An unusual and very large residential and commercial project, designed to resemble an Italian Tuscany village, could see infrastructure work beginning before summer. The Villages at Vigneto will go up in the city of Benson in southeast Arizona and will see at full build-out the construction of some 28,000 homes. Slated for a mostly desert area along Arizona State Route 90 just south of Interstate 10, the master-planned community will include four golf courses, a resort, commercial space, and a 40-acre park. The project, to be developed by the Scottsdale-based El Dorado Holdings, will eventually span more than 12,000 acres and will also include orchards, vineyards, trails, and effluent-filled lakes. Because of its size and scope, the project has met with opposition from conservationists and environmentalists who are worried about, among other things, the impact it would have on the northward-flowing San Pedro River. Several groups, including the Grand Canyon Chapter of the Sierra Club and the Lower San Pedro Watershed Alliance, have said that the groundwater needed for the development would most likely over time deplete the river. Although the U.S. Corps of Engineers announced its approval of a water permit for the project last November, a host of environmental groups have now filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Tucson. That lawsuit charges that the Army Corps, in failing to undertake a comprehensive environmental analysis of the entire project site, violated both the Clean Water Act as well as the National Environmental Protection Act. Despite the litigation, reports indicate that road, water line, and sewer work on the big project could begin sometime this summer, with actual home construction starting next year. By Garry Boulard
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A project that could see the construction of 65 apartment units geared especially for artists and low-income residents has secured a renewed vote of confidence from the Santa Fe City Council. What is being called Siler Yard Arts + Creativity Center would go up on a site owned by the City of Santa Fe that was once the home to the Siler Road Treatment Plant. That facility, built in 1963, has been decommissioned for years, with the site itself, some 4 miles to the southwest of downtown Santa Fe, categorized as a blighted brownfield. As proposed by the New Mexico Inter-Faith Housing Corporation, a group concerned with the development and management of affordable housing projects, the center would have apartment space on a sliding scale ranging from just under $400 to around $1,100 a month for lower income residents. But it would also house classrooms and work space for artists, many of whom are in need of affordable housing. Renderings of the site show a project with a series of two and-three-story buildings laid out in a neighborhood setting on tree-lined blocks. The project will also include a net-zero solar array and stormwater harvesting system. Altogether, the city has voted to approve more than $2 million in the cost of the land needed for the project, as well as waivers of affordable housing and development impact fees. But in order to qualify for a crucial $9 million in federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits, the project still needs the approval of the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority. By Garry Boulard Continued growth in January in construction employment contributed to a larger increase in the nation’s job picture, the federal Department of Labor is reporting. In a statement, Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta said the January job numbers were indicative of the “strength of the American economy, with 304,000 jobs added as private sector job creation continued to surge despite the partial government shutdown.” Noting that January marks the eleventh consecutive month that the national unemployment rate has been at or below 4 percent, Acosta singled out the construction, mining, transportation and warehousing sectors for leading the job growth. The Labor Department report, The Employment Situation, noted that the nation’s unemployment rate had actually marginally increased last month, with the total number of persons unemployed at 6.5 million. But, said the report, “The impact of the partial federal government shutdown contributed to the uptick in these measures.” The report additionally noted that construction employment was up by 52,000 jobs in January, with gains occurring in both the residential and non-residential sectors, which together took on more than 34,000 new workers last month. Meanwhile, both heavy and civil engineering construction was up by more than 10,000 jobs in January. Altogether, the construction industry has added more than 338,000 jobs since January of 2018. The Labor Department report also indicated that the national labor force participation rate as of last year was up to 63.2 percent, its highest number since August of 2013. Acosta predicted that as the jobs picture stabilizes in the coming months, “we are confident the nation’s economy will continue to build on the strength seen in 2018 and the first report of 2019.” The report also showed that the percentage of women in the construction job force has remained steady at 12.9 percent, compared with 12.8 percent in January 2018. By Garry Boulard Members of the El Paso County Board of Commissioners have given their approval to start the design phase of a project upgrading the county jail. That facility, officially known as the El Paso County Criminal Justice Center, is more than 30 years old and in need of modern security enhancements. Funding for the $236,000 design work will come out of a county public safety sales tax which was renewed by voters for another six-year life last November. Revenue from the tax, according to sources, makes up around $20 million of the county sheriff office’s overall $75 million budget. Located at 2739 E. Las Vegas Street, the center, say county officials, needs enhanced door security, increased camera surveillance, and upgrades of its reception desk area. The design work will be done by the DLR Group, a Colorado Springs-based architectural firm specializing in public facility work. How much the actual upgrading will cost won’t be known until the completion of the design phase. The center has an inmate capacity of 1,700, but has been on occasion over that number. By Garry Boulard In a part of Denver that has seen a significant amount of new office and business construction in recent years, plans have been announced for the construction of a new 20-story mixed-use hotel project. To be developed by the Denver-based Stonebridge Companies, the project will go up in the 4800 block of S. Quebec Street, and will include both office and retail space. A request on the part of Stonebridge to change the zoning for the site to “urban center, mixed use,” has now been approved by members of the Denver City Council. A hotel built in 1995 and branded as an Extended Stay America will be demolished to make way for the new project. That location, in what is a special tax district, has caused some controversy among other businesses in the area who say that they have paid more than $33 million for such infrastructure essentials as sewers, storm drainage, and roads. Those opponents have charged that it is unfair for the Stonebridge project to come in and enjoy the benefits of such improvements in what the city officially calls a “rapidly changing transit-oriented development area.” Because the council has already approved the project, based on the recommendations of city’s planning department, it is not certain what steps its detractors can take at this point to stop it. Stonebridge has developed a number of similar projects across the country, with a focus on the West. By Garry Boulard In a move to strengthen what he calls a “Buy American” campaign, President Trump has signed an executive order requiring that products be purchased in the U.S. for federally-supported infrastructure projects. More than two dozen federal agencies yearly hand out in excess of $700 billion in funding for such projects. In a statement, Peter Navarro, an adviser to the President, said the idea behind the Strengthening Buy-American Preferences for Infrastructure Projects order is to promote U.S. manufacturing jobs. Navarro added that the order is specific to cases where “the Department of Transportation spends money directly on the construction of a road or a bridge or some other piece of infrastructure.” The White House aide additionally noted that a recent review showed that such rules in 2016 were not applied in 200 out of some 265 federally-funded projects, a loss to U.S. manufacturers of around $45 million. The order specifically states that “all manufacturing processes, from the initial melting stage through the application of coatings” for iron and steel products, must take place inside the U.S. The administration move is an extension of an earlier executive order issued by the President in April of 2017. By Garry Boulard Members of the Navajo Nation Council have voted to send to the state legislatures of Arizona and New Mexico funding requests for a series of capital outlay and infrastructure initiatives. The council, meeting in Window Rock, Arizona, additionally voted to approve requests for the backing of public safety, gaming, roads, and economic development projects, among other issues. The funding request for New Mexico lawmakers, if approved, could see the construction of new police facilities in Shiprock and Tse Bonito, both in northeast New Mexico. The Navajo priorities for the Arizona legislators include asking lawmakers to oppose all forms of gaming expansion that might harm Navajo gaming, while increasing the Navajo Nation’s portion of revenue coming out of the Arizona Fuel Excise Tax. The council vote approving the funding priorities for the two states reaffirms an earlier list of priorities approved by the 24-member council last November. Members of the council met with New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham late last month and additionally expressed concerns about what is known as Executive Order #2013-006, which was signed into law by former Governor Susana Martinez. That order, designed to provide a more careful monitoring of the capital outlay process, including determining whether a grantee has in place adequate accounting methods, has lengthened the time during which tribes in the state secure state backing for projects. Council Delegate Mark Freeland told Governor Lujan Grisham that the Navajo Nation is in a position to complete a number of projects that need state funding. Getting rid of the executive order, he added, “cuts the red tape for us to maximize our funding and it streamlines the process to complete our capital outlay projects.” By Garry Boulard A series of community input meetings conducted by the Colorado Springs-based Colorado College has confirmed one thing: a planned new hockey arena will be both big and expensive. In hosting various meetings with neighbors and members of the four-year school community, Colorado College has emphasized its desire to hear from those who are not a part of the official planning process. “A key component of the design and planning process for the arena includes engaging surrounding neighborhoods and the broader community in meaningful dialogue about the project,” the college says on its project website. A part of Colorado Spring’s ambitious City for Champions initiative, which is seeing the construction of a number of facilities designed to increase tourist revenue, the new arena will replace the existing Broadmoor World Arena, providing a permanent home to the school’s Tigers ice hockey team. Funding for the new arena is coming from a variety of sources, but most importantly Edward J. Robson, a former Colorado College student and hockey player who is today one of the most successful developers of adult communities in the West. Robson has donated $21 million for the construction of what is expected to ultimately be a $40 million facility. Work will most likely begin on the new arena later this year. By Garry Boulard Although capital outlay requests by individual lawmakers in the New Mexico State Legislature are published on the legislature’s official website, they do not show everything that may have taken place in the process. Now a bill, presented by several members in the House, calls for all projects included in successful capital outlay legislation to show the amount of funding provided by the project sponsor, whether by a lawmaker or the governor, and the amount of funding that would have been provided for a vetoed project. Sponsored by Representatives Natalie Figueroa, Joy Garratt and Matthew McQueen, the legislation was introduced in the House on January 17, with a companion bill presented in the Senate on January 20. The fate of either piece of legislation in this, the early days of the 2019 session, is unknown. But the Santa Fe-based Think New Mexico, a public policy group devoted to making government more cost-effective, has saluted the effort saying that it will bring “transparency to the state’s process for funding public infrastructure projects.” In its website, Think New Mexico adds: “We believe that since projects are funded with public taxpayer dollars, the public should have the right to know how the legislators are choosing to spend them.” If passed, the Legislative Council Service would be tasked with recording the additional capital outlay information onto the legislature’s existing database. By Garry Boulard In yet another move to expand its brand, the Caesars Entertainment Corporation has announced plans to build a new 11-story hotel in downtown Scottsdale. The project will mark the first time that the Paradise, Nevada-based diversified gaming company has built a hotel without an accompanying casino. In announcing the new hotel, which will house 266 luxury rooms, Mark Frissora, the chief executive officer of the Caesars Corporation, said the project represents “the introduction of a new world-class brand and further progress on our strategy to expand our non-gaming business into premier destinations.” The Scottsdale hotel, to include a 7,000 square-foot ballroom and fitness center as well as a rooftop bar and swimming pool, will be built adjacent to the upscale Scottsdale Fashion Square. The fact of the shopping mall’s close presence is figuring into the promotions for the new hotel, where it is noted that the popular shopping destination is only a few steps away from any of the hotel rooms. To be developed by the Bronson, Missouri-based HCW Development, the new hotel will have a mostly glass exterior, with a chic interior design. Caesars Entertainment Corporation, which owns more than fifty casinos and hotels worldwide, has earlier said that it wants to build more hotel-alone properties. According to analysts, the thinking behind the move centers on the idea that visitors who enjoy a pleasant stay at a Caesars hotel will be more inclined to visit one of the corporation’s casinos in the future. The corporation, with more than $6 billion in revenues during the first nine months of 2018, began construction last summer on a 550,000 square foot, $375 million conference center in Las Vegas. Work on the new Scottsdale hotel is expected to begin later this year, with an anticipated early 2021 opening. By Garry Boulard |
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