![]() Work is expected to finish on the building of a big temperature-controlled cold storage facility within the borders of the Innovation and Industrial Park in Las Cruces, located just to the south of the Las Cruces International Airport. The project belongs to a recently-launched Chicago-based company called Artico Cold Management, and will provide cold storage space for an array of vegetables and fruit as part of a larger supply chain carrying agricultural products to supermarkets. Construction of the new warehouse is expected to take up to 18 months, with an anticipated completion date of sometime in September 2023. Altogether, the new company plans to spend around $30 million building a specialized refrigerated warehouse. The project is the recipient of some $600,000 in Local Economic Development Act funding, awarded by the New Mexico Economic Development Department. An additional nearly $300,000 in support has been approved by the City of Las Cruces. In a statement announcing the project, Economic Development Secretary Alicia Keyes remarked that small producers in New Mexico “don’t have the resources to build or maintain cold-storage or processing operations.” Continued Keyes: “We need this infrastructure in the state to sustain a robust agricultural economy so we can grow and process more food closer to home.” Artico officials have announced a business plan calling for the future construction of similar facilities in both Mexico and Latin America. The exact locations for those facilities have not yet been disclosed. By Garry Boulard
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![]() In the wake of an uncertain market, partly distorted by a nearly two-year old pandemic economy, the student housing construction projects appear to be on the rise for 2022. According to the publication Multi-Housing News, “pent-up demand for in-person academic experiences, coupled with international foreign travel resuming,” have sparked a return of students on campuses nationally, “boosting the housing sector at the same time.” The demand for new student housing gives every sign of being national, with the popularity of studio, single room and spacious double room units expected to remain strong throughout the year. A possible outlier trend, notes the publication, is the impact of the green movement among students who in many cases were born after the year 2000. “Students want to have access to fresh air and daylight as much as possible, and they value outdoor and open spaces more than ever,” observes the publication. The publication Building Design + Construction sees a similar trend demanding “social spaces” where students can work, as well as spaces for gaming, “as a majority of this generation say they game at least once a week.” That the demand for student housing is more than theoretical is seen in the latest numbers compiled by the Scottsdale, Arizona-based research company Yardi Matrix showing that among the nation’s top 200 colleges and universities, pre-leasing underway for this coming fall is currently almost at the 27% mark, nearly double the figure recorded during the same time period in 2020. Student housing construction projects announced just this month, meanwhile, include a $70 million student learning and living facility at the University of Hawaii at its Manoa campus; a $147 million student housing project near Florida International University in Miami; and $15.6 million apartment complex in Ithaca, New York, providing housing for the students of Cornell University. By Garry Boulard ![]() A sprawling mansion property and ranch near the Colorado town of Genesee, some 85 miles to the southwest of Denver, is being offered for sale for $25.7 million. The estate belongs to Denver automobile dealer entrepreneurs John and Debi Medved, the former owners of the six-store chain Medved Autoplex, who purchased it in the early 1990s. The estates comprises nearly 330 acres with a main house measuring more than 17,000 square feet and including 9 bedrooms, as well as a large living room, dining room, family room, theater with stage, and even a butler’s pantry. According to the publication Mansion Global, the main house features Corinthian columns, cathedral ceilings, and a living room with a “hickory wood fireplace, with candelabras and carved Elizabethan figures.” The exterior of the estate features an oversized swimming pool. Additional structures on the site include a 5,200 square foot equipment shop, as well as a property manager’s home measuring 5,000 square feet, and a seven-car garage. The property itself was once the site of the Arapahoe East Ski Area, a popular ski resort for 12 years before ceasing operations in 1984. Uniquely, the property is being listed with three realtors: Compass Denver, Hall and Hall, and Re/Max Leaders. Hall and Hall specializes in the auction and sale of ranch properties. By Garry Boulard ![]() A more than 100-year-old building in downtown El Paso that was designed by legendary architect Henry Trost has been put on a state list owing to its history and current uncertain status. The group Preservation Texas has selected the Krupp Building, at 119 W. Overland Drive, as one of the top ten “Most Endangered Places” in the state. The non-profit group selected the structure due to plans announced last year to demolish it in order to make way for a new five-story apartment complex. On its website, Preservation Texas is urging the developer to keep the Krupp Building intact. Using state and federal tax credits to help upgrade the structure, says Preservation Texas, will make it possible save a “an architectural landmark in El Paso.” The Miami-based Meyers Group purchased the building nearly 3 years ago. In November Meyers said it wanted to transform the Overland Drive property into a new multi-use building with retail space on the ground floor, and condominiums on the upper levels. In so doing, the Krupp Building would be leveled. The project is officially called “Paso del Norte Residences” and will also include a 351-room hotel with a fitness center and rooftop swimming pool. The Krupp Building, built for El Paso businessman and gas and oil explorer Haymon Krupp, originally served as a clothing and dry goods factory. In later decades the building fell into a state of disrepair and was mostly vacant. By Garry Boulard ![]() In a 6 to 3 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court has temporarily put a halt to the Biden Administration’s vaccine mandate. The ruling, responding to an action of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced last fall, said the federal order requiring companies with at least 100 employers to either get a covid vaccination or provide weekly testing was an overreach. According to analysts, those companies have up to 84 million people on their payrolls. In its ruling, the higher court stated that “although Congress has indisputably given OSHA the power to regulate occupational dangers, it has not given that agency the power to regulate public health more broadly.” The opinion continued: “Requiring the vaccination of 84 million Americans, selected simply because they work for employers with more than 100 employees, certainly falls in the latter category.” At the same time, the court, in a 5 to 4 ruling, allowed for a vaccine mandate for health providers working at federally funded facilities. In a statement, Ben Brubeck, vice-president of regulatory, labor and state affairs with the Associated Builders and Contractors, characterized the 6 to 3 ruling as a “big win in removing compliance hurdles for the construction industry.” The Associated Builders and Contractors was one of several industry groups going to court to stop the OSHA order: last November it filed a petition with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit opposing the order. Chuck Fowke, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders, said that the court ruling “shows that OSHA clearly exceeded its authority.” In a statement, Fowke added that the NAHB has consistently encouraged its members to get vaccinated. “But using OSHA as the primary mechanism for this effort exceeds its statutory authority as a workplace safety agency.” In a statement released by the White House, President Biden said he was “disappointed that the Supreme Court has chosen to block common-sense life-saving requirements for employees at large business that were grounded squarely in both science and the law.” Biden added that as a result of the higher court ruling it will now be “up to the states and individual employers to determine whether to make their workplaces as safe as possible for employees, and whether their businesses will be safe for customers during this pandemic by requiring employees to take the simple and effective step of getting vaccinated.” By Garry Boulard ![]() A classic Albuquerque commercial space located in the city’s always-robust Nob Hill section is being listed for sale for $675,000. The two-story Leverett Building at 3413 Central Avenue NE was built in 1949 and has served through the decades as the home to a number of retail operations. Currently, the building houses a trendy combined salon, café and bar known as the Laru Ni Hati. Listed with Absolute Investment Realty of Albuquerque, the structure, which underwent a complete renovation in 1994, measures just under 4,100 square feet. The building is part of an unending structural line of stores and restaurants making up the 3400 block of Central, each architecturally distinct and largely built during the early decades of Nob Hill’s growth. Like many of the structures in this part of Nob Hill, the Leverett Building was designed in the Streamline Moderne style popular in the mid-20th century. The structure uniquely features a plate glass floor skylight bringing natural light to the basement level. The structure is named in honor of William Leverett, an Albuquerque developer and realtor responsible for the initial building out of Nob Hill. By Garry Boulard ![]() A 137,000 square foot office building in downtown Santa Fe will soon be the new home to the Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper in the wake of the structure’s purchase by an out of state real estate investment trust. Located at 150 Washington Avenue, the First Interstate Plaza Building is the home to several businesses, including a local office for the firm Deloitte US, and Morgan Stanley, as well as a popular eatery called The Bull Ring. Late last year the Daytona Beach, Florida-based CTO Realty Growth Incorporated announced that it had purchased the building for $16.3 million. While the more than 30-year-old building has in recent months been about a third vacant, space will soon be taken up with the offices of the Santa Fe New Mexican, which is moving out of its long-standing location at 202 E. Marcy, less than a mile away. Founded in 1849, the paper is one of the oldest continually published metro papers in the West and has had its offices on E. Marcy since the early 1940s. With a paid circulation of about 23,000, the Santa Fe New Mexican is the second largest paper in the state, behind only the Albuquerque Journal, with a paid circulation in excess of 96,000. By Garry Boulard ![]() The U.S. needs to commit itself to doubling its current rate of people legally immigrating to the country in order to keep pace with workforce needs, says the new president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. In her first State of American Business Address, Suzanne Clark also called for the elimination of barriers to employment faced by formerly incarcerated adults, as well as those with limited access to broadband, among other priorities. “Let’s ensure everyone in this country has the skills, the education, and the opportunity to go as high and as far as their hard work and talent will take them—for the 11 million jobs that sit vacant today,” Clark urged. Clark added that an expanded and available workforce will prove particularly valuable “for the jobs of tomorrow that haven’t even been invented yet.” The former director of the agricultural machinery company AGCO before joining the Chamber in 2014 and subsequently serving in a series of leadership positions, Clark became president and chief executive officer of the Chamber in March of 2021. Clark also criticized the federal government for not having entered into an agreement with a new trade partner in more than 10 years, remarking: “We must compete vigorously around the world. We must stand up for our values and security and against unfair trade and regulatory practices.” Clark remarked that formal relations with other countries should also include an alignment on “critical global challenges such as sustainability and public health.” Representing more than 3 million businesses and organizations, the U.S. Chamber last year was particularly vocal in its support of President Biden’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure legislation, but was equally adamant in opposition to what has been described as the $3.5 trillion social infrastructure Build Back Better legislation. By Garry Boulard ![]() Colorado Governor Jared Polis has announced that he wants the state to have a better chance securing federal grants for transportation infrastructure projects. To that end, he is asking state lawmakers to husband some $100 million in state funds that can then be used to bid for those grants. In a series of proposals submitted to the legislature’s Joint Budget Committee, Polis said having more state money available for a bidding process will increase the possibility of the Centennial State securing competitive grants coming out of Washington. Those grants, as provided through the passage in November of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, are expected to apply particularly to roadway projects as well as the building of electric vehicle stations. Additional projects that may be funded under the legislation include water system upgrades and the building of broadband infrastructure. In a letter sent from the Governor’s office to Representative Julie McCluskie, chairperson of the Joint Budget Committee, it is noted that the “Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act provides a rare opportunity to advance Colorado’s competitiveness by improving our infrastructure for roads, broadbands, water, and other areas.” The correspondence further notes that the Colorado’s Office of State Planning and Budgeting has estimated that the state’s “share of funding from the bill could double if the state is successful with grant applications, many of which will require a state match.” Members of the Joint Budget Committee are expected to include the Governor’s competitive grant funding request as part of the next fiscal year budget before sending it to the state legislature for a vote. As approved in Congress, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act includes funding for a wide array of both existing and new competitive grant programs, all aimed at funding infrastructure projects. The Washington-based Bipartisan Policy Center recently compiled a list noting that grant funding will be specifically available for highway, bridge investment, wildlife crossing, and healthy street programs, among other initiatives. The federal share of funding for such projects generally ranges from 50% to 90%. By Garry Boulard ![]() A one-story brick structure to the south of downtown Denver that through the decades has been used for a variety of industrial and commercial purposes is being listed for sale for $475,000. The structure, which was built in 1951 and has a faint front exterior Art Deco look, measures around 2,500 square feet and includes garage space. Most recently it has served as the home to Plaza Brothers Auto Body Incorporated. Located at 1355 W. Alameda Avenue, the building is distinguished by the same brownish-red brick decorating many of the commercial structures in the area which were also built in the immediate post-World War II years. Listed with the NavPoint Real Estate Group, which is headquartered in Castle Rock, the building also has a small front office and access through a back alleyway. The east-to-west Alameda Avenue is a busy 5-lane thoroughfare dominated by mostly one-story warehouses and garages. By Garry Boulard |
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