![]() Plans are now underway in Scottsdale for the construction of what will be the corporate headquarters for the largest taser manufacturing company in the country. The Scottsdale-based Axon Enterprise, which specializes in the building of weapons and technology for the military and law enforcement, wants to build a 400,000-square-foot corporate office on a campus-like space of 27 acres. As proposed, the project will also see the construction on the north side of the city of up to 2,000 multifamily residential units, as well as a 100-room hotel. An additional feature: half a dozen 5-story buildings housing retail. Plans for the project have been submitted to the City of Scottsdale. Earlier this year, the company revealed to the Phoenix Business Journal that it planned to spend upwards of $85 million on the new campus project. In the fall of 2020 Axon purchased some 74 acres at the site for nearly $50 million via an Arizona State Land Department auction. Axon’s purchase of that land came after months of speculation that the company, enjoying revenues last year in excess of $1.1 billion, was thinking of moving out of Scottsdale altogether. The company, which employs around 850 people in metro Scottsdale, eventually announced plans to remain in the city. According to an Axon communication that recently appeared in the Scottsdale Airpark News, the new campus project, “which includes a next-generation manufacturing facility, aims to consolidate multiple facilities and bring increased automation to future generations of product hardware.” The communication added that the company expected the new project to “provide long-term flexibility and stability for our physical plant operations.” Founded in 1993 as Air Taser Incorporated, the company was rebranded in 2017 as Axon, and has in recent years not only emerged globally as a major weapons product manufacturer, but also a prominent producer of a wide variety of body cameras, and a cloud-based digital evidence platform. By Garry Boulard
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![]() Pending home sales saw an increase of just under 1% nationally in July over the month before, with numbers representing curious regional differences. Those statistics were compiled in a new survey released by the National Association of Realtors, which also revealed that the pending home sales increase of July was the second such national increase in a row. The association’s Pending Home Sales Index, which looks at home sales based upon contract signings, was up to 77.6 at mid-summer. While that number indicates across the board activity, it is nevertheless around 14% lower than where things stood in July of 2022. In a statement, Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the July numbers show the "potential for further increases in light of the fact that many people have lost out on multiple home buying offers.” Taking a holistic view, Yun continued: “Jobs are being added and, thereby, enlarging the pool of prospective home buyers.” But Yun added that the continuing presence of a limited national inventory combined with rising mortgage rates threatened to prove a drag on near-term home buying. Those mortgage rates are now at 7.2%, according to Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, the highest level seen since the summer of 2001. Despite the mortgage rate factor, things have been booming in the South, with pending home sales, according to the Index, accounting for a 95.3 reading. The Midwest market, which has struggled since the Covid 19 pandemic, came in with a 77.5 reading, followed by the Northeast with a 63.2 reading. In the West, the latest numbers represented a somewhat depressed market, with a 61.3 reading. That number, according to the NAR, comprised a nearly 13% decline in sales over the summer of 2022. The Pending Homes Sales Index, after a wild post-pandemic boom in 2021, saw a gentle decline in 2022 from 99.0 in April to 76.3 by the end of the year. The trendline for most of 2023, thus far, has seen readings topping out at 83.2 in February, down to 76.6 in May. Pending home sales numbers tend to provide a snapshot of what the existing homes sales market will look like 30 to 60 days in the future. By Garry Boulard ![]() A project that will see the construction of a pipeline connecting two northern Colorado water treatment plants is now the recipient of just under $14 million in federal funding. The mission of the Goldhill Pipeline Project is to connect two operating water treatment plants providing service to the city of Greeley. By design, the project will see the construction of two pipelines from the historic Bellvue Water Treatment Plant to the Boyd Lake Water Treatment Plant that will, upon completion, transport treated water in both directions. By so doing, according to a statement released by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the project will "increase flexibility in water management." It will also make a water supply used by at least 150,000 residents in greater Greeley more resilient to "climate-related hazards such as droughts, wildfires, and cyberattacks." The big project has long been in the planning stage and touted for its potential economic benefits. In a statement, Greeley Mayor John Gates remarked that the completed transmission lines will "reduce costs of daily operations for the city, reducing reliance on pumping to supply water to customers." The two treatment plants to be connected are local facilities of legend: the Bellvue Water Treatment Plant was built in 1907 and was most recently updated in 2007. The Boyd Lake Water Treatment Plant became operational in 1964 and underwent an upgrade around 17 years ago. Funding for the Goldhill Pipeline Project work is coming through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which is additionally providing around $68 million to upgrade aging water infrastructure projects throughout Colorado. By Garry Boulard ![]() Plans are advancing for the construction of two dozen new housing units that will be a part of the ancient Taos Pueblo in northern New Mexico. The project has now received $7.5 million in funding out of Washington in the form of an Indian Housing Block grant awarded through the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Officials with the Taos Pueblo, which has a population of around 4,500 people, have for some time been wanting to build more affordable housing in an area located roughly one mile to the north of the city of Taos. In a statement, Gary Lujan, president of the Taos Pueblo, said the funding will allow the historic community to "enter into housing construction, providing homes for those most in need, while continuing our work to assure that all tribal members have safe, affordable quality housing." Sitting on some 95,000 acres of tribal land, the Taos Pueblo is economically challenged, with upwards of 40% of its population living under the federal poverty line. The new federal funding is being seen not just as a needed shot in the arm spurring new home development, but also a means of creating "financial stability and generational wealth," according to New Mexico Representative Teresa Leger Fernandez. In a press release, Fernandez added that the secured federal funding "will make that a reality for Taos Pueblo families." Three years ago, the Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded the Taos Pueblo Housing Authority just under $900,000 for the rehabilitation of five housing units. By Garry Boulard ![]() With around 3,200 locations in the U.S., Chipotle Mexican Grill Incorporated has announced plans to build more of a presence in the nation’s rural areas. Several new studies have shown that the Newport Beach, California chain restaurant has increased facility construction in towns well beyond the suburbs, some with populations numbering only in the tens of thousands. A report put together by the publication Consumer Edge notes that Chipotle’s growth rate in rural areas has been anywhere from 1% to 5% greater than its growth rate in metro area in the last two years. The report notes that Chipotle’s management team “has their eyes on an additional 700 to 800 small town locations,” comprising around 20% of all new planned restaurants in the next several years. The company itself has said that those rural locations will go up in areas with populations of 40,000 people or less. The publication Marketplace targets Chipotle’s rural strategy to the early months of the Covid 19 outbreak and national economic shutdown. The advent of hybrid work “created a lot of communities where per-capita the number of restaurants is low. Plus, for businesses, labor and rent cost less in small towns.” The company “typically goes big when it comes to town,” reports the Wall Street Journal, which additionally noted that the chain “often puts up banners advertising its restaurants is coming soon and invites freshly recruited employees to bring their family and friends inside for free food.” Altogether, Chipotle has said that it plans to open anywhere from 255 to 285 new locations during this calendar year, although how many will be located in rural areas has not been revealed. The 10th largest restaurant chain in the U.S., with revenue of around $8.6 billion last year, Chipotle has seen its physical presence expand by bounds and leaps nearly every year of the last decade. In 2013, the company had just over 1,500 locations. But by the year 2000, the count was up to nearly 2,800. The typical Chipotle outlet measures around 2,000 square feet to 3,500 square feet and sits on anywhere from half an acre to an acre of land. The restaurants’ design places an emphasis on the use of stainless steel, corrugated metal, and plywood. The company has a heavy presence in California with 466 locations, followed by Texas with 289 and Ohio at 234. By Garry Boulard ![]() A metro Phoenix school district with more than 33,600 students is asking voters this fall to approve a $325 million bond designed to fund a wide variety of facility upgrade and repair projects. Headquartered in Phoenix, the Deer Valley Unified School District was founded in 1934 and today encompasses nearly forty elementary, middle, and high schools serving the cities of Phoenix, as well as Anthem, Glendale, and Peoria. One of the largest districts in Arizona, the Deer Valley district has also witnessed steady growth: in the fall of 2000, the district was home to around 27,500 students. The new bond will, as planned, pay for security upgrades, building renewal work, heating and cooling system upgrades, and conservation projects. Additional projects could see the construction of both a new elementary school as well as high school. The project list was put together by a citizen advisory committee that met several times this spring and determined upon the most pressing needs of the district’s schools. School officials have been particularly concerned with maintaining and upgrading the district’s facilities given that it is also the home of the massive Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s $40 billion semiconductor chip plant, which is expected to contribute to the area's future population growth. Deer Valley District voters have been consistently supportive in past bond elections: Bond proposals met with success in each of the last five elections between 2001 and 2019. By Garry Boulard ![]() Plans are in the works for the building of a new and massive data center campus on the east side of Mesa. The Herndon, Virginia-based EdgeConneX has submitted documents to the City of Mesa for a project that could see the construction of several very large structures on a 93-acre site. To go up near the intersection of Elliot Road and Loop 202, the campus will consist of a 180,000-square-foot data hall and administrative space measuring around 50,000 square feet. EdgeConneX has spearheaded the construction of similarly large data center projects throughout Europe and Asia, among other areas. Launched in 2009, the company has to date built more than fifty such centers. Those centers, with the capability of providing as much as 40 million watts or more in power, provide everything from data, content, and cloud services. The Mesa project will be EdgeConneX's second data center located in southern Arizona, having earlier built a campus in Tempe. Construction of the Mesa project will be done in phases, with a second phase expected to see the building of another 180,000-square-foot structure; and the third phase bringing in a 300,000- square-foot building. A final fourth phase will feature the largest facility space of all at 400,000 square feet. EdgeConnex's Mesa project comes some three months after the company announced plans to build its third data center in Israel. The company has already built a 48,400-square-foot facility in Herzliya, and a 64,000-square-foot building in Petah Tikva. By Garry Boulard ![]() Fueled by new heavy and civil engineering construction projects, the national construction industry in August saw the addition of 22,000 new jobs. In figures just released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics it was noted that more than 2,400 new jobs were realized in the residential construction sector over the month previous. Overall, the construction industry now has a workforce of just under 8 million people, an increase of 2.7% over where things stood in August of 2022. Sectors showing particularly vibrant growth included residential and specialty trade contractors, up by 1.3% over last summer. Construction spending, meanwhile, posted a gain of 5.5% over July of last year, for an overall total of just under $2 trillion. But while private residential spending was up by a marginal 0.5%, other sectors posted losses, including highway and street construction, off by 0.6%, transportation, down by nearly 1%, and sewerage and waste disposal project spending, getting hit with a 1.2% decline. In a statement, Stephen Sandherr, chief executive officer of the Associated General Contractors of America, blamed the decline in public spending on what has been called the plodding nature of Washington project approval. "It appears that the Biden administration can't decide if it wants projects to get built or prefers to suffocate them with red tape," said Sandherr. The industry leader added: "At some point, people are going to begin wondering what happened to all those projects the administration promised would be built." Overall, more than 187,000 new jobs were added in August in all employment sectors, according to the BLS, a distinct improvement over the 105,000 added in June, and 157,000 added in July. The health care sector saw a gain of 71,000 in August, followed by leisure and hospitality employment, up by 40,000 new workers. Notes the BLS report: "Employment in social assistance increased by 26,000 in August, in line with the prior 12-months average gain." For all of the individual sector gains, the nation's unemployment rate was up to 3.8% in August, a marginal increase over the 3.7% recorded a year ago. The latest unemployment figures are a substantial improvement over August of 2020, when the nation was enduring a pandemic lockdown and the jobless rate stood at 8.4%. In a statement, Acting Labor Department Secretary Julie Su said the August figures reflect a "strong and steady growth as we return to normal following the breakneck pace of our rapid recovery." New Mexico Senator Martin Heinrich, chairman of the Congressional Joint Economic Committee, remarked in a statement delivered from his office that the latest job numbers "Provide a clear indication that the labor market is beginning to cool." "The Federal Reserve should take note of this signal," suggested Heinrich, "and decline to impose another rate hike this month." By Garry Boulard ![]() A massive highway project in metro El Paso seeing the widening of Interstate 10 has just received around $110 million in new state funding. That project, as undertaken by the Texas Department of Transportation, has focused on widening just over 11 miles of highway stretching from the west side of the city to the Texas/New Mexico state line. Long in the planning stage, the project includes the building of three 12-foot-wide lanes going both east and west, as well as a 12-foot-wide shoulder in both directions. When work on the project was launched in the spring of 2022, the Texas Department of Transportation said the goal was to "improve capacity, operation, circulation, and safety," along one of the busiest stretches of highway in the state. The original price tag for the project was set at around $173.4 million. But now the state transportation department is committing another $100 million due to an increase in construction costs. Last month the Texas Transportation Commission gave its final approval to what is known as the Unified Transportation Program, a 10-year plan laying out the Lone Star State's many highway and bridge projects, which are expected to cost a whopping $142.3 billion to complete. Not only is El Paso going to see the completion of the Interstate 10 project, but around $51.2 million is being allotted for the extension of U.S. Highway 54 on the northeast side of the city, and $30 million to extend the Montana Freeway on the east side. An additional project is seeing the remaking of the Artcraft Road Interchange at Paseo del Norte Boulevard. That project, originally pegged at $208 million, is now receiving an additional $40 million in state funding. In announcing the additional funding, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said the new highway work will "meet the growing needs of Texans in our large metros, rural communities, and everywhere in between." By Garry Boulard ![]() A historically agricultural swath of land in the South Valley of Albuquerque is on the market for $10.9 million. Located near Coors Boulevard and Rio Bravo Boulevard, the area encompasses just under 160 acres, and is part of what’s known as the Anderson Farms Sector Development Plan previously approved by Bernalillo County. That plan, as made official in 2019, specifically calls for balancing “open space preservation with the need for housing and economic development.” The plan also mandates a “blend of agricultural preservation, an open space and trail network, and residential neighborhoods.” More specifically, the plan envisions 147 acres of agricultural open space, along with just under 151 acres of single-family development, where the “total number of dwelling units in the residential area will not exceed 450 units.” The listing agent for the property is the Bozeman, Montana-based Fay Ranches Incorporated, which specializes in farm, ranch, timberland, plantation, and vineyards properties across the country. The South Valley site is otherwise known as the Old Tobacco Farm, which according to the Fay Ranches listing, “has a long and storied history because of its proximity to the Rio Grande River.” The farm for many years produced tobacco but is currently a productive alfalfa hay farm and is populated with a number of irrigation ditches. Funded in the 1920s by Clinton Anderson, who went on to serve as Secretary of Agriculture in the Truman Administration before winning election in 1948 as a U.S. Senator from New Mexico, the farm site, according to Bernalillo County documents, “consists of some of the richest soils for agriculture in the South Valley.” By Garry Boulard |
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