Work is expected to start soon on the renovation of a well-known historic El Paso hotel, re-launching a project that was delayed by a 2022 fire. Members of the El Paso City Council have given their approval to a proposal that would extend and expand economic incentives to rehabilitate an apartment building in a declining condition into an upscale boutique 34-room hotel. The project will also see the rehabilitation of the building’s storefront, windows, and doors, upgraded heating and cooling systems, and space built on the first floor to accommodate a restaurant. Located at 309 E. Mills Avenue, the four-story De Soto Hotel was built in 1904 and was originally known as the Great Northern Hotel. Plans for its restoration were announced in 2021, just months before a fire destroyed the building’s roof and significantly damaged its upper floors. While city incentives for the project have been updated, the project has also become more expensive: from an initial $1.2 million, the price tag for the De Soto’s renovation has ballooned to $2.4 million primarily because of the fire repair work and an increase in the cost of building materials. According to city documents, it is thought that the hotel, once renovated and open for business, will generate around $1.9 million in revenue spread out over a 15-year incentive period. Work on the hotel is expected to begin by this spring, with an early 2024 completion date. By Garry Boulard
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Despite the failure of two large national banks, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has told members of the Senate Finance Committee that the country’s banking system remains sounds. Yellen said that “Americans can feel confident that their deposits will be there when they need them,” after both the Treasury Department and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation stepped in to announce that all deposits with the Silicon Valley Bank and the Signature Bank would be fully repaid. Late last week alarmed customers with both the Signature Bank and Silicon Valley Bank with drew millions in deposits, leading to the collapse of the two institutions. Signature is based in New York, but has locations in the West in Nevada and California. Silicon Valley Bank is based in Santa Clara, California, with offices in Tempe, Arizona and branches on both the east and west coast. Noting that ongoing federal bank fees are being used as emergency funds to repay depositors of the two banks, Yellen remarked: “Importantly, no taxpayer money is being used or put at risk with this action.” Silicon Valley Bank had invested a significant percentage of its funds in mortgage and Treasury bonds, with its overall portfolio declining in value when interest rates began to increase last year. Reports indicate that a large number of the bank’s depositors were tech companies and startups. hen word got out that the bank was in trouble, “too many people tried to withdraw their money at the same time, and the bank become insolvent,” notes the publication Business Insider. The same pattern was repeated at the Signature Bank, prompting regulators to shut it down. The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System subsequently issued a statement noting that depositors with both banks will be protected from financial losses, which are guaranteed by the FDIC for up to $250,000. The statement continued: “The U.S. banking system remains resilient and on a solid foundation.” Despite such assurances, New Mexico Senator Martin Heinrich has announced his intention to repeal legislation passed in 2018 that reduced oversight for some financial institutions. While the swift federal action is being praised by many, the Denver Post has noted other looming bank problems: “The bonds and other debt instruments banks bought when they were flooded with deposits during the pandemic are now worth much less, and realizing those losses will trigger huge write-offs at banks.” There have been slightly under 600 bank failures in the U.S. since the year 2000. While alarming, those numbers pale to 1933, at the depths of the Great Depression, when more than 4,000 banks shut down. By Garry Boulard Within weeks, work is expected to begin repurposing an existing large factory in Belen, New Mexico that will be devoted to the production of wind turbine towers. The Dallas-based Arcosa company, which specializes in the manufacture of structural wind towers among a variety of other products, says the facility is needed in order to satisfy a backlog of some $750 million in new orders. The company, also known for its telecom structures and steel and aluminum traffic structures, says the Belen factory will produce the infrastructure for a series of wind energy projects scheduled for completion throughout the southwest. Repurposing of the plant, which is surrounded mostly by desert land in the 1900 block of New Mexico State Road 304, is being supported by up to $4 million in incentives via the state’s Local Economic Development Act grants. Additionally, funding has been secured via Industrial Revenue Bonds from the City of Belen. In a statement, Antonio Carrillo, chief executive officer of Arcosa, said the Belen plant will “strengthen our position in the wind tower market,” adding that business in general is booming due to “rising demand for access to clean energy.” Arcosa is expected to invest up to $60 million both purchasing the site for its manufacturing plant, as well as modifying what used to be the Keter Plastics manufacturing plant, which closed three years ago. By Garry Boulard A bill is working its way through the Arizona State Legislature that could provide well over $300 million for rural road projects throughout the Grand Canyon State. The legislation, House Bill 2543, has now been passed by lower chamber. If finally approved and signed into law by Governor Katie Hobbs, the legislation would provide just under $1.6 million for a pavement resurfacing project in Bullhead City. Colorado City is in line to receive $1.2 million for work reconstructing two roads extending from State Route 389 to Airport Drive; while Lake Havasu City would receive more than $9 million for half a dozen pavement rehabilitation projects. The city of Clarkdale is expected to receive just over $6.3 million for the design, planning and construction of the Verde Valley Bridge project; with one of the largest allotments going to the city of Prescott at around $15.7 million for improvements to Arizona State Route 89 and the roundabout construction between Road 3 North and Road 5 North. Another big ticket item will see $6.1 million going to the city of Winslow for the development and construction of the Lindberg Parkway between State Route 87 and Interstate 40. Tribal communities will get at least $7 million for a variety of road projects. The Hopi Tribe in is line to receive a total of around $5.8 million for the reconstruction of two roads. Meanwhile, the Navajo Nation is expected to receive some $837,000 for a water crossing project; and almost $572,000 for weather information system upgrades and installations on five separate roads. The legislation is now being reviewed by the Senate Appropriations Committee. By Garry Boulard A massive office building measuring nearly 164,000 square feet in metro Denver is set to go to auction on May 1. The structure is located at 5800 S. Quebec Street in the suburbs of Greenwood Village, roughly 15 miles to the southeast of Denver. Built in 1980, the Quebec Court II is a glass-walled three-story structure sitting on just over 6 acres. It underwent an extensive renovation in 1998. Designated as a Class A building, the structure formerly served as offices for the Comcast Corporation. The auction, which is being conducted by the local offices of CRBE, will entertain a starting bid of no less than $4 million. By Garry Boulard A final determination for whether Colorado will be the permanent home to the big U.S. Space Command could be made within weeks—or maybe not. For most of the last two years, the question has been up in the air. Toward the end of his administration, President Trump determined that the force’s headquarters would be located at the U.S. Army’s Redstone Arsenal, located just outside of Huntsville, Alabama. That decision, moving the Space Force from its temporary site in Colorado Springs at the Peterson Space Force Base, prompted Colorado officials, beginning in early 2021, to revisit the Trump decision, arguing that the Peterson base was better fitted for the command. Now, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall has announced that a decision, one way or the other, will be announced “fairly soon.” Kendall made that announcement in response to a query from the site Military.com. Earlier speaking before the Air and Space Force Association’s Air Warfare Symposium held in Aurora, Kendall said, “I hoped to make a decision and make an announcement earlier,” before adding: “We’re doing some additional analysis; we want to make very sure we got this right and have a well-defended decision.” The action by the Trump Administration to locate the Space Command’s headquarters in Alabama was reviewed last summer by the Government Accounting Office, which questioned whether the correct criteria had been used in making that selection. The GAO report also identified what it called “significant shortfalls” in both transparency and credibility in the selection of the Alabama base. In the months since, a number of Colorado lawmakers have urged the Biden Administration to go with Fort Peterson. Several weeks ago, Colorado Senator Michael Bennet characterized the issue as one of urgency not just for Colorado, “but for the country as a whole and for our national security as a whole.” Looking at matters from a different perspective, Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville said he thought the Redstone Arsenal would perfectly serve the facility needs of the Space Command. But Tuberville also expressed frustration, waiting for a final decision out of the White House, and from there, through Secretary Kendall’s office. “I think they’re getting close to a decision,” Tuberville was reported to have remarked to the news site Al.com. “But who knows? It could be tomorrow. It could be this time next week, or it could be six months from now.” By Garry Boulard Plans have been announced for the construction of a three-story, 75,000 square foot structure to be built on the campus of Arizona Western College in Yuma. The building will go up as the result of a partnership between the two-year college and the Yuma Regional Medical Center to provide a wide variety of health care education with programs in behavioral health, radiologic technology, nursing, medical assistance, and medical billing and coding. The school’s partnership with the Yuma Regional Medical Center, said Arizona Western College President Daniel Corr, “is a true demonstration of what is possible when industry and advanced learning come together for the greater good of the communities we serve.” As planned, the new facility will house classrooms, offices, and a simulation lab, among other features. Besides providing medical training for the school’s students, it is hoped that the new facility will additionally serve to prevent what has been described as a “brain drain” of local students moving out of the southwest Arizona region to obtain healthcare training elsewhere. If all goes as planned, work on the new facility is expected to launch sometime next year. Located at 2020 S. Avenue 8E, Arizona Western College was founded in 1963 and currently has an enrollment of just over 8,000 students. By Garry Boulard Responding to the rapidly growing demand and use of electric vehicles, the commercial real estate services and investment firm CRBE Group, Incorporated, has announced a service designed to provide electric vehicle infrastructure advice. In a statement, Don Leeke, president GWS Sales & Solutions, which oversees CRBE’s electric vehicle service line, noted that an ongoing societal transition to electric vehicles “represents one of the most significant evolutions of transportation in many decades.” The new service will focus on assisting clients in establishing electric vehicle charging infrastructure, identifying locations, and both planning and installing such infrastructure. The new CRBE service comes as industry analysts are forecasting a double-digit increase in the electric vehicle market in the next several years. According to a recent study by the professional services network Pricewaterhouse Coopers, the electric vehicle charging network is expected to grow by tenfold just to “satisfy the charging needs of an estimated 27 million electric vehicles on the road by 2030.” The market expansion has been additionally bolstered by passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which is providing up to $7.5 billion in federal funding for the building out of a national electric vehicle charging infrastructure. By Garry Boulard A one-story building, located on the same block as the downtown Santa Fe Public Library, is on the market for $1.2 million. In recent years housing the Ecco Espresso and Gelato coffeeshop, the structure at 128 E. Marcy Street was built in 1937 and is classified as a Class B building. Measuring just over 2,200 square feet, it was formerly the home of Cheesemongers of Santa Fe, a popular cut-to-order cheese shop. The life of a building: in the 1990s, the structure was the address for the art gallery and store Editions Gallery, and before that was an office for what was once called the New Mexico State Employment Service. In a quiet part of the city dominated by one and two-story office buildings, the property is being listed by the Santa Fe-based Barker Realty. By Garry Boulard A massive bill providing more than $1.1 billion in spending has been approved in the New Mexico House of Representatives, providing funding for projects ranging from new elementary school facilities to state prison upgrades and higher education structure improvements. House Bill 505 has passed the full lower chamber by a 41 to 26 margin and is on its way to the Senate for a final vote. The all-encompassing legislation provides $65 million to be distributed to the state’s 129 public school districts for the upkeep and upgrading of both career technical education as well as pre-kindergarten facilities. Those same school districts are scheduled to be on the receiving end of some $35 million in capital outlay funds for school security improvement projects. Exactly $20 million is slated for safety, security, and deferred maintenance at the eight correctional facilities run by the state. Higher education building projects will receive $7.3 million in the legislation for the completion of an applied technologies facilities at Central New Mexico Community in Albuquerque; while $5 million will go for the construction completion of the Roosevelt Science Center at Eastern New Mexico University in Portales. The Albuquerque campus of the University of New Mexico will receive $5 million in capital outlay funding for the completion of the Comprehensive Cancer Center. Around $4.5 million will target completion of the Sininger Hall at New Mexico Highlands University in Las Vegas. In looking at the variety of projects to be funded by the legislation, and factoring in the prospect of new revenue, the Legislative Finance Committee determined that the bill “strikes a balance between need and capacity to efficiently expend funds and complete projects.” By Garry Boulard |
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