![]() Funding has now been approved for road, bridge, recreation center, and school infrastructure projects across the state. New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has given her approval to upwards of $511 million in projects that include just under $5 million for the construction of a soccer and multi-use stadium in Albuquerque. Dona Ana County is receiving $3.1 million for a flood diversion project; with nearly $15 million going for Navajo Nation projects in Bernalillo, Cibola, McKinley, San Juan, Sandoval, and Socorro counties. The Roswell campus of Eastern New Mexico University is receiving more than $2.8 million in funding for half a dozen projects, including $2.4 million that will go for facility upgrades and improved sewer lines. The projects, approved as House Bill 285 earlier this year by state lawmakers, include $61 million for water and wastewater projects, $53 million for road projects, $52 million for tribal projects, and $48 million for public safety projects. Exercising her line-item authority, Grisham axed less than 2% of the legislation’s capital outlay allocations, contending, among other things, that such projects were not ready to proceed or were too small. A news released issued by the Governor’s office stated that “Capital funds should be targeted toward well-considered and more significant projects, and not relatively small items.” By Garry Boulard
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![]() The latest national survey of economic activity is mostly on the upside with the Federal Reserve Bank also reporting an improved early 2021 employment picture. The Fed’s Beige Book summary additionally reveals an improved picture for consumer spending nationally between February and April, as well as an uptick in auto sales and non-financial services. Published eight times a year, the Beige Book is a compilation of interviews with economists, market experts, and businesspeople gathered from all twelve districts of the Federal Reserve Bank. The publication notes that in the last two months, “despite widespread supply chain disruptions, manufacturing activity expanded further with half of the districts citing robust growth.” Reports coming out of the Kansas City-based Tenth District, which takes in all of Colorado and northern New Mexico, show consumer spending increasing moderately as “retail, restaurant, auto, and tourism sales rose.” This district saw commercial construction holding steady, with residential and commercial real estate expanding moderately. The Eleventh District, based in Dallas, which includes all of Texas and southern New Mexico, saw marked growth in “manufacturing, retail and nonfinancial services,” with robust activity in the single-family housing market. Apartment demand in the Eleventh District appeared to be higher than normal throughout the first quarter of this year, while industrial construction “remained strong.” The Twelfth District, based in San Francisco and encompassing all of Arizona, saw growth in the “manufacturing, retail, and nonfinancial services sectors,” although those sectors continue to remain below normal levels. Industrial construction also remained strong in the Twelfth District, while the “office and retail markets were still finding their footing.” The Beige Book’s overall latest findings, contends the site Market Watch, shows an improved national economic picture “after a big drop in coronavirus cases, rising vaccinations, and looser government restrictions.” Notes the Financial Times of the Beige Book numbers: “Consumer spending strengthened across the US as restrictions eased and Americans received up to $1,400 in stimulus payments depending upon their incomes.” By Garry Boulard ![]() Add a new industrial park project to a southern Arizona city enjoying a boom in the manufacturing and technology sectors. Plans are underway for the creation of an industrial park on a currently vacant 39.5-acre site roughly 14 miles to the southeast of downtown Mesa. To be located off the 3800 to 4000 blocks of South Power Road, the site will see the construction of at least four modern multi-story buildings. Those buildings, all of which will house office and warehouse space, will vary in size from around 26,600 square feet to nearly 238,200 square feet. All four structures will also feature truck docks. Plans for the project, submitted by the Phoenix-based Power Lender Partners and Gilmore Planning and Landscape Architecture, also of Phoenix, have now been presented to the Mesa Design Review Board. Mesa’s manufacturing growth has taken place at the same time that the city has seen its population double in the last two decades to more than 518,000 today. A construction schedule for the South Power Road industrial park has not yet been announced. By Garry Boulard ![]() A popular ski resort in Steamboat Springs, Colorado is in line for a variety of facility upgrades. The effort will see a redevelopment of the resort’s major base area, as well as an expansion of the on-mountain terrain. The Denver-based Alterra Mountain Company, owner of the resort, has announced that it expects to spend up to $207 million on the resort’s improvements. The company has already invested just over $500 million since 2017 on improvements to its properties. In a statement, Rusty Gregory, Alterra chief executive officer, said the company continues to be committed to “infusing meaningful capital into on-mountain enhancements, base area development, and advanced technology that will elevate the mountain experience for all who visit.” Phase one work at the Steamboat Ski Resort is expected to see the enhancement of the property’s Gondola Square, providing new restaurant and retail space. The company also wants to eventually add around 650 acres to the resort’s Pioneer Ridge area. The upgrade work at Steamboat Springs is expected to begin by early summer, with a completion date of fall 2022. Other Alterra resorts in California and Utah are also slated for significant upgrades. Altogether, Alterra operates 15 resorts, primarily in Colorado, California, and Utah. The Steamboat Springs resort, featuring a top elevation of more than 10,500 feet and up to 165 runs, was originally opened in early 1963. By Garry Boulard ![]() The Biden Administration has sent a $1.6 trillion discretionary funding request to Congress that includes a wide variety of planned infrastructure construction and upgrade projects. Included in the legislation, which is currently under review in the Senate Committee on Appropriations, is $3.6 billion for improvements to the nation’s water infrastructure. The request is also asking for $10.2 billion for the National Science Foundation, a portion of which will go for research facility construction. Just over $3.8 billion will go for Community Development Block Grants designed to rehabilitate and modernize public infrastructure in the nation’s underfunded and marginalized communities. A smaller $2 billion is being requested for general federal building construction, while $1.7 billion will target energy-saving retrofits to schools and homes. Analysts have noted that the funding request did not include money for continued border wall construction. As officially presented by the Office of Management and Budget, the request proposes a total of $769 billion in non-defense discretionary funding, a 16% increase over last year, along with $753 billion for national defense programs, which comprises a 1.7% increase. Appropriations Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, in a statement, said the “investments proposed by the Biden administration are necessary and urgent.” But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has criticized the request, saying that counting for inflation, it represents an overall decline in defense spending. By Garry Boulard ![]() A large electronics manufacturing company based in Taipei, Taiwan has announced plans to build a manufacturing facility in El Paso. The company Pegatron says it wants to build a plant in the southwestern U.S. in order to be closer to its client base. Founded in 2007, Pegatron primarily designs network computers, game consoles, and handheld devices, among other products. According to sources, the company has enjoyed annual revenues of nearly $3 billion. Late last year, Pegatron said that it regarded the electric vehicle industry as a promising source of future growth for the company. The company already has a working relationship with Tesla, which plans to open a manufacturing facility by the end of this year near Austin, Texas. Where exactly the new Pegatron facility in El Paso will be built, and how much it will cost, has not yet been announced. By Garry Boulard ![]() The way may soon be cleared for the construction of up to 160 apartment units, provided that the City of Flagstaff agrees to a zoning change for the project. Called Aura Flagstaff, the project is set to go up on 160 acres, with apartments housed in 8 separate buildings. As proposed by the Dallas-based Trinsic Residential Group, the new complex will include 112 one-bedroom units, with the rest made up of two bedrooms. Up to 20% of the planned units will be designated as affordable. Plans also call for the building of three on-site electric charging stations. The project site, located west of the intersection of High Country Trail and Lake Mary Road, currently has an estate residential zoning classification. Trinsic is asking for a medium-density designation, which will allow for apartment construction. The project has engendered the opposition of some nearby residents concerned about the density of the complex as well as the three-story heights of several of Aura Flagstaff’s proposed buildings. The zoning change proposal is now being reviewed by members of the Flagstaff City Council. By Garry Boulard ![]() A holding center is under construction on a 40-acre site in Donna, Texas designed to house unaccompanied children and adults crossing the U.S./Mexico border. The 185,000 square foot facility is being built by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency and is just one of a dozen facilities either being built or upgraded for temporary migrant shelter. A former facility once devoted to Alzheimer’s care in west El Paso is being converted into a shelter, while plans have additionally been announced to provide housing space inside the 125,000 square foot San Diego Convention Center. A dormitory belonging to the Pennsylvania Academy in Erie will soon be used to house up to 150 migrant children, while an emergency intake site in Albion, Michigan is expected to provide around 240 beds for migrant boys between the ages of 5 and 17. According to the CBP the number of migrants increased by 28% during the first two months of this year. In a press release, the CBP said the increase in migrant traffic is due to “reasons which include violence, natural disaster, food insecurity, and poverty in Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries of Central America.” In attempting to deal with the migrant surge, different government agencies have responded differently. The Department of Health and Human Services has asked federal employees to consider taking a four-month paid leave to help care for migrant children in some of the border shelters. That HHS initiative, says the New York Times, “is at the heart of a frantic effort by the Biden administration to keep up with a surge in young people crossing the southwestern border hoping to reunite with relatives already in the United States.” Reports indicate that up to 30,000 or more migrants could arrive per month between now and mid-summer, suggesting a need for yet more shelter space. Operation Artemis, an effort led by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is reporting that the vast majority of shelter facilities along or near the border are currently at or even beyond capacity. Last week, the White House announced President Biden’s discretionary funding request for the upcoming fiscal year, asking for $1.5 trillion in funding. Of that amount, around $1.2 billion would go for the processing of migrants and enhanced border security measures. The President’s plan also calls for giving $345 million to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to speed up the asylum application process. By Garry Boulard ![]() Responding to a growing tourism base, a Denver partnership called Shahford Hospitality has announced plans to build a new hotel on the north side of Colorado Springs. The project will go up inside the Victory Ridge, a mixed-use 155-acre site featuring office and retail space near the intersection of Voyager and Inter Quest parkways. The Cambria Hotel will have just over 100 rooms with a ground-level restaurant, meeting space, and gym. The hotel will also feature an outdoor pool, not to mention a rooftop bar and deck. Construction is expected to begin later this year, with a rough completion date of 2022. The Cambria Hotel brand is known for its upscale décor, spa-style bathrooms, and tech-friendly rooms. The brand currently has more than 50 locations nationally, with half a dozen new hotels currently under development in California, Florida, Kentucky, and South Carolina. By Garry Boulard ![]() More than a dozen new locations belonging to the Tucson-based restaurant chain Eegee’s are expected to be built in southern Arizona between now and 2023. The company, which was launched in Tucson in the 1971, has laid out plans to build 5 new locations in southern Arizona, but is particularly focusing on the metro Phoenix area where it will open a dozen shops. The company, which already has more than two dozen locations up and running, is particularly known for its multi-flavored frozen fruit drinks, but also offers a variety of sub sandwiches, hot dogs, and salads. Eegee’s already has just over two dozen locations, with plans to open a new store in a reconverted Arby’s space in Gilbert early this summer. In an interview with the Phoenix Business Journal, Ron Petty, chief executive officer of Eegree’s, said “Phoenix will be our primary growth vehicle.” But Petty added that by the end of 2022 the company expects to have a “big distribution” across the Valley of the Sun. A majority of the new Eegee’s locations will be built from the ground up. A recent 2,200 square foot outlet opened in Tucson features a dining room, walk-up window, and drive-through window. By Garry Boulard |
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