Construction could launch before summer on the building of a 60,000 square foot structure set to go up adjacent to the Memorial Regional Hospital in Craig, Colorado.
The new 3-story structure is being designed to house in one location services that are right now offered in several other Memorial Regional Hospital structures and is expected to cost at least $29 million to build. Located at 750 Hospital Loop, Memorial Regional Hospital’s main hospital was built in 2009 and designed to replace the organization’s original one-story facility built in 1949. Plans call for that older structure at 785 Russell Street to be demolished upon the completion of the new Memorial Regional Hospital facility. As part of a capital campaign, the project has just received a $500,000 grant from the Denver-based Colorado Health Foundation, a group dedicated to supporting a variety of health care initiatives. Plans to build the new structure, which will also house infusion services, expanded physical therapy, and cardiac rehabilitation services, were announced last year. If all goes as planned, work on the new facility is expected to be completed in 2019. By Garry Boulard
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The national hotel and motel industry could see the construction of more midscale-sized properties in 2018, responding to what is being described as an underserved market segment.
That’s the consensus view from a recent roundtable discussion sponsored by the magazine Hotel Management in New York. Industry leaders at the roundtable said that such projects may prove easier to come by in the year ahead because of a greater availability of funding from backers who tend to regard midscale projects as less risky. Such projects could also become more prevalent because the industry, focused in recent years on significantly larger projects, has put less emphasis on midscale development and construction, resulting in a pent-up demand among an estimated 14 million underserved travelers. Areas that may be the most likely to prove lucrative for such projects include airports, spaces nears colleges and university campuses, and, of course, markets adjacent to highways. Although worried about a national shortage of contractors and subcontractors to take on any new midscale projects, industry experts believe the dynamic for building such new properties is the most promising since the 1980s. By Garry Boulard ![]() Schools across New Mexico could receive new funding for a series of security enhancement projects if Governor Susana Martinez agrees to a bill that was unanimously passed in the state legislature. The legislation as proposed by Senator George Munoz sets up a 4-year grant program that school districts will be able to draw upon to fund new facility security projects as well as renovating and repairing existing systems. The program, which will be funded at the $10 million level for each of the next four years, would allow school districts to submit their facility security needs to the state’s Public School Capital Outlay Council. That council would then determine, weighing requests from other districts, which projects are most in need and likely to be funded. The legislation passed in the House by a 65 to 0 vote and in the Senate by 40 to 0. Although school security needs are included in the normal budget requests of districts, the new legislation would allow for a more streamlined process of obtaining funding. According to the requirements of the legislation, school districts receiving funding for any given security project would have to spend the allocation within three fiscal years before it would be returned to the Public School Capital Outlay Council fund. Governor Martinez is expected to announce her decision on the legislation during the first week of March. By Garry Boulard A two-story structure on the site of the Grand Junction Regional Airport that was never completed may see work begin anew if a solid plan regarding the building’s use can be agreed upon.
Construction, of what was then supposed to be an administrative office building at the airport, started in 2012. Even though the airport spent some $4.1 million on the project, it was halted in early 2014 partly due to a lack of federal funding. Since then the building has sat half-finished and empty, appearing, remarked the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, “like a dark skeleton.” Now airport officials have issued a Request for Information asking for ideas on what to do with the structure. That RFI notes that the building’s location at 800 Eagle Drive “has the unique advantage of being next to a commercial terminal with ample adjacent public parking and direct access to the ramp.” The RFI also states that the airport is “open to modifying the design and purpose of this building, as it no longer sees a near-term need for this space as originally planned.” The deadline for the RFI is May 21st. Located 3 miles to the northeast of Grand Junction, the airport is the third largest in Colorado, serving more than 452,000 passengers last year. By Garry Boulard The second largest bank in the country has just announced plans to open more than 500 branches nationally between now and 2022.
The Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America Corp, whose total 2017 assets of $2.2 billion were exceeded only by New York’s JP Morgan Chase with $2.5 billion, plans to initially enter the Ohio market with new outlets in Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Columbus. The bank, which currently has just under 4,500 operating branches nationally, has also announced plans to redesign more than 1,500 of its locations, building on the recent renovations of more than 600 branches. In a statement, Thong Nguyen, the co-head of consumer and small business at Bank of America, said “We continue to deploy significant resources to meet the changing needs of an expanding client base, providing access to capabilities and financial professionals who will offer solutions aligned with our clients’ priorities.” Exactly where the new branches will be built has not yet been disclosed. Nearly half of Bank of America’s current locations are primarily dotted along the East Coast. It operates more than 150 branches in Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico, with the vast majority of that number located in Arizona. By Garry Boulard ![]() A New Mexico program that restored 257 historic buildings throughout the state in 2017 has received full accreditation from the Chicago-based National Main Street Center. That accreditation gives the New Mexico Main Street program the authority and influence to continue its work in revitalizing downtown areas across New Mexico. The accreditation specifically applies to the more than 20 individual Main Street programs throughout the state, programs that last year together leveraged some $28.5 million in private sector investment. “The work of these organizations improves their local communities and supports the right economic conditions downtown to support growth in the economy,” Matt Geisel, Secretary of New Mexico’s Economic Development Department, said in a statement. In seeking to revitalize downtown areas state-wide, which often includes renovating and upgrading any number of historic structures in a given area, the New Mexico Main Street program applies a criteria requiring that any local effort must first have, among other assets, broad-based community support, public and private sector support, and an operating budget. Since its inception in 1985, the New Mexico Main Street program has been responsible for the renovation of more than 3,400 individual buildings in New Mexico, securing in the process upwards of $290 million in private sector backing. By Garry Boulard |
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