![]() Up to $15 million in federal funding is being made available for an effort in El Paso that could lead to the construction of more affordable housing in the city. The funding is coming through the Home Investment Partnership Program, which is run by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and will underwrite the building and/or rehabilitation of structures that can be used for affordable housing. The program also provides funding for demolition projects that may lead to new construction. El Paso has announced the program’s offerings via a Notice of Availability, encouraging private investors and developers, as well as public agencies and community housing development organizations, to apply. In the formal announcement of the Notice of Availability, it is noted that “housing affordability is an increasing burden on residents as they struggle to afford rent or access homeownership. At the same time, the development along the edges of the region, coupled with disinvestment in existing neighborhoods, is undermining the economic strength of the region.” According to the site RentCafe, the average apartment rent in El Paso is now at just over $1,000. While that figure is considerably lower than the national average of $1,937, it still represents a jump from where things stood in 2019 when the average stood at $850. The challenge is made even more real in El Paso due to the pattern of recent housing construction. According to the Notice of Availability, new housing development in El Paso in recent years has mostly taken place in the outer suburbs of the city. This pattern, says the Availability Notice, has led to “disinvestment in housing in existing neighborhoods, thereby contributing to blight and lower property values.” The Home Investment Partnership Program for El Paso has an application deadline of July 31. By Garry Boulard
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![]() A proposal to build a new arena for the Arizona Coyotes hockey team, which will also see the construction of a surrounding 46-acre entertainment district, is set to go before voters in Tempe next month. The team, which is currently playing at Arizona State University’s Mullett Arena, has been in talks with the City of Tempe for some months now to build a facility that would go up just to the west of the city’s downtown core at Rio Salado Parkway and Priest Drive. Late last year members of the Tempe City Council unanimously voted to present the project as a referendum to be decided by Tempe voters. As proposed, the arena and entertainment district project is expected to cost around $2.1 billion and will see the building of an arena with a seating capacity of some 16,000. The entertainment district would feature at least two hotels, as well as a retail center, space for a series of restaurants, and a private medical office campus. The district will also include a practice rink for the Coyotes. Additional features: 350,000 square feet of Class A office space, and just over 1,600 residential units. In recent weeks, the team has been pushing for passage of the referendum via a campaign effort officially called Tempe Wins. That effort has noted that what was once a former landfill site will be transformed, if the election proves successful, into a “vibrant 365-day-a-year mixed use entertainment district.” The Coyotes project has sparked the opposition of several community groups, including the recently-formed Tempe 1st, which is arguing that the project is nothing more than a tax handout for billionaire Alex Meruelo, the owner of the Meruelo Group which, in turn, is the majority owner of the Arizona Coyotes. The campaign slogan for Tempe 1st: “No New Handouts for Billionaires.” The election is scheduled for May 16. By Garry Boulard Life Sciences Lab Construction On a Ride During the Pandemic, Still Seeing Growth, Says Report4/12/2023 ![]() Continuing to expand in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the nation’s life science lab space is expected to grow by around 20% between now and 2025, according to a new report. The commercial real estate services company CRBE Group thinks that 20% growth will be seen in the construction of both life sciences laboratory space, as well as space for research and development. The report indicates that laboratory space construction reached record proportions in both 2020 and 2021, returning to a “more normal space in 2023, although demand for lab/R&D space remains well above pre-pandemic levels.” On a parallel line, life sciences employment also reached record highs at the start of this year, with particular job hot spots in the Boston/Cambridge area, as well as metro San Francisco and Seattle. According to a recent Bureau of Labor Statistics report, overall employment in the nation’s life sciences industry is expected to grow by about 7% annually through the duration of the decade. The only potential trouble spot for continued life science lab construction, says the CRBE report: “Recent turmoil in the banking system which may cause further reductions in venture capital funding to the industry this year.” Even so, venture capital funding is expected to increase through the year, with public funding particularly through the National Institutes of Health adding to current and foreseeable growth. By Garry Boulard ![]() City officials and other interested parties in Denver are trying to find a way forward in the aftermath of a vote solidly rejecting a proposal to transform a 155-acre golf course partly into a residential development. For well over two years what to do with the historic Park Hill Golf Course, located on the northeast side of the city, has animated debates and spirited community meetings in the city. Opened in 1931, the course was a permanent recreation feature in Denver for nearly nine decades, until its closing in 2018. An effort called “Park Hill Golf Course Reimagined” won the approval late last year of the Denver City Council, calling for the preservation of some 100 acres of the site to be used as park, trail and open spaces. The remaining 55 acres, under the plan, would see the construction of affordable income housing. Owned by the company Westside Investment Partners, the golf course could have eventually seen the construction of up to 3,200 new homes. Now, in the wake of the election results, which saw nearly 59% of voters rejecting the Park Hill Golf Course Reimagined proposal, there is new talk of finding a different use for the vast acreage. In a statement after the election, Westside Investment said that for now the golf course will remain a golf course and adding: “Denver has rejected its single best opportunity to build new affordable housing and create new public parks.” By Garry Boulard ![]() Up to $14 million in state funding has now been approved for the construction of an annex to the existing Curry County Courthouse in Clovis, New Mexico. That funding was secured as a capital outlay voted by members of the New Mexico State Legislature earlier this spring, and now approved by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham. As planned, the annex, to be built to the rear of the courthouse, which is located in the 700 block of Main Street, will house the county’s magistrate court. According to an interview in the Eastern New Mexico News with Lance Pyle, Curry County Manager, the project means that one building will soon house both the district court and magistrate court, enhancing security for “detainee transfers to the court facilities.” The project has been long in the talking stage, with county officials paying particular attention to the historic significance of the original Art Deco-style courthouse, which was completed in late 1936 as part of a New Deal Public Works Administration project and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987. By Garry Boulard ![]() Worries about the viability of Social Security and the availability and affordability of healthcare are among the top 15 concerns that Americans have on key issues, according to a new Gallup survey. The results are part of an annual survey undertaken by the polling and analytics company, and indicate that economic issues in general, from inflation to the federal budget to unemployment, are among the issues most worrying Americans. Concerns about Social Security are on the rise, according to the Gallup survey, with 40% pointing to it as a top worry last year and now 45% saying the same today. Exactly 49% of respondents in 2022 pointed to healthcare costs and availability as a major issue, compared with 54% today. While concerns about federal spending and the budget deficit, perhaps spirited by headlines pointing to a deficit of more than $1.1 trillion, have increased from 48% to 52%. The biggest jump was seen in response to concerns about drug use, with a somewhat low 38% saying they were worried about this issue in 2022, compared with 46% today. Percentage-wise, the largest source of worry for Americans is the presence of inflation, an issue picked by 59% of respondents last year and 61% today. In a narrative accompanying the survey results, the Gallup organization noted that “inflation and the economy have been the top two issues in both 2022 and 2023, as the rate of price increases in the U.S. reached levels not seen in four decades.” On Social Security, the 45% of respondents see the issue as one of great concern is the highest recorded since 2017, but still below the 53% who felt similarly during the Great Recession year of 2010. Respondents self-identifying as Republicans expressed more concern about Social Security at 51% than Democrats at 41%. Says the narrative: “Democrats were more worried about Social Security when Donald Trump was president between 2017 and 2020 (averaging 52%), while Republicans (36%), were far less so, but that has flipped during the Biden years.” By Garry Boulard ![]() A handsome two-story industrial/retail property in downtown Denver, located on a historic block first seeing commercial construction before the Civil War, is up for sale with an asking price of $3.9 million. Located at 1822 Blake Street, the structure, built in 1892, measures just over 11,000 square feet and is designated as a Class B building. Listed by the Denver real estate office of Sanborn and Company, the property includes a spacious 4,300 square feet of retail space on the ground floor; basement space measuring just over 2,500 square feet; and second floor office space at around 4,100 square feet. The structure is classic for its era, with high ceilings and exposed brick walls and timber beams. Currently home to an upscale restaurant and bar called Sir Denver, the building formerly housed the Vesta Dipping Grill. 1822 Blake Street is located on a block rich with historic more than 150-year-old buildings that once housed mostly retail and manufacturing businesses, as well as several sporting houses, but have since been converted to restaurant and office space. The Lower Downtown neighborhood is one of the oldest sections of Denver, tracing its roots to the 1850s. By Garry Boulard ![]() More than $5.6 million in capital outlay funding has been approved for facility and infrastructure projects on the Roswell campus of the New Mexico Military Institute. Lawmakers earlier this year voted to approve the Institute’s projects as part of an overall $23.7 million in capital outlay funding allotted for Chaves County. As proposed, just over $1.2 million would go for campuswide walkway and driveway improvements; with $350,000 slated for equipment and enhancements for integrated technology. Another $200,000 will go for the construction of a mobile science lab and outreach center, while $163,000 is set for general sewer infrastructure improvements. Additional outlays: $150,000 for equipment to be used in technical educational programs, and a final $75,000 for the establishment of solar-powered outdoor workstations to be used by students. The school is currently in the midst of several large facility projects, having secured last November up to $4 million in general obligation bonds for the planning, design, and construction of an expansion of its historic Bates Dining Hall. Located on 300 acres at 101 W. College Boulevard in downtown Roswell, the New Mexico Military Institute was founded in 1891 and has a current enrollment of just under 1,000 students. By Garry Boulard ![]() Construction jobs were off by around 24,000 in March, according to the most recent numbers released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Although the decline was noted in several sectors, the overall numbers, notes an analysis of the latest report produced by the Associated General Contractors of America, shows that overall construction employment is up by 196,000 when compared with where things stood a year ago in March of 2022. Looking at those sectors, jobs in residential construction were off by 7,000 from February to March of this year; with nonresidential construction, which takes in heavy and civil engineering firms, down by 1,800. The seasonally adjusted average construction industry hourly earnings for nonsupervisory and production employees are now at $33.82—a healthy 6.6% jump over March of 2022. Overall, the U.S. saw a jobs increase of 236,000 in March, with the nation’s unemployment rate dropping to 3.5%. That 236,000 is the lowest increase since December, when the BLS recorded job gains at 239,000. In January and February, the gains stood at 472,000 and 326,000 respectively. The largest job gains in March were seen in the leisure and hospitality industry, with 72,000 new jobs; followed by the education and health services sectors, at 65,000 in additional employment; and the government, adding 47,000 to its payrolls. The manufacturing and financial activities sectors were off by around 1,000 each; with retail trade seeing the biggest decline, losing 14,600 jobs in March. The somewhat lackluster jobs report has fueled renewed forecasts that the nation is either already in or about to enter a recession. The publication Forbes reported that a continuing increase in jobless claims is “about as large as increases in recessions dating back to the 1970s.” “A contraction is already evident in an expanding range of industries, as retail, manufacturing, construction and real estate finance—those more sensitive to borrowing costs—have either lost jobs or stayed flat over the month,” noted the New York Times. While acknowledging that “the red-hot labor market cooled some in March,” the Wall Street Journal said the country’s labor market “remains solid but is showing signs of easing demand.” By Garry Boulard ![]() A building housing a well-known bar and restaurant in Scottsdale is on the market with an asking price of $8.5 million. Located at 4321 N. Scottsdale Road, the nearly 10,000 square foot, two-story brick structure, which is designated as a Class B building, was built in 1963 and substantially renovated in 2007. In recent years, the building has been the home to Barstool Scottsdale, a bar and grill that is part of a chain that includes locations in Chicago and Philadelphia. The building includes a wide-open bar and gathering space, as well as balcony seating area, and a 9,551 square foot front patio. The property is being listed by the Scottsdale offices of real estate company CBRE. Located in a section of the city populated with restaurants and retail operations, the property was formerly the home to the Two Brothers Tap House & Brewery, the Western-themed Saddle House Chop House, and in the 1980s the Famous Pacific Fish Company. By Garry Boulard |
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