Construction employment is up and expected to grow substantially through 2019 in Arizona, according to a just-issued report by the state’s Office of Economic Opportunity.
Employment in most sectors of the state, but particularly in the construction, health care, and utilities industry, will account for the addition of at least 153,000 new jobs by the end of next year. Hit particularly hard during the Great Recession, Arizona’s construction industry began to see new life around 2014 and 2015. But the latest Economic Opportunity Office report indicates that just in the building business alone jobs are now up by more than 12,000 in early 2018 over January of the previous year. Those construction jobs are being seen in all segments of the industry, from road building to new home and office construction. The number of building permits in the state has also seen a marked increase from under 1,000 per month in 2010 to more than 3,500 a month now. Altogether, total employment in just the construction industry alone in Arizona today is just short of the 149,000 mark. Despite the growing construction job numbers, it is the health care industry in Arizona that is currently the most robust, adding 14,400 new jobs in the last year. Arizona’s Great Recession job loss was among the most severe in the country. In the summer of 2009 the industry made history, recording a 60 percent decline in jobs. By Garry Boulard
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Responding to a robust tourist trade, a casino developer and operator has announced plans to renovate a historic hotel in Cripple Creek, Colorado. The Las Vegas-based Full House Resorts, Inc says it is purchasing the 19th century red brick Imperial Hotel in downtown Cripple Creek, and intends to fully renovate and upgrade the historic three-story structure. Full House Resorts also intends to expand its popular Bronco Billy’s Casino and Hotel, as well as building a parking garage with enough spaces for just under 300 vehicles. The combined projects will be funded in part through a $12.5 million sale of Full House Resort’s common stock. In a statement, Full House said phase one of the development will include the purchase of the Imperial Hotel as well as several parcels of land adjacent to Bronco Billy’s. The first phase will also see construction of the parking garage. Phase two will include the refurbishment of both the Imperial Hotel and the casino. With a population of just over 1,000 people and half a dozen casinos, Cripple Creek has seen its economy boom since local voters in 1990 legalized gaming. In the nearly two decades since that vote, gaming revenue has been used to renovate many of the late 19th century structures lining downtown Cripple Creek. Full House Resorts owns and operates casinos in Indiana, Mississippi, and Nevada. By Garry Boulard A plan to build an entertainment district just west of the Dreamstyle Stadium in Albuquerque is in need of a new developer.
In late 2015 members of the University of New Mexico’s Board of Regents voted unanimously to give a green light to building a unique project that would see a combination of socializing and retail space, along with restaurants and bars, on the current site of a parking lot at University Boulevard and Avenido Cesar Chavez. In giving the project their approval, the regents entered into an agreement with the Albuquerque-based 54 Development LLC to make the district proposal a reality, ratifying an earlier approval of the Lobo Development Corporation, a nonprofit that handles the development and management of UNM real estate and facilities. But in recent months UNM officials have expressed concern about the timeline for the project, with the Lobo Development board finally voting to terminate its lease with 54 Development, saying the company had failed to submit a development plan for what is officially called the South Campus Sports and Entertainment District. The project has been plagued with delays: in early 2015, UNM and the Albuquerque-based Marble Development failed to come to an agreement on a plan for the district, prompting the regents to subsequently go with 54 Development. It was then thought that work on the project could begin as early as the first part of 2017. A target date for construction was later extended to late 2017. By Garry Boulard Non-residential construction posted a 5 percent gain, over the month before, with office construction advancing a significant 24 percent between January and February.
Those numbers, according to the most recent Dodge Data & Analytics report, were particularly fueled by such large projects as a new $600 million data center in Clarksville, Tennessee for Google LLC; and a $220 million office project in Kansas City, signaling the beginning of work on the Cerner Corporation campus there. A smaller 5 percent increase was recorded last month in new healthcare facility construction, but that figure follows a much larger 52 percent jump in January in this sector. Despite these positive numbers, new construction in the electric utility/gas plant category, along with river/harbor development work, was sharply down in February. Crunching all the numbers, the Dodge report records a 3 percent decline in new construction nationally, a number marginally better over the 2 percent posted in January. But these numbers come on the heels of a healthy 12 percent increase in December. Despite the recent downward trend, Robert Murray, chief economist for Dodge, said in a statement that projects in the public works and electric utilities category, “given their inherent volatility,” are likely to “bounce back over the next month or two.” By Garry Boulard A national medieval entertainment company with ten locations across the country has announced plans to build a new 79,000 square-foot castle and arena in Scottsdale, Arizona. Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament says it would like to see construction begin later this spring on a 10-acre site located at the Salt River Fields at Talking Stock on property within the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community. Launched in 1983, the Medieval Times company emphasizes medieval-era jousting, sword-fighting, and games, feeding into a national fascination, particularly among members of the Millennial Generation, for all things relating to the medieval European era from the 5th to the 15th century. The theater portion of the company’s offerings features elaborate costume presentations based on the story of a legendary European noble family. The typical Medieval Times sites also include a gift shop and bar. The company, which is based in Irving, Texas, currently has locations up and running in Atlanta, Chicago, and Orlando, among other cities, with the new Scottsdale project being its first in Arizona. Visiting a Medieval Times location in 2015, a reporter for the Nashville Tennessean noted: “If your brood forgets their manners, well, medieval table manners weren’t exactly up to Emily Post standards.” Guests visiting a Medieval Times castle, in fact, feast on a multi-course banquet that they eat with their fingers. Work on the Scottsdale Medieval Times site, with a planned 1,000-seat arena, is expected to be completed sometime in early or mid-2019. By Garry Boulard A series of Quonset huts built in the mid-1950s may finally be nearing their end as school officials at the Roswell campus of Eastern New Mexico University make plans for a modern $5.2 million single building replacement.
Those huts, off of East Cummings Loop on the north side of the Roswell campus, were built as a part of the then-thriving Walker Air Force Base, which ultimately was closed for budget reasons in the summer of 1967. According to school officials, those structures in recent years have been challenged with a number of environmental and safety issues. Current plans call for the new replacement steel physical plant and facilities maintenance building to measure 14,350 square feet. A construction schedule has not yet been announced. Established in 1958, the Roswell campus of NMSU has an enrollment of around 2,600 students. By Garry Boulard A move to provide more federal funding for such approaches to urban traffic congestion as the creation of mini-bus routes, multi-modal transportation centers, and off-peak hours and overnight deliveries, may be acted on soon by members of the U.S. Senate.
As proposed by North Carolina Senator Richard Burr and Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, the Moving and Fostering Innovation to Revolutionize Smarter Transportation Act will provide up to $500 million in funding for what are known as Smart City solutions. The legislation builds on the U.S. Department of Transportation’s “Smart Cities Challenge,” which was introduced in late 2015 and asked cities across the country to develop smart transportation systems to move people and goods more efficiently and cheaply. In a statement, Tim Day, the senior vice-president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Technology Engagement Center, lauded the Senate legislation, noting that “as the densification of urban populations continues, it will be vital that cities are able to more efficiently manage traffic and the services they offer citizens.” If approved by the Senate, what is being called the Moving FIRST Act will provide $100 million annually for five years to both large and small cities implementing Smart City projects. By Garry Boulard What to do with an imposing late 19th century two-story brick structure that is part of a mental health care facility in Grand Junction, Colorado remains a question complicated by plans for the patients who live at the site. Operated by the Colorado Department of Human Services, the Grand Junction Regional Center at 2800 Riverside Parkway in east Grand Junction was once the home of the Teller Institute, a Native American boarding school. Later housing a training school, the building, which is part of a larger 47-acre tree-lined campus, became the central part of the Grand Junction Regional Center in the late 1970s. That center is owned and operated by the State of Colorado and provides 24-hour care for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Because of the annual $11 million operational costs of the site, which includes more than two dozen buildings, some of which have long been vacant, plans have been in the works for several years to move the center’s residents to other locations. Now, members of the Colorado State Legislature are discussing a bill that would provide over $6 million for the construction of several community-based facilities. Those facilities would serve as the new home to the center’s current 22 residents. Colorado Department of Human Services officials say once the new facilities are constructed and the residents re-located, they can begin to focus on the future of the main Regional Center building, which is fronted by half a dozen imposing white columns and a spacious porch. It has been previously suggested that the structure could be repurposed for residential or office purposes. The funding legislation for the new community-based facilities is currently under consideration in the Colorado Legislature’s Joint Budget Committee. By Garry Boulard The next step in the massive expansion of the National Western Center in Denver has been taken with a city council vote approving the acquisition of land needed for the project.
Hosting the popular National Western Stock Show, which every January attracts up to 650,000 people for more than two weeks and features rodeos and a variety of trades shows, the Western Stock Show Association announced last year plans to undertake what has become a $765 million project that includes replacing the center’s aging arena facility. The project, to be done in two phases, will also see the construction of new offices, a medical center for horses, and a series of public plazas. The land acquired for the project includes 38 individual prices of property running off of Brighton Boulevard between 47th Street and Race Court in north Denver. Most of the those properties, in an area of town dotted with one and two-story commercial and industrial buildings, were purchased by the City of Denver. A handful have gone through the process of eminent domain. Plans currently call for work on the redevelopment to begin in the fall of 2019. By Garry Boulard According to statistics compiled by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, roughly 38 percent of all construction site deaths in 2015 were due to falls, with 9 percent the result of a worker being hit by an object, and 7 percent due to electrocutions.
Now in an effort to decrease the incidence of such accidents, the Board of Certified Safety Professionals, along with the Associated Builders and Contractors, have announced the launching of a unique joint worksite prevention project. In a Memorandum of Understanding, the two organizations say they will focus on getting the word out on effective occupational safety and health best practices, particularly through the use of both print and electronic media. There will additionally be a focus on recruiting efforts designed to encourage occupational and health technical programs at both the undergraduate and graduate level. “This agreement will provide employers and the members of the workforce with new pathways to strengthen safety, demonstrating commitment to our shared values through education, certification, and professional development,” said Linda Martin, the president of the Indianapolis-based BCSP. Founded in 1969, the BCSP is dedicated to certifying practitioners in the safety profession. Those practitioners, in turn, work with companies on reducing or greatly eliminating workplace hazards. By Garry Boulard |
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