![]() A lower-income neighborhood in Denver may soon see a sweeping variety of infrastructure improvements owing to the infusion of up to $10.3 million in tax increment financing. The Sun Valley neighborhood is in the central part of the city and bordered by Federal Boulevard on the west and the South Platte River on the east. Part of the neighborhood takes in a portion of the Denver Broncos’ stadium. The neighborhood has long been dominated by an aging housing stock and poverty. A study conducted three years ago by the Piton Foundation pegged the neighborhood’s average household income at just over $14,000. Now hopes are high that a tax increment agreement between the City and County of Denver, along with the Denver Urban Renewal Authority, will enhance everyday living in a 35-acre portion of the neighborhood via new residential units, parks, sidewalks, and streets. Houses planned for the neighborhood will range in size from one- to five-bedroom units and will be geared for those making less than 30% of the area median income. The new homes project, as spearheaded by the Denver Urban Renewal authority, will ultimately serve upwards of 2,500 people. Up to five new blocks will also be created, along with a riverfront park on the eastern side of the neighborhood along the South Platte River. New construction will be seen on one-time industrial property as well as at the site of the former Sun Valley Homes, which was demolished due to its deteriorating condition in 2018. That barracks-style housing project was built in the 1950s and included more than 300 residential units. Plans also call for the construction of 744 homes that will be built by private developers, with 514 by the Denver Housing Authority. According to city documents, new work in the neighborhood will also see stormwater and sanitary sewer upgrades, as well as the modernization of existing rights-of-way for new pedestrian and bicycle accommodations. By Garry Boulard
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![]() The City of Phoenix is launching a new and ambitious program that could see the construction of at least 100 new affordable housing structures in the next year. Members of the Phoenix City Council have given their approval to building the residential units on a list of lots already owned by the city. The project is part of a significantly larger effort to both build new housing or keep intact and upgrade existing housing stock in order to make available more affordable housing. The effort draws from a document called Housing Phoenix Plan which envisions ultimately creating a stock of up to 50,000 homes by the beginning of the next decade as a means of addressing the city’s ongoing affordable and workforce housing shortage. That document notes that while Phoenix has seen its population increase by around 20% in the last two decades and has been repeatedly named the fastest growing city in the country, “Phoenix’s housing production has not kept pace with population growth.” The document continues: “The current shortages of housing supply, relative to demand, is a primary reason housing costs are increasing. A significant increase in housing supply is necessary to keep pace with current and projected housing demand.” According to sources, city staff expects to begin the process of soliciting proposals for affordable or mixed-income housing projects within the next three months. By Garry Boulard With State Planning in Place, Door Opened to Big Federal Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Funding10/5/2022 ![]() There are now plans in place for the building of electric vehicle infrastructure to be funded by the federal government in every state of the union, including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Those plans, in turn, have won the stamp of approval via the federal Department of Transportation, opening the way for the dispersal of some $1.5 billion in immediate funds to the states. In a statement, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the approved state plans will help ensure that “Americans in every part of the country, from the largest cities to the most rural communities, can be positioned to unlock the savings and benefits of electric vehicles.” The plans, once made reality, will see the building of electric vehicle infrastructure on some 75,000 miles of highways across the country. Altogether, the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program will make available a total of $5 billion between now and 2027 for any number of building projects. Those projects can include everything from building new charging infrastructure or upgrading systems already in place. Also available for funding: installation of both on-site electric service equipment as well as charging station signage. More than two dozen individual projects in the states of the West have already received funding approval. By Garry Boulard ![]() Planning and design work could begin sometime next year on a project in El Paso County, Colorado, that will see the building of a big loop piping system moving water from the southern part of the county to its northern reaches. What is simply being called the Loop Project is seen by county officials as a necessary response to continued population growth, particularly beyond the metro Colorado Springs area. The growth has seen the county go from just under 517,000 residents in the year 2000 to more than 730,000 today. It is thought that it could cost as much as $200 million to build the system, which would also allow for water in the Monument and Fountain Creeks to be treated, recycled, and reused. But now up to $4 million in federal grant money has been secured by the county via the American Rescue Plan Act to jumpstart engineering on the project. County officials say the funding will also be used to purchase easements for where the Loop Project’s infrastructure will ultimately be built. If all the preliminaries are completed as planned, actual work on the project could begin in late 2024 or early 2025. The American Rescue Plan Act was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Biden in early 2021, designed to help the economic recovery of local governments challenged by the Covid 19 pandemic. By Garry Boulard ![]() A Michigan-based battery recycling company has announced plans to build a new and extensive processing facility in Eloy, Arizona. The company, Cirba Solutions, which is headquartered in the southeast Michigan city of Wixom, wants to build the plant, which will focus on recycling lithium-ion batteries needed for electric vehicles. The facility is expected to measure around 75,000 square feet and will be added to an existing one-story structure located in the 1300 block of West Battaglia Road in Eloy. The recycling facility, which will also be tasked with sorting, warehousing, and diagnostic testing, will be the second operation belonging to Cirba in Arizona. The first is a processing facility located in Mesa. In a statement, David Klanecky, chief executive officer of Cirba, noted that the federal incentives and state mandates ensure that “lithium-ion battery recycling will be critical for auto manufacturers to meet demand and have a sustainable future.” The new Eloy facility, to be run via Cirba affiliate Heritage Battery, is expected to be fully operational by next summer. By Garry Boulard ![]() The continuing demand for yet more self-storage space across the country has now seen the building of facilities representing a total footprint of 1.6 billion square feet. And according to the website StorageCafe, the demand shows no sign of slackening, even though up to 45.2 million square feet of self-storage space was built in just 2021 alone. New announced projects in the last two weeks include a 70,000 square foot facility in Clearwater, Florida, to belong to the Atlanta-based company Nitneal Partners. A 93,000 square foot facility is set for construction by the Guilderland Realty Partners Guilderland, New York. A 122,000 square-foot facility, built by the Mangat Group, is set to open in Peoria, Arizona; meanwhile, U-Haul International is converting an existing building in Santa Fe to a self-storage facility, creating in the process just over 103,000 square feet of space. In the last decade, according to reports, the number of new self-storage facilities has grown by an almost impossible-to-imagine 926%. While an average $1 billion a year was spent on the construction of such new facilities between 2012 and 2015, the figures jumped to more than $3 billion in 2018 and has stayed at that level ever since. Part of the reason for the continuing demand for more self-storage space, according to a survey conducted by the site RentCafe, has to do with the continuing large number of people who today live in apartments. Questioning around 4,200 renters, the survey found that some 21% are currently using self-storage facilities, while 12% said they had plans to use such facilities in the future. Positive long-term prospects for the industry are seen in the age of those doing the storing, with 44% of Generation X renters, born between 1965 and 1980, making up the largest customer base. Another growing group, the Millennials, born between 1981 and 1996, comprised 30% of active users. In a statement accompanying the survey, Maria Gatea, an analyst with RentCafe, pointed out that the “recent need to carve out space at home for home offices or gyms, plus an increase in multigenerational living,” are two factors contributing to the ongoing need for more self-storage space. By Garry Boulard ![]() An effort is underway to replace one of the most well-used facilities on the north campus of the University of New Mexico. The UNM Campus Observatory, located at 1919 Lomas Boulevard NE, regularly provides viewing sessions for both students and the general public and houses a Celestron Edge HD telescope. The white-domed structure was completed in 1955 and has seen some modernization over the years. But now UNM officials are saying that the facility, which has hosted up to 2,000 people in any given semester, is outdated. According to a UNM press release, the facility additionally lacks “several key aspects for its education and outreach mission.” It has also been noted that increased light pollution in the vicinity of the observatory has made the building’s site “unsuitable for education, outreach, or research.” It is thought that it will cost at least $2 million to build a new observatory, which would include a lecture hall and two domes, near the school’s North Golf Course. A preliminary $10,000 crowdfunding effort has been launched for the effort which has so far raised $6,500. The building of the original observatory was a protracted affair. The walls were completed by the late summer of 1954, but not until a year later was the actual dome in place. A report in the Albuquerque Tribune said the facility would primarily be used to study “comets and meteors, zodiacal light, and counter-glow.” By Garry Boulard University of New Mexico, With a Handful of Big Projects, Hoping for November Bond Approval10/3/2022 ![]() Depending upon the results of this November’s election, the University of New Mexico may soon see the construction of a long-anticipated Center for Collaborative Arts and Technology, which is slated to go up on the main Albuquerque campus. The idea behind the center, besides housing teaching space for the creative arts, is all about saving space: currently, the school’s College of Fine Arts has various functions located in 13 separate buildings. The new multi-story center will bring all those functions together under one roof, and will include technical and equipment labs, as well as performance space for the music and theater departments. In November, New Mexican voters will decide on up to $215 million in general obligation bonds to fund a host of higher education facility projects across the state. Of that total, $89.2 million will go for various works at UNM. Besides the collaborative arts and technology center, UNM officials are also hoping to see built what is being called the Children’s Psychiatric Center, which will be a part of the UNM Health Sciences Center on the north campus. The psychiatric center will encompass 24,500 square feet and will be dedicated to diagnosing and treating a wide variety of children’s mental healthcare issues. The GO bond is also slated to fund a series of facility projects on the Gallup, Los Alamos, Taos, and Valencia UNM campuses. By Garry Boulard ![]() Affirming that an 85-year-old apprenticeship program is still the most effective way of training workers, the Department of Labor has announced that it is newly committed to the well-trod Registered Apprenticeship system. In a press release issued by the agency, the Registered Apprenticeship system was hailed for its role in “helping U.S. workers, particularly those from underserved communities, to access good-paying, family-sustaining jobs.” In declaring its ongoing commitment to that program, the Labor Department simultaneously announced its decision to dismantle what is known as the industry-Recognized Apprenticeship Program, which it said had created a “duplicative, lower-quality system that was not in the best interest of workers and industries.” Industry-recognized apprenticeship programs are operated by trade and industry groups, as well as individual businesses and non-profit organizations. Labor unions have complained that such programs are inefficient and lacking in a full array of safety and skills training. The Department of Labor’s action comes in response to an executive order issued by President Biden early last year. The federal Registered Apprenticeship program was launched in 1937, initially focusing on programs for the construction, manufacturing, and utilities industries. Beginning in the late 1940s, the program also began to offer firefighter, emergency medical technician, and police training. By Garry Boulard ![]() A movie house that opened to great fanfare in May of 1957 in downtown Greeley, Colorado, featuring the hit musical Oklahoma!, is being listed for sale for $1.7 million. The opening of the Colorado Theater in what was then a city of around 23,000 people made the front page of the Greeley Daily Tribune, with opening night featuring city officials, klieg lights, and a local high school pep band. It was noted that the new theater could seat nearly 900 people, with a screen capable of showing the latest CinemaScope offerings. The building served as a movie house for nearly two decades until it was purchased by the University of Northern Colorado Foundation, hosting any number of concert and opera events. UNC moved the operations of the Foundation Hall to another location in 2019. Located in downtown Greeley at 1514 8th Avenue, the building, measuring nearly 15,600 square feet, sits on a just-over 1-acre site on a commercial block that has seen a good deal of redevelopment in recent years. A modern four-story structure housing around 220 apartments was built some 3 years ago at 8th Avenue and 16th Street, with other apartment projects for an area just to the north of the University of Northern Colorado being discussed. The building, advertised as a candidate for multi-family and retail redevelopment, is being listed with the Waypoint Real Estate firm of Fort Collins. By Garry Boulard |
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