![]() A grand two-story Colorado Springs building that has been repurposed as a bar and restaurant is being listed for sale for $1.4 million. Located at 817 W. Colorado Avenue, on the west side of the city’s downtown area, the structure was built in 1919 and measures around 4,200 square feet. The structure was originally the Colorado Springs Fire Department Station Number 3, before the station relocated a block away in the 1950s. In recent years, the building, which was renovated in the last decade, has housed several different taverns and eateries, most recently a venue called the N3 Taphouse, which ceased operations earlier this year. Designated as a Class C building, the structure is being listed for sale by the Olive Real Estate Group of Colorado Spring and advertised as a “fully furnished restaurant building” with “excellent brewpub possibilities.” By Garry Boulard
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![]() A surge in the price of diesel is prompting some truckers to stop driving, adding one more ripple to the country’s supply chain challenges. The price of diesel at the pump is now above $6 per gallon, up by more than $2 from where it was in early 2021. That increase means that what used to cost around $400 to fill up a semi-truck may now be at or above $1,000, notes news sources. According to the latest available statistics from the American Automobile Association, the price of diesel is somewhat lower in New Mexico at around $4 per gallon, while Colorado is seeing prices just below the $4 mark. Trucks use up around 36.5 billion gallons of diesel annually, notes the American Trucking Association. While many trucking companies can absorb the rising diesel costs via fuel surcharges written into contracts, that’s not always the case with independent owner-operators. Such drivers “make up the bulk of the highly fragmented truck market,” notes the Wall Street Journal, and are having an increasingly harder time “passing along the added expenses.” The rise in diesel, notes the Washington Examiner, risks forcing many of the smaller operators to quit, “during a time when labor shortages in the industry are already wreaking havoc on the global supply chain, which has struggled to keep pace with demand since the start of the Covid 19 pandemic.” And a decrease of any trucking operation, notes Craig Fuller, could have a negative impact on any number of industries, simply because trucking is a part of so many industries. “Roughly 850,000 diesel-powered vehicles nationwide are in use bringing supplies, materials, and workers to and from U.S. construction sites,” adds Fuller, chief executive officer of FreightWaves, a trucking industry analysis service. Industry experts say that a decline in supply is particularly causing problems. Notes the publication Business Insider: “Some refineries were shut down when demand was lower, meaning that even when oil companies pump more crude, the remaining refineries can’t churn out more diesel at the same pace.” By Garry Boulard ![]() A wide variety of park upgrade and improvement projects in El Paso will soon see work, thanks to more than $154 million in federal support. Members of the El Paso City Council have given their approval to using funds from the big American Rescue Plan Act stimulus for a variety of health, facility, and infrastructure initiatives. As approved by the council, some $6 million will go for the reconstruction of two dozen tennis and basketball courts across the city, along with the resurfacing of another 16 tennis courts and 4 basketball courts. The number of individual tennis and basketball courts in individual El Paso parks varies between one and 4. That $6 million will also go for replacing some seven playground areas deemed as “sub-standard.” Those playgrounds are used exclusively for children aged 2 to 12. According to city documents, El Paso has to date received nearly $400 million in pandemic relief-related funds, including $119 million in Coronavirus Relief Funds; and the $154 million in ARPA support. Signed into law last March by President Biden, the American Rescue Plan has been funded to the tune of $1.9 trillion, and has also been often used to help state, local and tribal governments weather the fiscal burdens of Covid 19 and the subsequent national economic shutdown. According to a report issued by the Brookings Institution, just over 150 large cities and counties as of April had used ARPA funds for some 2,300 local projects. By Garry Boulard ![]() A very large project has been proposed for growing Rio Rancho that could see the building of a solar farm spread out over 3,000 acres. The project would be developed by the company Clenera and, if made reality, will go up a dozen or so miles to the southwest of downtown Rio Rancho. As planned, the solar farm would be capable of producing up to 400 megawatts of renewable energy a day, an output that could power well over 100,000 homes. Based in Boise, Idaho, Clenera specializes in the development and building, as well as management, of both large solar farms as well as energy storage facilities across the country. The vacant site for the Rio Rancho project is located on the western portion of what is known as Quail Ranch. The project, which has already won the approval of the Rio Rancho Planning and Zoning Board, must now be reviewed for final approval by the Rio Rancho Governing Board. If members of that board give it a green light, work could begin on what is being called the Atrisco Solar farm later this year, with the farm fully operational by the early summer of 2024. To date, Clenera has spearheaded the development and building of around two dozen solar projects in nine states. The company has a particularly strong presence in the West, with projects in California, Nevada, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, and Arizona. By Garry Boulard ![]() In a season when most other construction supplies have seen single and double-digit increases, the price of lumber is now down by 30% for the year. The latest figures, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Producer Price Index, have the price of lumber at $780 per thousand board. That’s significantly down from a peak of $1,733 per thousand board reached in the spring of 2021. That spring 2021 figure, say experts, was in many ways fueled by supply issues. Before last year’s spike, the average price per thousand board was at around $900. A number of factors are thought to be contributing to lumber’s price drop, notes the real estate publication Real Deal, adding that “rising mortgage rates and growing inflation” have played a part. How long the prices will remain at the current level, however, is anyone’s guess. “The pressure on lumber prices can be long lasting if the housing market slows down and home prices remain unaffordable,” says the Business Insider. According to statistics compiled by the Associate General Contractors of America, the overall price of lumber and plywood, after posting an 18% gain last year, dropped 10% in February, and another 1.5% in April. By Garry Boulard ![]() A plan to build a new high-tech stadium for the Denver Broncos football team will almost certainly pick up steam depending upon who ends up owning the team. A high-stakes contest is currently underway seeing several wealthy businessmen competing to buy the team. But one of the candidates, Rob Walton, the former chairman of Walmart, has let it be known that he wants to build a new stadium for the team. Currently the Broncos play in the Empower Field at Mile High, which was opened in 2001 and is located at 1701 Bryant Street. That stadium has a seating capacity of just over 76,100, and has several times undergone multi-million-dollar improvements, with one in 2012 carrying a $30 million price tag. But city officials and football fans have for years talked about the need for a more modern stadium, and one with a retractable roof. A report published earlier this year said that it would cost at least $2 billion to build a new facility. Other estimates have suggested that with inflation and supply chain issues, the cost could actually be in excess of that figure. Such costs would not be a problem for Walton, who has an estimated personal net worth of $63 billion, putting him in the top twenty list of the richest people in the world. In February, the Pat Bowlen Trust, which owns the Broncos, announced it was selling the team. Although what the team will finally fetch is currently unknown, Forbes magazine last summer valued the Broncos at $3.7 million. Besides Walton, Josh Harris, the owner of the Philadelphia 76s, is said to be interested in purchasing the Broncos. According to report, basketball legend Magic Johnson has joined with Harris in his bid. Some sources are giving Walton the edge in the bidding due to the fact that he already owns property in Colorado. It has also been noted that there are currently more than 200 Walmart stores in the Centennial State, employing upwards of 31,000 people. By Garry Boulard ![]() One of the mainstay buildings in the world of downtown Albuquerque retail is being listed for sale for $2.4 million. Popularly known as the Gizmo Building, the five-story structure at 410 Central Avenue was built in 1915 as the Melini Building before being extensively updated and expanded in 1949. For more than four decades it was the home to a J.C. Penny outlet. As the Gizmo Store, beginning in the 1970s, it offered a wide variety of Army and Navy work boots, uniforms, and other goods. Measuring around 53,000 square feet, the building, now officially called the 4 Ten on Central, features two passenger elevators and one freight elevator. An attempt, some 15 years ago, to reconvert the building into lofts and restaurant space never became reality. Listed by Colliers International realtors, the building is the tallest structure on a block populated with restaurant, nightclub, and convenience store offerings. By Garry Boulard ![]() Even though fixed mortgage rates are now at 5.6%, that shouldn’t prove a real impediment to commercial real estate deals in the foreseeable future, says a top industry analyst. Speaking at a trends and market outlook conference held just outside of Washington, Lawrence Yun noted that “commercial real estate continues to strengthen.” The chief economist with the National Association of Realtors, Yun remarked that “the industry sector is booming, retail is turning positive, the hotel industry is recovering, apartments are doing very well, and rents are rising in all commercial sectors.” Economists have been keeping an eye on mortgage rates as they have steadily climbed from 3.5% for a 30-year fixed rate in February to around 5.4% today. The numbers this spring have been on an equally upward trajectory for both 14-year and 10-year fixed rates. But Yun said that except for the office sector, commercial real estate transactions are up almost everywhere. Industrial rents are “likely to keep rising solidly in the next two years while vacancy rates will remain below 5%,” he remarked. Yun additionally noted that even in the lagging office sector, “some variance exists depending on location.” “We’ve seen improvement in some midsize markets as companies seek more affordable office locations away from major U.S. cities,” Yun continued. According to the website Axios, recent office vacancy rates have been running between 9.7% and 12.2% nationally, with one-time office-dense cities like San Francisco experiencing a vacancy rate of 7.5%. The site adds that many people who began working from home during the pandemic currently have no immediate plans to return to their offices. The good news for landlords: many tenants have 10-year leases. By Garry Boulard ![]() Plans are moving forward quickly on the construction of a 237,000 square foot manufacturing facility in Grand Junction, Colorado. The size and scope of the project are significant in a part of the state not known for large production facilities, but even more intriguing is the plant’s mission: to build modular housing components. The project will go on just under 180 acres of former farmland on the northwest side of the city, and will belong to a company called Mosaic Housing, which has offices in Denver and specializes in the building of modular housing. It is expected that it will cost at least $48 million to build the new manufacturing facility, which will encompass around 16 acres of the site owned by Mosaic. The rest of the property will be given over to the apartment units manufactured by the company. Work on what is being described as the “largest, fastest, indoor manufacturing facility” in the country may launch later this year, with an immediate goal of building just over 300 apartments. Future production out of the Mosaic Housing plant may also see the construction and assembling of around 200 townhomes. All the produced residential units will be done at the plant with the help of robotics and software, according to company officials. Modular homes, notes the publication Forbes, are “another form of prefabricated houses that are at least 70% prefabricated,” combining modern fabrication technology with modern design. Industry sources indicate that the modular home market is expected to increase by at least 2% annually for the rest of the decade, with the vast majority of product centered on both single family and multifamily construction. By Garry Boulard Shopping Center Sale in Historic Section of Phoenix Underlines Soaring Price of Renovated Properties5/12/2022 ![]() One of the classic structures defining Phoenix’s mid-20th century retail development has just been sold for $5.5 million after being on the market for only a short while. The Gold Spot Marketing Center was opened in the fall of 1925 and is valued by preservationists for its mix of Mission Revival and Spanish Colonial architectural styles. Located at 1001 N. 3rd Avenue in the Roosevelt Historic District, the one-story building measures 12,250 square feet and houses several popular businesses including a restaurant, coffee shop and hair salon. The building, now known simply as The Gold Spot, was listed by the Eisenberg Company of Phoenix, which had advertised it as being in an area that “has undergone a complete revitalization.” The Roosevelt District in recent years has enjoyed a boom in popularity, with small shops, galleries, restaurants and coffee ships replacing what the Arizona Republic has described as formerly “boarded-up buildings and weed-filled vacant lots.” By Garry Boulard |
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