A modern and thriving 183,000 square foot office building that is part of the larger tree-lined Journal Center Plaza business park in northeast Albuquerque has been sold to an investor from another state. Listed by Collier’s International real estate, the One Sun Plaza at 100 Sun Avenue NE is a steel-framed, Class A Building with half a dozen floors. Owned by the Goodman Realty Group, the structure is notable for its three-story atrium featuring flagstone walls, wood veneer panels, limestone flooring, and stainless-steel railings. The Sun Plaza structure has for decades been a successful property, with a current tenant list that includes the Bank of Albuquerque, Modulus Architects, and the Pegasus Group, among others. Although neither the buyer of the building nor its selling price has yet been disclosed, Albuquerque Business First is reporting that Goodman Realty bought the structure for just under $16 million some 20 years ago. Launched in the early 1980s on land owned by the publishers of the Albuquerque Journal, the Journal Center Plaza from the start has been designed as a hub of research, development, and technology companies situated in a village-like, walkable setting. By Garry Boulard
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Funding has now been secured for the construction of broadband infrastructure in two separate El Paso school districts. The funding for what is being called the Cotton Valley Connect project, as spearheaded by El Paso County, amounts to $2.8 million and will provide wireless service to the Fabens Independent School District, as well as the Tornillo Independent School District. The Fabens district, which includes the town of Fabens with some 8,200 people, is located roughly 30 miles to the south of El Paso, and is made up of four schools, including one high school. The Tornillo School District has an elementary, middle, and high school, and is further to the south, serving the border town of Tornillo, with a population of around 1,600 people. Funding for the broadband project is coming out of the recently approved $1.5 trillion Bipartisan Omnibus Appropriations Bill. In announcing the passage of that legislation, Congresswoman Veronica Escobar, who represents El Paso, said in part that the funding will “address El Paso’s priorities to rebuild our infrastructure in a way that is reflective of 21st century needs.” It is thought that the new broadband will ultimately serve a combined 3,200 students from both school districts. By Garry Boulard Hispanic workers continue to make up a large and growing segment of the national construction industry’s labor force, according to a new report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. While the number of Hispanics in the country’s overall workforce is at 17.6%, their presence in the construction industry now stands at more than 30%, up from 20% two decades ago. The Hispanic numbers are particularly strong in such industry employment segments as carpentry, painting, and paperhanging, but markedly lower in construction management. Meanwhile, according to the BLS, other demographic groups are seen as underrepresented, with Africans Americans making up 11.3% of the construction workforce, although that’s a doubling of their recorded numbers in 2003. The Asian American construction workforce remains historically low at 1.8%, only slightly up from exactly 1% nearly two decades ago. White workers remain the largest represented demographic, making up around 60% of the construction industry’s labor numbers. The BLS report, Spotlight on Statistics, also shows that by far the most jobs in the building business, at 59.4%, are in construction and extraction; with the management and financial operations segment accounting for 20.4% of the industry’s national workforce. A distant third at 5.7% is made up of workers in installation, maintenance, and repair. Age-wise, the Baby Boomers remain a massive presence in the industry’s labor force, with those above 55 years of age representing nearly a quarter of all workers, up from 15.4% in 2003. The largest group, between 25 to 54 years of age, is now down to just under 68%, a drop from its peak of 75% two decades ago. Despite vigorous outreach programs on the part of many construction companies and associations, the numbers for women workers continues to lag, according to the BLS report. In 2003 there were 975,000 women workers in the industry, a number that has since increased to only 1.1 million. The numbers for men during that same time period went from 9.1 million to 9.6 million. By Garry Boulard A section of the Santa Fe City Hall may be given over to a new police substation if funding for the project is approved by the city council. The space is located on the W. Marcy Street side of the City Hall building, whose official address is 200 Lincoln Avenue. Mayor Alan Webber, in his 2023 fiscal year budget, is proposing that up to $100,000 in city funding be used to build the substation space, some six miles to the northeast of the police department’s headquarters at 2515 Camino Entrada. According to the Santa Fe New Mexican, Santa Fe Police Chief Paul Joye said the new station could be used as a hub for the police force’s downtown bike team. “We haven’t had a real presence or substation on the north side in several years,” Joye remarked, adding: “It’s something we had had discussions about quite a bit and it’s something the Mayor has really been wanting to happen.” The $100,000 requested by Webber is a small slice of a total proposed $382.8 million budget. The recommended fiscal year budget for the Police Department amounts to $33.4 million, an increase of 21% in the last four years. That budget additionally includes $1.1 million for new police car, body, and evidence cameras, as well as new management software. The Santa Fe Police Department formerly operated a small one-story substation at 1030 W. Alameda Street, about two miles to the west of the City Hall. By Garry Boulard Plans are underway to renovate and repurpose a nearly 90-year-old building that once housed a Sinclair Oil gas station in downtown Santa Fe. Located at the intersection of Washington Avenue and E. Marcy Street, the one-story structure was part of one of the most popular gas station chains in New Mexico and the larger West. Officials with the Los Poblanos Historic Inn & Organic Farm, based in the nearby Village of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, say they want to convert the 2,100 square foot structure, along with an adjoining 304 square foot structure facing Marcy Street, into a store that will stock the farm’s bath salts, hand lotions, and candle products. The facility will also house a tasting room for Los Poblanos’ new gin line. The Sinclair Oil gas station, which was opened in 1937, later became a Gulf outlet, before being converted into office space in the mid-1990s for what would prove to be a series of banks. The last business at the site was the U.S Bank, which ceased operations there early last year. Sinclair stations built in the 1920s and 30s have long been valued by preservationists and historians for their intricate Art Deco architectural details, with many such existing structures today listed on the National Register of Historic Places. By Garry Boulard The nation’s remodeling industry has shown signs of resilience in the first quarter of this year, despite supply chain and inflation issues, according to a new survey released by the National Association of Home Builders. Using what is called a Remodeling Market Index, the survey reveals an overall healthy industry posting of 86, with any number above 50 indicating that respondents view conditions as more good than bad. Done in conjunction with the Columbus, Ohio-based Westlake Royal Building Products company, the Remodeling Index shows a higher business reading at 89 for large remodeling projects with a dollar value of more than $50,000, an increase of four points over the first quarter of 2021. Meanwhile, moderately sized remodeling projects in the $20,000 to $50,000 range dropped slightly from 90 on last year’s first quarter index to 89 in the first three months of this year. A final category for smaller remodeling projects priced at below $20,000 also declined from 92 to 90. In a statement, Robert Dietz, chief economist with the NAHB, said the latest index findings are on pace with the association’s projection of “moderate growth in the remodeling market for 2022.” Showing how much general attitudes have changed since the initial onset of Covid 19 during the first quarter of 2020, a separate part of the survey asked respondents to rate their regional market conditions. In early 2020, 58% of respondents said conditions were worse than they had been the quarter before; while in the most recent survey, only 7% indicated the same sentiment. While those saying things had gotten better in the last quarter were down to 21% from a high of 41% when the economy first began to open in early 2021, respondents saying conditions were “about the same” since late last year stood at 72%, indicating a market stabilization. By Garry Boulard Renovation of a multi-use terminal at the Las Cruces International Airport may be in the offing if the city proves successful in securing new Federal Aviation Administration funding. For years city officials have talked about upgrading aspects of the airport, located at 8990 Zia Boulevard, especially as plans have firmed up to resume commercial passenger service at the facility. Now the city, as authorized by a recent vote of the Las Cruces City Council, is applying for grant from the FAA to the tune of nearly $12 million to modernize its main terminal structure. If approved, that grant would come through the FAA’s recently launched Airport and Tower Program and will require local matching funds of around $625,000. The match will be made up of funding from the New Mexico Department’s Aviation Division as well as other state sources. As planned, airport officials would like to see the building of a checkpoint space in the terminal to be used by the Transportation Security Administration, as well a new waiting area. The Airport and Tower Program was created through the Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act, which was passed late last year. The program, targeting the upgrading and modernization of airport terminals, offers a total of around $1 billion in grants for airport facility upgrade projects nationally for fiscal year 2022. The airport at Las Cruces has recently undertaken a series of upgrade and modernization initiatives including the building of an 8-foot perimeter fence measuring five miles, runway and taxiway resurfacing, and the replacement of a parking lot at the general aviation terminal. By Garry Boulard Four months after the Mayor of Yuma, Arizona declared a state of emergency, state lawmakers may cast a final vote on legislation calling for enhanced funding to fill in border wall gaps. Mayor Douglas Nicholls in December said he was declaring the local emergency due to the number of migrants crossing the border at Yuma, which local officials pegged at around 6,000 people a day. At the time of the Mayor’s announcement, his office released a statement noting: “Migrants are passing on foot through active agricultural fields.” The statement, in part, continued: “The encroachment on active production fields results in food safety concerns and the destruction of crops.” Nicholls specifically asked for both federal and state funding to fill in some 52 wall gaps of varying sizes, equal to around seven miles. Local officials have since expressed additionally concerns about a new rise in migrant crossings at Yuma once a public health rule called Title 42 expires on May 23. That rule, originally enacted as part of the Public Health Service Act of 1944, has made it possible to turn away any migrant without an asylum case hearing. In February members of the Arizona State Senate voted to allocate some $700 million in state funds for the maintenance and closing of any gaps in the border fencing. The House of Representatives, at the same time, approved a significantly smaller $150 million for the same effort. A final vote on the matter has not yet been taken, with the legislature set to wrap up its session on April 23. By Garry Boulard The cost of diesel fuel, on track with many other construction industry expenses, saw a 20% increase in the last month, according to new figures just released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. While that double-digit jump is by any means significant, the real increase is seen when the March numbers are compared to where things stood exactly a year ago. According to the BLS, diesel fuel prices are now up by 64% from where they were in March of 2021. The BLS survey shows similar and almost unprecedented increases for a variety of goods, with steel mill products up by 43% over a year ago; plastic construction products up by 35%; and lumber and plywood seeing a 21% jump. The diesel prices were up in all sections of the country, according to a survey published by the federal Energy Information Administration. The EIA is also forecasting that diesel prices increase significantly in early summer. In its Summer Fuels Outlook report, the EIA notes that consumption of diesel, as well as gasoline, “typically peaks during the summer months.” The report adds: “Heading into this summer, economic recovery from the Covid 19 pandemic and increased levels of geopolitical risk have driven up petroleum market prices and volatility.” Supply challenges, meanwhile, are in many ways dependent upon a “wide range of possible outcomes for the production and availability of Russian crude oil.” According to the American Trucking Association, more than half the cost of a gallon of diesel is attributed to the price of crude, adding that while those prices are currently just over $100 a barrel, they are expected to reach $185 per barrel later this year. By Garry Boulard Located at the intersection of N. Front Street and Poplar Street in the town of Sterling, Colorado, a structure built in 1913 is up for sale. The two-story brick corner building measures just over 13,500 square feet and has for years served as a tavern, with its first floor featuring not only a custom-built bar, but also a stage and dance floor. In the last decade, the structure has been the home to the Loose Caboose bar and restaurant, preceding the Frosted Mug tavern, which closed in late 2020. The second floor of the building is given over to residential with half a dozen apartments ranging in size from one to two-bedrooms. Listed for sale with an asking price of just under $840,000 with the Windsor-based Hayden Outdoors realtors, the structure sits on a less than half-acre site and is listed as a Class C building. Like almost everywhere else in Colorado, the city of Sterling has seen its population increase in in recent years, jumping from around 11,400 two decades ago to just under 15,000 today. Sale prices for commercial structures in Sterling are generally up to a fourth less expensive than most of the rest of the Centennial State. By Garry Boulard |
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