![]() Work could begin later this year on one of the largest mixed-use developments in recent Denver history. As proposed by the company East West Partners, what is being called Cherry Creek West is expected to cost well over $1 billion to build. Everything about the project, which will run from the Cherry Creek waterway to 1st Avenue, is big, and that includes up to 750,000 square feet of office space, and some 90,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space. Central to the project: the building of 600 residential units. The project has gone through some alterations since originally proposed last year and that includes the configuration of landscape space and pedestrian and vehicular access points. Uniquely, as noted by the Denver Post, the project will also see the construction of what is being called a "landscape bridge," that will be built "over a portion of Cherry Creek North Drive, providing easy pedestrian access to the creek from which the neighborhood derives its name." Seven buildings will comprise construction at the site, varying in height from 8 floors to 13 floors. As designed by the Denver-based architectural firm Gensler, the project places an emphasis on green and community space, essentially building a village within a city. East West Partners has offices in Denver and Avon. The company describes itself as a developer of "top resort and urban communities, hotels and office buildings." Among the company's more notable projects is the Riverfront Park master planned neighborhood overlooking Commons Park and the South Platte River, as well as the development of the massive Union Station neighborhood, which includes residential, office, and retail space. The Cherry Creek West project will altogether see the transformation of some 13 acres of parking lots. By Garry Boulard
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![]() A $55 million revenue bond has been approved by members of the El Paso County Commission to upgrade an existing medical facility on the east side of El Paso. That facility is the former home of the Legent Health Hospital, which closed unexpectedly earlier this winter. The bond will allow the University Medical Center of El Paso to build space for up to 60 beds, half a dozen operating rooms, two procedure rooms, and one catheterization lab. Reports indicated that UMC was interested in the Legent facility at 1416 George Dieter Drive almost as soon as the hospital ceased operations. The move appeared particularly advantageous for UMC after it failed to secure a $345 million bond last year to pay for facility expansion work. The mostly one-story Legent building was formerly the home of the Foundation Surgical Hospital of El Paso. UMC officials have said that they need the space that the Legent structure will provide simply owing to an ongoing increased demand for patient services. Last year UMC saw around 1,300 patients a month. By Garry Boulard ![]() The price of a home has increased by 8% in the last year, according to a new consumer price index survey released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That price increase comes at the same time that various government agencies are reporting a plodding increased cost in consumer products. Prices climbed by 0.1% in May, a 4% increase over May of 2022. According to the BLS survey, May also marked the 11th straight month that overall inflation has declined. The rate is now at its lowest level since 2021. As of late this spring, the rate stood at 4.0%, down from 4.9% in May--a substantial difference from the spring of 2022 when the rate stood at 8.5%. With decreasing inflation, analysts are also forecasting lowered mortgage rates. In a statement, Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors, remarked: "Further deceleration looks likely in the upcoming months." Continued Yun: "We know the mortgage rates have been nearly 7% recently, but the potential for a decline is real as we progress through the year." The home price decline, meanwhile, has been particularly on display in the West, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Colorado, Oregon, and Idaho all saw declines of around 1%, while expensive California experienced a 2.8% drop. A new report from the Harvard Joint Study for Housing Studies, at the same time, asserts that the rising mortgage rates of the last year "pushed homeownership out of reach for millions of renters at a time when large numbers of millennial households are at prime homebuying ages." The Harvard study additionally noted that the upped rates occurred just as "homeownership disparities between white households and those of color are near historic highs." By Garry Boulard ![]() A bond designed to pay for a wide variety of facility improvement projects in the growing Kyrene School District of Tempe has received an important thumbs up. The Kyrene Governing Board has approved putting a $161 million bond on the ballot for the upcoming November election, with most of that funding going to simply maintaining and upgrading the 25 schools that make up the district. Those facilities, along with the district's headquarters, have an average age of 35 years. Nearly $5 million in the bond will be allotted for roof repair or replacement work; general renovations are pegged at $2.1 million; with another $1.5 million set for school LED retrofits. Additional projects will see the installation of safety and security systems, new doors and windows, electrical and plumbing system upgrades, building weatherization, and parking lot pavement work. One of the oldest school districts in southern Arizona, the Kyrene district last year saw an enrollment of around 16,000 students, with individual schools located in parts of Chandler, Phoenix, and Tempe. Kyrene district voters have generally been supportive of ballot bond proposals in the past. In 2016, those voters approved a $56.8 million bond for general facility upgrades. By Garry Boulard ![]() A plan to build what could prove to be a $160 million new U.S.-Mexico border crossing has taken a significant step forward. In a joint press conference, the mayors of the cities of Juarez and Sunland Park have announced a new phase for what is being called the Camino Real Tierra Adentro land crossing, so named in honor of a nearly 1,600-mile road that once existed in the 19th century between the state of New Mexico and the nation of Mexico. That new phase comes with the announcement of the Mexican federal government endorsing the project. “Approval of this project is a great step toward seeing it done,” Cruz Perez Cuellar, the Mayor of Juarez, remarked in a press conference. Speaking to the publication Border Report, Sunland Mayor Javier Perea also commented: “This is the closest we have ever been to getting this port of entry. This is now a federally recognized project in Mexico and eligible for federal funding.” Continued Perea: “The benefit of having a port of entry here is it helps alleviate wait times at all area border crossings.” The crossing has previously been envisioned as a bridge for both pedestrian as well as vehicular traffic. An earlier study predicted that up to 1,500 passenger vehicles and just over 200 pedestrians would use the bridge on a daily basis. The crossing would go up on the U.S. side just to the south of McNutt Road, by way of an extension of Sunland Park Drive. That area, according to the Las Cruces Sun News, comprises a “vacant stretch of 750 acres that covers the United States and Mexico.” Many obstacles to building the new crossing remain, including securing the approval of the federal government in Washington. By Garry Boulard ![]() Single women continue to own more homes than single men do, according to new figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau. The gap between the two genders is, in fact, fairly wide: with 58% of single women owning a home, compared with just 42% of single men. But the pattern, which demographers have tracked now for more than two decades, is seeing an increase in single male homeownership, with that 42% representing a gain over the 36% reported in the year 2000. According to a post written by Richard Fry, a senior researcher with the Pew Research Center, the single woman homeownership majority comes with an age factor: some 70% of single women homeowners are 65 years or age or older. Meanwhile, only 44% of single women in the category of 35 to 44 years of age own a home. In that 65 years of age or older segment, there were some 6 million more single women homeowners than single men. Ironically, according to the Pew Research Center, these homeownership patterns have occurred at the same time that single men have continued to make more money than single women by a nearly $62,000 to $49,400 margin. The Census Bureau figures also showed that New Mexico has the fifth largest share of single-women homeowners in the country, following Louisiana, Alabama, South Carolina, and Florida. There were more men single homeowners in the West. While New Mexico was once again in fifth place, North Dakota, Wyoming, and South Dakota led the way. In fact, both South Dakota and North Dakota are currently the only states in the country where single men own a higher share of homes than single women. While the overall numbers continue to show a single woman ownership edge, notes researcher Fry, the pattern may be reflective of life expectancy: “Women tend to live longer than men, but the gap has narrowed over time.” Earlier this year a post published by the National Association of Realtors pointed out the historical nature of single women homeownership: “Women have been second only to married couples in the home-buying market since NAR started data collection in 1981.” The post continued: “This statistic is striking because up until 1974, women were legally prohibited from obtaining a mortgage without a co-signer.” By Garry Boulard ![]() One of the grandest and oldest high schools in southern Colorado is receiving up to $1 million in federal funding as part of a long-range restoration effort. Located at 215 E Orman Avenue, the Classic Revival-style Keating School was built in 1927 and is distinguished by its front six sandstone columns. Originally called the Central Junior High School, the building, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is treasured by preservationists for its interior terrazzo floors, multiple-colored masonry, and two-level auditorium with a seating capacity of 600. That auditorium is distinguished by its exposed beamed ceiling and plaster floral ornamented balcony. Closed since 2009, the school has been the focal point of local efforts to restore and upgrade the structure. A non-profit group, fittingly called the Keating School, has estimated that it may cost as much as $18 million to bring the building up to date. In updating the building, a portion of it will be repurposed for housing. Additional plans have called for creating retail space, restaurants, an art gallery, fitness center, and general workspace in the building. The larger tree-lined site, meanwhile, is expected to see the creation of community gardens. That effort is now being aided by the awarding of a $1 million Brownfields Assessment Grant, via the Environmental Protection Agency. That funding, according to an EPA press release, will be used to clear the school’s site of asbestos, mercury, and other hazardous materials. In a statement, Kathleen Becker, EPA regional administrator, said the agency is “proud to support the property’s redevelopment as a theatre and new housing to complement growing investments in the community.” By Garry Boulard ![]() The future of a California business that opened a tech hub in downtown El Paso earlier this year with plans for also setting up permanent offices in Las Cruces is unclear as the company appears to have closed its doors. Based in Fresno, California, Bitwise is a custom software developer and technology training company with offices in several cities in California and across the country. Earlier this spring the company announced that it was opening an 11,000-square-foot coworking and training space in the Sotoa Building at 500 W. Overland Street in El Paso. For Las Cruces, Bitwise purchased the Bank of the West office building at 201 N. Church Street, where the company said it would build out some 45,200 square feet in office, conference room, and classrooms space. Up to $1 million in federal funding had been approved by members of the Las Cruces City Council for the N. Church Street project. That project was to be modeled on previous Bitwise facilities in other cities. As of the end of 2022, the company was said to have renovated and repurposed up to 1 million square feet of existing buildings California, Colorado, New York, and Wyoming. The apparent closing of Bitwise has resulted in its staff being laid off in El Paso, Fresno, Las Cruces, and other locations. Altogether, according to reports, some 900 people have been let go. In response, a group of furloughed employees in Fresno have filed a class action suit against the company. In a statement sent to the Fresno Bee, Jake Soberal, chief executive officer of Bitwise, described the layoffs as a "temporary action by the board and executive team while we determine the next steps." Founded in 2013, Bitwise has trained more than 8,000 people over the years, many of whom were people of color, women, or formerly incarcerated. According to earlier published sources, some 80% of those trained subsequently secured tech jobs. By Garry Boulard ![]() For a number of reasons funding is becoming harder to secure for new hotel construction projects, according to several recent news sources. Last week the news service Reuters reported that “financial stress on regional banks, the largest lenders to hotels and other commercial real estate markets, has forced developers to postpone projects or find other creative ways to raise capital.” Up to 59 out of a total of 98 hotel projects that have been paused this year, notes Reuters, “were put on hold since March, when the banking crisis started.” Projects have been delayed across the country, including in the mega states of Florida, Texas, and California. In May, city officials in Indianapolis agreed to take on a $510 million Signia Hotel project through the use of revenue bonds after bank financing proved elusive “due to the state of the market,” as reported by the Indianapolis Star. Earlier this spring, the Irvine, California-based Shopoff Realty Investments announced it was pausing construction of its $550 million Las Vegas Dream Resort, due to construction financing issues. The delay, said the Construction Dive, followed on “warnings from construction industry experts on growing concerns around financing,” especially after the closure of the Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in March. Speaking during a seminar organized by the Industry Real Estate Financing Advisory Council, Christopher Jordan, managing director with Wells Fargo Corporate and Investment Banking, remarked that many banks are currently experiencing risk aversion when it comes to financing certain projects. “You have a capital and regulatory framework that’s very restrictive and very punitive, particularly for commercial real estate,” said Jordan. “The capital requirements for large banks, and soon to be regional banks, are much, much higher than they’ve ever been," he added. For all of that, the industry research site Lodging Econometrics has reported a 9% increase in new hotel construction projects during the first three months of this year, with more than 5,500 projects in progress, representing just over 658,000 new rooms. By Garry Boulard ![]() A nearly 120-year-old structure in downtown Denver that has been repurposed is on the market with an asking price of nearly $2 million. Located at the intersection of Champa Street and 22nd Street, the structure primarily houses office space and is classified as a Class B structure. Built in 1904, the two-story brick building was originally called the Morrato Block in honor of Frank Morrato, a businessman and prominent member of the city’s Italian-American community. In its first decades it housed a wine and liquor store. According to a narrative of the property put together by the Colorado State Register of Historic Properties, the structure is graced by a “pressed metal classical cornice, ornamented with oversized modillions.” The cornice of the building, at the same time, is comprised of “an egg and dart bed molding,” with a pent roof extending from the brick parapet. In later decades the building has been the home to a series of cafes, taverns, and nightclubs. It now houses a branding and marketing agency called Brand Iron. Measuring around 9,100 square feet, the structure underwent a complete restoration in 2015. The property is listed with the Denver-based Henry Group real estate firm. By Garry Boulard |
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