Colorado Springs City Council Approves Funding for Former Mining Site Urban Renewal Project11/9/2023 ![]() An urban renewal project in Colorado Springs on the site of a former gold and silver mining operation has now received important city funding support. Located just to the southeast of U.S. Route 24 and 21st Street, the project in the Gold Hill Mesa subdivision will see the building of new homes, restaurants, retail space, and even a hotel. While more than 600 homes have already been built on the 200-acre site where the Golden Cycle Mill company ran its operations for more than half a century, plans currently call for the eventual construction of up to 1,200 homes. The city support comes in the form of a recent vote taken by the Colorado Springs City Council officially designating around 106 acres of the site as a commercial urban renewal zone. By so doing, the council makes it possible for property owners at the site to be compensated for infrastructure improvements as well as environmental remediation work. Council members also gave the green light to using an anticipated $13.5 million in future sales tax revenue for the development of the renewal zone. The Golden Cycle Mill was one of the most successful gold ore mining operations of its kind in the country, keeping hundreds of workers employed during even the worst years of the Great Depression. The mill ceased operations in 1948. Not until the late 1990s was a subdivision development of the site undertaken, with the first homes going up in 2006 and gradually emerging into what the publication Springs Magazine has called "an award-winning community at the crossroads between downtown Colorado Springs and its nearby mountains and trails." According to the Colorado Springs Urban Renewal Authority, work on the former mill site has seen the building of new housing, transit improvements, and infrastructure, all designed to create a "gateway to the City from the west." By Garry Boulard
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![]() As part of an ongoing nationwide expansion effort, the New York-based Chase Bank has announced plans to open its first location in Santa Fe. The announcement comes as Chase, officially called JPMorgan Chase Bank, has expanded its operation into the West, opening outlets in the Dakotas, Montana, and Wyoming. The bank, with $124 billion in annual revenue, has also opened six locations in Albuquerque over the course of the last two years. The new Santa Fe location will be located in a former Hallmark card store that closed its doors earlier this year. The address is 2002 Cerrillos Road, some 2 miles to the southwest of downtown Santa Fe. In an interview with the Santa Fe New Mexican, Claudius Duncan, a regional marketing director for Chase, said the bank's move to Santa Fe is centered on the "financial health and wellness for all of New Mexico." Duncan added that the new Santa Fe location reflects the bank's desire to serve "small, medium, and large business, consumer business, and government." A repurposing of the Cerrillos Road location will see the building of office and conference room space, as well as a lobby. The new bank is expected to open early next year. With the opening of a branch in Billings, Montana, in the summer of 2021, Chase had opened locations in all of the lower 48 states, ultimately establishing more than 400 new outlets by the end of last year. Chase has placed a special emphasis on opening up to a third of those new banks in low- to moderate-income communities. The Chase Manhattan Bank was the result of a merger between the Chase National Bank and the long-standing Manhattan Company in 1955. Chase Manhattan subsequently merged with JP Morgan in the year 2000. It is today the largest bank in the U.S., with more than 4,700 branches. By Garry Boulard ![]() Signed into law exactly two years ago this month, the massive Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act has so far sent around $4 billion in funding to the states of the Mountain West, according to a new study. That study, undertaken by the Denver-based Center for Western Priorities, notes that the funding has been spread out over projects in eight states: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming, as well as including projects on Tribal lands. With the funding going through a variety of agencies, the Infrastructure Act has seen the Interior Department delegating upwards of $44 million for abandoned mine reclamation projects; nearly $4 million for improving recreation sites; and $133 million for remediating and restoring orphaned wells, among other projects. Other funding has gone to such agencies as the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Park Service for various projects in the West. On a state-by-state basis, Arizona has received around $473 million for abandoned mine hazard mitigation and national park restoration projects. Colorado has been the recipient of around $493 million in funding for watershed restoration, hazard mitigation, and river restoration projects. A large $602 million has gone to New Mexico for watershed restoration, acequia resilience, and wildfire recovery projects. In a statement, Kate Groetzinger, communications manager with the Center for Western Priorities, remarked that the Infrastructure Act has proven a "much-needed shot into the arm of the Mountain West, which faces unprecedented challenges due to drought, climate change, and development pressure." Tribal projects funded to the tune of $1.6 billion have included irrigation, climate adaption plans, and water rights settlement work. By Garry Boulard ![]() Preliminary design work is already underway on a project in Phoenix that will see the development of a combined retail and restaurant project that will go up within the borders of a planned industrial park. To be located on the west side of the city in what is called Park Algodon, the project belongs to the Phoenix development company Creation, working with the Clarion Partners investment firm of New York. As envisioned, the retail and restaurant component will go up on some 7 acres that are part of a larger 86 acres located on the northwest corner of Loop 101 and Indian School Road. The larger site is expected to see the building of five industrial space structures totaling around 1.3 million square feet. First phase development of this aspect of Park Algodon will see the initial building of four structures measuring 670,000 square feet. Later second-phase construction will center on the building of the remaining structure, measuring 556,000 square feet. Initial work on the $250 million Park Algodon is expected to launch sometime next summer, with a general completion date for both the retail and industrial portions of the development set for late 2025. The retail portion of the project, officially called the Shops at Park Algodon, will see the construction of around 14,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space. The firm Creation has made a name for itself focusing on innovative mixed-use projects. To date, the company has spearheaded some $3.3 billion in industrial development, along with another $624 million in retail mixed-use projects. Those projects include the 52,000 square-foot Collective on Baseline in Tempe, and the 24,000 square-foot Colony in Phoenix. In a statement, Grant Kingdon, principal of Creation, predicted that Park Algodon will serve as a "catalyst to attract new employers to the area." By Garry Boulard ![]() A downtown Albuquerque building that has served for most of the last decade as extended stay residential space for corporate clients may soon be repurposed as affordable senior housing. Located at 950 4th Street NW, two blocks to the north of the Pete V. Domenici U.S. Courthouse, the three-story Anthea @ Granite was built in 2015 at a cost of $6 million. Upon its official opening in August of that year, it was touted as a “condotel,” or a condominium project that operates as a hotel, offering 23 furnished one-, two-, and three-bedroom condominiums, with weekly rents starting at $799. The occupancy levels of the structure in recent years have varied, with Bernalillo County officials recently regarding it as a good candidate for a senior living complex. Now members of the Bernalillo County Commission have given their unanimous approval to purchasing the building for senior housing, using $5.2 million in funds received through the American Rescue Plan Act. While the upper floors of the building already have residential units and balconies, the bottom floor, originally intended for retail or office space, has remained vacant since the Anthea @ Granite opened. According to county officials, that 8,000 square-foot lower space may be repurposed into additional residential space. Following federal Department of House and Urban Development guidelines, the apartments will be available to residents who are 62 year of age or older, with an income of no more than 30% of the area median income. By Garry Boulard ![]() A dearth of housing options, long a challenge for the nation’s cities, is now making itself increasingly apparent in both the suburbs and countryside of the U.S., according to a new report. The group Up for Growth, which is based in Washington, has released its latest annual study, this time showing that all fifty of the nation’s states, along with the District of Columbia, are confronted with what is described as an “underproduction” of new housing. Of the top ten states listed in the Housing Underproduction in the U.S. 2023 report as having the greatest underproduction, seven are in the West: Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, California, Oregon, and Washington. Housing underproduction is now an issue in roughly 60% of all of the country’s suburban counties and 42% of what are defined as the nation’s “small-town counties.” At the same time, approximately 32% of all rural counties are short of adequate housing. “Not a single state is providing enough housing for its citizens, and the nation is poorer, less diverse, and less dynamic than it could be if everyone who wanted it had access to affordable shelter in high-opportunity areas,” continues the report. Charting housing development patterns reaching back to the 1920s, the report notes that the lack of current housing is due to a combination of “exclusionary zoning practices, restrictive land-use codes, and discriminatory housing policies.” The report also tackles the Not In My Backyard movement which, it says, is likely to be made up of homeowners opposed to the building of multifamily or affordable units in their neighborhoods. “These community members often spend excess time, energy, and money preventing others from accessing the benefits that come from living in a high-opportunity neighborhood,” the report continues of what are popularly called the NIMBYs. In a statement accompanying the report, Mike Kingsella, chief executive officer of Up for Growth, remarked: “Policymakers must make the straightforward but difficult choice to prioritize new funding sources that allow for diverse housing types, to invest in construction innovations, and to bolster infrastructure funding despite the risks posed by NIMBY opposition.” Adds Kingsella: “Only then will we slow the pace of housing underproduction and, over time, begin to reverse it.” Founded in 2018, Up for Growth is dedicated to finding housing solutions through the use of data-driven research and what it calls "evidence-based policy." By Garry Boulard Built During the Great Depression, Historic Colorado Springs Church Soon to Be Listed for Sale11/7/2023 ![]() A nearly 100-year-old church in downtown Colorado Springs is heading for the market. Members of the First Christian Church, located at 16 E. Platte Avenue, have voted in favor of selling the structure owing to an ongoing decline in the church's membership. That membership, just over 1,600 in the late 1970s, is around 70 today. The L-shaped three-story brick structure was built in 1935 and measures just under 31,000 square feet. The building houses a spacious nave, and classroom and meeting space, as well as a commercial kitchen. Designated as a Class B structure, the church sits on a nearly 1-acre site, sharing the same block with the equally historic El Paso Club building at 30 E. Platte Avenue, which was built in 1883. There are currently two other churches for sale in Colorado Springs: the two-story Pikes Peak United Methodist church building at 2923 West Pikes Peak Avenue, which was built in 1904 and has an asking prices of $1.6 million; and the Redemption Hill Church at 124 Delaware Drive, built in 1965, and listed for $3.3 million. By Garry Boulard ![]() A new family entertainment center 20 miles to the southeast of downtown El Paso is set to see construction in December. The project is being spearheaded by the Cinemark movie theater chain, which is headquartered in Dallas, and will see the building of a 67,000 square-foot structure housing a wide variety of entertainment offerings including seven movie theaters, an arcade, restaurant and bar, and up to 18 bowling lanes. The project, officially called Gamescape, will be built at 13661 Gateway West, and will represent Cinemark’s first foray into the growing family entertainment center market. “El Paso is a fantastic market, and we’re really excited to bring Gamescape to the local community,” Julia McCarthy, a public relations representative for the company, told the publication El Paso Inc. The company announced its embrace of the entertainment center concept last spring, but to date has not built any locations. The center, which will also include space for such activities as laser tag and rock climbing, will be designed by the Beck Group architectural firm, which is based in Dallas. Launched in 1984, Cinemark today has nearly 600 locations and is known for its multi-screen offerings. The company last year saw revenues in excess of $2.4 billion. Measuring the company by the number of available screens, the site Statista categorizes Cinemark as third largest cinema operation of its kind in the country, with around 4,400 screens. The largest is AMC Entertainment at just over 7,700 screens. Cinemark’s entry into the family entertainment center industry comes as that industry is looking at an annual growth rate of around 121%. According too the publication Vending Times, the industry currently comprises a $21 billion market and caters to “younger audiences seeking both physical and social entertainment” beyond the “traditional amusement arcade.” By Garry Boulard ![]() After several months of unprecedented and unexpected growth, the nation’s labor market logged a smaller-than-expected gain in October. The latest figures just released by the Bureau of Labor Statistic revealed the creation of some 150,000 new jobs, a drop off from the nearly 336,000 jobs recorded in August. The largest job growth for October was seen in the education and health services sector, which added 89,000 new jobs, followed by the government sector at 51,000. The numbers were up in the construction sector as well, notes a narrative accompanying the report: “Construction employment continued to trend up,” said the report of the 17,000-industry job gain last month, noting that those numbers were “about in line with the average monthly gain of 18,000 over the prior 12 months.” Residential building and specialty trade contractors saw a gain of around 13,700 new workers, with employment at heavy and civil engineering firms up by 8,400. Overall, according to the Associated General Contractors of America, 219,000 new jobs have been added in the industry since September of 2022, comprising a 2.8% gain. In keeping with the general upward trends, notes an analysis published by the association, “the unemployment rate among jobseekers with construction experience was 4.0% in October, one of the lowest October rates in the 24-year history of the data.” Other employment sectors that saw growth in October include the professional and business services category with 19,000 new jobs; manufacturing, up by 16,000 jobs; and the government, adding 8,000 new workers. On the downside, the mining and logging sector saw a loss of 2,000 jobs last month, with the information sector off by 15,000 jobs. While the October national gain of 150,000 new jobs was lower than anticipated, notes the New York Times, it was still “not too different from monthly gains before the pandemic.” The lower job numbers, remarked the Financial Times in reporting on the Wall Street response, makes it “more likely that the Federal Reserve will not raise rates further in the coming months.” In a release issued by the White House it was noted that the “unemployment rate has been below 4% for 21 months in a row, the longest stretch in more than 50 years.” By Garry Boulard ![]() Construction could begin by no later than the end of this year on a new lithium-iron phosphate store system that will go up in metro Tucson. The project, which is said to be among the largest of its kind in the nation, belongs to the Tucson Electric Power utility company, and is expected to cost a big $294 million to complete. Called the Roadrunner Reserve Battery Energy Storage System, the battery array will be capable of storing up to 800 megawatt hours. According to sources, that storage will in turn house enough energy to power 42,000 homes at peak hours of usage. One of the largest utility companies in the southwest, Tucson Electric Power some years ago committed itself to an increased use of clean energy. In the process it has announced plans to retire its coal-fired Springfield Generation Station in the next decade. The company has also pinpointed 2035 as the year in which it will obtain more than 70% of its power from renewable sources. More specifically, the company has said that it expects to add some 2,240 megawatts of wind and solar generation, along with another 1,330 megawatts of energy storage by 2038. In announcing the new Roadrunner Reserve Battery Energy Storage System, Susan Gray, the utility company’s chief executive officer, said the new facility will “help us maintain reliability as we ambitiously but responsibly expand our community’s renewable resources.” By design, Tucson Electric Power will tap into the new grid-connected battery storage system primarily in the morning and early afternoon hours, collecting energy to be used by customers later in the day. The new facility, which is expected to be fully operational by the summer of 2025, will be built near the company’s Vail substation, on the southeast side of Tucson. By Garry Boulard |
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