Since Jeff and Jim became “partners” in buying, renting, holding, selling and trading single family homes (SFH) for TheMonopolyProject we have significantly increased our search activities. We are looking for “The Perfect Monopoly” house. We bought a house in Apache Junction. After that we went to Casa Grande, AZ looking for a new home build. We are still working that deal.

But we started our search in early January in Coolidge, Az. For this post we will jump back in time and space to January in Coolidge.

Why Coolidge? Because it has a hot new electric truck story called “Nikola”. What and where is Coolidge?

“Coolidge is a city in Pinal County, Arizona, United States. According to the 2010 census, the city’s population is 11,825.”

“Coolidge was founded in 1925 when R.J. Jones laid out an 80 acres (32 ha) site during the construction of the Coolidge Dam on the nearby Gila River, which was completed in 1930. Both the dam and the townsite were named for Calvin Coolidge, the 30th President of the United States.”

Coolidge is the site for a hot new electric truck factory. Big trucks: electric and hydrogen powered:

Nikola broke ground for a factory in Coolidge last year:

They had also had a ‘partnership’ agreement with General Motors (GM).

“General Motors receives 11 percent ownership of Nikola and right to nominate one director; General Motors seizes growth opportunity with Nikola to boldly move into broader markets with Hydrotec fuel cell and Ultium battery systems.”

Nikola is still (February 2021) hosting job fairs in Coolidge.

We were excited about the potential in Coolidge and for new home builds. We went down to Coolidge and were particularly impressed by the Richmond American homes. We liked the location, build and price point (“Peridot”):

But we grew increasingly concerned about how real the Nikola story was. Jeff and I discussed it over the weekend. On Monday morning we decided to decline the opportunity.

Later that day we heard that the Nikola/GM deal had begun to unravel; or at least be limited.

“Over the past few months, Nikola Corporation has adjusted its future truck plans, curtailing plans with GM and canceling a refuse truck’s development outright, but also revealing details and progress of the Nikola Tre and Nikola Two vehicles.”

“After flubbing its deal with Nikola, General Motors eyes a new hydrogen truck project.”

We still have a lot of confidence in Coolidge in the long run, but for now the Casa Grande opportunity is much stronger.

Next, we will go back to Casa Grande.