![]() Plans are advancing for the construction of a student center on the Hobbs campus of New Mexico Junior College. To be called The Hub, the structure is expected to measure around 10,800 square feet, and would house meeting rooms, study rooms, a coffee shop, game room, and a mail room, among other amenities. According to NMJC documents, the center will most likely be built within the school’s Student Housing Complex, and could cost around $9.7 million to complete. The project has been discussed by members of NMJC’s Facilities Committee, and remains to be included as part of the school’s Campus Master Plan. Once that’s done, the project will be submitted to a hearing of the Capital Outlay Committee, which is a part of the state’s Higher Education Department. The student center project is being viewed as a way to attract more students from the school’s southeastern New Mexico and western Texas enrollment base. The school, located at 5317 Lovington Highway, currently has an enrollment of around 3,000 students. By Garry Boulard
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![]() For the fourth month in a row, billings at the nation’s architectural firms were off. But the good news, according to numbers compiled by the Washington-based American Institute of Architects, is that the decline is less than what it has been in recent months. With a score above 50 representing an increase in billings from the month before, and anything below 50 showing a decline in billings, the overall score for all reporting firms in January stood at 49.3. In December that number stood at 48.4. Seen regionally, the Midwest posted the strongest billings numbers at 51.6, followed by the West at 51.3, and the Northeast at 50.9. The South, in pre-covid months an industry hotbed, came in at 46.9. “Business conditions were soft at most firm specializations,” an AIA press release noted, while firms offering a mixed specialization saw growth for the third month in a row. Firm responses indicated that project inquiries, on a general decline for the last year, saw an uptick in January, as did design contracts. Billings were strongest, at 48.6, in the institutional sector; followed by the commercial/industrial sector at 46.8; and residential at 45.0. In a statement, Kermit Baker, chief economist with the AIA, said that despite the continued industry decline in billings, “there are signs of easing.” Continued Baker: “In particular, architecture firms reported that new project work has begun to increase, signifying that this decline in billings may reverse in coming month.” By Garry Boulard ![]() A two-story brick building that once housed an F.W. Woolworth Company store in downtown Longmont, Colorado, is now on the market for around $3.4 million. Located at 380 Main Street, at the corner of Main and 4th Avenue, the structure measures nearly 25,400 square feet and is designated as a Class B building. The Longmont Woolworth’s was part of a vast network of around 600 five-and-dimes offering a wide variety of apparel, household goods, and toys across the country. The stores contained everything from “dime parakeets, toasted cheese sandwiches, and Lovelee hairnets,” to “’Evening in Paris’ perfume for Mom, an all purpose ‘4K vegetable peeler’ for the kitchen drawer, and a plastic whirlybird for Grandpa’s garden,” notes author Karen Plunkett-Powell in her 2014 book Remembering Woolworth’s: A Nostalgic History of the World’s Most Famous Five-And-Dime. The chain thrived for more than half a century until the 1960s and 70s when it faced new and increasing competition from such retail giants as Kmart and Walmart. The company closed its final U.S. stores in 1997. While many of the one-time Woolworth’s stores have remained empty, others have been repurposed as office space and even newer retail space. In recent years, the Longmont building has alternatively housed a restaurant and tavern, among other businesses. Located within Longmont’s National Historic District, the structure saw renovation work in 2013 and 2014, and features 8,500 square feet of office space on its second level. The property is being listed by the Longmont offices of Re/Max Commercial. By Garry Boulard ![]() Up to $12 million may be spent on the building of a new rail spur on the south side of Colorado Springs. The project, which has been in the talking stage for several years and has just won the approval of the Colorado Springs City Council, will be an extension of a rail line serving the Colorado Springs Utilities company. As planned, the rail spur will feed into a 3,000-acre industrial park that is expected to be the home to future heavy manufacturing activity, and will also serve the U.S. Army base at Fort Carson, some 9 miles to the southeast of Colorado Springs. The spur will be built by the Dearborn, Michigan-based Edward C. Levy Company and will run roughly adjacent to Interstate 25. A rough timeline for the big project states that work is expected to begin sometime in the next 5 years. The project’s connection to Fort Carson has been seen as especially significant, allowing for the movement of heavy equipment to that facility. By Garry Boulard Construction Material Prices Begin the Year with Both Increases and Decreases, Says Analysis2/24/2023 ![]() The prices for concrete, fuel, and gypsum products saw a clear increase in the first month of this year, even as costs for other materials were on the downside, according to a new analysis. Crunching the latest government data, the Washington-based Associated General Contractors of America documents declines in two materials that have experienced uneven price rides in the last several years: lumber and steel. The AGC analysis shows that the price of cement was up by a significant 17.6% between January of 2022 and last month, while concrete products experienced a 14.8% increase during that same period of time. Diesel fuel prices registered a 22.8% gain over the last year, with gypsum building materials up by 11.1%. Also on the increase: asphalt felts and coatings, by 7.4%; and flat glass, which saw an 8.7% jump. But after a historic increase in 2021 and 2022 due to a production shortage, lumber and plywood product prices are off by a substantial 30.8%. During the same January 2022 to January 2023 period, the prices for steel mill products fell by 30.1%, with steel pipe and tubing prices off by 10.0%. Copper and brass mill shapes saw a price decline of 4.5%; with aluminum mill shapes down by 6.1%. Providing an overview of the price trends, Ken Simonson, chief economist with the AGC, noted that even though “producer price indexes for construction inputs moderated over the past year,” many items nonetheless were on the up side last month. Added Simonson: “With demand shifting among project types, prices for many inputs are likely to diverge further in 2023.” A press release from the AGC noted an ongoing uncertainty regarding what materials are qualified to be used on infrastructure projects funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. That uncertainty will likely make it harder for contractors to “find materials to complete infrastructure projects, raise the cost of those materials, and lead to delays in completing the work,” the AGC statement continued. By Garry Boulard ![]() A historic two-story brick structure in downtown El Paso that was built when Theodore Roosevelt was president is now on the market for $750,000. Located at 408 S. El Paso Street, the building measures just over 4,600 square feet, and is designated as a Class B structure. The property is located on a block of one- and two-story brick commercial structures housing department and shoe stores, as well as the Continental Dry Goods, which has been in business since 1903. Most of architecturally rich brick structures on the block were built more than 75 years ago. For more than 10 years, the 408 S. El Paso Street address has been the home to a popular women’s clothing store called the Bella Boutique. In its early decades, the building served as a boarding house. The property is being listed by the El Paso real estate company Team Juan Uribe. By Garry Boulard Historic Duranguito Buildings in El Paso to Be Sold, as City Works on New Plans for Proposed Arena2/23/2023 ![]() A dozen buildings in the historic El Paso neighborhood of Duranguito will be put on the market now that that part of town will not be the site of a proposed multi-purpose arena. In January members of the ElS Paso City Council voted to abandon the Duranguito site after six years of litigation in a variety of courts challenging the project. Now city officials have announced that structures in the neighborhood earlier purchased by the City of El Paso will be sold, with revenue expected to go to the building of the arena somewhere else in the city. To be funded out of a $473 million Quality of Life bond approved by El Paso voters in 2012, the officially named Multi-Purpose Cultural and Performing Arts Center came with a $189 million price tag. Due to the costs associated with the prolonged litigation and a price increase in construction materials, it is thought that the arena may well cost more than $230 million to build today. El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser recently indicated that he is committed to seeing the arena through to completion. The project now may also include a 250-room hotel, and both residential and retail space. A new plan for the arena, and where it may be built, is expected to be presented to the city council sometime in April. By Garry Boulard ![]() Current regulatory uncertainty and permitting delays are two of the biggest factors negatively impacting Permian Basin oil and gas production, an industry leader has told a U.S. House committee. Steven Pruett, chairman of the Independent Petroleum Association of America, noted that exploration activity in the Permian Basin, stretching for 250 miles from western Texas to southeast New Mexico, is presently down due to a decline in investment. “The number of banks loaning money to oil and gas companies is half what it was 5 years ago,” Pruett told members of the Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security. Pruett said the decline was attributable to environmental, social, and governance investing mandates, as well as loan losses. He additionally asserted that “permitting delays for infrastructure development” has negatively impacted projects. Continued Pruett: “Without new pipelines, processing plants, and export terminals, oil and gas production in the U.S. will not grow.” Pruett called for greater Congressional oversight of the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Interior, among other federal agencies, “as it relates to regulations affecting the oil and natural gas industry broadly defined from the wellhead to the consumer.” The founder and chief executive officer of Elevation Resources, which is based in Midland, Texas, Pruett also addressed the ongoing lack of labor confronting the oil and gas industry. “Negative messaging by the Biden Administration discourages people from joining our industry,” Pruett asserted. “My generation is approaching retirement, setting the oil and gas industry up for the ‘great crew change,’” said Pruett. But even though wages have generally increased by some 15% in the last two years, “there are not enough young people to replace my generation in the oil industry.” Add in one further challenge to the industry: “Months-long delays in completing or repairing wells and facilities due to manpower and equipment shortages.” Altogether, said Pruett, drilling and completion costs just for his company alone have risen from $8 million in 2021 to $11 million per well in 2022 “due to escalating input costs, including steel and labor, while liquid prices have reduced our returns, thus limiting drilling activity.” Other industry leaders providing testimony to the subcommittee contended that the Biden Administration through its regulatory policies is intent on reducing oil and gas production in the coming years. In taking testimony from industry leaders, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy Rodgers said a decline in Permian Basin oil and gas production would mean three things: “Lost jobs. Lost revenues. And lost livelihoods.” By Garry Boulard ![]() Work could begin later this year on a 243,000 square foot industrial building that will go up at the intersection of Scottsdale Road and Thunderbird Road. The Phoenix-based Creation company has just announced the purchase of some 18 acres inside the 8.6-square mile Scottsdale Airpark to build the project. A company specializing in industrial, mixed-use, and office development, Creation will spend around $60 million to build a facility with a height of 32 feet, featuring 51 truck doors. The project will be built as a Class A logistics/manufacturing facility. In a statement, Grant Kingdom, principal of Creation’s Mountain West region, said the building upon completion could attract tenants ranging from “companies in the pharmaceutical, aerospace, electric vehicle and semiconductor section,” as well as “traditional distribution and showroom users.” Founded in 2018, Creation has built a variety of mixed-use developments across the country, and has been particularly active in the West, with projects in Texas, Arizona, Colorado, and California. By Garry Boulard ![]() The Houston-based Dinerstein Companies has announced plans to build a 371-unit apartment complex in downtown Longmont that would be built out in ten separate three-story buildings. The project will be in a mostly open space section of downtown Longmont, populated with some warehouse and industrial facilities, at 301 First Avenue. To be called Atlas Longmont, the complex will see apartments ranging in size from studios to three bedrooms, starting at 541 square feet and topping out at 1,411 square feet. The complex will additionally include a two-story leasing and amenity building, as well as an outdoor pool, several spas, a clubhouse, and co-working space. If all goes as anticipated, work will begin on the project later this year, with an overall completion date of spring 2026. A firm specializing in multi-family development and management, Dinerstein Companies was founded more than 60 years ago and has properties in every region of the country, including Arizona and Colorado. By Garry Boulard |
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