![]() The City of Albuquerque has issued a Request for Proposals for the long-planned widening of a major thoroughfare on the west side of the city. The RFP is specifically looking for engineering consultants for the widening of a section of Unser Boulevard. The project, with a length of 2.7 miles, will extend from Kimmick Drive NW to Paradise Boulevard NW, and will see the construction of two additional driving lanes. Also included: the building of new bicycle and multi-use trail facilities, medians, and lighting. What is expected to ultimately be a $29 million project will be funded through a combination of both local and state resources. To be administered by the New Mexico Department of Transportation, the Unser widening project will also see the creation of new landscaping infrastructure. Built in the late 1980s, Unser Boulevard is used by an estimated 20,000 vehicles a daily, making it one of the busiest avenues in metro Albuquerque. The RFP has a submission deadline of July 23. By Garry Boulard
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![]() Noting the increased need for Internet connectivity during the COVID-19 outbreak, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is asking for a greater government emphasis on broadband construction. In an editorial on the organization’s website, Jordan Crenshaw, executive director of the Chamber’s Technology Engagement Center, has recommended “long-term funding and permitting relief” to spur more broadband development nationally. Noting that even though broadband carriers have kept up with the connectivity demand throughout the COVID-19 spread, Crenshaw said that what has been called the Digital Divide, referring to a continuing lack of broadband availability in the nation’s rural areas, still exists. That divide is explored in a report issued this spring by the Federal Communications Commission noting that 22.3 percent of residents in rural parts of the nation continue to lack access to high-speed Internet. The FCC document, 2020 Broadband Deployment Report, also notes that an even larger 27.3 percent of those living on Tribal lands are still without high-speed connectivity. Additional studies have suggested that the high cost of building broadband infrastructure in some rural areas has repeatedly been a downer to investors; while a lack of mapping to determine exactly the areas of the country lacking broadband has proved another obstacle. In response, the Chamber has now asked Congress to secure funding for broadband development in rural areas. Writes Crenshaw: “Federal funding should also support collocation by enabling funds to be used for leasing tower space in addition to capital expenditures.” Addressing the challenge from a regulatory perspective, legislature is currently pending in Congress that calls on local governments to reduce both fees and the time frames for approving broadband development projects. Called the Streamline Small Cell Deployment Act, the measure is currently being reviewed in the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. By Garry Boulard ![]() The Denver City Council is expected to vote later this month on a $3 million loan agreement that could provide funding for the construction of new affordable housing units in various neighborhoods of the city. The loan agreement would be between the city, Denver County, and a group called the Elevation Community Land Trust. That group was launched three years ago with the stated goal of building some 700 new homes in Denver by the year 2023. Elevation has recently indicated that it may actually build another 300 houses in that same time period. According to the parameters of the loan agreement, Elevation, which is based in Denver, would purchase land for residential construction. Even though a resident may purchase a residential unit on that land, the property itself will still belong to the group. Proponents of the idea say that particular clause will still allow the homeowner to sell the house in question at a later date, but by separating the ownership of the home from the land, the house would be end up being listed at a more affordable rate. Meanwhile all homes, whether newly-built or rehabilitated, owned by Elevation will be sold below 100 percent of the Area Median Income. The effort comes as the Denver residential market remains one of the most expensive in the West, with the average single-family home currently going for around $500,000. A report issued last year by the real estate analysis service ATTOM Data Solutions said that the overall price of homes in metro Denver had increased by some 80 percent in the last decade. The $3 million loan agreement for Elevation has won the approval of the city council’s Safety, Housing, Education & Homelessness Committee. By Garry Boulard as part of larger plans, san francisco-based energy company set to build in east central new mexico7/1/2020 ![]() Work is expected to begin later this year on the construction of a $1.5 billion wind farm complex just to the north of the town of Tajique, some 20 miles or so southeast of Albuquerque. The project will belong to the Pattern Energy Group, which late last year announced its ownership acquisition of the Grady Wind farm in Curry County, as well as a separate facility in Ontario. Those two acquisitions expanded Pattern’s already growing portfolio to 4.4 gigawatts of operational capacity across 28 facilities. The Western Spirit Wind project will entail the construction of a complex that will also include a 150-mile long transmission line designed to transport roughly 1,000 megawatts of power to the existing northwestern New Mexico grid. Federal, state, and local permits have all been secured to build a complex that has been the subject of a series of public input meetings earlier in the decade. The Western Spirit Wind facility is expected to become operational next year. Pattern, which owns and operates its own facilities, is also in the process of developing the Sun Zia Transmission Project, which will see the construction of a more than 500-mile transmission line stretching from southern New Mexico to Arizona. Federal and state approval for that project, which is planned to see construction beginning in 2022, has not yet been secured. According to a report issued earlier this spring by the American Wind Energy Association, more than 9 gigawatts of new utility-scale power additions were built last year, making for an overall national wind power capacity of 105 gigawatts. Founded in 2013, Pattern recorded assets of some $5.3 billion in 2018. By Garry Boulard ![]() Twenty-four states, along with the District of Columbia, have seen an increase in the dollar value of new highway and bridge construction contracts during the first two months of the COVID-19 outbreak, according to a just-released industry report. In putting together numbers covering the March to May time period, the American Road and Transportation Builder’s Association pegged the total dollar value of such contracts at $21.2 billion. That figure is greater than the $20.2 billion recorded for the same period of time last year, and actually represents the highest cumulative contract value since early 2015. More specifically, highway contracts for March to May of this year stood at $16.4 billion, up by nearly $1 billion over last year. Bridge project contracts, at the same time, stood at $4.8 billion, an increase of $500 million over 2019. States seeing the most significant contract value increases include California, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington. In the publication Construction Market Forecast Report, Alison Premo Black, chief economist with ARTBA, noted that while the strong contract numbers are good news, “there is growing concern over reported declines in state and local transportation revenues.” By Garry Boulard ![]() A South Carolina real estate company has announced plans to build a 320-unit apartment complex in downtown Colorado Springs on property that once housed a U.S. Bank branch and drive-through. The Charleston-based Greystar Real Estate Partners says it want to put up what will be a six-story structure in the 400 block of E. Pikes Peak Avenue. According to plans, the project will include units ranging in size from studios to two-bedrooms, with the larger complex site featuring a swimming pool, fitness center, clubhouse, and courtyard space. The project will be the largest of its kind in a section of downtown Colorado Springs populated with one-story commercial and multi-story office buildings. Greystar says the complex is expected to appeal to downtown workers as well as those attracted to urban living. A real estate investment and management company, Greystone earlier this year announced the construction of a $1.2 million apartment building in downtown Boston featuring 126 units on 19 floors. The company, which manages nearly 500,000 units nationally, last year saw the completion of its new $38 million headquarters in Charleston. If all goes according to plans, work on the new Colorado Springs complex could begin sometime next year with a rough 2023 completion date. By Garry Boulard |
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