Work could begin this fall on the construction of what is expected to be an $800 million new data center campus on the southeast side of the city of Mesa for the multinational technology company and social media giant Facebook. The project will include two separate buildings, comprising a total footprint of around 960,000 square feet, and is set to go up at the intersection of Elliot Road and Ellsworth Road. Last month the Menlo Park, California-based company purchased just under 400 acres at the site for more than $123 million. Addressing concerns that some local officials have expressed over water usage for the project, Facebook has also announced that it will initiate three water restoration projects designed to restore around 200 million gallons of water annually in the Colorado River and Salt River basins. Facebook has been on a building spree this year. The company is adding two new data centers to its existing complex in Prineville, Oregon. Earlier this spring, Facebook also announced construction of two new centers in Altoona, Iowa. Upon completion, the Mesa facility will be Facebook’s first data center in the Grand Canyon State. In a statement, Rachel Peterson, vice-president for infrastructure at Facebook, said the company chose to build at the Mesa site because it has “great access to infrastructure, opportunities for renewable energy development, strong talent for both construction and operations, and great community partners.” By Garry Boulard
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Just days after the U.S. Senate gave its approval to President Biden’s historic $1 trillion infrastructure bill, members of the House are indicating that passage there may not be a sure thing. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said that she wants to advance the legislation, but only if House members can first vote on a significantly larger $3.5 trillion budget resolution. That idea was seen as a way for the Speaker to forward legislation that includes funding for a wide array of spending initiatives above and beyond basic infrastructure projects. But in response a group of nine House members have said that they will refuse to support the larger bill unless and until the smaller infrastructure legislation is put up for a vote in the lower chamber. Because Pelosi’s Democratic caucus has 218 members, while the Republicans have 210 members, the defection of the nine members dubbed as “moderates” means that the larger spending bill may be stalled. In a joint statement, the nine members said, “We should vote first on the bipartisan infrastructure framework without delay and then move to immediate consideration of the budget resolution.” At the same time a spokesperson for the Speaker has remarked that the infrastructure bill will not be taken up until the budget resolution is first passed. The Speaker has said that she wants a budget resolution vote to be taken no later than the third week of August. By Garry Boulard The City of Las Cruces has issued a request for proposals for the renovation of a more than 20 year-old park just to the east of the city’s downtown area. Located at 1600 East Hadley, the park is owned by the city and is thought to be the first sanctioned public skate park in New Mexico history. Because of the heavy use of the park, city officials for some time have been saying that the facility is in need of a general rehabilitation. Last year, the Joplin, Missouri-based American Ramp Company conducted a public survey asking users their opinion of the park, while also generally assessing the facility. A summary of the public comments indicated that overall “the skatepark is in bad shape and has been showing wear throughout the years. Comments were that the park is old and dangerous with poor drainage and is in need of an upgrade.” The study went on to recommend two options for upgrading the park, both of which would be designed to provide users with “brand new skating terrain that will be designed to today’s standards.” According to city documents, the project will see the creation of a “modern street/plaza style design and/or transition style design.” Last year members of the New Mexico State Legislature approved $845,000 for the park’s renovation. The skate park RFP has a submission deadline of September 2. By Garry Boulard A new Albuquerque apartment complex is in the planning stage for the growing northeast side of the city. The project will belong to Legacy Development & Management and will go up off Constitution Avenue NE near the Jerry Cline Park in an area of residential, apartment, and office development. As envisioned, the project, officially called the Markana Flats, will see the building of 151 studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom units in a five-story structure. The project will also include a clubhouse, fitness center, and swimming pool and spa, among other features. Documents relating to the project have been filed with Albuquerque’s Development Review Board. Project architect is the Albuquerque-based Dekker/Perich/Sabatini. Based in Albuquerque, Legacy Development & Management was launched in 1978 and specializes in hotel, multifamily, and office development, among other projects. By Garry Boulard Continuing a trend that has been underway since at least the 1990s, the latest detailed results from the 2020 U.S. Census report shows that the large metropolitan areas of the Southwest enjoyed the greatest growth in the last decade. Those detailed results released by the Census Bureau saw Phoenix with the greatest percentage point gain for a city in the last decade, a jump of 11.2%. Phoenix is also now the fifth largest city in the country. In terms of the larger metropolitan areas, Greeley, Colorado was up by just over 30%, with two metro areas in Utah, one taking in the cities of Provo and Orem, and the other surveying all greater St. George, up between 27% and 30.5%. In a statement, Marc Perry, Census Bureau senior demographer, noted that “Many counties within metro areas saw growth, especially those in the south and west.” However, added Perry: “Our nation is growing slower than it used to. The decline is evident at the local level where around 52% of the counties in the United States saw their 2020 Census populations decrease from their 2010 Census populations.” While half of the fastest growing metro areas were in the West, only one was added to the top ten list for areas in decline: Farmington, New Mexico, with a 6.4% decline in the last decade. Th survey also underscored two ongoing historic trends: for the first time since the Census began its decennial census in 1790, the country’s total white population deceased, falling to just under 60%. At the same time, those claiming Latino or Hispanic ethnicity registered a 23% gain over the year 2010. Despite the strong Phoenix numbers, Arizona’s growth rate was static, while Colorado saw an average increase of around 2%, and Utah was up by more than 5%. In the Southwest, only California and New Mexico saw marginal population declines. By Garry Boulard The expanding Phoenix campus of Grand Canyon University is about to expand some more with the upcoming construction of two new residence halls. The school, located at W. Camelback Road, is already in the process of building a residence hall complex which will house some 1,800 apartment units. The two new residence halls will give to GCU an additional 1200 units, in two separate 6-story structures. Founded in 1949, GCU has seen a steady increase in its student count, with an enrollment today of more than 25,000 people, not to mention the roughly 90,000 who receive instruction online. The school currently has just under 30 residence halls. Those halls on average house around 600 beds each. The most recent residence hall project, which is a part of a larger campus-wide $100 million capital building plan, is a complex called The Rivers and designed to provide another 1,800 units. The Rivers includes 3 six-story halls, each with 600 sleeping units, not to mention a parking garage with space for up to 2,800 vehicles. The new halls will go up near the intersection of Camelback Road and 28th Avenue and will be paid for out of the school’s own capital reserves. A primary reason for the GCU’s ongoing residential hall construction is centered on the expectation that before the end of the decade the school will see an enrollment of up to 40,000 students. That figure will make the private Christian university competitive with Arizona State University, which has an enrollment of around 43,000; and the University of Arizona at just over 45,000 students. Plans now call for work to begin on the two new halls later this year, with a completion date in time for the fall 2022 semester. By Garry Boulard Up to $1 million in federal funding for the ongoing development of an El Paso walkway may soon be coming out of Washington. Texas Congresswoman Veronica Escobar has asked that that funding be included as part of the big fiscal year 2022 Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies Subcommittee Appropriations bill. Described largely as a water-front shared-use path, the latest segment of the Paso Del Norte Trail will run adjacent to the Franklin Canal, passing by a mostly commercial and industrial part of the city. The new funded segment, running from the entrance of the El Paso Zoo to Tobin Place, like the rest of the trail, is designed to be used by both pedestrians as well as cyclists. Escobar has described the project as green infrastructure that will “give residents access to a walking trail and active lifestyle.” In a statement, El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser, remarked that “connectivity for pedestrians and cyclists” is a major component of El Paso’s quality of life, along with “establishing multi-modal transportation options for our citizens.” Altogether, the Paso del Norte Trail is expected to be nearly 70 miles long upon completion, traveling through a wide variety of neighborhoods and open space in both the city of El Paso and larger El Paso County. At least 20 miles of the trial have so far been constructed. The overall subcommittee appropriations bill provides $84.1 billion in spending for a wide variety of housing and infrastructure projects and has now passed the full House. By Garry Boulard Construction input prices registered a significant increase last month, with a 23% jump from where they were in the summer of 2020.
According to a new study released by the Associated Builders and Contractors, almost everything a construction company needs to purchase to build a given project has seen an increase in the last year. Natural gas saw the greatest price jump: a 146% increase over July of last year, with unprocessed energy materials and crude petroleum not far behind, posting a 93% and 102% increase respectively. Steel mill products also saw a big increase: up by 108% from July of last year to July 2021. In a statement, Anirban Basu, chief economist with ABC, said a “rebounding economy, ongoing supply chain disruptions, and limited productive capacity have conspired to generate rapid price increases.” Basu added that the current input price increases “can meaningfully affect contractor fortunes by trimming margins and delaying the onset of projects.” Continued Basu: “One can only conclude that the economy will continue to run hot into 2022, despite the malign impacts of the delta variant, producing both hefty advances in gross domestic product and unusually elevated inflation.” Among the other materials seeing substantial price increases over last July: fabricated structural metal products, up by nearly 29%; nonferrous wire and cable, posting a 31% price gain; and prepared asphalt, tar roofing, and sliding projects, up by just under 11%. The smallest price increases were registered in plumbing fixtures and fittings segment, up by 3.5%; and concrete products, with a 4.5% jump over last July. By Garry Boulard A major real estate development firm based in Chicago has announced plans to build a new and large industrial park in on the southwest side of Surprise, Arizona. The phased project, with work expected to start sometime in early 2022 and be completed by the end of the year, will see the construction of seven individual structures on a site of just over 80 currently vacant acres. Altogether, those buildings will comprise around 1 million square feet of what is being described as Class A industrial space, with each building varying in size. The structures, according to Baker Development Corporation officials, will feature dock high and grade level doors, 32 to 40-foot clear height, and up to 200-foot truck courts. What is being called Cactus 303 will more specifically go up at the intersection of Loop 303 and Cactus Road. Baker Development specializes in commercial real estate as well as brownfield development projects. Just over two months ago, the company announced plans to build a $45 million logistics center called Yuma 143 in Goodyear. By Garry Boulard In a part of the state where daily childcare options for working parents are said to be limited, members of the Aspen City Council are pushing for the construction of a new care facility. According to city documents, that facility will most likely be built in the Burlingame Ranch subdivision, which is located near the banks of the Roaring Ford River. Burlingame Ranch is a city-developed affordable housing neighborhood seeing the construction of modular housing. The planned two-story childcare facility would measure around 8,300 square feet and will likely cost at least $8 million to build. The facility is expected to have enough space for up to seventy children, catering to those ranging in age from infant to preschool. City council members and city staff have spent the last several months exploring options for getting the facility built. A survey was also conducted indicating a pressing need among Aspen’s working families for such a facility. City officials say the next step is to secure funding to build the new childcare facility, an effort that may involve partnerships with the private sector. By Garry Boulard |
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