Opened in 1979, the Helen Bonfills Theater Complex in downtown Denver is actually a combination of four performing art spaces given over to Broadway shows, independent films, and Shakespearean productions.
Now, one of those spaces, officially called The Stage, is slated for extensive upgrading that will see the construction of a new observation booth, and the renovation of dressing rooms, green rooms, and storage space. The project, to be funded by some $6 million in Denver General Obligation Funds approved by voters last November, is among an initial list of transportation, medical facility, library, park, and cultural institution projects that those bonds will pay for. Altogether, individual projects with a combined price tag of $193 million have now been announced by the City of Denver’s Public Works Department. That list is now on its way to the Denver City Council for final approval. With a lobby distinguished by its glass walls and roof, the Bonfills facility has been described by the New York Times as “one of the most remarkable performing art centers any American city of any size has managed to construct.” By Garry Boulard
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More startup companies are entering the construction business than ever before, accounting for $581 million in new investment last year, according to the business analysis site Crunchbase.
In a report compiled by Crunchbase analyst Mary Ann Azevedo entitled Startups Poised to Disrupt the Construction Industry, such operations are focused “strictly on developing technologies to make construction projects go more smoothly, while increasing productivity and efficiencies.” That number is dramatically up from just five years ago, when total North American investment came in at $182 million, accounting for an almost unheard-of 318 percent increase during that same period of time. Crunchbase also records that startup operations have entered every aspect of the building industry, from development and design to actual construction. The San Francisco-based Crunchbase was founded in 2007 and keeps track of not just new startup companies nationally and internationally, but where their funding and investment is coming from. That $581 million represents nearly 150 individual deals, a number that has also increased from less than 50 in 2013 to just over 125 in 2015. The startups, usually smaller than typical construction companies and often focused on delivering a single service, are additionally expected to enjoy continued growth for the rest of 2018 and beyond. The only cloud in the sky for such new operations could be a slowdown or decline in the national construction industry. “But as construction companies continue to boom,” notes Azevedo, “the need for startups to help increase efficiency and productivity should continue to grow as well.” By Garry Boulard A long-broiling dispute between the Arizona Diamondbacks baseball team and Maricopa County has come to an end, thanks to a vote of the county’s Board of Supervisors. In turn, that vote will allow the team to pursue the possibility of building a new stadium. The Diamondbacks have been playing at Chase Field, located at 401 E. Jefferson Street, since 1998. But the team has for several years been unsatisfied with the condition of that stadium, going to court in 2017 in an attempt to break their 30-year lease. The Diamondbacks had argued that Maricopa County, the owners of Chase Field, had failed to put aside enough money to keep the stadium up to date. As part of their lawsuit, the team demanded up to $187 million in facility upgrades. In response, Maricopa County said it was prepared to pay for structural repairs costing far less than that figure, but refused to pay for what were described as cosmetic upgrades. Last summer, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Karen Mullins ordered the team and county to enter into private mediation in the hope of resolving their differences. That mediation has at last produced an agreement that will now also allow the Diamondbacks to find another home and move out of Chase Field by 2022. The team has previously explored either locating to, or building, a new stadium in the cities of Chandler, Glendale, Phoenix and Mesa. In return, the team has agreed to drop its $187 million stadium upgrade demands. While the Diamondbacks are now free to explore the possibility of building a new facility, the team will also undertake a series of Chase Field upgrades, including updating the stadium’s air conditioning system and putting in a new scoreboard. By Garry Boulard One of the oldest hotels in Denver’s Five Points neighborhood could soon be seeing an extensive upgrading that will add to its square footage and create both new restaurant and lounge space.
The Rossonian Hotel was built in 1912 and in its prime hosted such music legends as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Billie Holiday. Located at the southwest corner of 27th and Weldon Street, the triangular-shaped brick building was officially added to the National Register of Historic Places list in 1995. The Rossonian, in a neighborhood that was once known as the “Harlem of the West,” went into decline in the 1970s as Five Points residents moved to other parts of the city, finally entering foreclosure some two decades ago after an earlier attempt to renovate it came to nothing. But now, the Denver-based Palisade Partners, which purchased the property last summer for around $6 million, wants to bring the hotel back to life adding a new fourth story floor with seven rooms, and basement jazz club. A ground floor combined bar and eatery will be called Chauncey’s in honor of project partner and Denver Nuggets basketball star Chauncey Billups. Craine Architecture of Denver is the announced designer for the Rossonian upgrade. The project is currently being reviewed by the City of Denver’s Landmark Preservation Commission, as well as the Denver Community Planning and Development Department. By Garry Boulard Up to $117 million has been approved in a Congressional subcommittee to enhance the security of the nation’s electric grid.
That money is folded into the much larger $44.7 billion Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations bill, which is now before the House Appropriations Committee. The legislation, designed to also fund environmental cleanup initiatives and the continued operations of the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, increases electric grid security spending by more than $41 million over fiscal year 2018 in an ongoing effort to protect the nation’s energy infrastructure from cyber attacks. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is also seeing a funding increase of some $451 million over last year, for a total budget of $7.2 billion. Of that amount, $3.3 billion will go to the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund, as well as a variety of navigation studies and projects. More than $2 billion will go for flood and storm damage reduction activities, an increase of some $190 million over fiscal year 2018. House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen of New Jersey lauded the legislation, noting that it “makes important investments in our water and power infrastructure that will help our economy grow and provide a platform on which our business, industries, and communities can thrive.” It is not yet known when the House Appropriations Committee will take a final vote on the legislation. By Garry Boulard In a move designed to explore Santa Fe’s capital investment priorities, especially as those priorities relate to public infrastructure, Mayor Alan Webber is airing the possibility of putting on this November’s ballot a $60 million general obligation bond. Stressing that the idea is not an official proposal but rather a conversation-starter, Webber, who was elected to Santa Fe’s top office in March, said such a bond could be used for a wide variety of road improvements and upgrades. The proposal, currently being reviewed by both the Finance and Public Works committees of the Santa Fe City Council, would be one of two bonds dedicated to city improvement work. A second $13 million general obligation would go specifically for city facility infrastructure. That second bond would additionally fund sustainability measures designed to advance the City of Santa Fe’s goal, officially announced in late 2014, of being carbon neutral by the year 2040. After the bond ideas have been signed off on by the two committees, they will face a possible final vote from council members in either late May or mid-June. City officials have earlier noted that Santa Fe is currently looking at up to $250 million in deferred infrastructure maintenance needs. By Garry Boulard A new middle school could become reality in Flagstaff, Arizona if voters in November approve a $75 million bond issue.
That bond would be used to pay for what will be the replacement of the Mount Elden Middle School at 3223 N. 4th Street, a facility built in 1958. Money from the bond, according to officials with the Flagstaff Unified School District, will also pay for replacing outdated technology in the district’s fifteen other schools, as well as facility maintenance and repairs. The bond, as proposed by the Flagstaff Unified School District Governing Board, which approved calling for the November election, would have a life of 6 years. According to an executive summary prepared for that board, $22.3 million would be spent on such facility projects as installing new roofs and floors, updating security, and making the buildings more American with Disabilities Act compliant. The Mount Elden Middle School replacement project has a price tag of $29.6 million; while a smaller $10.6 million will go for facility technology replacements and upgrades. School officials in a district, where the average facility is nearly 50 years old, say ongoing building upgrades are a way of life, particularly in the wake of enrollment growth that has jumped from 9,700 students three years ago, to more than 11,500 today. By Garry Boulard Responding to Trump Administration tariff increases on steel, more than 1,000 companies nationally have, as of mid-April, applied for waivers from that tariff, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.
But other companies, particularly in the construction industry, are increasingly purchasing larger than usual quantities of steel in an effort to minimize or avoid altogether the negative consequences of tariff-induced steel price jumps. That is one of the findings discussed at the Rocky Mountain Construction Summit in Broomfield, Colorado earlier this month. The steel purchasing trend, said Rich Wobbekind, speaking at the meeting, is just one of the many responses to a tariff policy that posing a level of uncertainty in today’s construction industry. Those tariff increases, predicted Wobbekind, associate dean for business at the University of Colorado at Boulder, will also negatively impact construction hiring, even in an industry that is desperate for new workers. Other speakers at the summit recommended that contractors worried about the uncertainty created by the Trump Administration’s tariff policies should hold off entering into contracts as long as possible until those policies become more clear. Short of delaying, said Jason Greeves, an associate general counsel for the M.A. Mortenson, a construction and real estate development company with offices in Denver, builders should push for exclusions in government contracts pertaining to prices and conditions. By Garry Boulard One of the oldest and most historically important private club and office spaces in downtown El Paso could be on track to an eventual renovation and restoration. Built in 1910, the Toltec Club Building at 717 E. San Antonio Avenue is regarded as a prime example of the Renaissance and Beaux Arts style designed by well-known Western architect John Huddart. El Paso businessman Alvaro Bustillos has now put in a $600,000 bid for the Toltec building, which is listed as an asset in bankruptcy reorganization proceedings pertaining to developer William Abraham. Altogether, a group of businessmen, including billionaire Paul Foster, have submitted bids worth $6.2 million to purchase twelve properties that are owned by Abraham. The structures, many of which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, are in various states of condition and, according to local preservationists, could be restored and repurposed. The bankruptcy proceedings were instituted in March by Western District of Texas Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Mott in an attempt to settle Abraham’s debts. Mott, in turn, appointed Texas attorney Ronald Ingalls as a trustee to oversee those proceedings. Ultimately, Ingalls will determine which of Abraham’s properties will be sold. Abraham and his real estate investment company, Franklin Acquisitions, owns twenty-nine properties in metro El Paso worth an estimated nearly $37 million. By Garry Boulard What will happen to one of the most visible commercial properties in Denver remains a citywide guessing game, as that property changes hands for some $10.3 million.
The Robinson Dairy at 2401 E. Sixth Avenue in central Denver has long been an iconic landmark with its 1970s-era sign featuring six arrows pushing into the sky. Zoned for light industrial use, the 6.6-acre site comprises nearly 100,000 square feet of building space that includes a food processing facility and warehouse. The company announced it was closing its doors in the summer of 2013 after Dallas-based Dean Foods, which owned the Robinson Dairy, said it was merging it with another diary brand. That signaled the end of a Colorado company that first started out as a dairy farm in 1885. Although the commercial real estate company buying the property, Central Development of Denver, has not yet revealed its plans for the site, it has been suggested that the facilities could be redeveloped as a mixed-use site or even a brewery. Business tenants at the property have leases that won’t expire until next year, at which time Central Development may announce new plans for the property. By Garry Boulard |
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