Rather than approving one giant bill to address all of Colorado's housing needs, state lawmakers are contemplating an approach that would look at those needs strictly from a local perspective.

Failed housing legislation last year took a holistic approach, proposing that nearly $16 million in state funding be appropriated to address everything from zoning and building code reforms to transit-oriented developments, among other things.

That legislation ultimately failed in the Colorado Senate. But now one of the legislature's leaders, Steve Fenberg, president of the Senate, said a move is underway for a bill that will create a state board tasked with aiding local governments to assess their own housing needs.

"That's something that is going to provide a roadmap for each individual community and region," Fenberg recently remarked to the news service Colorado News Line, "to know what the need is, what the progress is in meeting that need, and what they need to do from a menu of options to get to the goal."

In his State of the State address earlier this month, Colorado Governor Jared Polis proposed removing restrictions on the building of accessory dwelling units, tax credits for building high density housing projects near transit hubs, and an elimination of excessive construction liability in the building of new condominiums.

Colorado lawmakers, who will adjourn the spring 2024 session on May 8, will also soon be deciding on a proposal that will prohibit local governments from imposing laws restricting the number of people who may live together in one dwelling unit.
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That legislation, HB24-1007, is currently being considered in the House Transportation, Housing and Local Government Committee.

​By Garry Boulard

Nearly $5 billion in funding through two federal programs has just been released for a series of infrastructure projects across the country.

Individual grant awards, one as high as $1 billion, are going to 37 projects through the National Infrastructure Project Assistance program, as well as the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America grant program.

In announcing the funding, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg remarked: "We are advancing projects so large, complex and ambitious, that they could not get funded under the infrastructure programs that existed prior to the Biden administration."

By far the largest grant, at exactly $1 billion, is going to the replacement of the Blatnik Bridge, connecting the cities of Duluth, Minnesota and Superior, Wisconsin. The bridge, which was completed in 1961, has long had structural issues owing to its age.

A press release from the Transportation Department says that without the INFRA grant funded work, the structure is "at risk of closing within the next 10 years due to decaying infrastructure."

Other biggies: $371 million in National Infrastructure Project Assistance funding for the modernization of the historic Sagamore Bridge in Cape Cod, Massachusetts; and $300 million from a combination of both grant programs for building a new container terminal at the Port of New Orleans.

A smaller INFRA grant of $95 million is going for the widening of around 10 miles of Interstate 10 as it slices through land belonging to the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona; along with two INFRA grants of $29.1 and $59.9 million respectively for the reconstruction of a portion of Interstate 76 in Morgan County, Colorado, and the widening of US 160 in La Plata, County, Colorado.
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In announcing the varied project funding, Buttigieg characterized the two grant programs as "helping to build the cathedrals of American infrastructure; truly transformative projects that will change entire regions and our entire country for the better."

​By Garry Boulard

The practice of construction companies donating to local bond election campaigns in Arizona may soon be significantly limited, if a state legislator has anything to do with it.

Republican Representative Laurin Hendrix has introduced a bill that would put a cap on donations of more than $1,000 for companies contributing to any election where a bond with a dollar worth of more than $25 million is on the ballot.

That legislation, officially called HB 2088, sets limits on such contributions "made by specified individuals or organizations in support of a bond," according to an analysis of the bill presented by the Arizona House of Representatives.

Any contractor contribution above the $1,000 level, continues the analysis, would automatically disqualify that contractor from bidding on a contract funded by the successful passage of the election bond.

The legislation, which is now under review in the House Rules Committee, specifically prohibits "an individual, corporation, partnership, association, or any other organization," from bidding on such contracts.

In an interview with Phoenix radio station KJZZ, Hendrix said his legislation is designed to fill a void due to an absence of conflict-of-interest laws regarding such contributions. "There's nothing unethical, nothing illegal about it," he said of such contributions currently, "because there are no rules."
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The Arizona Legislature is meeting in session until April 20.

​By Garry Boulard

Plans have been approved for the construction of 144 one- to five-bedroom rental units in Tucson in an area of the city just blocks from the main campus of the University of Arizona.

As proposed by the Birmingham, Alabama-based developer Capstone Collegiate Communities, the project, which has now won the unanimous approval of the Tucson City Council, will go up on a 1.4-acre site at the intersection of E. Speedway Boulevard and N. Euclid Avenue.

Capstone officials have said that 30 of the one-bedroom rental units will be designated as income-restricted. According to city documents, those apartments will legally remain so classified “for thirty years from the date that the workforce units are placed into service.”

The six-story complex in what is known as the West University part of town will also house up to 3,000 square feet of retail space, grilling stations, a fitness center, and lounge space.

In negotiations with the City of Tucson, Capstone agreed to purchase and relocate five historic 1920s-era houses at the site, rather than have them demolished. Those mostly Bungalow Architecture-designed structures, according to neighbors, represent a sleepier era when the West University section of the city was nearly all residential.

Transported to several empty lots near Second Avenue and First Avenue, the homes will then be updated and rented out.
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Launched in 2012, Capstone specializes in student housing, as well as multi-family and mixed-used town centers nationally. The company has had a particular presence in the South, but has also taken on projects in Albuquerque, Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, and Tempe.

​By Garry Boulard

Although labor unions have recently won headlines due to several high-profile job actions in different industries, overall membership was once more down in 2023, according to figures just released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Those figures show that nationally exactly 10% of the country’s workforce was unionized in 2023, a slight decrease from where things stood in 2022 when the number came in at 10.1%.

While that percentage represents a workforce total of just over 14.1 million people, it is still a significant drop from 1979 when just under 21 million people were part of a union.

As a percentage of the nation’s workforce, the union membership peaked at 35.1% in 1955 and has been slowly declining ever since.

According to the BLS survey, the highest rate of union membership, at 32.5%, was seen last year among public sector workers. “The highest unionization rates were among workers in education, training, and library occupations,” notes the survey, adding that some 31.9% of protective service occupations are now also unionized.

Men represent a slightly higher union membership rate at 10.5% than woman at 9.5%, while 12.6% of those aged 45 to 54 years of age made up the largest age specific union category.

The smallest membership was seen in the category of workers aged 16 to 24 years old, at 4.4%.

Statewise, Hawaii had the largest share of unionized workers at 21.9%; followed by New York at 20.7%, and the state of Washington at 18%. Lowest states: South Carolina at 1.7%, North Carolina at 2.8%, and South Dakota at 3.1%.

In the West, union membership was highest in Nevada at 11.3%. New Mexico saw a union membership of 8.8%, while Colorado and Arizona had a 6.7% and 5.5% union membership respectively.

Despite the generally low union membership rates nationally, organized labor chalked up several significant victories last year.  Around 60,000 members of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists walked off the job in July, before increased wage and percentage of streaming revenue for performers agreements were reached two months later.

In November members of the United Auto Workers returned to work after a six-week strike, securing an increase in both wages and cost of living adjustments.

In a web posting, Sean Redmond, vice president for labor policy with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said the current 10% unionized labor force represents the “lowest percentage on record,” and added that with “perhaps only one more year left in the Biden administration, what will happen is anyone’s guess, there’s not much time left for it to continue tilting the field for organized labor.”

Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO, noted, however, that despite the historic lower percentage of workers in unions, recent public opinion surveys show that “71% of Americans support unions, the highest level in nearly 60 years, with 88% of young people showing support for unions.”
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Shuler added that she expected to see more labor representation in federal infrastructure-related jobs, as well as in both the clean energy and technology sectors.

​By Garry Boulard

Construction could begin later this spring on an ambitious project that will see the building of nearly 70 new upper end condo units on the west side of Denver.

To be called The Scene at Sloan's Lake, the project will go up at the intersection of 17th Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard and will include units ranging in size from studios to one- and two-bedroom units in a reported price range of around $450,000.

Those units will be located in three 3-story buildings fronted with balconies.

As developed by the Edgewood-based Lokal Homes, the project will go up near Sloan's Lake, a 177-acre body of water known for its abundance of wildlife that includes mallard ducks, white pelicans, and night hawks.

One of the most popular sections of the Mile High City, the Sloan Lake area in recent years has enjoyed a property boom with the median home price now somewhere between $850,000 and $1 million.
Founded twelve years ago, Lokal Homes specializes in condominium, townhome, and single family detached housing projects primarily in central and eastern Colorado.
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The company is currently in the process of securing final approval from the City of Denver before work on the Scene at Sloan's Lake can begin.

​By Garry Boulard

A limited liability company based in Wilmington, Delaware is purchasing a two-story structure in downtown Tucson as part of a larger plan to build multi-family housing.

The building is located at 1010 E. 10th Street and has for years served as the administrative home to the Tucson Unified School District. The purchase price for the structure, officially called the Robert D. Morrow Education Center, is around $17.5 million.

In agreeing to that price, members of the TUSD’s Governing Board have also endeavored to purchase the service annex building that is a part of the main campus of the University of Arizona.

That two-story structure is located at 220 W. Sixth Street, roughly a mile to the northwest of the current TUSD headquarters.

For several months reports have indicated that TUSD was open to selling its long-time administrative headquarters, popularly known as the “1010,” and in so doing avoiding having to take on an estimated $7.4 million in upgrades for a structure that is at least 60 years old.

An earlier bid for the building by the Chicago-based Up from Campus Properties, a national developer of student housing, went nowhere.
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The Tenth Street property is roughly a mile to the south of the main University of Arizona campus, in a part of the city that has witnessed a boom in new housing designed to appeal to the roughly 51,000 students attending the school.

By Garry Boulard

A recently released publication issued by the Federal Highway Administration pertaining to the content of messages appearing on traffic signs and marquees has drawn the ire of two Congressmen.

The FHWA publication, Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways, states that there should be a uniformity in the design of all highway signs that shall include “shape, dimensions, legends, letter style, border, and illumination or retro reflectivity.”

But the publication also discourages the use of any popular or humorous references on such signs, which it defines as having “obscure” or “secondary meanings.”

Such signs, says the publication, “might be misunderstood or understood only by a limited segment of road users and require greater time to process and understand.”

“Similarly,” the publication continues, “slogan-type messages and the display of statistical information should not be used.”

In a letter jointly written by Representatives Greg Stanton or Arizona and Thomas Kean, Jr., of New Jersey, the Congressmen remark: “While safety is our highest priority for our constituents traveling on our roadways, we have concerns about this guidance.”

The Representatives continue: “We agree that clear, concise signage is important; however, we believe this can be done with humor while keeping the attention of drivers on the road.”

The letter to Shailen Bhatt, Administrator of the FHWA, particularly points out that the Arizona Department of Transportation annually conducts a competition for the funniest freeway sign messages, with one of last year’s winners announcing: “I’m Just a Sign Asking a Driver to Use Turn Signals.”

The Congressmen also contend that the suggestions stated in the FHWA publication “leave no room for state-by-state discretion.”

“The expertise and oversight of the FHWA is important for highway safety,” Stanton and Kean continue. “But our States’ Department of Transportation create state-specific communications that ensure our local residents know what is happening and stay safe.”
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The Congressmen have further called upon Bhatt to explain the analysis that went into the new sign guidance, and what, if any “crash or fatality data” was used.
There has, so far, been no response from Bhatt.

​By Garry Boulard

The planned demolition of a modernist two-story structure built in 1963 in Boulder is being delayed until city officials can determine its historical status.

The building at 2111 Arapahoe Avenue belongs to the private Naropa University, an institution dedicated to Buddhist studies and learning. Naropa officials say they want to level the 5,300-square-foot structure in order to make way for a larger meditation facility space.

Naropa, which purchased the building in 1999, says that new facility would be built large enough to house classrooms, a library, and two apartments.

But members of Boulder's Landmarks Board decided to put the project on hold while a review is conducted regarding the Arapahoe Avenue building's history, architecture, and general condition.

According to city documents, the building includes "many characteristic of the Modernistic style with Meisian influences, including a rectangular, modular, symmetrical form."

The building's "vertical triangular fins not only accentuate the bold geometrics, but also are functional; they include small vertical windows," providing both light and privacy.

The structure was designed by the well-known Colorado architect William Heinzman.
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The stay of demolition is in effect until March 7, by which time the Landmarks Board is expected to make a final determination regarding the building.

By Garry Boulard

Work may begin later this year on a new 56,000-square-foot facility that will be a part of the internationally acclaimed Georgia O'Keefe Museum in Santa Fe.

The main museum, which was opened in the summer of 1997, is located at 217 Johnson Street, and houses the extensive works of O'Keefe, who died in 1986 and is regarded as a premiere exemplar of both naturalism and modernism in her paintings.

Museum officials have long wanted to open a second museum on a one-acre site at 123 Grant Avenue, across the street from the main facility.

According to the museum's website, the Johnson Street facility is no longer large enough to adequately store and care for the O'Keefe collection, which includes up to 140 oil paintings and 120 watercolors, not to mention thousands of photographs.

The new exhibition space will also be designed to showcase the works of other artists.

Members of the city's Historic Districts Review Board have now given a unanimous approval to what is expected to be a $75 million project. That approval came despite the objections of staff who said the project as proposed fell short of some city codes.

According to the Santa Fe Reporter, museum director Cody Hartley commented that the objective all along has been to "build or create an iconic building worthy of our namesake artist and worthy of our community."

The construction of the new facility will first require the demolition of a building that for nearly half a century, from 1941 to the early 1990s, housed a Safeway grocery store, but in recent years has served as an education annex for the museum.
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The demolition of that structure is expected to begin later this spring.

​By Garry Boulard