![]() A plan to substantially upgrade and renovate a well-known Albuquerque hotel has taken a big step forward with the securing of $39.5 million in funds to help the project along. Located at 5151 San Francisco NE, the hotel was opened in the fall of 1986 and originally branded as a Holiday Inn Pyramid. It became the Crowne Plaza Pyramid several years later before finally turning into the Albuquerque Marriott Pyramid North. In September the Albuquerque-based Legacy Development & Management purchased the 310-room hotel, announcing plans to spend upwards of $22 million renovating it. At the time of the purchase, Aleem Kassam, chief executive officer of Legacy, told the Albuquerque Journal that the plan was to “renovate and modernize the entire hotel while keeping the Pyramid’s distinct southwestern style intact.” Now that plan is advancing with a vote by members of the Bernalillo County Commission to approve $39.5 million in industrial revenue bonds that will be used for the project. The renovation work, which is expected to take at least two years to complete, will also see upgrades to the hotel’s exterior. Located within the Journal Center Business Complex, the hotel is visually known for its Santa Fe-style architecture and Aztec pyramid design, as well as its 10-story atrium. The Legacy company has made a name for itself with large hotel redevelopment projects in New Mexico, Washington, and Oregon, among other places. It is most known in the Albuquerque area for its renovation and upgrading of the historic 10-story Hotel Andaluz, which was built in 1939 by famed hotelier Conrad Hilton. By Garry Boulard
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![]() The dramatic last-minute Congressional move to fund the federal government until November 17 means that the National Flood Insurance Program will remain intact for at least that long. Created by Congress in 1968, the program insures more than 5 million homes across the country, providing hundreds of thousands of dollars of flood coverage when such is required to secure a federally backed mortgage. The program’s last multi-year reauthorization expired in September of 2017. In the six years since, the program has been extended nearly two dozen times. According to a recent press release issued by the National Association of Home Builders, past disruptions of the program have “caused immediate and widespread impacts on property sales, home values, and consumer confidence.” In a letter sent to Congressional leaders before the budget deal was forged, the NAHB said any disruptions in the program “may have a significant negative economic effect on home builders, home buyers, multifamily developers, and renters.” As reported in the publication Insurance Journal, a lapsing of the flood insurance program could jeopardize as many as 1,300 real estate closings on a daily basis. On the other hand, should Congress prove unable to keep the program funded, “private flood insurers will no doubt see an increase in business.” Analysts studying the program say that while its extension is vital, a more serious financing issue still needs to be addressed: the program is operating in the red, with its flood fund losing nearly $1.9 billion last year. Kentucky Senator Rand Paul has pushed for a complete review of the program’s financing, remarking in open Senate debate, “We’re told that the program is funded through insurance premiums. But the premiums are below the market rate, and so the program is eternally and consistently short of money.” Paul has proposed that the program should not be tapped into by wealthy homeowners. “If you have a half-a-million-dollar mansion on the beach, guess what, you get to buy your own insurance,” he remarked. By Garry Boulard ![]() Future facility upgrades and heating and cooling system improvement projects may soon see funding in a small western Colorado school district. Voters in the Telluride School District will decide in November on a $31.8 million bond that is also designed to fund science lab upgrades at the Telluride Middle/High School. But perhaps the most unique feature of the bond is its support for the expansion of workforce housing in a part of the state where the average one-bedroom monthly rate now stands at around $3, 000. As proposed, the bond would fund the development of around 30 new housing units and will also being used to acquire land to build future housing. Ultimately, according to district documents, the goal is to provide housing options for roughly one third of the district's roughly 150 employees. Hannah Richman, vice-president of the Telluride Education Foundation, has noted that the district has lost teachers because of a lack of affordable local housing. "We want to make sure we can always attract and retain high quality teachers," Richman told the Telluride Daily Planet. Increasingly, many towns and school districts in Colorado have been trying to tackle the affordable housing challenge through a variety of means. A group called the Colorado River Board of Cooperative Education Services is spearheading the construction of tiny homes for teachers and staff in the towns of Aspen, Carbondale, and Parachute. And the affordable housing efforts has also seen the Colorado Department of Transportation announce a plan to build housing for employees working on road projects. One particular project in the town of Frisco is seeing the building of a 22-unit housing complex. By Garry Boulard Southern Arizona School District Hoping for New Bond to Keep Up with Increasing Facility Demands10/2/2023 ![]() Voters in a growing school district in southern Arizona populated with buildings that are more than 30 years old will decide on a big bond this November to fund upgrades to those buildings. Located in Maricopa County, the Gilbert Public Schools district is one of the oldest in the state, having been founded in 1913, and one of the largest, with more than 34,000 students. Earlier this year members of the Gilbert Public Schools’ Governing Board voted to put on the November ballot a question proposing a $100 million bond designed to address a wide array of facility needs. Among the projects to be funded, if the bond passes, is $63 million in both critical building upgrades as well as the replacement of several structures. Some $12 million will target district-wide safety and security work, while another $12 million will go for technology infrastructure work. According to district documents, there is currently a backlog of around $178 million in outstanding facility upgrade projects. A report earlier compiled by the Framingham, Massachusetts-based Amerisco, a firm specializing in infrastructure upgrade work, the average age for a Gilbert school building is now about 32 years old. A recent story in the Gilbert Sun News reports that the district has been spending between $20 million and $25 million to maintain the condition of its facilities. The district’s enrollment growth, jumping from around 29,000 in the year 2000 to the current just over 34,000, reflects the overall population growth of the city of Gilbert itself, which has gone from 109,000 two decades ago around 270,000 today. By Garry Boulard ![]() In a swift series of moves, both houses of Congress passed a stopgap plan to keep the federal government running until mid-November, with President Biden signing the measure just hours before a government shutdown deadline. In so doing, Congress and the President agreed to extend government funding at current levels. With a divided membership and angry debates, the action was focused on the House, where the plan was approved on a 335 to 91 vote. The vote in the Senate was 88 in favor to 9 opposed. “The American people can breathe a sigh of relief: there will be no government shutdown,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York declared after the upper chamber approved the plan. “We’re going to keep the government open,” exclaimed House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who is facing a move calling for his ouster among some members of his caucus for backing the plan. In signing the bill, Biden declared: “We should never have been in this position in the first place,” noting that the administration and Speaker McCarthy had forged a budget agreement several months ago. Despite the vote approving the stopgap plan, notes the New York Times, the measure is “only a temporary solution to the spending fight, which is likely to be quickly rekindled.” In the weeks ahead, members of Congress are expected to tackle such thorny issues as the overall size of the federal government budget, and both increased funding for border security and aid to Ukraine as the November 17 government funding deadline nears. The bill signed by Biden includes $16 billion for disaster relieve, and also reauthorizes, at least until November 17, the Federal Aviation Administration. Had the measure not passed, it was expected that up to 800,000 federal employees would have been sent home, with a variety of agencies closing down. According to sources, a government shutdown would have also put on hold any number of federal transportation construction projects and would have also seen the closing of some federal museums and parks. The shutdown would have additionally forced the Small Business Administration to delay processing small business loans. Congressional attention is now expected to focus on the appropriations for fiscal year 2024. Top funding levels, notes the publication Government Executive, “were previously set under the Fiscal Responsibility Act, a law that raised the debt ceiling and set spending caps through fiscal 2025.” By Garry Boulard New Mansion Purchase Underlines Denver Area's Cherry Hills Village Continuing Price Dominance10/2/2023 ![]() A new home purchase in metro Denver's Cherry Hills Village illustrates the prices that property in the exclusive section can fetch. According to multiple sources, former Denver Broncos running back Terell Davis has just purchased a 7,000 square-foot home in the Village for $3.3 million. The seven-bedroom mansion, located at 10 Foxtail Circle, was sold through the offices of Realty One Group Premiere, and represents only the latest significant sale in a thriving neighborhood where the median family income is more than $430,000. Last year Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson and his wife, singer-songwriter Ciara, also made a Cherry Hills Village purchase of a $25 million, four-bedroom estate. Just before the pandemic outbreak, a home belonging to former Level 3 Communications chief executive officer James Crowe sold for $11.6 million, Cherry Hills Village, notes the publication Forbes, "regularly ranks amongst the wealthiest towns in America," with an average home value of around $4.8 million. Recent listings on the site Realtor show mansions of a fairly recent vintage ranging in price from $1.9 million to just under $29 million. With an average size of 7,000 square feet, according to the Denver Post, homes in the village in the last 12 months "stayed on the market for an average of 40 days." Located around 10 miles to the south of downtown Denver, Cherry Creek Village has enjoyed a steady, but not explosive population growth over the last two decades. Just under 6,000 called the village home two decades ago, while today that number is up to around 6,400. Although Cherry Creek's numbers are all on the buoyant side, it is still not the richest town in America, says the publication Veranda. That distinction belongs to Atherton, California, 35 miles south of San Francisco, where the average median family income is $525,300, and the average home value around $7.8 million. By Garry Boulard |
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