A proposal to implement a series of facility upgrades and improvements to the big University Medical Center of El Paso is currently under review. If ultimately approved by members of the El Paso County Commission, the healthcare facility located at 4815 Alameda Avenue could see up to $400 million in work. That $400 million would come in the form of certificates of obligation and would pay for such things as expanding the hospital’s emergency room and cancer center. Additional work is expected to include upgrades to the center’s ambulatory surgery services space and burn operating rooms. The proposal, as presented by the El Paso County Hospital District, also calls for the expansion of clinic services targeting residents in El Paso’s Central and Mission Valley areas, with an emphasis on geriatrics. The certificates of obligation, if ultimately given the green light by the county commission, do not by law have to go to voters for a final approval. Launched in 1915 as the El Paso General Hospital, the University Medical Center with nearly 500 licensed beds, annually sees more than 19,000 admissions. The main UMC hospital was completed in 1961, with subsequent additions providing more emergency room space undertaken in the last decade. The El Paso County Commission is expected to review hospital district’s certificates of obligation request next week. By Garry Boulard
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Around 25 miles of new walking and biking trails may be developed on the west side of the Rio Grande in Albuquerque, according to a proposal being discussed by city officials. Officially called the West Mesa Trails Plan, the proposal is designed to connect trails already in existence spanning the West Mesa, creating a single network. By design, the current and future trails slice through up to 3,800 acres of desert landscape, terrain that includes everything from parks to arroyos to ancient volcanic features. Once completed, a cohesive trail network could be used by not just by walkers and casual bikers, but also horseback riders and mountain bikers. The city has already conducted one public input meeting on the proposal in April, with plans for the next meeting scheduled for June 23 at the Don Newton-Taylor Ranch Community Center. Besides the health benefits to be gained by the use of a comprehensive trail, city officials have also noted that such a trail could provide connectivity not only between existing subdivisions, but also future ones in a part of the city that has seen its population more than double in the last two decades to its current more than 200,000. The proposal is being done in conjunction with Bernalillo County as well as the National Park Service. By Garry Boulard In a move to make buildings more carbon neutral, the federal Department of Energy has announced that it is awarding grants to the tune of $39 million for some 18 projects advancing that effort. The grants are primarily going to research work at the university level and includes just under $3.2 million in funding for the University of Colorado’s Boulder campus for a program designed to reduce the carbon footprint of cement. As planned, UC will manufacture and commercialize a cement using biogenic limestone. A second Colorado project is seeing $1.6 million in funding for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in the city of Golden. That laboratory is developing high performance carbon negative concrete using low value by-products from biofuel production. The Energy Department funding is coming through the agency’s Harnessing Emissions Into Structures Taking Inputs from the Atmosphere program. In a statement, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm remarked that there is a “huge, untapped potential in reimagining building materials and construction techniques.” Granholm added that the funded awards present “a unique opportunity for researchers to advance clean energy materials to tackle one of the hardest to decarbonize sectors that is responsible for roughly 10% of total emissions in the United States.” By Garry Boulard Officials in Prescott, Arizona are trying to find a new purpose for a one-story building that formerly served as the City Hall. The structure is part of a two-building campus located at 201 to 222 S. Cortez Street in the city’s Downtown Business District. In April of 2021, members of the Prescott City Council voted in favor of acquiring for $7.5 million a new building in which to house all the city’s administrative offices, freeing up space at the now-former City Hall as well as a second one-story structure down the block. Now that those offices have nearly all been moved into the new three-story location at 201 N. Montezuma Street, a block to the north, the City is seeking proposals for the sale and redevelopment of the former City Hall building, as well as the second public building on Cortez. Sitting on a combined site measuring just over one acre, the two structures are both solidly built and have a modern design. The former City Hall structure was completed in 1963 and measures around 20,000 square feet. The second structure was put up in 1977 and has just over 2,100 square feet. The original City Hall, built at a cost of under $300,000, is a steel frame structure made up of exterior concrete masonry and precast stone panels. The structure was designed by the firm that is today called Olson Kundig Architects. By Garry Boulard Work is expected to begin soon on a unique 25-story project that has been in the planning and development phase in Phoenix for well over a year. The company Thunderbird Legacy Development, based in Phoenix, is putting up a structure adjacent to, and over, a historic two-story building at 39 E. Jackson Street. Earlier approved by the Phoenix City Council, the project which will be called Fairmont Phoenix and will see the building of 225 hotel rooms, 34 suites, and another 151 condominium units, as well as restaurant and bar space, a café, and rooftop pool. To be branded as a Fairmont hotel and called the Fairmont Hotel and Residences Phoenix, the ambitious project is expected to cost up to $150 million to build. In combining an older, historic space with one that is entirely new, the project will have the roof as well as one outer wall of the original structure removed to become a part of the larger building. That older structure for decades has been the home to the job training group called the Arizona Opportunities Industrialization Center, which will remain in operation at the site. If all goes as expected, work will be completed on the project in early 2025. By Garry Boulard The Biden Administration has launched a new program designed to encourage job skills training in a variety of needed industries. Called the Talent Pipeline Challenge, the initiative is spurring both state and local governments to use some $800 million in funds that are a part of last year’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. In a statement released from the White House it is noted that the goal of the pipeline project is to “create and support programs that provide skills training and match workers with in-demand jobs that will be critical to completing infrastructure projects.” Training in the program will particularly focus on the workforce needs of the broadband development, construction, electric vehicle charging stations, and battery manufacturing industries. Besides the funding from the infrastructure bill, another source of support for the pipeline project is expected to come through American Rescue Program funds. “This is a nationwide call to action for employers, education and training providers, state, local, Tribal, and territorial governments, and philanthropic organization to make tangible commitments that support equitable workforce development,” the White House statement continued. By design, the pipeline program seeks to place an emphasis on both the creation and expansion of apprenticeship and skills certification programs. Training providers in the program are expected to include community colleges, industry associations, labor unions, philanthropic groups, and work centers. By Garry Boulard A massive stretch of land in north central Colorado has been purchased for nearly $31 million. The property, belonging to Rob Walton, son of the founder of the Walmart Incorporated, is located near the edge of the Roaring Ford River just outside the city of Aspen, and includes a partially built mansion. Walton, who is listed as one of the top 25 richest persons in the world, purchased the land some two decades ago for $9.1 million. The sale, according to the website Mansionglobal, comprises “one of the highest prices ever paid for undeveloped land in the upscale Colorado ski destination.” The transaction was handed by Aspen Snowmass Sotheby’s International Realty. According to news sources, new building permits for the site would have to be secured before any building on the site can occur. Neither the fate of the uncompleted mansion, nor the new owner of the site, has yet been announced. Walton, who was chairman of the Walmart company from 1992 to 2015 and additionally owns property in Paradise Valley, Arizona, as well as Hawaii’s Big Island, just recently purchased the Denver Broncos football team for $4.6 billion. By Garry Boulard A solid 12,200 square foot industrial structure that has been in use for nearly 70 years is up for sale in El Paso with an asking price of $855,000. Located at 1315 W. Main Drive, the structure has served as the long-time home to the Bio/Dyne Chemical Company, which specializes in janitorial, paper, and cleaning chemical supplies, and sits on a just under 1-acre site. In the 1950s, the Barq’s Dr. Pepper Bottling Company used the structure as a warehouse facility. Located roughly one mile to the west of downtown El Paso, the building is off Interstate 10 in a neighborhood of smaller residential properties. The structure includes just over 1,000 square feet of office space, as well as a total of more than 10,000 square feet of warehouse space. Listed with the Sonny Brown Associates realtors of El Paso, the structure also features two yards with a total square footage of 16,000 square feet on either side of the site. By Garry Boulard A wide coalition of builders have completed testimony on Capitol Hill, urging members of Congress to more assertively tackle the gnawing issue of housing affordability. Jerry Konter remarked that a “growing shortage of affordable housing and rising housing costs stemming from historically high prices for lumber and other building materials, supply chain bottlenecks, surging interest rates, and excessive regulations are hurting families and communities nationwide.” Konter, the chairman of the NAHB, delivered his remarks as part of the National Association of Homebuilder’s 2022 Legislative Conference. Konter added: “Builders from across the nation are sending a loud and clear message that Congress must act now to help improvement affordability conditions by implementing policies that will help builders to construct more single-family homes and apartments to meet consumer demand.” The builders particularly called on Congress to pass the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act, which is designed to build on the long-standing Low Income Housing Tax Credit by widening tax credits for the construction of affordable housing. That legislation, introduced last year by Washington Senator Maria Cantwell and Indiana Senator Todd Young, also aims to focus more on incentives for housing projects in Native American, rural, and high poverty communities. Konter particularly pointed out that homes for sale and available rental units nationally have been declining since the Great Recession and currently stands at a more than 10-year low. The NAHB has estimated that there is a current housing net deficit of more than 1 million homes. The builders additionally asked Congress to put pressure on the Biden administration to suspend tariffs on Canadian lumber imports in a move to decrease lumber prices in the U.S; while also pursuing immigration policies that would allow for more workers from other countries to work on construction projects in America. The Affordable Housing Credit Improvement bill is currently under review in the Senate Committee on Finance. By Garry Boulard A building housing a popular dinner theater in Boulder has found a buyer for $5.6 million. Located at 5501 Arapahoe Avenue on the east side of Boulder, the nearly 12,000 square foot structure includes a lobby, office, theater space with just under 300 seats, dressing rooms, and front covered walkway, among other amenities. The Boulder Dinner Theater has offered food and drink, as well as a variety of plays, shows, and musical events, on a year-around basis, since 1977. It was lauded by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for having a “purpose-built space that arranges tables on tiers surrounding a thrust stage.” The theater was closed for several months in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid 19 outbreak. Sitting on a 1.4-acre lot, the building is located on a block populated with mostly one-story commercial structures. The structure has been purchased by a group listed as Arapahoe Investors, LLC, which is connected to the Ann Arbor, Michigan-based commercial real estate firm First Martin Corporation. According to press accounts, the building will continue as the home of the Boulder Dinner Theater for the foreseeable future. By Garry Boulard |
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