![]() A new 66,000 square foot warehouse, designed to serve as yet one more Amazon delivery center, is set for construction in Colorado Springs. The $8.4 million facility will be built on nearly 19 acres purchased by Amazon within the borders of the Colorado Springs Airport, and will replace a temporary tent structure the company had erected late last year. In the works for months, the planning for the new Amazon facility has a fast-pace schedule with work expected to begin on the building no later than early this summer, and a general completion date of sometime in September. Amazon has also purchased another 70 acres located adjacent to where the new delivery center will be built, but has not disclosed what its plans are for that property. In a statement regarding the new Colorado Springs project, Amazon said the delivery center is intended to be a part of “Amazon’s last-mile delivery capabilities to speed up deliveries for customers in the surrounding area.” Amazon currently has more than 75 delivery centers up and running in North America. Those structures usually measure anywhere from 60,000 to 100,000 square feet. The company has in recent years been particularly active in Colorado with another delivery center in Aurora, a sorting center near the Denver International Airport, a distribution center in Thornton, and a cloud computing engineering operation in Boulder. By Garry Boulard
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![]() The nation’s Gross Domestic Product, a broad measurement of the country’s larger economic activity, witnessed a 2.2 percent increase during the final three months of last year. That increase, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, was fueled by strong growth numbers in some fifteen separate industry groups. But while the nation’s construction industry had seen a modest 2.9 percent increase in its value during the summer and fall of 2018, it saw a lower 2.1 percent at the end of the year. Larger late 2018 gains were posted by the mining industry, with a significant 38 percent increase in real value during the final three months of last year; and in information services, which include internet publishing, broadcasting, and telecommunications, up by just under 9 percent. For the entire year, the Gross Domestic Product was up by 3.2 percent, which analysts say is evidence that the U.S. economy has remained buoyant even in the midst of reports of a national economic slowdown. In fact, note those same analysts, the current economic expansion is to date the second-longest lasting in U.S. history, surpassed only by the unprecedented boom of March 1991 to March 2001. In real dollars, the Gross Domestic Product for the nation’s construction industry stood at $642 billion during the final quarter of 2018. That was a decrease of $4 billion from the third quarter 2018 numbers of $646 billion. Despite that decline, the construction industry’s historic Gross Domestic Product trend has been mostly on the upside in the last two years, increasing from $619 billion in mid-2017 to an average of around $643 billion in the last year. The all-time recorded high for the industry was recorded in the first quarter of 2005 at $794 billion. By Garry Boulard ![]() Up to three miles of new water distribution could be constructed in the near future for a small metro El Paso community that has been without its own water system for decades. The Hillcrest community is located in an unincorporated area roughly 20 miles to the southeast of El Paso and is the home to around two hundred people. Many of the one-story homes in the community date back to the 1950s and 60s. Due to a variety of factors, including a higher poverty rate in Hillcrest than in the rest of the metro area with homes priced on average around $30,000 each, water system infrastructure has never been built in the community. Residents haul the water they need in tanks from other parts of the city and El Paso County. But now, El Paso County officials have secured a $2.3 million loan that will allow for the construction of both new distribution lines, as well as thirteen new fire hydrants. If additional funding for the project can be secured, it is thought that work on the new water system might begin before the end of this year. By Garry Boulard ![]() A one-story south Scottsdale, Arizona shopping center known for its smooth mid-1960s design features may soon be upgraded. What is popularly referred to as the House of Rice strip mall is located at 3215 N. Hayden Road and has been described by the Arizona Republic as a “wonderful example of midcentury modern architecture.” Now the Scottsdale-based Clayton Companies, a full-service property management firm, has announced plans to upgrade the building, while at the same time remaining true to its original modernist feel. According to city documents, the building will see the installation of new shade canopies and roof-top mechanical screening. The building’s storefronts will be “replaced with new aluminum storefronts of the same clear anodized aluminum color, while gaining a new higher performance insulated grazing, reducing the solar heat gain,” says an application narrative submitted by project designer Aline Architecture Concepts of Scottsdale. The upgrade will also include several patios, courtyards, and paved paths. Undoubtedly, the most unique aspect of the upgrade will be the incorporation of a 36-foot tall frame from the former Polynesian Dairy Queen that was designed in 1964 by well-known architect Ralph Haver. That frame was recently dismantled and removed from its original site near 68th and Oak streets, with plans to attach it to the N. Hayden Road structure. That attachment, says the Aline Architecture document, will contribute to a new restaurant space with “extensive and tasteful renovations including re-roofing, re-glazing, and re-painted wood trim.” The project is currently in the process of being reviewed by the City of Scottsdale’s Development Review Board. By Garry Boulard ![]() President Trump and Democratic Congressional leaders have announced their intention to push for a massive national infrastructure program that would provide funding for needed bridge, highway, waterways, and railroad upgrades. The tentative agreement, carrying a $2 trillion price tag, would also include funding for rural broadband infrastructure projects. The agreement was announced at the end of a meeting with the President, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Democrat Minority Leader Charles Schumer. Schumer characterized that meeting as a “very good start, and we hope it will go to a constructive conclusion.” Schumer added that there was “goodwill in the meeting,” which he said was “different than some of the other meetings we have had.” In a statement, Stephen Sandherr, chief executive officer of the Associated General Contractors, said that if approved, the infrastructure improvements will “cut commuting times, lower shipping costs, support economic development projects and allow our businesses to remain globally competitive for years to come.” It has been reported that Trump will sometime in the next three weeks unveil a more specific infrastructure plan, one that will presumably identify funding sources. The $2 trillion figure is significantly higher than the $200 billion proposed by the White House in early 2018, which Trump said could be supported with cuts to other federal programs. That proposal died in Congress after the President said he was opposed to raising the current federal excise tax on gasoline and diesel fuel in order to pay for an infrastructure initiative. By Garry Boulard ![]() A University of New Mexico project that may ultimately cost as much as $400 million to complete has taken an important step forward due to capital outlay legislation recently approved by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham. For years officials with the University of New Mexico Hospital, the only Level 1 trauma center in the state, have been talking about the need for an additional facility. That facility, as proposed, would come in the form of a tower that would most likely go up to the west of the existing UNM Hospital, which is located at 2211 Lomas Boulevard NE. Earlier this year the school’s Board of Regents approved entering into a nearly $7 million contract with the Austin-based Broaddus & Associates, a facilities consulting and planning company, for construction management services. The Regents additionally approved spending nearly $34 million for the architectural services of FBT Architects of Albuquerque and HDR Architecture of Omaha to design the project. Now Governor Lujan Grisham has approved $30 million in state funding, as part of a larger $900 million capital outlay bill, to get the facility built. An effort is underway to secure additional funding from other sources for the project. That $30 million is only a part of the overall funding for UNM projects that members of the 2019 New Mexico State Legislature approved for the school. Lawmakers also gave a green light to $3.5 million for the building of a movement disorders center in Albuquerque; and $1.5 million for upgrading and construction projects on the UNM’s Taos campus. Additional funding in the amount of $1 million will target facility improvements at the Popejoy Hall performing arts theater; $2 million for the design phase of the new ROTC Complex; and $410,000 for open space improvements for the school’s North Golf Course. Lujan Grisham vetoed two appropriations approved by the legislature: $500,000 for an Olympic sports training center; and $225,000 for facility work at the school’s College of Fine Arts. By Garry Boulard |
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