Two federal air force bases in New Mexico are in line to receive a combined $35.5 million for the construction of two separate and long-anticipated facility projects. Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque could be getting around $15.5 million in federal funds to build a combat rescue helicopter simulator facility. At the same time, the Holloman Air Force Base, just outside of Alamogordo, will get $20 million from Washington for the construction of a climate-controlled storage and shipment facility. Both projects are folded into the National Defense Authorization Act for 2020, which has just overwhelmingly passed the Senate on an 86 to 8 vote. The bill is now on its way to the full House. Kirtland is also slated to receive just over $26 million for a space test program, as well as $13.1 million for the Rocket Systems Launch program. Another $18.8 million will go for the Space Rapid Capabilities Office at Kirtland. In a statement regarding the Senate passage of the NDAA bill, New Mexico Senator Martin Heinrich said the legislation will help ensure “our Armed Forces are equipped with the most modern technology so we can stay ahead of our adversaries.” The total NDAA legislation carries a price tag of $733 billion, providing funding for a wide range of military projects across the country for the 2020 fiscal year, which begins on October 1 of this year. Earlier versions of the NDAA in previous years have passed in both the House and Senate by overwhelming margins. The latest NDAA legislation also provides money for troop pay raises. In addition, according to Air Force Magazine, the legislation “looks to modernize military technology by investing in artificial intelligence, hypersonics, and cyber warfighting capabilities.” By Garry Boulard
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In an ongoing effort to capture and move water for fast-growing communities in northeast Colorado, plans are in the works for the construction of several massive reservoirs that will be outside of Denver. The move is also seen as an attempt by the State of Colorado to find other sources of water than what is available in the state’s farmland, a practice that many conservationists worry is eventually going to deplete the amount of water needed for agricultural purposes. As currently envisioned, the new reservoirs could capture some 150,000 acre-feet-of-water from the South Platte River before pushing it to communities in Colorado’s Front Range. The Front Range region encompasses some of the fastest-growing cities in the state, including Boulder, Centennial, Colorado Springs, Denver, and Fort Collins. Because the project is in a preliminary talking stage, it is not yet known exactly how much it would cost to build the new reservoirs, nor have routes for the pipeline been identified. By Garry Boulard Gains were posted in construction jobs in every region of the country, according to the most recent numbers just released by the federal Department of Labor. That report showed the construction industry taking on more than 21,000 new workers in June, ahead of the country’s manufacturing industry with 17,000 new jobs, but just behind the transportation and warehousing segments with 24,000 each. Overall, employers across the country saw the addition of more than 224,000 jobs, a figure above what most analysts anticipated, prompting the New York Times to note that exactly one decade after the Great Recession was first showing signs of improvement, “the job market shows no sign of falling into another slump.” That 224,000 job gain is the largest number posted since January of this year, and a sign that although some forecasters were worried about the impact of recent trade tensions, the overall job market remains buoyant. Looking at the Labor Department’s numbers, the Washington-based Association of General Contractors noted that construction employment was up in more than two-thirds of the nation’s largest metro areas in the last year. Seen through a wider prism of job numbers from May of 2018 to May of this year, the AGC noted that construction job increased in 249 metro areas, and decreased in only 57 such areas. The AGC study additionally noted that the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale metro area in Arizona added more than 15,100 jobs in the last year. That gain was by far the largest of all metro areas in the country, with the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, California area seeing 9,200 more jobs during the same time period; and the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell area in Georgia up by around 8,600 new jobs. The only downside to such trends, noted Stephen Sandherr, AGC’s chief executive officer, is what has become an almost desperate search by construction companies to expand their payrolls. “Many of our member firms report they are having a hard time finding qualified workers to keep pace with demand for construction services,” said Sandherr in a statement. Sandherr added that “even though firms are raising pay, boosting training and adding hiring incentives to recruit workers, many are still struggling to find as many employees as they need.” Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta noted that altogether more than 5.6 million new jobs have been created in the preceding 29 months. Acosta also added that wages have increased at or above 3 percent for “eleven straight months,” while wage growth for “production and non-supervisory workers increased 3.4 percent over the past 12 months.” The AGC survey of the Labor Department’s numbers additionally showed construction job increases of 5 to 10 percent in southern New Mexico and northwest Arizona, with increases of 0 to 5 percent in east central Colorado. By Garry Boulard The State of New Mexico is actively pursuing the Nike company in the hope that the tennis shoe giant may be interested in building a new production facility in the Land of Enchantment. The move comes after Arizona Governor Doug Ducey announced that he was instructing Arizona’s Commerce Authority to withdraw earlier offered financial incentives for Nike to build in that state. Ducey made that announcement when it was learned that Nike was cancelling a new design for its Air Max 1 Quick Strike shoes featuring a circular American flag with 13 stars. That thirteen-star image, thought to be designed in the 1770s by seamstress Betsy Ross, represented America’s thirteen colonies. But former National Football League quarterback Colin Kaepernick soon sent a message to Nike saying that the thirteen star symbol was offensive due to the existence of slavery in those early colonies. Kaepernick also said the Betsy Ross flag had been “co-opted by groups espousing racist ideologies.” Nike officials then announced they were pulling back on the thirteen stars logo, which is what prompted Ducey to pull back some $1 million in state incentives to get the Nike factory built in Arizona. Ducey said he made that decision because he was angry with Nike for bowing to “the current onslaught of political correctness and historical revisionism.” Ducey added that “instead of celebrating American history, the work of our nation’s independence, Nike has apparently decided that Betsy Ross is unworthy.” Nike officials had earlier announced plans to purchase an existing structure in Goodyear, spending up to $184 million on facility upgrading and construction. Work on that facility was expected to begin soon, with the plant becoming operational sometime next year. Responding to the Nike/Arizona controversy New Mexico, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham sent a Twitter message to the shoe company saying, “Let’s talk.” A spokesperson for the Governor said she was reaching out to Nike in order to “explore whether there’s a potential fit,” regarding the shoe giant building its new plant in New Mexico instead of Arizona. The Beaverton, Oregon-based Nike has not yet responded publicly to Governor Lujan Grisham’s message. Nike currently operates more than five hundred production facilities globally, 42 of which are in the U.S. By Garry Boulard In only the latest move to develop a high tech corridor in Mesa, Arizona, a development agreement has now been approved for the construction of a new Google data center there. That agreement by members of the Mesa City Council provides a timeline for the project, with Google building the first phase of the data center sometime in the next five years. The new high-tech facility will go up on nearly 190 acres of vacant land inside the Morrison Ranch Business Center at the intersection of Sossaman and Elliott roads, to the direct northeast of the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. As planned, the initial phase will measure 250,000 square feet, with construction on that phase expected to be completed by the summer of 2025. Another 750,000 square feet will be completed by July of 2029. In trying to secure a commitment from the giant Internet search engine service to build in Mesa, the city, which had been engaged with Google officials in discussions for more than a year, offered the company tax incentives worth at least $16 million over a 25-year period. That incentive, known officially as a Government Property Lease Excise Tax Program, was regarded as critical for Google in their own financial evaluation of building in Mesa. The site was rezoned earlier this year by Mesa to allow for the construction of the data center. Earlier this year the Mountain View, California-based Google announced that it was planning to spend upwards of $13 billion either expanding or building new offices and data centers nationally. The company this week launched work on a new $600 million data center in Henderson, Nevada. By Garry Boulard In a move to reduce and eradicate the amount of lead-based paint hazards and other contamination issues in houses and apartments, the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development is announcing the availability of more than $330 million in support grant funding. “Housing conditions directly affect the health of its residents,” said HUD Secretary Ben Carson in a statement announcing the unprecedentedly large funding effort. “Grants like these will help communities around the nation protect themselves from the danger of lead exposure and other health and safety hazards,” continued Carson. The grants are being made available through HUD’s Lead Hazard Reduction program, as well as its Healthy Homes Production for Tribal Housing initiative, and will go directly to cities, counties, states, and Native American tribal governments involved in lead paint mitigation efforts. According to HUD statistics there are currently some 24 million homes that were built before 1978, when lead-based paint was banned for residential use, that remain subject to lead paint contamination. The health risks for individuals and especially children living in homes with such paint include anemia, impaired hearing, kidney damage, and learning disabilities, among other issues. Focusing on cities and counties, the HUD Lead Hazard Reduction program is particularly geared for what are defined as high impact neighborhoods populated with pre-1940 housing. Grants under this program will range between $3 million and $9 million each. The Healthy Homes Production for Tribal Housing program is designed to help Native American and Alaska Native tribal governments put together programs to identify and remediate such toxic housing issues. Grants in this program will be up to $1 million each. Application deadlines for grants in either program is set for August 9. By Garry Boulard One of the newest and most trendy kind of businesses will soon be opening in one of the oldest buildings in downtown Alamogordo. Members of the Alamogordo City Commission have approved a liquor license application for the Picacho Peak Brewing Company to open a brew pub that will go up inside a one-story building at 902 N. New York Avenue. That structure, which has a footprint of around 3,200 square feet, was built in 1900 and was for several decades the home to a popular men’s clothing store. The structure was entirely renovated in 2008. Picacho Peak opened an earlier brew pub, offering a variety of beers on tap, as well as a selection of wine, in the fall of 2015 in Las Cruces at 3900 W. Picacho. The new Alamogordo brew pub will be opened within the boundaries of the city’s ten and a half square-block Main Street district, an economic development initiative designed to revitalize the downtown area. According to city documents, the site for the new brew pub is also zoned as a C-3 Business District, which does not prohibit the sale of beer and wine. If all goes as planned, the brew pub will be opened for business by the end of this summer. By Garry Boulard A 6.6-acre site in one of the most historic neighborhoods of Denver may soon be seeing new life as a combined residential and office complex. The site at 50 S. Kalamath Street in the Denver community of Baker contains a massive one-story warehouse that was most recently used by a sports retailer. That retailer, the Englewood, Colorado-based Sports Authority, once had more than 460 stores in five states. But in early 2016 the company declared bankruptcy. In the wake of that action, the 215,000 square foot warehouse was closed up and abandoned, and has remained so for the last three years. Now Westside Investment Partners of Denver has purchased the site containing the warehouse and two large parking lots for $16 million. The company plans to demolish the warehouse in order to free up space for the new mixed-use project. A rezoning application for the site will have to first be approved by the City of Denver before any work can begin. By Garry Boulard A new White House study has been launched looking at the issue of affordable housing and the obstacles to building a greater housing stock for lower-income Americans.
The White House Council on Eliminating Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing will specifically study exclusionary zoning laws that often make it difficult if not impossible to build affordable multifamily housing units. In a statement applauding the creation of the White House Council, Doug Bibby remarked: “We must address the regulatory barriers and costs associated with creating housing that is affordable.” Bibby, the president of the National Multifamily Housing Council, added: “Dealing with this crisis will take a partnership between all levels of government and the private sector. Working together, we can make real progress towards reducing the housing burdens so many families face.” In establishing the council, President Trump noted that in 2017 some 37 million renters and homeowners spent more than 30 percent of their incomes on housing, with around 18 million spending as much as 50 percent of their incomes. “These rising costs are leaving families with fewer resources such as food, healthcare, clothing, education, and transportation, negatively affecting their quality of life and hindering their access to economic opportunity,” Trump added. Housing experts say that current barriers to building more affordable housing include everything from environmental regulations to growth management controls and zoning codes. As planned, the Council will be tasked with working with both state and local officials in seeking input on housing regulations and how to make them more amenable to new lower-income housing projects. By Garry Boulard A new soccer stadium, with a seating capacity of up to 18,000, may be in the offing for downtown Albuquerque. The New Mexico United soccer team, which is based in Albuquerque and plays in the United Soccer League Championship, is reportedly in the process of reviewing sites for the possible construction of the facility. According to team officials, those sites include everything from somewhere in the Sawmill District, to spaces off Mountain Road, Lomas Boulevard, and Lead Avenue, all the way to the Albuquerque Rail Yards. The team, established in June of 2018, has been playing at the Isotopes Park, and regularly attracting up to 13,500 spectators per game. According to the publication Soccer Stadium Digest, the Albuquerque team in the first 14 weeks of this year’s season has attracted around 90,000 spectators, making it the number one team in its league in terms of attendance. But from the start, officials with New Mexico United have said that they want to have their own permanent facility in Albuquerque. In an interview with Albuquerque Business First, team owner Peter Trevisani noted the large crowds attending the team’s matches, remarking, “our momentum is just beginning,” and adding that the fan response is an indication that a stadium is overdue. How much a new stadium would cost remains unknown. But a study commissioned two years ago by the City of Albuquerque looking at building such a facility for the New Mexico Sol soccer team put the price at anywhere from $25 to $45 million for a 10,000-seat building. By Garry Boulard |
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