A project that would take wastewater and convert it into non-potable water usage is still very much in the planning stage in Albuquerque. But members of the New Mexico State Legislature this winter voted to approve a portion of the preliminary design funding needed to get the water treatment plant built. The project belongs to the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority and will go up on a 4.5-acre site near the intersection of Coors Boulevard and Montano Road. The project is part of the ABCWUA's 100-year plan which places an emphasis on water reuse for the growing west side of the Duke City. According to a report compiled by the department called Water Reuse--The Wave of the Future, the new facility, once built, has the potential of diverting up to "seven million gallons of wastewater daily" for use on parks and golf courses. Excess water, meanwhile, will be "treated to regulatory standards" and discharged into the Rio Grande. It is thought that it may ultimately cost as much as $300 million to build out what is being called the Bosque/West Side Water Reclamation Plant. ABCWUA officials have earlier intimated that construction of the project could be funded through bonds. By Garry Boulard
0 Comments
African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Asian Americans have increasingly been purchasing homes across the country, leading to record homeownership rates for the three demographic groups, according to new study. In the Snapshot of Race and Home Buying in America, published by the National Association of Realtors, it is noted that 44.1% of African Americans in the country as of the end of 2022 owned a home. Hispanic Americans, meanwhile, saw a home ownership rate of 51.1%. But the numbers were strongest among Asian Americans, with an unprecedented 63.3% ownership rate. According to a press release issued by the NAR, overall homeownership rates for everyone have shown a marked increase from 63.9% in 2012 to 65.2% in 2022. But the upward trend, notes the NAR, was interrupted by a decline in the year 2021, “influenced mostly by challenging housing affordability and inventory conditions.” While the homeownership numbers for people of color is worthy of celebration, said Jessica Lautz, NAR vice president of research, “the pathway into homeownership remains arduous for minority buyers.” Added Lautz, in a statement: “The impacts of housing affordability and limited inventory are more extreme for minority buyers, because more than half are first-time buyers who must rely on down payment sources beyond gained housing equity.” Says the NAR report: “Given the substantial role homeownership plays in wealth creation, the disparities in homeownership rates are a matter of significant concern.” Overall, whites continue to comprise the greatest number of homeowners nationally, increasing from 69.2% in 2012 to 72.3% a decade later. The Asian numbers grew from 57.2% to 63.3%, with Hispanic ownership seeing an increase at roughly the same rate, from 45.7% to 51.1%. While black homeownership has been lower at 44.1% in 2022, the rate has nonetheless improved from around 41% in 2016. South Carolina and Hawaii had the highest Asian homeownership rates at 74%, with the lowest rates at 28% in North Dakota. Hispanic homeownership rates were the highest in New Mexico at 71%, and lowest in New York at 28%. African American homeownership rates were strongest in Mississippi at 57%, and lowest in both North Dakota and Wyoming at 19%. White homeownership rates ranged from 83% in Delaware to a low of 59% in Hawaii. The price range that would-be homeowners can afford was also distinguished by their demographic group, with whites comfortable in a $120,000 to $427,000 range, and Asians placing in the $49,000 to $413,000 range. Hispanic Americans tended to purchase in the $125,000 to $352,000 range; while African American home purchase ranges ran from $74,000 to $269,000. By Garry Boulard One of the classic downtown El Paso retail buildings, and nearly 150 years old, is now on the market with an asking price of $3.1 million. The three-story grandly designed building is located between 400 and 406 S. El Paso Street and measures around 21,000 square feet. For generations of El Pasoans, the structure is particularly remembered as the home of Holland’s Department Store, which was in operation from 1960 to its closing in 1998. The three-story structure, which is designated as a Class B building, underwent a significant multi-year renovation that was finally completed by the fall of 2005. That renovation saw the building of a modern interior and refurbishment of its red brick and detailed façade. The second floor of the structure, once also largely used for retail purposes, offers 500 square feet of modern office space and floor to ceiling windows. The third floor is described in a listing as having “8,500 square feet of leasable space.” The building originally served, in the 1880s, as El Paso County’s first headquarters. In later decade it housed the Texas Furniture Company. The listing is being offered by El Paso realtor Gil Holland. By Garry Boulard A well-travelled route in southern New Mexico that runs from the Texas border heading west to the city of San Antonio, is now in line for big state funding for a refurbishment project. U.S. Route 380 actually begins just to the northeast of Dallas, Texas, but its New Mexico section runs around 240 miles from Texas to an intersection with Interstate 25 just to the south of Socorro. A throughway established nearly a century ago, Route 380, which runs through Chaves and Lea counties, is mostly two-lanes slicing through a desert swath of the state, except near the city of Tatum, where for a section it becomes a multi-lane road. A portion of Route 380 is made up of the Billy the Kid National Scenic Byway, a trail once said to be used by the outlaw otherwise known as William Bonney. According to the New Mexico Department of Transportation, Route 380, which sometimes sees traffic backups, has long been in need of an upgrade. This month members of the New Mexico State Legislature voted to approve some $350 million in funding for work on Route 380. The project will see a general improvement of pavement conditions, along with the building of passing lanes along three separate sections of the route. According to an analysis compiled by the Legislative Finance Committee, those three segments comprise just over 16 miles altogether. The House Bill 153 legislation asking for funding for the Route 380 project was co-sponsored by five New Mexico lawmakers. The state's Transportation Department has earlier stated that it would like to see the project put out to bid by this coming August. By Garry Boulard Declining inflation and a robust job market are two guiding stars indicating a healthy economy that is expected to extend through the rest of the year, according to a new National Association for Business Economics survey. The survey additionally predicts that the country's gross domestic product will likely increase by 2.2% in the months to come, which is a greater growth rate than the group had forecast in late 2023. The Washington-based group, comprising the largest association of economists, strategists, and policymakers in the world, is also forecasting a 3.9% national unemployment rate for 2024, below an earlier forecast of 4.2%. The NABE findings reveal a "sharply revised" upward forecast, said Ellen Zentner, president of the group, reflecting "upward revisions to key sectors of the economy." Another promising sign: the group is predicting a decline in the Consumer Price Index to 2.4%, compared to last year's 4.1%. That number looks particularly good considering that in 2022 the CPI came in at 8%. In its survey report, the NABE remarked: "Based on comments from Fed officials this week, we now expect the Fed to wait until June to begin cutting interest rates. " The report continued: "Moreover, when it does begin to loosen policy, we expect that the Fed will initially adopt a gradual approach, with the intention of cutting at every other meeting." When and if a recession is likely to occur appears to be an elusive thing to the NABE thinkers, with 24% of the survey's respondents saying that downturn is going on right now, and another 22% forecasting a recession for 2025. But the largest response, at 36%, said they expected to see a recession in "2026 or later." Overall, the NABE experts are "more optimistic about the outlook for the domestic economy," said Sam Khater, the group's policy survey chairman. But Khater, in a statement, added that those same experts "have increasing concerns on the balance of risks around monetary policy that is 'too restrictive' versus a fiscal policy that is 'too stimulative.'" By Garry Boulard A bill is being reviewed in the Colorado State Legislature that would allow for the construction of apartments buildings with only a single stairway. As proposed by Democrat Representative Alex Valdez, the legislation will require local county commission boards to "allow up to 5 stories of a multifamily residential building to be served by a single exit." House Bill 24-1239 would, in effect, allow for the creation of denser development, and in so doing, encourage more housing construction, contends its supporters. Apartment building construction in Colorado, as in many other states, has largely been a tale of one- and two-story projects that in their horizontal footprint take up more land. Valdez's legislation is designed to create more vertical structures taking up less land. A point of view published late last year by the American Institute of Architects argued that single stairway buildings "promote fine grained infill housing on currently underutilized lots." The essay noted that just in Denver alone there are some 10,000 small and narrow lots that could be "conducive for taller single stair buildings, unlocking these sites for future homes for residents of the city." The Colorado bill, which has received a good deal of media attention, has sparked the opposition of the Fire Marshall's Association of Colorado, which contends that the legislation is too broadly drawn and could apply to a variety of other building types. Various locations around the country have increasingly looked at single stair structures as an answer to the need for new housing construction, repealing previous codes mandating that structures with more than two floors must have at least two stairways. Valdez's bill is now being reviewed in the House Transportation, Housing & Local Government Committee. By Garry Boulard Plans may soon be developed to build a new multi-use sports park that will go up nearly 20 miles to the southeast of El Paso. Members of the Socorro City Council have given their unanimous approval to putting together an action plan that will lead to the building of a baseball and softball instructional space with both outdoor and indoor fields. The project could also see the building of a sporting goods shop. The proposal has been advanced by a company called D-Bat, which operates nearly 150 baseball and softball training facilities throughout the country, particularly in Texas and the South. Launched in 1998 in Addison, Texas, D-Bat is known locally for its 16,000-square-foot facility at 8455 Grand Vista Drive in El Paso. The company reportedly saw more than $1.3 million in revenue last year. As envisioned, the Socorro facility will be built to National Collegiate Athletic Association standards. Manny Medina, general manager for the D-Bat facility in El Paso, told Socorro council members that the proposed facility could make Soccoro the "mega of sports, the mega of tradition." By Garry Boulard A petition has been sent to the White House from four industry groups asking for a clarification of the Biden Administration’s “made in America” construction products and materials requirements. Those requirements as part of the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act were originally designed to make the U.S. less reliant on materials manufactured in other countries. By so doing, said Biden, the requirements would spur domestic manufacturing resulting in “tens of thousands of good-paying jobs and clean energy manufacturing jobs.” Employment, Biden continued, would be spurred in solar factories in the Midwest and South, wind farms in the West, and clean hydrogen projects everywhere else, “all across America, every part of America.” While the aim of the Biden requirement is laudable, say the industry groups, the Office of Management and Budget’s focus on managing every aspect of the initiative “is not practical and causes confusion and delay with the federal agencies that fund construction projects.” The letter, which was jointly sent by the American Public Transportation Association, the American Road & Transportation Builders Association, the Associated General Contractors of America, and the National Association of Home Builders, was particularly critical of what it calls “continued uncertainty surrounding the waiver process.” Although the Office of Management and Budget has a 15-day target for waiver reviews, “the process often proves to be lengthy and unpredictable,” leading to “bureaucratic inertia.” The industry groups are asking for swifter waivers in a time of "record number of projects utilizing federal funding, short-term deficiencies in domestic manufacturing capabilities, increased materials costs and unpredictable lead times for key components.” The Office of Management and Budget has not yet responded to the groups' petition. By Garry Boulard A spacious residential compound, reflecting ever-increasing property values in west central Colorado, is scheduled to go to auction on March 7. Located to the direct south of Aspen, the property at 2400 Casteel Creek Road, includes two separate residences on a wooded site of some 56 acres. Built in 2001, the buildings on the site house 12 bedrooms and just under two dozen bathrooms, partly comprising a structural footprint of just over 38,200 square feet. The property, which is just to the east of the Aspen Highlands Ski Resort, also includes a turf field, trout-stocked pond, and landscaped walking trails. The direct Aspen area, once the home of the famous Colorado Silver Boom of the mid-19th century, has witnessed a non-stop boom since its development as a ski resort destination. According to the site Realtor.com, the average median home price listing in Aspen as of January was at $2.2 million. That $2.2 million figure is up from $1.5 million at this same time two years ago. The Castell Creek Road has previously been listed on the open market for $45 million. The March 7 auction will be conducted by the New York-based Concierge Auctions in conjunction with LIV Sotheby’s International Realty, which has offices throughout Colorado. By Garry Boulard At least one new school will be built, and several upgraded, if voters in a northwest El Paso school district approve a $387 million bond this coming May. Members of the Canutillo Independent School District's board of trustees have voted to put on the ballot a question that, if passed, will fund the construction of the Northwest Early College High School, as well as taking on heating and cooling upgrades to all of the district's schools. Additional facility work will see the installation of new roofs and building security updates. The projects were proposed after months of study by a district facility advisory task force, with an emphasis being placed on shifting schools from one place to another in order to accommodate ongoing population trends. The district, which was created in 1959, currently has two high schools, two middle schools, and half a dozen elementary schools. The Canutillo district has a current enrollment of around 6,000 students, which has remained largely static in recent years. But a report put together three years ago by the Irvine, California-based Cooperative Strategies firm has envisioned an increase to more than 7,000 students by the end of the decade. At the time of its founding the district had less than 900 students. Although a recent community survey referenced by the task force indicated that just over 50% of respondents were in support of a new bond, voters in the district in the fall of 2021 defeated a much smaller $187 million bond by a large 65% to 35% margin. By Garry Boulard |
Get stories like these right to your inbox.
|