Plans are now firm for the construction of a 220-unit apartment complex that will go up along the busy corridor of 8th Avenue between downtown Greeley and the campus of the University of Northern Colorado.
What is being called South Maddie will see the construction of three separate 4-story buildings featuring both restaurant and retail space on the first floors of those structures. Developer of the project is the Greeley-based Richmark Holdings, which is eligible for a series of city tax and fee reimbursements approved in March by the Greeley City Council. Planned to go up between 15th and 17th Streets in a part of Greeley dominated by one-story stores, restaurants, and offices, the new complex will also include walkable space with a design intended to create a downtown neighborhood feel. Plans currently call for construction on the project to begin later this year, with a mid-2019 completion date. By Garry Boulard
0 Comments
The construction of cell phone towers that are no taller than 50 feet in height may accelerate nationally in the wake of a new ruling by the Federal Communications Commission easing regulations for such structures.
Noting that up to $275 billion is expected to be invested in the next decade on what is called “next generation wireless infrastructure development,” the commission contends that an easing of regulations will prove a catalyst for the accelerated development of such projects. “The record reveals substantial evidence of a regulatory process that is needlessly adding millions of dollars to the cost of infrastructure development,” so says the FCC ruling, entitled Accelerating Wireless Broadband by Removing Barriers to Infrastructure Development. The document adds that current regulations have been harming development during a time when the country “finds itself at the brink of another technological revolution,” noting the advent of increased internet coverage as well as self-driving cars. The FCC order will free up construction for structures that are no more than 10 percent taller than existing surrounding structures, with volumetric limits on such facilities set at 3 cubic feet for the antenna and 28 cubic feet for any wireless equipment that is a part of the antenna. “Small cell deployments cost too much, and the regulatory approval process takes too long,” FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr said in a public statement. “Our updated approach to small cells could reduce the regulatory costs of deployment by 80 percent, while cutting deployment times by more than half,” Carr added. The FCC order will exclude small wireless construction projects from both environmental as well as historic review procedures. By Garry Boulard ![]() One of the most architecturally grand public schools in the Southwest may soon be receiving up to $20 million in upgrades, as well as the construction of a new wing. The El Paso High School at 1600 N. Virginia Street was designed by the well-known architect Henry Trost and features such Greco-Roman elements as an outdoor sunken stadium, a Corinthian porch, marble floors, and classical columns. Known as the “Lady on the Hill,” the structure, which was officially opened on Thanksgiving Day 1916, is part of the El Paso Independent School District and also the oldest operating high school in metropolitan El Paso. Now district officials are preparing for what will be a more than $19 million addition to the structure which will house the school’s fine arts program. A rendering of that addition showing a two-story, glass-enclosed building, was released to the public earlier this year. While plans for the new wing are still in the formative stage, members of the EPISD Board of Trustees have voted to approve a more than $450,000 contract with the Sunland Park-based Nine Degrees Architecture & Design, and the Gensler architectural firm of San Francisco to compile an architectural survey of the structure. The survey is intended to give district officials an idea of the condition of the school and what part of the structure, if any, is in need of upgrading. The survey, as well as the eventual work on the fine arts wing, will be paid for out of a $668 million bond passed by district voters in 2016. By Garry Boulard Construction on the last phase of a unique public/private development partnership in Flagstaff that will see the building of a 348-unit apartment complex is expected to soon win the full approval of the Flagstaff City Council.
The complex known as Mill Town will go up on Mill Road and University Avenue and will be geared for students attending nearby Northern Arizona University. The developer behind the project, Vintage Partners of Phoenix, originally wanted to build a complex that would house more than 400 units, with the ground level of the project containing 48,000 square feet of retail space, and a top level featuring a rooftop bar. But in response to complaints from nearby residents and questions from some members of the city council that the proposed project was too large and tall for the vicinity, Vintage agreed to a smaller 348-unit project, doing away with the rooftop bar and removing the retail space altogether. Mill Town is a product of a partnership between Vintage, the City of Flagstaff, and the Arizona Department of Transportation that will also see the relocating of ADOT offices from the land where Vintage will build the complex. A part of the project includes construction of a pedestrian and bicycle underpass beneath busy Milton Road, which runs between the new project and the NAU campus. By Garry Boulard The steepest jump in construction materials costs since 2011 has been recorded in the opening quarter of this year, reveals a new analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America.
The Washington-based industry association group also notes that such cost increases are unrelated to the upped tariffs recently announced by President Trump on foreign steel and aluminum. “Steel services centers and other suppliers are warning there is not enough capacity at U.S. mills or in the trucking industry to deliver orders on a timely basis,” says the AGC’s chief economist, Ken Simonson, in explaining what could be a coming crunch of materials needed for construction work. “Thus, contractors are likely to experience still higher prices, as well as delivery delays in coming months,” Simonson adds in a release published by the AGC. The AGC analysis is based on the most recent Department of Labor statistics released in early April. While aluminum, lumber, and steel costs have all jumped in early 2018 over the same time period from a year ago, the AGC report also shows a 5 percent jump in plastic construction products, an 8.4 percent rise in gypsum products; an 11 percent increase in copper and brass mill shapes; and a nearly 40 percent jump in diesel fuel. By Garry Boulard ![]() In a move to increase its number of students living on campus, the Colorado School of Mines has announced plans for the construction of a new $49 million dormitory. The 5-story, 120,000 square-foot structure will go up on the southern end of the school’s campus at the corner of 18th Street SW and Illinois Street, and, upon completion, will house up to 400 beds. Designed jointly by Anderson Mason Dale of Denver and the Seattle-based NAC Architecture, the new residential structure, with a glass-enclosed first floor lobby and living space, will be a part of a quadrangle that is populated with other multi-story School of Mines’ residence halls. Plans call for the construction on the project to begin by the fourth quarter of this year, with a completion date in time for the fall 2020 semester. The School of Mines, with a current enrollment of around 4,700 students, is a public research university specializing in engineering and applied science programs. The school’s campus is located about a mile southwest of downtown Golden, Colorado. By Garry Boulard Designed to house more than 100 buses, a new bus hub may soon be built by the El Paso Independent School District in a project that will also include administrative offices and a maintenance operations facility.
The hub, which will additionally serve as a refueling station, will go up around 3 miles to the east of downtown El Paso at 801 S. San Marcial Street near the district’s Bowie High School. The project will be paid for out of a $230 million bond passed by district voters in 2007 and will require EPISD to do away with a baseball field in order to make way for the hub. EPISD has two other such hubs that house and service its bus fleet. The two other facilities handle around 90 buses each. The plan has met with opposition from a community organization called Familias Unidas del Chamizal, which say the new hub will increase pollution in the surrounding Chamizal neighborhood. That group is filing a civil rights complaint against the district as a result of the project. EPISD officials say the project has been already vetted during public input meetings, while also noting that the district is committed to purchasing cleaner propane-fueled buses. By Garry Boulard Work could begin next year on two transportation upgrading and improvement projects in Arizona and New Mexico that have just received funding from the federal Department of Transportation.
That department’s Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery program, otherwise known as TIGER, is providing up to $25 million for the construction of new medians, ramps, and roundabouts along State Route 189 in Arizona. The TIGER funding will go directly to the Arizona Department of Transportation and will also include pavement widening and flyover ramps as part of the upgrading of the 3.7-mile route that connects the Mariposa Land Port of Entry with Interstate 19 in Nogales. The Southwest Chief Route Stabilization Project in New Mexico will see a $16 million replacement of tracks that were originally laid in the 1950s. The project, which is receiving $16 million in TIGER backing, will additionally include the replacement of a damaged culvert, a new signaling system, and installation of a rock slide fence along the Devil’s Throne curve south of Santa Fe. In announcing some 41 projects totaling nearly $500 million to be funded this year by TIGER grants, the DOT said it put an emphasis on projects that “improve infrastructure conditions, address public health and safety, provide regional connectivity, or facilitates economic growth or competitiveness.” By Garry Boulard Colorado could see the construction of more affordable housing if a bill providing incentives for such projects wins final approval in the State Legislature.
Members of the legislature’s Joint Budget Committee have approved up to $1 million in grants and loans in incentives for the construction of housing units for lower-income residents. The same committee has also given the green light to some $35 million in state funding to help Colorado’s public schools implement facility security upgrades. Those two items are part of a larger $28.9 billion budget also approved by the committee. As the legislature nears its adjournment date in early May, members are finding themselves tasked with deciding what specific transportation infrastructure improvement projects should receive money from a fund Colorado has already set aside for such purposes. Lawmakers are trying to decide whether to use that funding primarily for new road and highway upgrading projects or to delegate most of the money for the creation of more multi-modal projects. One bill, that has not been finally decided, is calling for up to $500 million for the Colorado Department of Transportation to fund highway construction projects. That same legislation would also set aside $250 million a year for the next two decades for ongoing transportation projects. By Garry Boulard The engineering phase of a much-anticipated extension of the Valley Metro Transit System’s light rail system in Phoenix is expected to begin this summer.
That north to south extension into the south central section of the city will add some 6 miles to what is currently a 26-mile operating line. As part of the project, the existing four lanes of S. Central Avenue will be reduced to both a single wide lane and a bike lane going in both directions. The project, which will also see the construction of 11 stations, has been the subject of several public meetings. But the owners of some businesses along the S. Central Avenue stretch, between Jefferson Street and Baseline Road, have expressed concerns over the possible economic consequences of reducing the avenue to two lanes. In a part of town populated with small restaurants, warehouses, and garages, it has been charged that the reduced lanes will lead to traffic congestion. That congestion, in turn, could prompt many drivers to find other routes of travel, negatively impacting businesses along the 6-mile stretch. A group called “4 Lanes or No Train” wants the city to either alter the plans for the S. Central Extension or abandon the project altogether. So far, city officials have said either option is unlikely given that the Valley Metro Transit System is under pressure to meet several project deadlines in the coming months in order to satisfy federal funding requirements. By Garry Boulard |
Get stories like these right to your inbox.
|