The results of a feasibility study are expected to be announced this summer regarding the construction of a second bridge that would cross the Bridgewater Channel in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. The first bridge is both famous and historic: the former London Bridge that was completed in 1831 and crossed the River Thames in Great Britain. A project that won international attention in 1968 saw entrepreneur Robert McCulloch purchasing, dismantling, and moving the granite structure block by block for $2.4 million, after work on a new steel and concrete bridge in London was underway. McCulloch, one of the founders and elders of Lake Havasu City, thought reassembling the bridge and putting it back together in an Arizona location of less than 4,000 residents would be of great publicity value. And he was right: the inaugural ceremonies for the bridge, once it was operative in Lake Havasu City in the fall of 1971, was covered on network news programs as well as the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and London Times, among dozens of other publications. It is generally regarded to this day as the second most popular tourist attraction in Arizona, next to the Grand Canyon. In the decades since that 1971 inaugural, the bridge as the only way on and off Lake Havasu's island, has begun to feel congested, according to city officials. Earlier this year, Lake Havasu City Mayor Cal Sheehy said a second bridge could prove especially timely for a city that now has around 60,000 residents. Construction of a new bridge is expected to take up to three years to complete. The project has already secured $35 million in state funds. By Garry Boulard
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A strong increase in college and university enrollments from last year is helping to sustain historic student housing growth rates for the coming year, according to a new industry report. The Student Housing National Report, as published by the Santa Barbara, California-based Yardi Matrix real estate solutions company, is showing current pre-leasing rates at nearly 68%, an exceptionally vibrant performance. That figure, according to the report, is 2.4% higher than where things stood a year ago, and a significant 10% from figures compiled between 2019 and 2022. “Strong pre-leasing is an indication of solid demand from growing enrollment and suggests the market is easily absorbing any new beds for fall 2024.” The industry has clearly rebounded from the brief dip recorded in the spring of 2020 during the Covid 19 outbreak. At that time, occupancy was down by some 3%, according to figures compiled by the National Apartment Association. But the figures improved by the spring of 2021, with an overall 1% increase, even as roughly two thirds of the nation’s universities were offering online and/or hybrid teaching. Looking at pre-leasing data for more than 1,500 properties at nearly 200 schools, the Yardi Matrix report notes that of that pool, “46 had pre-leasing over 75%, and eight were better than 90% pre-leased in March.” Only thirty markets were behind where they were a year ago at this time. Student housing rents, meanwhile, reached an average of $895 per bed last month, 6% up from March of 2023. The growth rate picked up considerably most recently when students returned from spring break. “Rent growth in student housing is being driven by surging demand, particularly at the schools with the strongest recent enrollment growth,” continues the report, which is predicting decided increase of 46,285 new beds for all of 2024. That number is sharply up from the 37,756 new beds seen in 2023. In a report published two months ago, the New York Times noted that new student housing projects are bigger than ever. “Some are home to more than 1,500 students," said the paper, “and they are being built on prime parcels as close to the campus as possible as developers seek to better manage their bottom line.” By Garry Boulard An undeveloped two-acre narrow stretch of land in downtown Fort Collins may soon be the site of a new 175-unit apartment complex. The Irving, Texas-based Realty Capital Residential has announced it has now submitted paperwork to the City of Fort Collins to build the River District project. Besides the 175 apartments, the complex will also include 2,300 square feet of commercial space made up of restaurants and stores, for an overall project dominated by two 5-story separate buildings. According to city records, the project will include studio, and one- and two-bedroom units. Designed by Davis Partnership Architects of Denver, the project will also have at least two clubhouses, and leasing and management office space. The official address for what is being designated as an infill development is 360 Linden Street in a part of the city populated with restaurants, taverns, and offices. A document sent to the City by the Fort Collins-based Ripley Design landscape engineering firm notes that development of the site will create a link to the nearby Cache La Poudre River with a “pedestrian-oriented street front and lively spaces.” Realty Capital Residential was launched in 1987 and has since developed more than 200 residential projects both in Colorado and Texas. In the last decade, the company’s footprint in the Centennial State has grown with the development of workforce housing in the Roaring Fork Valley between Glenwood Springs and Aspen. By Garry Boulard Plans are swiftly moving for the construction of a new courthouse to serve the 12th Judicial District in Otero County. The project in Alamogordo may ultimately cost as much as $30 million to complete and will go up off the Charlie T. Lee Memorial Relief Route, just to the north of the Mesa Verde Ranch Road. The anticipated 45,000-square-foot building will house four courtrooms and two hearing rooms, with additional space set for security operations and administrative offices. The current 12th District courthouse is located at 100 N. New York Avenue and is regarded as not being up to current needs, with a lack of space, and no sprinkler system. Additional reported problems have included holding cell issues and both heating and cooling systems deficiencies. The courthouse was completed in early 1956 and formally inaugurated in June of that year. Controversy regarding the condition of the building has been ongoing for nearly a decade but reached a boiling point in 2018 when the 12th Judicial Court began legal proceedings against Otero County, arguing that the county was failing to provide adequate facilities as required by state law. That lawsuit partly resulted in the hiring of a consultant tasked with conducting a feasibility study on how much it would cost to upgrade the facility. The decision to build an entirely new facility won the approval of the Otero County Commission more than a year ago, resulting in the Las Cruces-based ASA Architects being brought in to design the structure. By Garry Boulard Commercial Real Estate Foreclosures Seeing Dramatic Increases Coast to Coast, Says New Report4/22/2024 Commercial real estate foreclosures were up by 117% nationally last month over March of 2023, resulting in hundreds of empty office and store spaces. According to the ATTOM Data Warehouse report, the foreclosures are the result of ongoing higher interest rates and smaller on-site staffs due to the continuing popularity of remote work. That 117% increase is up from the 97% reported by ATTOM earlier this year, comparing January of 2024 with January of 2023. Altogether, there were a reported 625 commercial and office real estate foreclosures in March, with California leading the way with 187. That Golden State figure makes sense given that California is the largest state in the country. But even so, the figure represents a dramatic 405% increase over March of 2023. “California began experiencing a notable rise in commercial foreclosures in November 2023,” the ATTOM report notes, “surpassing 100 cases and continuing to escalate thereafter.” The numbers were also substantially up in Florida, New York, and Texas. Among those mega states, Texas has seen a 129% jump from March of last year to March of this year, followed by Florida at 107%, and New York, with a 65% jump. While the 625 figure is formidable, it is still less than the 889 foreclosures recorded by ATTOM in October of 2014, when commercial real estate occupancy was still feeling the lingering effects of the Great Recession. The trend line sloped gently downward from late 2014 to the spring of 2020, just as the Covid 19 pandemic broke, with a total number of foreclosures at only 141. Based in Irvine, California, ATTOM Data Solutions specialize in property data services. By Garry Boulard A classic 1960s high-rise apartment building with 170 residential units to the south of downtown Denver is about to undergo a major renovation as affordable housing. Located at 1550 S. Federal Boulevard, the Columbine Towers was built in 1964 and has long served a senior residential population. Now the Denver-based Ulysses Development Group has purchased the 14-story structure for $34 million, announcing plans to substantially renovate and upgrade it. In a statement, Connor Larr, a partner with Ulysses, remarked that the "impact the community will feel when our rehabilitation of this property is complete will be significant. It will give seniors and those with disabilities a safe, quality, and affordable place to call home at a time when housing is at a premium." The project, which Ulysses is taking on in a partnership with the Housing and Urban Development Department, is expected to see upward of $9 million in improvements which will include the installation of new elevators, energy efficiency work, and accessibility conversions. The elevator work is particularly important: in the summer of 2022, the building's elevators were out of commission for roughly a week, forcing elderly residents to use the stairs, and resulting in at least one injury. Members of the Denver City Council have approved a $10 million loan to fund the rehabilitation work. By Garry Boulard State funding has been secured for a project in Las Cruces that will see the building of a new affordable housing project spearheaded by a well-known local nonprofit. Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has given her signature to a nearly $6 million capital outlay approved earlier this year by New Mexico lawmakers to help build a supportive housing complex that will house some 50 units. The official address of what is being called Amador Crossing is 1101 W. Amador, within the boundaries of the existing Mesilla Valley Community of Hope Campus. The MVCH began operations in early 1998, building a $1.6 million facility in the 900 block of W. Amador and dedicating itself to the mission of providing a host of services to the homeless. In 2011 it garnered media attention when it opened a facility called Camp Hope, a designated tent community on land it owned, for up to 50 people or so. Five years later, the group built a $65,000 shower and bathroom facility on the same site. The Camp Hope effort was subsequently lauded in a report published by the National League of Cities, noting that the site “crucially allows those experiencing homelessness to live with dignity while in transition to more permanent and stable housing.” The City of Las Cruces has been historically supportive of the efforts of the MVCH, approving a $4 million purchase for nearly 5 acres of land once owned by the Brewer Oil Company to be used for the nonprofit’s purpose. According to city information, the new MVCH facility will accommodate what are described as “chronically homeless residents,” in a space designed to assist residents to “heal, stabilize, and grow.” The project is currently in the planning and design stage. By Garry Boulard After a splurge of activity during the months of the Covid 19 lockdown and afterwards, home improvement and repair work is expected to see a decline lasting throughout the rest of this year and into 2025. In a new report just issued by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University it is noted that overall project work and spending is slated to drop by around 7% by the late summer of this year. That figure stands in contrast to the unprecedented double-digit gains between 2020 and 2021, culminating in a historic increase of 17.3% in the third quarter of 2022. In a statement, Abbe Will, associate project director of the Remodeling Futures Program, which is a part of the Harvard Center, remarked: “At $451 billion, spending on homeowner improvements and repairs over the coming year is anticipated to be slightly lower than the $463 billion over the last year.” In fact, the dollar high for the remodeling industry was reached early in 2023 when the figure stood at $490 billion. The Harvard Center uses a model called the Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity which is designed to provide a short term outlook on repair spending and home improvement projects nationally. The model looks at home repair and improvement expenditures over a span of four quarters. Using that model illustrates the dramatic increase in home improvement spending over time, from around $123 million in early 2004 to $148 million a decade later. The model also shows the devastating impact the Great Recession had on spending that had precipitately dropped to $108 million by early 2012. Although this year’s numbers are down, ongoing opportunities for remodeling and updating projects continue to exist in different pockets of the country. In a press release issued from the Harvard Center, Carlos Martin, project director with the Remodeling Futures Program, observed: “The nation’s aging homes continue to need investment in critical replacements, home performance deficiencies, as well as modernization.” By Garry Boulard A bill designed to add some clarity to Colorado’s existing condominium construction defects law is moving through the state legislature and may soon be voted upon by the full House of Representatives. Senate Bill 106 is a response to the Construction Defect Action Reform Act, which was passed in 2001 and limited the liability of builders for defects in a building product. The 2001 legislation was sparked by an outpouring of litigation over construction defects, making it substantially more difficult for what were considered to be frivolous lawsuits to be filed. In the process, the law also encouraged dispute resolutions preliminary to a lawsuit being filed. Under the new legislation, builders will have the right to address a defects issue before any litigation can be launched. In addition, the bill would increase to two-thirds the threshold of consent by fellow members of a given homeowners association leading to a lawsuit. Because of the threat of lawsuits, many builders in Colorado have in recent years shied away from taking on condominium projects. That move, according to a variety of experts, has contributed to both a lack of housing and an increase in housing construction costs. In response to the pending bill and legislative debate surrounding it, Governor Jared Polis has remarked: “We understand that conversations have been ongoing and encourage all sides to stay at the table and get a meaningful constructive reform bill that reduces condo costs to the Governor’s desk.” The bill has not been without opposition. Democrat Senator Faith Winter last month remarked that the proposal would put obstacles in the way of condo owners trying to get issues resolved by builders. She added: “I think this makes it far more restrictive on when folks can be protected, and when they can’t.” The Colorado legislature is scheduled to conclude its 2024 session on May 8. By Garry Boulard El Paso County voters have just a little over two more weeks before deciding whether to improve a $35 million bond for a variety of water facility upgrade and construction projects. The bond is specific to the Lower Valley Water District, which is based in the town of Clint and provides solid waste, water, and wastewater services to residents in southeast El Paso County. The district, with an operating budget last year of just under $27 million, spans a mixed urban and rural 210-square mile area that includes the city of Socorro, as well as the town of Clint and community of San Elizario. Planned projects in the district include a water line extension on the north side of Gateway West Boulevard, some 3 miles to the southeast of El Paso; new sewer service infrastructure in Socorro; and the construction of a new lift station and gravity line at the intersection of North Loop Drive and Clint Road in Clint. Established in May 1985 by a vote of the Texas State Legislature, the Lower Valley Water District serves not only two incorporated municipalities, but also nearly 90 colonias. According to an annual budget document released late last year, the district has also recently launched what it calls a “massive meter replacement project,” that includes the installation of smart meter technology. That move, said the Lower Valley Water District document, “is not only expected to increase our water efficiency, but avail analytical tools improving water distribution services.” The district has additionally been making a valiant effort in recent years to connect water infrastructure in communities where previously the water was transported in plastic tanks by truck. By Garry Boulard |
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