![]() A plan to demolish the historic El Paso County Coliseum in order to make way for the upgrade of a nearby bridge appears to now be inoperative. Reports published earlier year indicated that the building, located at 4100 E. Paisano Drive, might have to be leveled owing to the modernization of the International Bridge of the Americas. In April of 2023 it was reported that the U.S. General Services Administration, in charge of the roughly $700 million bridge project, was contemplating getting rid of the more than 80-year-old facility, which is several miles to the east of the structure. In an announcement, David Stout, a member of the El Paso County Commission, said the GSA news means a proposal to upgrade the coliseum can now be included as part of a bond package to be voted on by county residents in November. The GSA has announced that it plans to soon present several alternative plans for the bridge's modernization. Opened in the spring of 1942, the coliseum was built via a grant from the New Deal's Public Works Administration, and has long hosted a wide variety of concerts, flower shows, and ice capades, among dozens of other events. The GSA, which will be accepting written comments on the bridge project until July 28, has indicated that it would like to see actual work on the structure begin in the spring of 2026. By Garry Boulard
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![]() A forbidding national housing market, with numbers moving in the wrong direction for the last several years, appears to be etched in cement as millions of potential homebuyers remain priced out of the action. That pricing-out is due to a powerful nexus of increasingly high home prices and interest rates, says the comprehensive new report just issued by the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies. At the same time, says the report, the State of the Nation's Housing 2024, the "number of renters with cost burdens has hit an all-time high." In fact, notes the report, "rents remain up 26% since early 2020 and are rising in three out of every four markets." The story of rents outpacing income is not a new one, remarks Alexander Hermann, senior research associate at the Harvard center. But the "pandemic-era rent surge produced an unprecedented affordability crisis that continues," she observed. Nearly one in four homeowners are now "stretched worryingly thin," says the report, a group that includes some "27.4% of homeowners aged 65 and over." Matters have only been made worse by an observable increase across the country in both insurance premiums as well as property taxes. Perhaps not surprisingly, homelessness has reached a record high nationally of more than 653,100 people as of late last year. While some of the increase is owing to an ongoing immigration increase, the larger portion of higher numbers "reflects the end of pandemic protections, high rents, and the already meager housing safety net." For all of that, a concurrent rise in multifamily construction provides hope. Last year multifamily completions were up by 22%, "reaching the highest annual level in more than three decades." Continues the report: "As these units have come online, they have outnumbered even sizable increases in new rental households, and so the rental market has cooled slightly." It may be a slender reed, indeed, to hang hopes on, but the report additionally notes: "New construction is giving homebuyers more options." "New homes have constituted about a third of available single-family inventories since 2021, a sharp increase from the past four decades," says the Harvard document, "during which new construction made up just 14% of inventory on average." By Garry Boulard Image Credit: Courtesy of Pixabay ![]() The ongoing up and down quest on the part of the Arizona Coyotes hockey team to build a new stadium is suddenly facing yet one more challenge. The team has had its eye on a site in north Phoenix that would have room enough for the construction of both a massive $1.7 billion new arena, as well as a surrounding entertainment district. To acquire the land, which is currently owned by the Arizona State Land Department, the team was prepared to participate in an auction conducted by that department and scheduled for June 29. According to earlier reports, a minimum bid of $68.5 million was required for the 95-acre property, located near the intersection of Rio Salado Parkway and Priest Drive. But just as the Coyote ownership was anticipating the auction event, the Land Department announced that it is requiring a special use permit from the team. That permit, said the agency in a press release, will provide certainty that "the applicant can build what it intends to build." In a correspondence with the team, the Land Department made certain to add that it is not uncommon to require applicants to secure zoning and use permits prior to an auction. In perhaps what might be regarded as an understatement for the Coyotes, the Land Department also commented: "We understand the delay in an auction is a disappointment for our applicant and members of the public," before adding that the action is nevertheless a prudent one for the agency. Once the permits are obtained, the Land Department declared, it would work with the team on the scheduling of a new auction date. The decision was badly received by the Coyotes. In a statement, the team said the Land Department action "seriously jeopardizes the future of National Hockey League hockey returning to the desert." As revenue from Land Department sales and leases go directly to public school needs in Arizona, the Coyotes statement mentioned: "By cancelling the land auction, the State is forgoing millions, and potentially billions, of dollars that would have gone directly to K-12 education." Exactly what happens next remains unclear, with some reports indicating that the Coyotes will most likely secure the required zoning/use permits in the hope of being able to participate in a future Land Department auction. Other sources think the Coyotes may well now be planning to leave the Grand Canyon State: "The future of NHL hockey in Arizona turns bleak," headlined the publication Burn City Sports. The earlier announced Coyote plans for the north Phoenix site included construction of a 17,000-seat arena, as well as a 3,500-seat theater, 400,000 square feet of retail space, and a practice facility measuring 150,000 square feet. The Coyotes had previously wanted to build a $2.1 billion arena and entertainment district at a 46-acre site in Tempe, only to see voters there in the spring of 2023 reject the plan. By Garry Boulard ![]() What to do with the site of a former courthouse in downtown Flagstaff has long been a topic of interest to city officials. That site, located on a block bound by W. Aspen Avenue on the north, N. Beaver Street to the east, Route 66 to the south, and private property to the west, is regarded as perfectly placed for a possible mixed-use development. In response, the City has been engaged in a process seeking information on how to repurpose what is popularly known as the Old City Courthouse Site. According to a document published earlier this year called the Downtown Flagstaff Vision & Action Plan, the site is prime for redevelopment as a "mixed-use gateway to downtown," with a suggested use as a "public-private partnership to redevelop into a mixed-use block with a public parking component." The site could also be given over to "downtown housing and a small grocery/market." The fact that the property is partly lined with an alleyway is also seen as highly promising, with the document suggesting a pedestrian use for it. Formerly the home to the city's Municipal Court building, which was demolished around two years ago, the site has since been converted into a parking with 100 spaces. Responses to a Request for Proposals on what to do with the property are expected to be evaluated by city officials in the weeks to come. By Garry Boulard Image Credit: Courtesy of Pixabay ![]() In a ruling that analysts say could save the federal government trillions of dollars, the U.S. Supreme Court on a 7 to 2 vote has decided to uphold a controversial tax on foreign income. The tax was part of President Trump’s $1.5 trillion Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that was passed in December of 2017 and was referenced as a one-time “mandatory repatriation tax” applying to those who owned at least 10% of a foreign company controlled by an American entity. A retired couple living in Redmond, Washington named Charles and Kathleen Moore challenged the tax in court, asserting that “income” as referenced in the Trump legislation only applied to gains in the form of a payment to a taxpayer, not in an increase in the value of a property. Supported by the Washington-based Competitive Enterprise Institute, the couple in Moore v. US maintained that they were owed a refund of nearly $15,000 due to taxes they paid as shareholders in an Indian company, even though they never actually received a return on their investment. In their suit, the Moores also argued that the tax violated the Constitution’s requirement that all direct federal taxes must be apportioned among the states. In his written opinion, Justice Brett Kavanaugh said the issue at hand revolved around the question of whether Congress had the right to tax shareholders or partners on matters of both realized and undistributed income. “This Court’s longstanding precedents, reflected in and reinforced by Congress’s longstanding practice, establish that the answer is yes,” said Kavanaugh. The decision was hailed by the Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, who saw it as a form of a wealth tax. The ruling, Green was quoted as saying in USA Today, “means the fight to tax wealth and rein in billionaire power is alive and well.” A statement issued by the Competitive Enterprise Institute said the decision “lets the government levy income taxes on foreign shareholders who have never received income. We think that is unfair.” As to whether the decision amounted to a wealth tax, Kavanaugh said the Supreme Court was addressing itself to the “precise and very narrow question” of the Trump tax legislation. The wealth tax matter, he continued, suggests “potential issues for another day, and we do not address or resolve any of those issues here.” By Garry Boulard Image Credit: Courtesy of the US Supreme Court ![]() A just-over 2,600-square-foot building, housing a Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet in Clovis, is now on the market with an asking price of around $1.8 million. Located a mile to the northeast of downtown Clovis at 2120 N. Prince Street, the building was completed in 1987 and is designated as a Class C structure. Sitting on a less than one-acre site, the one-story building underwent some renovation work in 2020. As part of the vast Kentucky Fried Chicken chain, the building is fairly typical, with most of its exterior bright white stores measuring between 2,000 and 3,000 square feet. Founded in 1930 with its first franchise location opening in 1952, Kentucky Fried Chicken is internationally famous because of its secret “11 herbs and spices” recipe. In the arena of public relations, its owner, the late Colonel Harland Sanders with his white suit, white goatee, and string tie became, by the 1960s, one of the most famous brand personalities in fast-food history. What is commonly referenced as KFC, based in Louisville, Kentucky, now has more than 24,000 locations. Those locations are not always owned by the company, which means that many of them are often up for sale. According to the site NNN Deal Finder, there are currently half a dozen KFC buildings for sale nationally, ranging in asking price from nearly $1.3 million in Anthony, Texas, to more than $4.7 million in West Palm Beach, Florida. The site Crexi.com lists over 40 KFC buildings, with the lowest-price store advertised in Shreveport, Louisiana for nearly $562,000, and the most expensive property in Janesville, Wisconsin at just over $2.6 million. KFC has long embraced an aggressive location expansion model, building at least two new stores somewhere in the world every day. The Clovis KFC building is listed with the Phoenix-based realtor Marcus & Millichap. By Garry Boulard ![]() Work could begin later this year on the $2 million building of more than 12,200 linear feet of waterline at the Roswell Air Center. The officially named and long-planned Water Line Expansion Phase II will include tie-ins to existing waterlines of various sizes in the vicinity of the work. The installation of new fire hydrants and twenty-one 14-inch butterfly water valves is also included in the project. According to city documents, the chosen contractor will be required to protect "existing sidewalks, curbs, pavement, utilities, adjoining properties, and structures" for the duration of the work. The project, which is expected to take 75 days to complete, will also require associated surface restoration work. Earlier this spring, the City of Roswell announced that it was increasing residential and business water use bills as part of an effort to pay for an estimated $38 million in water infrastructure projects, replacing water lines that are in some cases more than a century old. The City of Roswell will be accepting sealed bids on the air center project until July 9. By Garry Boulard Image Credit: Courtesy of Pixabay ![]() In a move that has caught many on Capitol Hill by surprise, the Congressional Budget Office has announced that its projection for this fiscal year's federal deficit is now at least $400 billion higher than earlier thought. Just four months ago, in February, the agency forecast a deficit of some $188 billion, and attributed the lower deficit to increased Internal Revenue Service collections. Now the latest projects issued by the CBO says that increased military aid to Israel and Ukraine, along with stepped-up Medicaid spending, and the probable costs of reducing student loan borrowing balances, among other factors, have all played a part in what is a 27% increase in the federal budget deficit. In its Update to the Budget and Economic Outlook: 2024 to 2034, the CBO says the current budget deficit is $1.9 trillion. "Adjusted to include the effects of shifts in the timing of certain payments, the deficit amounts to $2.0 trillion in 2024 and grows to $2.8 trillion by 2034," says the document. Put another way, "Debt held by the public rises from 99% of Gross Domestic Product this year to 122% in 2034, surpassing its previous high of 106% of GDP." The only marginal good news is that a current deficit comprising 7% GDP is expected to decline to 5.5% by the year 2027. That figure, however, is significantly higher than the 3.7% deficit figure that has been the rough average since the 1980s. While the Congressional Budget Office has recorded an ongoing increase in tax revenue, Texas Republican Congressman Jody Arrington said it’s clear that such revenue isn't enough to offset continued higher deficits. The chairman of the House Budget Committee, Arrington remarked that new spending is "undermining the prowess of the U.S. economy, further eroding consumer confidence, and fueling the cost-of-living crisis for American families." "The United States is on a pace to add trillions of dollars to its national debt over the next decade," the New York Times reported in response to the new CBO numbers, "borrowing money more quickly than previously expected, at a time when big legislative fights loom over taxes and spending." The increased deficit, charges the National Review, is due to a "combination of policy changes and a gloomier than previously expected economic forecast." The publication goes on to predict that "given the swelling debt burden and higher rates, interest payments will surpass $1 trillion next year." In a statement, Andrew Bates, White House deputy press secretary, contended that the new CBO numbers underline the need for a Biden administration proposal to raise taxes on wealthier households and corporations. The President knows, said Bates, "that the last thing we should do is flood Main Street with debt so that Park Avenue can bathe in tax welfare and greedflation." The CBO report "is a warning against exactly that." By Garry Boulard Image Credit: Courtesy of Unsplash ![]() A popular mid-century movie house with a detailed tile Art Deco facade, upper-level glass brick windows, and tall panels of polychrome terracotta, is receiving nearly $230,000 in state funding for upgrade work. Located at 2032 14th Street in downtown Boulder, the theater was originally called the Curran Opera House and hosted concerts and ballets before being substantially rebuilt as the Boulder Theater in 1936. That rebuilding came about after the theater was purchased by the big Fox Theater Company, which maintained a network of more than seven hundred movie houses across the country, primarily in the 1920s and 30s. Those Fox theaters were regarded as "movie palaces," and featured a variety of building architecture, besides Art Deco, thought to be drawn from Indian and Moorish design influences. While the Boulder movie house thrived for more nearly four decades, it fell upon hard times in the 1970s, leading to an effort by the Historic Boulder preservation group to have it designated as an official state landmark. Still operational, the theater in recent years has served as a popular venue for any number of entertainment and community programs. Last year, it hosted some 180 shows and special events. In a statement, Ruth McHeyser, a long-standing members of the Historic Boulder's board of directors, remarked that the theater is "one of the recognizable and well-loved buildings in the city." The $227,000 grant will fund the removal and replacement of fading stucco, while also restoring masonry within the structural walls as well as windows and repairing a large crack in the building's facade. By Garry Boulard Image Credit: Courtesy of Historic Boulder ![]() The City of Albuquerque has issued a Request for Proposals for a renovation and upgrade project at the always-busy Albuquerque BioPark. Opened in the fall of 2001, the Children's Fantasy Garden is a place of nine-foot-tall potted plants, a walk-through pumpkin two stories high and 42 feet in diameter, six-foot long earthworms pushing through the walls, and other unforgettable features designed to explore the wonders of nature. The Fantasy Garden has proved a solid hit with visitors, a review on the site Tripadviser.com being fairly typical: the garden is "particularly noteworthy, even a castle with a stone dragon. Goofy oversized vegetables on some paths. Pretty fun excursion!" The Rotarian magazine has extolled the garden's "earthworms as thick as a human arm, basketball-sized acorns, and ants and beetles larger than many of the park's young visitors." The City is now looking for an architectural consultant to "renovate and update the experience of the Children's Fantasy Garden." According to the RFP, architectural firms applying for the work should have previous design experience that includes the "design of theme parks, amusement parks, and family-oriented projects." Work on what started out as a $735,000 fantasy garden began in the spring of 1998, with the project cost increasing to $1.5 million upon its opening six years later. The submission deadline for the RFP is June 26. By Garry Boulard |
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