Two new stores belonging to the growing Allsup's Convenience Stores chain are slated for construction in Las Cruces.

Founded in Roswell, Allsup's has stores primarily in New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas, and remains a potent convenience store force with more than 440 locations.

Plans are now calling for the construction of a new Allsup's on the east side of Las Cruces near the master planned community of Metro Verde. The second stop will go up off Interstate 10, not far from the Las Cruces International Airport.

Founded in 1956 as a drive-in grocery store, Allsup's has been ranked as both the number one privately owned company in New Mexico and largest convenience store chain in the state.

The company's stores are particularly lauded for their menu of deep-fried beef and bean burritos, not to mention tamales and tortillas grocery store offerings.

Measuring on average around 6,200 square feet, Allsup's stores are generally surrounded by up to five lanes for truck stops and well over a dozen fuel pumps.
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Purchased by the Des Moines-based Yesway company in 2019 but maintaining its brand name, Allsup's has recently built eight new stores in its primary market states of New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas, with plans to build more than half a dozen more by the end of this year.

​By Garry Boulard

​While candidates in past presidential elections have rarely, if ever, talked very much about affordable housing, both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump see the issue in 2024 as one of major importance, devoting increasing time and thought to it.

“It’s a reflection both of how severe the housing affordability crisis has become, and also of the organizing that’s putting pressure on politicians to respond,” Diane Yentel, chief executive office of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, recently remarked to Time magazine.

Democrat Harris has promised to build, if elected, up to three million new homes before early 2029, and in doing so forging a partnership in the effort between the federal government, the private sector, and home builders.

If successful, Harris, notes the Los Angeles Times, would “increase annual homebuilding by more than 50% from recent averages.”

Harris has also called for the expansion of low-income housing tax credits and additional tax incentives to build new homes, while also offering up to $25,000 in assistance for buyers purchasing their first home.

Republican Trump, for his part, has said that he sees the problem as one of too much red tape. In a speech delivered last month before the Economic Club of New York, Trump remarked that “regulations cost 30% of a new home,” and said he wanted to open up large sections of land owned by the federal government across the country to new housing development.

“These zones will be ultra-low tax and ultra-low regulations,” said Trump, adding that his approach would also prove to be “one of the great small business job creation programs.”

Trump, however, has said he is not enthusiastic about a Biden Administration initiative to build low-income housing in higher income neighborhoods, calling it a “sinister plan to abolish the suburbs.”

According to the non-partisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, the Harris housing plan has the potential of adding any anywhere from $200 billion to $500 billion to the federal deficit. The Trump approach, says the same group, could come with a federal budget deficit of anywhere between $100 billion to $350 million.

Noting that Trump has also talked of a first-time homebuyer tax credit, the CRFB study says that a previous $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit enacted by Trump in 2009 would now be more than $10,000 to account for inflation.  

Comparing the overall housing approach of both candidates, Chandan Economics, a data provider for the real estate industry, asserts that “policy agreements between America’s two major political parties are rare to see out in the open,” before observing: “Both Harris and Trump and critical segments of each party’s lawmakers appear to share a willingness to use tax credits to foster housing construction.”
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For that reason, continues the essay, “tax credit mechanisms could end up sitting at the nexus of any potential congressional compromise dealing with housing policy during either candidate’s presidential term.”

By Garry Boulard

Photo Courtesy of Unsplash

A 20-acre property in north Phoenix that has long been home to a luxury resort has been purchased for nearly $40 million, with plans announced to significantly upgrade major aspects of the resort.

The Hilton Phoenix Resort at the Peak, located near the intersection of North Avenue and Arizona State Route 51, has for years been a popular destination spot with a luxury hotel, swimming pools with waterfalls, tennis courts, and a miniature golf course.

The property, according to the guidebook Moon Phoenix has for some time been “long overdue for a major renovation,” with the “room and overall property showing wear.”

That renovation may soon become reality with the purchase of the property by the Phoenix-based Pivotal Group and plans for the building of a new spa and fitness center, along with another swimming pool, and the creation of an outdoor event space.

All of the more than 400 guest rooms at the resort are also scheduled to be renovated.

The project, notes the publication City News Phoenix, will “modernize the resort while honoring its legacy, ensuring that it remains a cornerstone of the local community.”

The resort was launched in 1977 as the Pointe at Squaw Peak and was purchased by the Hilton Hotel & Resorts in 1999. The word “squaw” was dropped from the resort’s name by Hilton officials the following year.

It is expected that altogether around $100 million will be spent upgrading the resort property.
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An exact timetable for when work on the resort will begin has not been announced, but according to published sources it is thought that it will take around 30 months to complete all the work.

By Garry Boulard

More detailed plans have been announced for the construction of a new arena that will be home to the Colorado Eagles hockey team.

As presented to members of the Greeley City Council, the project would feature a flexible space component, allowing for up to 9,000 seats for hockey matches and 12,000 for entertainment events.

The building will go up on a 5,000-acre site on the west side of Greeley, at the intersection of U.S. Route 34 and Colorado State Highway 17, with additional construction seeing the building of a hotel and waterpark.

Developer of the project is Martin Lind, chief executive officer of the Water Valley Company.

According to city documents, a timeline for the project envisions a public input phase to take place this fall, followed by a pre-development agreement to be entered into by Greeley and Lind early next year, and a zoning designation decided some months later to "allow for appropriate uses on the site."

Design and subsequent construction work will most likely begin by no later than early 2026, with a rough completion date of the summer of 2028.

Launched as an expansion franchise in the Central Hockey League, the Colorado Eagles became a part of the American Hockey League in 2018. The team has to date played in the 20-year-old, 7,200-seat Blue Arena, located at 5290 Arena Circle in Loveland.
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In initially announcing the arena project last summer, Lind noted that the Colorado Eagles games have been consistently sold out in the Blue Arena. "We're going to bring you something so magnificent because you've earned it," Lind said in reference to the team's fan base. "We cannot wait to bring this to you."

​By Garry Boulard

Heavy and civil engineering sectors added more than 3,800 new jobs last month, for a healthy 2.5% gain, according to just-released figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In the last year, notes the agency, nearly 28,000 new heavy and civil engineering jobs have been filled, bringing the overall total, as of September, up to 1.1 million.

Those figures are part of the latest BLS jobs report showing a national employment increase last month in all industries of 254,000. The construction industry, meanwhile, was up by 25,000 over the month before, and 238,000 over September of 2023.

Additional employment growth was recorded in the nonresidential building sector, with an increase of 37,100 jobs over last fall; and in nonresidential specialty trade construction, up by nearly 113,000.
In a statement, Anirban Basu, chief economist with Associated Builders and Contractors, said the nation's construction industry has now added new jobs "for the fifth consecutive month, despite labor shortages."

Basu additionally forecasts that "hiring should persist in the coming months, with contractors expecting to increase their staffing levels over the next six months."

Nationally, significant gains were recorded in healthcare, with an increase of 45,000 new jobs in September; government work up by 31,000; and food services and drinking places, with a 69,000 jump.

The BLS report noted that "employment showed little change over the month in other major industries," specifically noting mining, oil and gas extraction, manufacturing, and transportation, and warehousing, among other industries.

Speaking with reporters in the White House, President Biden described the 254,000 September job gain as "incredible news." In a separate formal statement, Biden added: "We've created 16 million jobs, unemployment remains low, and wages are growing faster than prices."

Looking at the latest overall job numbers, the publication Barron's said those figures "should alleviate concerns that the U.S. is rapidly heading into a recession."

The new report, added the New York Sun, offers the "latest evidence that America's labor market is solid enough to support steady hiring and a growing economy."
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Offering a different take, a statement from the Trump presidential campaign remarked: "Another 7,000 manufacturing jobs were lost last month."

By Garry Boulard

Photo Courtesy of Pixabay 

Some ten months after it announced plans to build a new facility in Scottsdale, Arizona, the semiconductor manufacturing company ASM International has entered into a development agreement that will lead to the construction of a 400,000-square-foot headquarters.

Based in Almere, Netherlands, ASM is regarded as a world leader in the manufacturing of semiconductor wafer processing equipment to be used in the fabrication of semiconductor devices.

Launched in 1968, the company enjoys around $2.7 billion in annual revenue, with facilities up and running throughout Asia and Europe. ASM opened its U.S. operations in Phoenix in 1976.

Now, after extensive talks and study, members of the Scottsdale City Council have agreed to enter into a development agreement that will reimburse ASM for building whatever public infrastructure is needed to make the new combined headquarters and research facility a reality.

The new facility, ASM has told the Phoenix Business Journal, will feature "robust water conservation systems and green infrastructure." The statement added that upon completion, the new facility will be a "key corporate and innovation center where our talented teams will advance the semiconductor technologies of tomorrow."

Earlier reports have indicated that ASM will spend upwards of $400 million over the course of the next five years developing and building its new Scottsdale presence.
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The facility is expected to be built near the southeast corner of Scottsdale Road and Arizona State Route 101 on land the company previously purchased for around $33 million.

By Garry Boulard

A long-studied project to build a new terminal at the Clovis Regional Airport is moving forward with a grant from Washington for $15.7 million.

The funding is coming from the Federal Aviation Administration and is part of a larger $33.4 million the agency is sending to New Mexico for various airport infrastructure projects.

Located six miles to the east of downtown Clovis, the 1,500-acre airport, off New Mexico State Road 523, was opened in 1959 and has been mostly used for general aviation.

The airport processed around 13,000 passenger enplanements last year, up from some 5,000 in 2019.

The FAA earlier this year awarded $2.8 million to the Clovis airport for the reconstruction of a taxiway, as well as work sealing the pavement and pavement joints of the airport's runway.

In February, according to a statement issued by New Mexico Democrat Martin Heinrich, an initial $3.5 million in funding coming out of the Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act was awarded for the design work on the new terminal.
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As planned, work on the new 21,000-square-foot facility is expected to begin by no later than early next year, with a rough completion date of mid-2026.

By Garry Boulard

The listing of a 19-story building based in Bartlesville, Oklahoma that was designed in 1952 by the noted architect Frank Lloyd Wright has made national news.

Problems selling what is called the Price Tower have caught the attention of the New York Times, which several days ago remarked that the building was once listed for $6.2 million but is now set to go to auction with a starting bid of $600,000.

"There has been some concern that no local employer is in need of as much office space that the tower provides," the paper remarked of the 60,335-square-foot building, "so the new owners would likely need to take on a hodgepodge of tenants, and look to address needed renovations."

One of the reasons why people remain interested in the Price Tower is because it is, for Wright, an odd-sized structure. Wright usually devoted his energies to one- and two-story homes and office buildings. A high-rise was an unusual Wright project, as he himself admitted, when likening the tower to an "upraised hand on the prairie," and a "tree that escaped the crowded forest."

But the ultimate reason for the interest is the connection with Wright himself. Regarded as one of the most important architects in the world, Wright designed easily more than 1,000 buildings before his death in 1959, was friends with President Harry Truman and Albert Einstein, and was the cover feature for Time, then regarded as the most-read magazine in the country.

In 1991 the American Institute of Architects put it quite simply: Wright, it said, was "the greatest American architect of all time."

Given his prodigious output, it is only natural that buildings designed by Wright should still, decades after he designed them, end up on the market.

According to the site Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy, there are currently ten Wright-designed buildings on the market, ranging in price from the $639,000 Hickox House of Kankakee, Illinois, which features Japanese architectural design elements and was built in 1900; to the $8.9 million Lykes House in Phoenix, completed in 1959 and famous for its concentric circle floorplan.

Just in the last year alone, some eight Wright homes located in Connecticut, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin have been sold. The Connecticut property, called Tirrana, went for $6 million, and, according to Architectural Digest, is one of Wright's largest creations, with a "solar hemicycle design" that makes use of a "curved glass facade crafted to take advantage of the sun's movement throughout the day."
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The two-day auction for the Price Tower is scheduled to begin on November 18 and is being handled by the realty firm Cushman & Wakefield, which has offices in Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

​By Garry Boulard

A public arena built in the middle of World War II in El Paso could be in line for significant upgrades and renovation work, depending upon the mood of voters in November.

Located at 4100 E. Paisano Drive, the El Paso County Coliseum was built with funding from the New Deal’s Public Works Administration and designed to accommodate rodeo and livestock shows.

Upon its May 1942 opening, the building was hailed by the El Paso Times as the “largest and finest structure of its kind in this area of the Southwest.”

In more recent decades, the building has been used to house everything from concerts to sporting events, roller derbies, and dog shows.

County officials have long contemplated either replacing the 6,500-seat stadium, which was built at a cost of $321,000, or simply expanding it.

Reports published in the spring of 2023 indicated that the U.S. General Services Administration, in charge of a project seeing the modernization of the nearby International Bridge of the Americas, was contemplating leveling the coliseum in order to create more room for the bridge project.

When the GSA subsequently pulled away from that plan, members of the El Paso County Commission moved to include new work on the 20, 240-square-foot coliseum in a bond package that now has a total dollar worth of $323.8 million.

That proposal is calling for $105.5 million out of that $323.8 million to go for work on the coliseum that would include new roofing, the installation of a new air conditioning system, upgraded ceilings, and enhanced Americans with Disabilities Act improvements.
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It has been thought that some of the $105.5 million may also be used to reconvert what is known as the Sherman Barn, just to the rear of the coliseum, into a music hall.

By Garry Boulard

Photo Courtesy of Preservation Texas

One of the cutting-edge leaders in battery-electric trucks that can be driven either by humans or autonomously has announced plans to set up an engineering presence in metro Phoenix.
Founded in late 2021 and based in Fremont, California, the Terraline company is particularly known for the production of the Tangra LH1, a battery-electric heavy truck that has a range of more than 500 miles.
In reporting on the launch of its Class 8 truck last November, the publication Transport Topics noted that the company already had orders for the delivery of the electric trucks stretching into 2026.
In an earlier published statement, Terraline noted that its battery-electric trucks are designed to eliminate carbon dioxide emissions, adding: “We are fully committed to benefitting the planet by disrupting a massive segment of the transportation industry.”
The website OurCrowd has estimated that Terraline’s developing fleet of all-electric trucks have the potential of supplanting some 22 million tons of CO2 on an annual basis by 2032, marking a "significant shift towards sustainability in an industry traditionally associated with high emissions.”
The company’s decision to establish a presence in southern Arizona comes after protracted discussions with state officials, in particular officials working with the Arizona Commerce Authority.
In a statement, Graham Doorley, chief executive officer of Terraline, lauded Arizona’s “business-friendly environment, exceptional engineering talent, and reduced operations costs” as factors in setting up what will be the company’s engineering headquarters.

​By Garry Boulard