11 at the Pima County Courthouse.

Kevin W. T

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A pair of real estate investors with an eye for rejuvenation are breathing new life into a once derelict motor court on Miracle Mile.

In its heyday, the Monterey Motel – with its Spanish-tile roofs, lush gardens and blue-and-white sign atop a fake saguaro – was part of a glittering neon gateway into Tucson.

In more recent years, though, Miracle Mile and its motor courts became noticeably unmiraculous. The strip’s reputation as a haven for drug addicts and prostitutes festered. Investors and city officials neglected the once prominent route.

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