One of the classic and most well-known structures in downtown Colorado Springs is for sale, with an asking price of $4.3 million. Located at 118 N. Tejon Street, the four-story DeGraff Building was built in 1897 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The building’s history dovetails with a good deal of the history of Colorado Springs itself, erected when the frontier city had a population of less than 15,000 by David DeGraff, a wealthy sheep and cattle rancher who also dabbled in California gold mining. Designed by the architectural firm of Barber and Hastings of Colorado Springs, the structure was originally used for retail purposes on its first floor, with the upper levels given over to office space. Through the decades the building has also housed a bike shop, art gallery, and apartments. Designated as a Class B structure, the DeGraff Building has for the last decade been the home to the Oskar Blues Grill & Brew. The property is being listed by the Miramont Commercial realtors of Colorado Springs. By Garry Boulard
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Construction employment, despite persistent industry job openings across the country, reached a new high in February of 7.9 million workers. According to just-released figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the industry saw an increase of more than 24,000 new jobs between January and February of this year. Compared to where things stood in February of 2022, jobs are now up by 249,000. By sector, residential construction saw an increase of 12,400 jobs in February; with nonresidential construction, which includes building, civil engineering and specialty trade firms, up by 11,600. As the job numbers have improved, so has the pay, according to an analysis published by the Associated General Contractors of America. The average hourly earnings for nonsupervisory and production employees has increased by 6.1% over this same time period a year ago, for a total of $33.57 per hour. Similarly, overall wages for construction workers in general were up by 18.1% in February, for an hourly wage of $28.42. For all jobs in all industries, the BLS showed that employment was up by 311,000 in February. That figure was lower than the explosive gain of 504,000 in January, but substantially higher than the average of 311,000 new jobs for the period of August to December last year. By Garry Boulard The Trilogy Investment Company, with offices in Alpharetta, Georgia, has announced plans to build at least 1,000 new build-to-rent units in metro Phoenix. The company is spiriting a project that will see most of those units going up in the form of townhomes with three floors. Each one of the homes will also have garages. Trilogy sees a promising market for the townhome model across the span of metro Phoenix, building three such projects in Avondale, one within the city limits of Phoenix, and two in the growing upper end market of Prescott Valley. According to the site Reintilligent, Jason Joseph, chief executive officer of Trilogy, noted that especially for Prescott Valley, where such properties are unknown, the development of build-to-rent units, “creates a competitive advantage and option for the renter.” Trilogy says that its mission is to create build-to-rent communities “focused on the flourishing middle class of young families, professionals, and even retirees.” The company’s business model, notes the publication In Business Phoenix, has been one of providing homes for people “seeking the stability and social benefits of home ownership, but rent by choice or have been priced out of the competitive housing market.” Trilogy has been particularly active in the states of the southeast, as well as Arizona, Colorado, and Texas. By Garry Boulard Design work is now underway on a project that will see a reconfiguring of a major traffic corridor in Denver and the subsequent creation of bus-only lanes. With an estimated cost of up to $300 million, the project will see busy East Colfax Avenue turned into a bus route to be used by the city’s Regional Transportation District. Long anticipated, the project could see work launching later this year, with a possible 2026 completion date. The Federal Transit Administration has just announced its intention to partially fund the project with just under $127 million in grant support. After months of public input, the blueprint for the project will see bus-only lanes built on East Colfax between Broadway Street and Yosemite Street. From there, buses will travel in mixed traffic between Yosemite and Interstate 225, roughly 9 miles to the east. What is officially called the Bus Rapid Transit is critical, remarked Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, “to providing more Denver residents more mobility options to move about their community.” Additional funding for the project is coming through the Elevate Denver Bonds, which were approved by Denver voters in 2017, with $55 million going for the BRT, and another $15 million for East Colfax streetscaping. By Garry Boulard New statistics just released by the National Association of Realtors show that the number of homeowners in the country has increased by 9.2 million in the last decade. This means that the U.S. homeownership rate, which has incrementally increased in recent years, made the 65.5% mark. Demographically, just under 73% of all white Americans now own a home. Asian Americans have seen a dramatic rise of nearly 5% in the last decade to a new high of 62.8%. Equally dramatic, just under 51% of hispanic Americans are homeowners—an increase of more than 4%. Despite the overall trend line, the rate of black American homeownership, however, is still low at 44%, an increase of less than 1% during the last decade. In a statement, Jessica Lautz, deputy chief economist with NAR, noted that would-be black homebuyers are “more likely to be first-time buyers who are more sensitive to changes in mortgage interest rates, while white buyers are more likely to have housing equity to rely on as they make a housing trade.” Lautz added that even among successful home buyers, “Black Americans have lower household incomes, which narrows the available pool of inventory they may be able to afford and makes their journey into homeownership even more difficult in this limited housing inventory environment.” The NAR statistics, as compiled in the association’s report Snapshot of Race and Home Buying in America, also indicates that black homeowners spend a greater amount of their income in the pursuit of owning a home than any other demographic. In renting, some 30% of black renters are classified as “severely cost-burdened,” which means spending more than 50% of their income on rent. Meanwhile, 22% of white renters were similarly classified. The NAR study also suggested discriminatory practices among some agents, with fully 50% of hispanic home buyers say they felt they were either steered “toward or away” from specific neighborhoods. That figure was followed by 29% of white home buyers, and 12% for black home buyers. Asian American respondents reported the lowest such discrimination at 1%. In a press release accompanying the study, the NAR said its members are “active leaders in the fight to close racial homeownership gaps.” The release further notes that the association is a part of the Black Homeownership Collaborative, which has a stated goal of increasing the number of black homeowners by some 3 million in the next seven years. By Garry Boulard Work could begin sometime next spring on the construction of an 85,000 square foot industrial project in metro Tucson. StarPoint Properties, a comprehensive real estate firm based in Beverly Hills, California, is the owner of the project, which will feature a front-park/rear-load design with a clear height of 32 feet. The proposed building will also include dock high and grade level doors, as well as office space at opposite ends of the structure Project site is 401 E. Irvington Road, around 6 miles to the south of downtown Tucson, in a part of the city populated with modern industrial properties. StarPoint Properties, whose motto is “Decades of Delivering Asymmetrical Returns,” has successfully developed office, retail and multifamily projects primarily in the southwest, including Arizona, Colorado, California, and Texas. If all goes according to plans, the new Irvington Road facility will be completed by the spring of 2025. By Garry Boulard One of the largest healthcare systems in the West is making plans to build a new medical office building in El Paso. As envisioned, the project, to be built by the Hospitals of Providence, will go up on the east side of the city on the not-for-profit’s Eastlake Campus. That campus is located at 3280 Joe Battle Boulevard and is home to what is regarded as the only full-service hospital in metro El Paso. The campus has already seen the $20 million expansion of its central care facility in 2022, increasing capacity from 108 to 218 beds. That expansion also created space for half a dozen new beds in Providence’s neonatal intensive care unit. The new structure is expected to cost around $25 million to build and will go up more specifically at the intersection of Eastlake Boulevard and Peyton Drive on some 30 currently vacant acres. Providence purchased the land for $15 million. By design, the new facility will serve the residents not only of El Paso, but also nearby Horizon City. In a statement, Nathan Worley, group strategy officer for the Hospitals of Providence, said that a larger working goal is not just to build the new facility but also to “recruit physicians from a variety of specialties to ensure our patients have access to the care they need close to home.” Work is expected to begin on the new facility in 2024, launching a rough two-year construction schedule. Providence traces its El Paso roots to the opening of its first hospital at 617 N. Santa Fe Street in 1901. By Garry Boulard Celebrating dining establishments reaching back to the beginning of America, the National Trust or Historic Preservation is offering a grant program designed to help maintain some of the oldest restaurants in the country. In a press release, the NTHP announced: “We are asking for your help to find cozy cafes, delicious dives, and other beloved restaurant that contribute to their neighborhood’s unique history and identity.” Recipients of the group’s Backing Historic Small Restaurants Grant Program will be eligible for funding to maintain their business while also taking on any number of facility upgrade work. To date, the program has awarded around $2 million to restaurants across the country. Last year’s recipients included Antoine’s Restaurant of New Orleans, which dates to 1840; and the B & H Dairy Kosher Restaurant of New York, which first opened its doors in 1938. Recipients in 2022 in the West: The Golden Burro Café of Leadville, Colorado, also opened in 1938; Nancy’s Silver Café in Silver City, New Mexico, which has been in business since 1969; and the Welton Street Café, which is more than 40 years old. The NTHP initiative, with individual grants of $40,000 each, is done in a partnership with American Express. To qualify, restaurants must be independently owned and located in either a historic neighborhood or building. According to the guidelines for the program, applicants must also represent a “an inclusive story about cuisine and community in America, such as historic or ethnic food ways or culinary heritage.” By Garry Boulard A poignant memorial site in Aurora paying tribute to Colorado soldiers who have either died or been declared missing in action in a U.S. war may soon see construction of a long-desired visitors’ center. Some $1.5 million in federal funds has been secured for building the Colorado Freedom Memorial facility, which is expected to measure around 7,000 square feet and cost some $4 million to complete. Located at 756 Telluride Street, the Colorado Freedom Memorial was launched as an idea in 2000, with a designer signing on the following year. Funding raising and planning over the next few years preceded actual construction of the memorial in 2013. A series of glass panels were shortly erected bearing the names of more than 6,200 soldiers from Colorado, with the earliest service dating to the Spanish American War in 1898, roughly just two decades after the Centennial State had been admitted to the Union. The grassy site, with trailing sidewalks leading to the panel display, will now soon see a visitors’ center that will include a classroom and theater with a seating capacity of 150. The $1.5 million is coming in the form of a Community Project Funding grant, the awarding of which was announced by Colorado Congressman Jason Crow. Work could begin on the center later this year, with a completion date of spring 2025. By Garry Boulard A unique program designed to see the construction of new affordable housing for teachers working in a Santa Fe County school district has just received significant federal funding. Officials with the Pojoaque Valley School District say that the gap between the salary earned by the district’s teachers and the cost of renting an apartment unit in Santa Fe is wide and growing. According to the Santa Fe New Mexican, the average monthly pay for a first year teacher is around $2,500. But the city’s average rent for a one-bedroom apartment, notes the site Zillow.com, is now nearing the $2,000 mark. Worried about losing teachers due to the tight economics, the district would like to build up to eight modular homes with anywhere from two to three bedrooms each. The effort has now secured some $750,000 in funding out of Washington. In a visit in January to the school district, New Mexico Senator Ben Ray Lujan noted that the funding was approved by Congress and added: “I’m hopeful that we can see more of this across the country to provide the solutions.” An exact timetable for when work on the new housing facilities in the district might begin has not yet been announced. By Garry Boulard |
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