A joint effort undertaken by the City of Albuquerque and Bernalillo County could see the construction of around 35 tiny homes inside a larger defined village.
The 116 square-foot structures will be geared for those who are homeless and designed to serve only as temporary housing. City and county officials are currently in the process of trying to select a site for the village and have suggested five locations in southeast Albuquerque and one on the west side of the city at 8207 Central Avenue NW. Funding to the tune of $2 million to build the one-acre village will come out of a $35 million General Obligation bond passed by county voters in 2016. The homes are expected to cost up to $20,000 to build and will be wired for electricity, with enough room for a bed and storage. Restrooms, showers and laundry will be offered in a main village communal building. A recent public hearing on the project revealed anxiety on the part of residents living near several of the proposed sites who wondered if a tiny home village could prove a breeding ground for criminal activity. Similar villages have recently been built in Michigan, New York, Tennessee, and Washington. A 2017 article published by U.S. News & World Report observed: “Depending on who you ask, moving homeless people into tiny houses is either a pragmatic means of rescuing them from the street or an alarming shift in urban planning that could pave the way for the creation of shantytowns.” By Garry Boulard
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A 90-mile network, running between the cities of Vail and Golden in Colorado, will be the state’s first foray into the world of connected vehicle technology.
The Colorado Department of Transportation has announced that it has entered into a partnership with the Newark, New Jersey-based Panasonic Corporation of North America for the construction of around 100 roadside units that will have the ability to communicate with the CDOT regarding traffic conditions. The technology, which is currently being considered for use in several municipalities across the country, additionally allows vehicles to communicate with other vehicles as well as with streetlights, traffic signals, and even buildings, all in an effort to create a more safe and efficient driving environment. All of the country’s major car manufacturers have said that they intend to have connected vehicle technology in their vehicles by no later than 2023. The Vail and Golden route along Interstate 70 will mark the first time that the CDOT has implemented the technology. The I-70 route was selected because it is heavily travelled and subject to a variety of weather conditions, including snow and ice. CDOT officials say it will cost $2-$3 million to build the roadside units, with another $10 million going for the development of the data ecosystem. By Garry Boulard In slightly more than three weeks, advocates of a measure to expand the distance between where new oil and gas wells can be drilled and the nearest residential home will know if their effort will make it to the November ballot. More than 171,000 people in the last several weeks signed a petition spirited by a group called Colorado Rising calling for a significant buffer zone expansion between any new wells and houses, playgrounds, schools, and hospitals. Currently, Colorado law limits that space to 500 feet. But what is officially called Initiative 97 would expand that distance to 2,500 feet. The idea has sparked the vigorous opposition of Colorado’s oil and gas industry. A response group representing those interests, called Protect Colorado, is contending that if the proposal makes it to the November ballot and is then passed, it would result in the loss of more than $10 billion in annual revenues from the industry that goes to local governments and schools in the state. In its website, Protect Colorado argues that Initiative 97 would tell “private property owners what they can and cannot do with their own land.” The same group has said that a successful Initiative 97 would end up banning drilling in more than half of the state. Just the prospect of the initiative passing, according to the Denver Business Journal, has depressed the price of stocks for three exploration companies operating in Colorado by anywhere from 9 to 10 percent. Although an earlier petition effort in 2016 failed for a lack of signatures, the petition to put Initiative 97 on the Colorado ballot has secured roughly 72,000 more signatures than the minimal amount required. The Colorado Secretary of State’s office is expected to announce by September 6 how many of those signatures are valid, in effect deciding whether or not the initiative would be on this November’s ballot. By Garry Boulard Anger over an El Paso City Council vote earlier this summer that could lead to the mixed-use development of open space near the Franklin Mountains on the west side of the city has prompted an effort to recall Mayor Dee Margo.
Margo, along with a majority of the council, had voted in favor of creating a Tax Reinvestment Zone that would allow for the revenues of certain taxes to pay for infrastructure construction on land partly made up of the Lost Dog Trailhead. That portion of the land in question, leading to the Franklin Mountains, is used daily by joggers, walkers, and bike riders. The sidewalks, sewer systems, and streetlights infrastructure would be built to support a mixed-use development that could see the construction of nearly 830,000 square feet of retail and office development, as well as just under 9,500 individual housing units. According to the official proposal for the new taxing district, a hotel, amphitheater, and both aquatic center and athletic center, may also be a part of the development. Zachary Gonzalez, an open space advocate in El Paso, has officially filed papers with the city clerk’s office launching a petition that would allow voters to officially recall and remove from office Mayor Margo. Gonzalez says his campaign is spirited by the Mayor having cast a tie-breaking vote in the City Council that ended public discussion on the Tax Reinvestment Zone question. In order for the first phase of the recall effort to succeed, the petition would have to secure the signatures of just under 6,600 people and submit them to the clerk’s office by October 10. Gonzalez has said his goal is to obtain more than 7,000 signatures. By Garry Boulard A ruling regarding the use of asbestos in building materials may be officially announced in November or December by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Although never really outright banned, the use of asbestos, which has been linked to cancer and mesothelioma, among other diseases, has been in general decline in the U.S. since the 1970s. The silicate material has traditionally been used in pipe insulation, roofing felt, sealant tape, vinyl floor tile, and millboard, among other products. According to unnamed officials at the EPA, a new ruling on asbestos would require that any manufacturer in the U.S. must first notify the agency 90 days in advance before using the product. Even so, the fact that asbestos as a component is being re-explored for use by the EPA has prompted several organizations to come out against any policy change short of an outright ban. In a statement, Carl Elefante, the president of the American Institute of Architects, said, “The EPA has offered no compelling reason for considering new products using asbestos, especially when the consequences are well known and have tragically affected the lives of so many people.” Elefante adds: “The EPA should be doing everything possible to curtail asbestos in the United States and beyond—not providing new pathways that expose the public to its dangers.” By Garry Boulard The name of the company has not yet been publicly identified, but a District of Columbia-based military contractor is said to be thinking of building a new facility in Boulder County, Colorado. That much has been revealed by the Colorado Economic Development Commission, a state body that works with government and private entities to promote economic development throughout the Centennial State. For the moment, the effort to get the company to set up shop up in Colorado is being referred to as “Project Iris,” and, according to sources, could result in the construction of not only a facility for research and development, but also a new manufacturing plant. The Colorado EDC has also disclosed that the company, which if it did move to the state would hire nearly 1,100 people, is looking at other sites for possible relocation in Indiana, Tennessee, and Virginia. In trying to lure the company to pick Colorado, the commission has now voted to approve some $9.4 million in job growth tax incentive credits that would be available over an 8-year period. It is not currently known when the commission, which next meets in late September, will announce the results of Project Iris. By Garry Boulard A motel, located in Albuquerque’s busy Nob Hill area that was originally opened in the spring of 1957 as a Travelodge, will soon see an extensive upgrade and renovation designed to give it a hip look for today’s young travelers.
The cement block building, which is currently known as the University Lodge, is located at 3711 Central Avenue NE, and is being redubbed as The Avenue Hotel. The owners of the two-story structure, which saw some remodeling several years ago, will redo all of the U-shaped building’s rooms. A redesign and reimagining of the pool space on the Solano Drive side of the property will see the construction of a restaurant and brewery on the top floors, and retail space at the ground level. At the time of its construction, the then-Travelodge was only the 66th motel built in a chain that just a decade later would include more than 350 motels. The motel not only offered a swimming pool, which still exists today, but a radio in every room and complimentary coffee. The Travelodge brand advertised itself as a budget offering with each location built in or near a city’s downtown area. The extensive renovation project, which is still in the planning stage, could see actual construction launching sometime next year. By Garry Boulard The Pueblo West, Colorado-based San Isabel Electric Association is receiving $15.8 million in federal funds to build 63 miles of power lines in southern Colorado.
The funding will additionally pay for improvements in lines equaling 143 miles. That money is coming through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Electric Infrastructure Loan Program, which is designed to assist system improvement, energy conservation, transmission and distribution facility projects in communities with populations of 10,000 residents or less. The program provides direct loans and loan guarantees for any number of rural electricity system projects. Altogether, the USDA is funding up to $345 million for a variety of infrastructure projects, most of which this time around are located in the Midwest and South. “Delivering reliable and affordable electricity to power rural America will help lay the groundwork for increased rural prosperity and economic opportunity,” Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Purdue said in a statement announcing the funding. Purdue added that the USDA is “partnering with rural electric utilities and cooperatives so they can continue to invest in infrastructure improvements to provide electric power to those who live and work in rural areas.” The rural electric cooperative, San Isabel Electric Association, serves customers in Costilla, Custer, Huerfano, Las Animas, Otero, and Pueblo counties in south central Colorado. The $15.8 million being sent to the association will include $752,000 to be used for smart grid projects. By Garry Boulard Plans have been announced for the construction of a 7,700 square foot building that will house a campus ministry program for students near the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs. The Diocese of Colorado Springs, which serves more than 170,000 people, including just over 9,000 students in a ten-county area, will build the facility on a mostly unoccupied 3.3-acre site at 4785 Stanton Road. That property is roughly half a mile to the south of the UC campus. The project has long been in the talking stage for the Diocese and will house study and meeting room space for students, as well as a 300-seat chapel. Project designer is the Denver-based Baker Architects, a firm that has taken on a large number of Catholic facility projects across the country. Diocese officials estimate that it will most likely take around two years to complete the two-story structure, which will be built to have a classic 19th century stone monastery appearance. The project has a construction cost of around $5 million. By Garry Boulard One of the most diversified architectural firms in the West is expanding its work in a field that can only grow. The Denver-based OZ Architecture is currently in the process of designing what is being called The Lodge at Grand Junction, a 48-unit senior living community measuring nearly 39,000 square feet going up on Colorado’s Western Slope, across the street from St. Mary’s Medical Center. The work seems a natural for a firm whose practice areas span the range from schools to restaurants and hotels, and government buildings to public spaces, among other specialties. But with more than 74 million Baby Boomers in the country at or near retirement age, the Grand Junction project also symbolizes the possibilities for OZ Architecture tackling with imagination and sensitivity the facility needs of seniors. “One of the biggest challenges in designing senior living spaces is looking for every opportunity to maximize the building’s functionality for an aging user,” notes Jami Mohlenkamp, an OZ Architecture principal architect who is also a member of the firm’s senior living team. “This goes far beyond just accessibility and can include things like providing access to daylight and the outdoors, and incorporating the project into the surrounding community,” continues Mohlenkamp. With 36 assisted living studios and one-bedroom units, along with a dozen memory care units, the Lodge at Grand Junction also reflects the needs of a generation determined to remain forever young with the construction of a gym, salon, and wellness clinic. Uniquely, residents at the facility will additionally have access to a greenhouse, allowing them to plant and grow their own produce, as well as an interior sunroom and outside landscaped garden. An emphasis on designing for the memory challenges of seniors is yet one more sensitive component of OZ Architecture’s approach to such projects. Notes Mohlenkamp: “Environments for memory support require strong attention to creating a home-like atmosphere in an environment where safe and secure care can be administered.” Pointing out that many of the people who live in a memory care environment are usually understandably restricted in terms of their own movements, Mohlenkamp adds that it’s “critical in a memory support environment that the building offers every opportunity to facilitate independence” for them. The senior housing work is just one of many practice areas that OZ Architecture, with a staff of more than 170 architecture and design professionals, today specializes in. Launched in 1964, the firm, whose unique name is an amalgamation of the initials of its founders, Tom Obermeir and Alan Zeigel, has taken on award-winning projects well beyond Colorado in Africa, China, and Antarctica. Selected for the Top Company Award last year by ColoradoBIZ and lauded for such assets as community involvement, achievement in innovation, financial performance, marketing effectiveness, and overall operations, there is no sector of Colorado’s building history in the last five decades that has not been impacted by OZ Architecture’s work. The firm’s past projects include the four-block Pearl Street Mall in downtown Boulder, completed in 1977; the Boulder Community Foothills Hospital in the 1990s, the first LEED certified hospital in the country; the big Spectrum Building in downtown Denver; the urban living complex called Waterside Lofts, also in Denver; and the Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology Building on the campus of the University of Colorado in Boulder. Animating the work on all of these projects and others is the firm’s tradition of encouraging its architects and designers to follow their own visions, developing specialty interests and talents, while still brainstorming collaboratively. But staffers at OZ are not enthralled with just the quality of the firm’s work, contends the Colorado Real Estate Journal. “It’s not the terrific clients who challenge and trust the team with meaningful projects, or the co-workers whose encouragement and complementary talents bring about all the great projects,” says that publication. “It’s not even the firm’s strong support of professional and personal growth.” Instead, thinks the Journal, the loyalty that staff members feel for OZ Architecture is a combination of all the above factors: Inevitably, in talking to a person about the firm, “you will hear about how much each values the culture.” Reflecting the ongoing project diversity that has driven its success, OZ Architecture is currently designing the new World Trade Center in Denver; the Richardson Design Center at Colorado State University in Fort Collins; and the new Limelight Hotel in Snowmass, Colorado. The firm’s senior living practice area, meanwhile, is tracked to grow, a pleasant fact of the business that Mohlenkamp naturally attributes not only to the aging of the Baby Boomers, but also to “our team focusing our design efforts towards celebrating the daily experience of older adults, which is resonating with owners, operators, and residents in senior living communities.” By Garry Boulard |
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