The Biden Administration has launched a new program designed to encourage job skills training in a variety of needed industries. Called the Talent Pipeline Challenge, the initiative is spurring both state and local governments to use some $800 million in funds that are a part of last year’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. In a statement released from the White House it is noted that the goal of the pipeline project is to “create and support programs that provide skills training and match workers with in-demand jobs that will be critical to completing infrastructure projects.” Training in the program will particularly focus on the workforce needs of the broadband development, construction, electric vehicle charging stations, and battery manufacturing industries. Besides the funding from the infrastructure bill, another source of support for the pipeline project is expected to come through American Rescue Program funds. “This is a nationwide call to action for employers, education and training providers, state, local, Tribal, and territorial governments, and philanthropic organization to make tangible commitments that support equitable workforce development,” the White House statement continued. By design, the pipeline program seeks to place an emphasis on both the creation and expansion of apprenticeship and skills certification programs. Training providers in the program are expected to include community colleges, industry associations, labor unions, philanthropic groups, and work centers. By Garry Boulard
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A massive stretch of land in north central Colorado has been purchased for nearly $31 million. The property, belonging to Rob Walton, son of the founder of the Walmart Incorporated, is located near the edge of the Roaring Ford River just outside the city of Aspen, and includes a partially built mansion. Walton, who is listed as one of the top 25 richest persons in the world, purchased the land some two decades ago for $9.1 million. The sale, according to the website Mansionglobal, comprises “one of the highest prices ever paid for undeveloped land in the upscale Colorado ski destination.” The transaction was handed by Aspen Snowmass Sotheby’s International Realty. According to news sources, new building permits for the site would have to be secured before any building on the site can occur. Neither the fate of the uncompleted mansion, nor the new owner of the site, has yet been announced. Walton, who was chairman of the Walmart company from 1992 to 2015 and additionally owns property in Paradise Valley, Arizona, as well as Hawaii’s Big Island, just recently purchased the Denver Broncos football team for $4.6 billion. By Garry Boulard A solid 12,200 square foot industrial structure that has been in use for nearly 70 years is up for sale in El Paso with an asking price of $855,000. Located at 1315 W. Main Drive, the structure has served as the long-time home to the Bio/Dyne Chemical Company, which specializes in janitorial, paper, and cleaning chemical supplies, and sits on a just under 1-acre site. In the 1950s, the Barq’s Dr. Pepper Bottling Company used the structure as a warehouse facility. Located roughly one mile to the west of downtown El Paso, the building is off Interstate 10 in a neighborhood of smaller residential properties. The structure includes just over 1,000 square feet of office space, as well as a total of more than 10,000 square feet of warehouse space. Listed with the Sonny Brown Associates realtors of El Paso, the structure also features two yards with a total square footage of 16,000 square feet on either side of the site. By Garry Boulard A wide coalition of builders have completed testimony on Capitol Hill, urging members of Congress to more assertively tackle the gnawing issue of housing affordability. Jerry Konter remarked that a “growing shortage of affordable housing and rising housing costs stemming from historically high prices for lumber and other building materials, supply chain bottlenecks, surging interest rates, and excessive regulations are hurting families and communities nationwide.” Konter, the chairman of the NAHB, delivered his remarks as part of the National Association of Homebuilder’s 2022 Legislative Conference. Konter added: “Builders from across the nation are sending a loud and clear message that Congress must act now to help improvement affordability conditions by implementing policies that will help builders to construct more single-family homes and apartments to meet consumer demand.” The builders particularly called on Congress to pass the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act, which is designed to build on the long-standing Low Income Housing Tax Credit by widening tax credits for the construction of affordable housing. That legislation, introduced last year by Washington Senator Maria Cantwell and Indiana Senator Todd Young, also aims to focus more on incentives for housing projects in Native American, rural, and high poverty communities. Konter particularly pointed out that homes for sale and available rental units nationally have been declining since the Great Recession and currently stands at a more than 10-year low. The NAHB has estimated that there is a current housing net deficit of more than 1 million homes. The builders additionally asked Congress to put pressure on the Biden administration to suspend tariffs on Canadian lumber imports in a move to decrease lumber prices in the U.S; while also pursuing immigration policies that would allow for more workers from other countries to work on construction projects in America. The Affordable Housing Credit Improvement bill is currently under review in the Senate Committee on Finance. By Garry Boulard A building housing a popular dinner theater in Boulder has found a buyer for $5.6 million. Located at 5501 Arapahoe Avenue on the east side of Boulder, the nearly 12,000 square foot structure includes a lobby, office, theater space with just under 300 seats, dressing rooms, and front covered walkway, among other amenities. The Boulder Dinner Theater has offered food and drink, as well as a variety of plays, shows, and musical events, on a year-around basis, since 1977. It was lauded by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for having a “purpose-built space that arranges tables on tiers surrounding a thrust stage.” The theater was closed for several months in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid 19 outbreak. Sitting on a 1.4-acre lot, the building is located on a block populated with mostly one-story commercial structures. The structure has been purchased by a group listed as Arapahoe Investors, LLC, which is connected to the Ann Arbor, Michigan-based commercial real estate firm First Martin Corporation. According to press accounts, the building will continue as the home of the Boulder Dinner Theater for the foreseeable future. By Garry Boulard Plans are moving forward for the creation of a new executive office building that will belong to the State of New Mexico and go up in downtown Santa Fe. The project has been long discussed by state leaders and officials and will cost around $194 million to build. Earlier this year, state lawmakers approved around $85 million in capital outlay and general fund spending for the project. The idea of building a new administrative structure was given a green light in 2021 by members of the Capitol Buildings Planning Commission who viewed the proposal as an economy move, noting that it would ultimately save the state money by housing several agencies under one roof. The commission is composed of state legislators and cabinet members. Currently, the state is spending upwards of $10 million annually leasing more than 500,000 square feet of space in various locations in Santa Fe. Officials also note that having state employees in a new space will make it easier to renovate other office space in need of upgrading. The new building would go up near the intersection of Don Gaspar Avenue and S. Capitol Street, across the street from the State Capitol. Initial descriptions of the structure see it as having two floors, measuring around 192,000 square feet. Before any construction could begin, four one-story residential structures would have to be demolished. Because those structures are historic casitas and part of the officially designated Santa Fe Historic District, the demolition would need city approval. That approval would most likely not come until later this year. If all goes as planned after that, the demolition will occur next summer, with a Request for Proposals for the construction of the new building issued in June 2024. By Garry Boulard In a move designed to address a rapid increase in inflation, the Federal Reserve has announced that it is raising interest rates by 0.75%. That is the largest hike in rates since 1994, when President Bill Clinton was still in his first term. In a press conference, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell remarked that “inflation is much too high, and we understand the hardship it is causing, and we’re moving expeditiously to bring it back down.” The Chairman continued: “Inflation remains well above our longer-run goal of 2%. Over the 12 months ending in March, total Personal Consumption Expenditures prices rose 6.6%; excluding the volatile food and energy categories.” Powell added: “Aggregate demand is strong, and bottlenecks and supply constraints are limiting how quickly production can respond. Disruptions to supply have been larger, and longer lasting than anticipated, and price pressures have spread to a broader range of goods and services.” Wall Street responded positively to Powell’s announcement, jumping around 303 points, after nearly a week of dormant activity. “Anchoring expectations has been a core part of the central bank’s approach over the last decade,” noted the Wall Street Journal in a report on the Fed action, adding that “volatile conditions are demanding flexibility.” Said the Financial Times: “The decision marks an abrupt pivot from the Fed’s previously telegraphed plans for a second consecutive 0.50 percentage point rate rise.” In his conference with reporters, Powell hinted that additional rate hikes may be in the making. “We will be looking for compelling evidence that inflation is moving down, consistent with inflation returning to 2%. We anticipate that ongoing rate increases will be appropriate.” By Garry Boulard A new industrial park is the offing for the industrial park-friendly city of Surprise, Arizona. The Dallas-based Mohr Capital has just announced its acquisition of just over 46 acres with a plan of building two sizable structures largely designed for distribution and manufacturing purposes. The two facilities, one measuring nearly 454,000 square feet and the other 250,500, will be part of the still-developing Summit Business Park at the intersection of Cactus Road and Dysart Road. Mohr Capital specializes in the funding of large office and industrial development properties. Earlier this year it was announced that Mohr had closed on upwards of $80 million in deals between late last year and early 2022. In a statement, Tom Theobald, senior vice-president for Mohr Capital, said the new Surprise development will “answer the needs of the growing community and new industries entering the West Valley submarket.” Work is expected to begin on the new Mohr facilities in Surprise later this summer, with a summer 2023 completion date. By Garry Boulard The City of Las Cruces has issued a Request for Qualifications to build an affordable housing project on a currently vacant 5-acre site. That site, at 1101 W. Amador Avenue, was formerly owned by the Albuquerque-based Brewer Oil Company. Last year the City of Las Cruces purchased the property for around $1.1 million. If the site, in a mostly industrial section of the city, is developed it would be a part of the larger Mesilla Valley Community of Hope campus, which is located two blocks away. That campus is dedicated to providing housing and shelter for those in need. As envisioned, the project could see the construction of one or two structures that would house anywhere from 60 to 150 rental units. According to the RFQ, development of the site would also include “appropriate programming and administrative space, as well as designated supportive services space.” The request is specifically looking for proposals from experienced Low Income Housing Tax Credit firms, in particularly those “experienced with mixed income and supportive housing” projects. Submission deadline for the RFQ is June 30. By Garry Boulard Contractors’ bid prices in May reached historic highs, according to a new report just issued by the Washington-based Associated General Contractors of America. That increase, says the AGC, is the result of the “soaring costs for materials and service” continuing to confront contractors nationally. Overall, the producer price index for nonresidential construction was up by nearly 2% in May, following an unprecedented 18.9% for the year to date. Meanwhile, what contractors say they would charge to build a given structure has increased by 0.4%, after an equally big 19.3% jump over the spring of 2021. In a statement, Ken Simonson, chief economist with the AGC, remarked: “After enduring more than a year of runaway increases in the cost of items needed to build projects, contractors have finally raised their bid prices by an equivalent amount.” Simonson added that the “runup in materials costs appears likely to continue to pressure contractors’ profit margins.” The largest year-to-year cost increases include diesel fuel, up by 84.9%; steel mill products and aluminum mill shapes, with increases of nearly 33% and 31.2% respectively; and paint, up by 31.6%. At the same time, plastic construction products have increased by just under 30%; while gypsum building materials have gone up nearly 24%. With trucking costs everywhere skyrocketing for a variety of different industries, it should be no surprise that the country’s builders have absorbed a 25.8% rise in such prices since the spring of 2021. Ultimately, says the AGC in a press release accompanying the report, “ongoing materials costs will continue to threaten the profit margins of many contractors.” “Higher construction prices run the risk of forcing public agencies and private developers to rethink planned projects,” remarked Stephen Sandherr, AGC chief executive officer. Sandherr added that federal officials need to remove remaining tariffs, support a competitive materials market, and “take every possible step to support a supply chain struggling to restart after the pandemic.” By Garry Boulard |
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