Weeks before Albuquerque voters decide on a $50 million bond to partially pay for the construction of a new soccer stadium, the team that will use the stadium has announced that it will kick in another $10 million to get it built.

“We’re willing to put not just our capital, but all of our resources behind it,” said Peter Trevisani, the owner of the New Mexico United soccer team.

Additional funding for what will ultimately be a multi-purpose stadium is coming through capital outlay funds to the tune of $8 million earlier approved by the New Mexico State Legislature.

The soccer team has also agreed to enter into a long-term lease with the City of Albuquerque, committing to play in the arena for some 25 years, an agreement that equates to around $22 million in rent.

New Mexico United has additionally pledged to pay for all security and maintenance costs associated with the arena.

Last month members of the Albuquerque City Council voted in favor of putting on this November’s ballot the $50 million bond to build what is estimated to be a $70 million stadium.

Earlier estimates pegged the soccer stadium construction price tag at $100 million.

A consultant’s study completed earlier this summer recommended that the stadium should be built to house anywhere from 10,000 to 12,000 seats. The study additionally suggested two downtown sites for the facility.

Although some city leaders have expressed worries that the stadium will not prove financially successful, Trevisani and others have pointed out that up to 13,500 fans have regularly turned out to watch the team play in the Isotopes Park.
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It is expected that if Albuquerque voters approve the $50 million bond in November a move will be made in the state legislature to come up with the final dollars needed to launch construction of the stadium.

​By Garry Boulard

The Environmental Protection Agency has announced its final rules for a substantial reduction in the production and consumption of hydrofluorocarbons in the next decade and a half.

Those hydrofluorocarbons, otherwise known as HFCs, are most commonly used in air conditioning and refrigeration equipment.

The new rules, as mandated by the passage of the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act last year, will see a 30% HFC reduction within the next three years, followed by another 30% drop to take effect by 2029.

The 85% goal is expected to be reached in 2036.

In a statement, EPA Administrator Michael Regan said the new HFC rule, among other things, “demonstrates that America is back when it comes to leading the world in addressing climate change and curbing global warming in the years ahead.”

Announcement of the new rule has won the praise of a number of industry groups, including the National Association of Manufacturers and the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute.

Supporters have in particular applauded the phase-out aspect of the rule.
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“The plan allows U.S. manufacturers to maintain a technological advantage over foreign competitors in the global marketplace in supporting an appropriate transition,” said the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in a statement, “while creating thousands of new and good paying jobs in the U.S.”

​By Garry Boulard

The site of a one-time Kmart building in Mesa, Arizona may see new life as a large apartment complex with nearly 400 units.

The Dallas-based Stillwater Capital LLC is proposing to demolish the 115,000 square foot store located near the intersection of S. Power Road and Hampton Avenue.

Site demolition would also include doing away with a separate 64,500 square foot structure, and several other smaller buildings.

Once the site is cleared, work could begin on what is being called the Stillwater Superstition residential community.

As envisioned, the project will see the construction of one 4-story building, and three 3-story buildings housing the residential units, as well as a clubhouse, fitness center, and leasing office.

Additional amenities are expected to include a swimming pool and spa, as well as a dog park.

The project has received the approval of the Mesa Planning and Zoning Board, and is now being reviewed by the Mesa City Council.

The Kmart store was one of several hundred nationwide closed by its parent, the Sears Holding Corporation, in 2017.

The store was built in 1994 during the height of Kmart’s retail dominance when it operated more than 2,300 stores nationally.
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Stillwater Capital specializes in developing multi-family communities and mixed-use projects, primarily in Texas.  

By Garry Boulard

Around 14 additional miles of a new water pipeline are poised for construction in eastern New Mexico, funded primarily by a federal grant.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has awarded some $46 million for the construction of a section of the pipeline, which will ultimately connect the Ute Reservoir in the village of Logan with the Cannon Air Force Base, 7 miles to the southwest of Clovis, among other locations.

The Bureau of Reclamation operates under the auspices of the federal Department of the Interior and is tasked with overseeing the country’s water resources management.

Members of the New Mexico Water Utility Authority, heading up the project, have now voted to officially accept the Reclamation Bureau grant.

The overall project, known as the Ute Pipeline Project, is designed to provide potable water to some seven communities, as well as the air force base.

Federally authorized in 2009, the project will replace declining groundwater supplies coming from the Ogallala Aquifer with the Ute Reservoirs’ renewable resources.

The latest funding will see the construction of a pipe 39 inches in diameter running from the Quay and Curry County borders on the way to Cannon.

It is anticipated that once the Ute Pipeline Project is completed, it will be able to transport an average of 15 million gallons a day.
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Altogether, the total pipeline project will comprise some 150 miles of pipeline.

By Garry Boulard

In an effort to increase the number of African American and other disadvantaged minority construction workers, the Associated General Contractors of America has announced a new scholarship program.

Working with Procore Technologies, a construction management software company based in Carpinteria, California, AGC is sponsoring a program for students attending historically black colleges and universities, otherwise known as HBCUs.

In a statement, Stephen Sandherr, AGC’s chief executive officer, remarked that the scholarships will “put a new and more diverse generation of students on track to become tomorrow’s construction leaders and innovators.”

The scholarship program is being launched with a $250,000 gift from Procore, which the AGC has pledged to equal and exceed.

According to the National Association of Minority Contractors, African Americans currently account for some 17% of the nation’s construction workforce, with Hispanics at roughly 30%.
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Those numbers represent an increase over the decades: in 1996 African Americans made up 7.5% of construction workers nationally, while Hispanics were at just under 12%.

​By Garry Boulard

Plans are now well underway for the building of a large mixed-use project on the east side Avondale, Arizona that will see both new apartment units as well as retail space.

To be called the Avondale Commons, the project will be developed by the Overland Development Corporation, headquartered in Lehi, Utah.

Set for a just under 23-acre currently-vacant site at the northwest intersection of Avondale Boulevard and McDowell Road, the project’s centerpiece is its planned 324 residential units.

Those units are expected to comprise roughly 12.5 acres of the site, with the commercial component, as well as office space, to be built on the remaining 10.1 acres.

The residential units will vary in size between one, two, and three-bedroom apartments.

Additional amenities call for the construction of a clubhouse, as well as a swimming pool with cabanas and a lounge area.

The commercial component will additionally see the building of restaurant and hospitality space.

Overland Development has secured the approval of the Avondale Planning Commission as well as the Avondale City Council to rezone the site from an agricultural to a planned area development designation.
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That site is located in a part of the city that in recent years has seen an increasing amount of new retail construction.

​By Garry Boulard

Just over 45 million square feet of new manufacturing and warehouse space could soon be going up on a vast and vacant spread of land on the northeast side of El Paso.

And the new facilities may belong to the Ford Motor Company.

Although City of El Paso officials have not provided specific details, it has been rumored that Ford is interested in the development of the land, located near the intersection of Stan Roberts Drive and U.S. Route 54.

The site in question was purchased by the city more than a decade ago from the El Paso Board of Public Utilities when it was thought that an automaker might be interested in building a manufacturing plant there. Nothing ultimately came of that idea.

The 1,000-acre site, according to city documents, could see the construction of one building measuring around 4 million square feet, and another coming in at around 2 million square feet.

Those same documents also indicate structures designed to house offices, as well as a more than 100,000 square foot hazardous materials holding facility, and a series of water tanks.

A rezoning of the site - taking it from a ranch and farmland designation to heavy manufacturing -has won the approval of the El Paso Plan Commission.

Ford is currently looking for new land to build a battery manufacturing facility, and is thought to be  interested in the Stan Roberts Drive site.

The company earlier this spring said that it wants to build two such facilities in order to produce an expected 600,000 electric vehicles in the next 3 years.

According to reports, Ford is also currently looking at sites for its battery plants in several other states.
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Members of the El Paso City Council are soon expected to take up the rezoning question.

​By Garry Boulard

In a move that some analysts say signals a post-pandemic perspective, the Federal Reserve has announced that it will soon cut back on its monthly bond purchases.

That action could, in turn, usher in a period of increased interest rates.

The move, announced after a meeting of the Fed’s Federal Open Market Committee, is seen as a calculated response to inflation, which the Fed says is currently running around 4.2%, far above the 2% it prefers.

In a statement, the committee declared that “if progress continues broadly as expected,” a moderation in the “pace of asset purchase may soon be warranted.”

“These asset purchases help foster smooth market functioning and accommodative financial conditions, thereby supporting the flow of credit to households and businesses,” the statement added.

In a news conference, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said a decrease in what has been the bank’s $120 billion in bond purchases per month will likely begin during the first week of November.

The timing is anything but accidental: The Fed’s larger goal is to greatly decrease its bond purchases before it increases overall borrowing costs, which will most likely occur in 2022.

Either way, some degree of inflation will remain intact, says the Fed, predicting a 2.2% rate next year, very slightly decreasing to 2.1% in 2024.
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Overall, the Fed is feeling marginally bullish about current conditions. In a policy statement, the agency remarked that the “sectors most adversely affected by the pandemic have improved in recent months, but the rise in Covid 19 cases has slowed their recovery.”

​By Garry Boulard

Work could begin late next year on the renovation of a structure that will serve as replacement police station in Denver.

The facility will take the place of the current District 6 headquarters located in the Capitol Hill section of the city at 1566 Washington Street.

That station not only serves Capitol Hill residents, but also those living in the Civic Center and Five Points neighborhoods.

Although District 6 police have been using the Washington Street building for the last twenty-five years, there have been increasing complaints that the facility has a number of structural issues and is too small for current needs.

In the fall in 2017, by at 70% margin, Denver residents approved a $937 million general obligation bond package officially called Elevate Denver, designed to fund a wide variety of infrastructure, cultural institution, and public safe needs.

Included in that project list was $25 million for a new District 6 police headquarters and station. That station will be made reality with the renovation of an existing structure at 1131 Cherokee Street, roughly one mile to the southwest of the existing station.

The new address will be a part of the city’s Safety Headquarters Campus.  
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That modern campus also includes a police administrative building as well as the Denver Police Museum.

​By Garry Boulard

One of the largest public school districts in Colorado has announced plans to upgrade and renovate the vast majority of its nearly 60 school facilities.

To that end, members of the Colorado Springs School District Number 11 board of education have voted in favor of placing on this November’s ballot a general obligation bond to fund many of those projects.

The $350 million bond especially addresses repair and maintenance work in the large number of schools that were built in the 1960s or before.

Earlier this year, the district released a facilities and academic master plan emphasizing the need for immediate work at some 31 schools, with another 15 facilities in line for renovation and rebuilding work.

In a press release, Shawn Gullixson, president of the district’s board of education, said passage of the November bond was needed to allow “our schools to provide world class instruction in inspiring learning spaces.”

District officials have said that if the bond passes in November, work on many of District 11’s schools would be underway by early next year.
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It is thought that the district currently has around $700 million in deferred facility maintenance and upgrade work.

By Garry Boulard