A Las Cruces-based organization dedicated to securing housing for those in need of it, has announced plans to build a new complex. For roughly a quarter of a century, the nonprofit Mesilla Valley Community of Hope has been providing transitional shelter for homeless individuals and families in metro Las Cruces. The group launched its efforts in early 1998 with the construction of a $1.6 million center at 999 W. Amador Avenue designed to provide an array of services to the homeless. It opened what is called Camp Hope in 2011, a designated tent community for up to 50 people or so on land owned by the MVCH, with a roughly $65,000 shower and bathroom facility built on the same site in 2016. A reporter for the publication Searchlight New Mexico late last year noted that Camp Hope is made up of “orderly rows of tents, most of them protected from the elements by three-sided lean-tos.” Members of the Las Cruces City Council earlier gave their approval to the nearly $4 million purchase of 4.8 acres of land that formerly belonged to the Brewer Oil Company to be used for MVCH's purposes. As planned, the project will see the construction of a three-story housing facility, along with an open-air courtyard. An existing health care facility run by MVCH will be expanded, while the group's busy soup kitchen will be moved to another part of the site. An exact schedule for when work will begin on the MVCH facility project has not yet been announced. By Garry Boulard
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A move to impose vacancy rates on building owners who allow store spaces to remain empty could come with unintended consequences, according to a new study released by the Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Studies. Various reports have indicated that building owners have often been willing to allow retail and commercial space to remain empty at any given time on the hunch that that same space may fetch a higher rent at some point in the future. As a result, some cities have either enacted or proposed vacancy taxes designed to penalize building owners and landlords who purposely keep certain spaces empty. The movement has even taken in residential space that is kept empty by owners, with voters recently in both San Francisco and Berkeley, California approving taxes on vacant dwellings. In New York, such taxes have been proposed primarily for the owners of empty commercial space. Earlier this year, a bill was introduced in the New York State Senate that would impose taxes on the owners of vacant properties only in cities with populations of 1 million or more. The argument behind the commercial vacancy tax movement is simple: a lack of retail activity in a building has the potential of adversely impacting business and property values. Thus, owners who allow such spaces to remain unused in still-popular neighborhoods where other stores are easily being rented should be penalized. But the new JCHS study called Option Value and Storefront Vacancy in New York City, contends that such measures, while decreasing vacancy rates, may also have the tendency to lower tenant quality. Not only that, but the study also argues that such a tax would most likely lead to a higher turnover of retail tenants. "These findings have important broader implications," notes a narrative accompanying the study. "Indeed, growth un urban retail amenities helped drive the resurgence of American cities in the last 30 years." The study goes on to suggest that elected leaders and others, rather than imposing such new taxes, would be better off trying to understand "the behavior of these landlords," which it contends is a key to "developing effective urban policies." Meanwhile, the first reporting period of a new commercial vacancy tax in San Francisco expired on the last day of February of this year. That tax, according to documents, is calculated based on the length of store frontage and the number of consecutive years the space has remained vacant. For the first year the property is vacant, the tax is $250 per linear foot of frontage. The fee increases to $500 in the second year, and $1,000 in the third and following years. By Garry Boulard A proposal has been officially unveiled in Colorado calling for the construction of up to 460 new electric vehicle charging stations. Xcel Energy says it wants to build the facilities across the state and in response to what could be the existence of some 940,000 operating electric vehicles on the roads of Colorado by the end of the decade. In public testimony before the Colorado's Public Utilities Commission, Jack Ihle, vice president for regulatory policy with the Public Service Company of Colorado, a subsidiary of Excel, said the company's electrification initiative is "bolstered by new federal and state opportunities, ensuring the maximization of available opportunities to support side spread transportation electrification." The company has filed its blueprint for the new stations, officially called the 2024-2026 Transportation Electrification Plan, with the utilities commission. Based in Minneapolis, Xcel serves more than 3.7 million electric customers and some 2.1 million natural gas customers in Colorado and seven other states. Late last year the company proposed building around 730 new electric charging stations in its home state of Minnesota, a proposal that is still being reviewed by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. By Garry Boulard A museum dedicated to an exploration of the wonders of both natural history and science is receiving just over $1.1 million in state funding for the planning, design, building, and upgrading of exhibits and overall facilities. Located at 1801 Mountain Road NW, the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science was opened in 1986 and attracts visitors from across the country due to its creative volcano, dinosaur, and ice age exhibits, among other features. The museum, which also features an interactive planetarium, is a part of the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs. Earlier this year, members of the New Mexico State Legislature voted to approve a capital outlay of $1.1 million for upgrades to the popular museum. That outlay was later signed into law by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham. The Cultural Affairs Department oversees the single largest museum system sponsored by any state in the nation. During this year’s legislative system the department also requested a capital outlay of $795,000 for planning, design, construction and upgrading work at the Taylor-Mesilla Historic Property in the town of Mesilla at the southern end of the state. That property, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is made up of a large residence, and two storefronts, all dating to the 1850s. Another successful capital outlay request submitted by the Department of Cultural Affairs is seeing $725,000 going for planning, design, construction and upgrade work to the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe. Opened in 1953, the folk-art museum houses more than 135,000 artifacts related to international folk art. By Garry Boulard In a decision anxiously awaited by both builders and environmentalists, the U.S. Supreme Court has moved to decrease the power of the Environmental Protection Agency on matters governing the nation’s waterways and wetlands. In a 5 to 4 ruling, the court provided a new definition of what the word “wetlands” means, handing a victory to a couple who received a notice from the EPA when they were in the early stages of building a house on land they owned near Priest Lake, Idaho. The agency informed Chantell and Michael Sackett that the land in question was subject to the federal Clean Water Act, and as such, they were charged with illegally placing fill materials in the form of gravel and sand to make a stable grade into what was described as “jurisdictional wetlands.” Filing a lawsuit in response to the EPA’s actions, the Sacketts met with defeat in both a district court and circuit court of appeals before taking their case to the Supreme Court. Now in the matter of Sackett v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the higher court has declared that what’s at stake is where a given wetlands is located. Writing for the majority, Justice Samuel Alito argued that the Clean Water Act extends only to “wetlands with a continuous surface connection to bodies that are waters of the United States in their own rights.” Alito added that the “wetlands on the Sackett property are distinguishable from any possibly covered waters.” In a dissenting opinion, Justice Brett Kavanaugh said the majority ruling was essentially rewriting the Clean Water Act, casting aside in the process “45 years of consistent agency practice.” In making a distinction between wetlands that are part of a separate body and wetlands that are connected to something larger, Kavanaugh continued, the majority decision “will leave some long-regulated adjacent wetlands no longer covered by the Clean Water Act, with significant repercussions for water quality and flood control throughout the United States.” Builders have long thought that the EPA’s wetlands regulations were too restrictive. In a statement after the Supreme Court ruling, Stephen Sandherr, chief executive office of the Associated General Contractors, said the decision will “return consistency and sanity to the permitting process.” Added Sandherr: “This decision will allow vital infrastructure and development projects to proceed in a timely matter while still providing strong protections for the actual waters of the U.S.” Jason Mark, editor of Sierra, a magazine published by the Sierra Club, said the Supreme Court in its wetlands ruling “continued its assault on basic environmental safeguards,” arguing that the Sackett decision means that “polluting or filling in some wetlands if permissible under the Clean Water Act, the law that has protected the integrity of U.S. lakes, rivers, streams, and other water bodies for 50 years.” In a posting on the Sierra Club’s website, Mark added that the ruling “wipes out protections for more than half of the country’s wetlands, going even further than policies proposed by the Trump Administration.” By Garry Boulard Work may begin later this year on a long-planned project to build a new taxiway at the Tucson International Airport. Arizona’s second largest airport, behind the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, the Tucson airport is getting around $33.1 million in federal funds for the taxiway work, as well as the reconfiguration of an existing runway. The funding is coming through the Federal Aviation Administration’s Runway Incursion Mitigation Program. That program, launched in 2015, is tasked with increasing runway safety in the nation’s airports via infrastructure improvements. Crunching the numbers from runway incursions nationally during a six-year period, the program focused on the greatest risk factors in select airports leading to those incursions. The program earlier determined that there were some 140 airfields with a high degree of runway incursions, all eligible for FAA funding support. In announcing the funding for the Tucson airport projects, as well as other similar projects across the country, Shannetta Griffin, associate administration of the FAA, remarked: “Some airfields have complex layouts that can create confusion for pilots and other airport users.” Griffin added that the just-announced funding will be used to “reconfigure complex taxiway and runway intersections to help prevent incursions and enhance the safety of the national airspace system.” After a dip during the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021, the Tucson Airport last year saw an increase in passenger volume from 2.5 million to just over 3.3 million travelers. In the spring of 2022, the Tucson Airport received a federal grant of nearly $23 million for ongoing work on a $350 million airfield safety improvement project. That project comprises the largest such project of its kind in the history of the airport. By Garry Boulard A move to greatly develop a section of the main Albuquerque campus of the University of New Mexico has been made official with the launching of a tax increment development district. “We have the opportunity to create something truly special here, and we can’t wait to bring this vision to life,” Garnett Stokes, UNM President, remarked during signing ceremonies creating the South Campus Tax Increment Development District. As envisioned, the tax increment district will provide gross receipts and property tax revenue to pay for an estimated $267 million in infrastructure work, all designed to support a district that may very well see any number of housing, retail, and educational space development. The infrastructure work could include everything from parking structures, roads, and sewers to bike paths and recreation fields, among other features. UNM, City of Albuquerque, and State of New Mexico officials have been working for several years to create the district. That cooperative effort, noted New Mexico Representative Day Hochman-Vigil at the signing ceremony, is what made the development district possible. “We can accomplish big things when our state and local partners work together on common goals,” said the legislator, who noted that additional partnerships with the federal government and commercial parties will foster “economic development and the revival of an underserved area of our community.” Reports have indicated that new development in the area could not only lead to a variety of new building projects, but also around 4,000 jobs and easily up to $4 billion in wages. Locate at Avenida Cesar Chavez and University Boulevard, the South Campus comprises roughly 50 acres heading in a western direction toward Interstate 25. The campus is the home to the Lobo Village dormitories and the University Stadium. By Garry Boulard After an early year decline, the number of construction projects on the backlog have increased, largely fueled by new infrastructure work. In its Construction Backlog Indicator, the Associated Builders and Contractors is reporting an increase from March to April, for an overall reading of 8.9 months. While the commercial and institutional sector continues to report the largest backlog at 9.2 months, slightly down from 9.3 months in March, it’s the infrastructure sector that saw the greatest growth, increasing from 7.1 months in March to 8.0 last month. A third category, heavy industry, saw a decline of 8.8 months to 8.4 months. In surveying the latest figures, Anirban Basu, chief economist for ABC, remarked: “One would not be able to discern that interest rates are high, the nation’s backing sector is in tumult, politicians are arguing over the nation’s debt limit and recession fears remain pervasive.” Continued Basu: “Despite many headwinds and an active news cycle, contractors continue to express confidence in the near term.” The backlog numbers are particularly strong in the South, which has been the case for most of the last year. In April, the South’s backlog stood at 10.7—the largest backlog in the country. The Northeast saw a 9.1-month backlog in April, significantly up from March when the numbers stood at 8.0, while the West saw a backlog increase of 7.9 months in March to 8.4 months in April. The smallest regional increase was recorded in the Midwest, with a March backlog of 7.3 months declining to 7.0 in April. As is usually the case, the larger the firm, the greater the backlog: companies with revenues above the $100 million mark reported an 11.9-month backlog, followed by firms in the $50 million to $100 million range at 13 months. Companies with revenues between $30 million and $50 million, reported an average 6.8-month backlog; while the backlog increased to 8.1 months for companies with revenues of $30 million or less. By Garry Boulard Plans have now been announced to renovate a 12-story building in Denver’s Civic Center Park area that houses dozens of city agencies. Located at 201 W. Colfax Avenue, the Wellington E. Webb Municipal Office Building measures around 800,000 square feet and was built in 2002. Changes to the building, which will include upgrading to current Americans with Disabilities Act standards and modernizing the structure’s elevator system, are expected to cost around $133.5 million. An additional upgrade of the building’s dated and worn-out finishes is also a part of the project. In order to accommodate the functions of the various departments with offices in the building, floors will be vacated three at a time to make way for the work, with offices on the other floors remaining in operation. Work is expected to begin later this fall, with an anticipated completion date of September 2025. The Webb building cost $200 million to build. Uniquely, it was built to connect via a four-story atrium with an adjacent four-story historic building. By Garry Boulard A two-year college based in Farmington, New Mexico is receiving more than $2.7 million in state funding for a variety of campus projects. Earlier this year members of the New Mexico State Legislature approved two separate capital outlay projects for San Juan College, which is located at 4601 College Boulevard and has an enrollment of more than 5,800 students. The first outlay of $1.6 million will target work at the Henderson Fine Arts Center, which serves as the home to the school’s fine and performing art departments and houses an 800-seat auditorium. The $1.6 million will go for the planning, design and replace of the building’s roof. A second outlay of $1.1 million will fund general improvements on the school’s south campus, located at 800 S. Hutton Road. Both outlays were signed into law by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham. Other big-ticket items that were submitted to the legislature by the New Mexico Higher Education Department and subsequently approved by the Governor include the just under $1.1 million for the planning, designing, and construction of infrastructure improvements and upgrades to emergency evacuation routes at Santa Fe Community College. Nearly $1.1 million was approved for the design and construction of a building housing the applied technology program on the Rio Rancho campus of Central New Mexico Community College. Exactly $850,000 was approved for the planning, design, and renovation of the Advanced Technology Center on the main Albuquerque campus of CNM, along with nearly $463,000 to upgrade student services facilities, also on CNM’s main campus. Lujan Grisham additionally approved $800,000 for the campus-wide replacement of heating and air conditioning systems at the Southeast New Mexico College in Carlsbad; along with $750,000 to plan, design and build facilities housing the Allied Health program at Luna Community College in Las Vegas. All the higher education capital outlay funding, by law, is scheduled to be spent between this year and 2027. By Garry Boulard |
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