A nearly 9-mile bike trail connecting the main campus of the University of New Mexico with the Balloon Fiesta Park may soon see the construction of a long-hoped for underpass. Some $2 million in funding has been secured to build the underpass at the Indian School Road, with design work on the project set for completion next year. The popular and heavily-used trail follows the North Diversion Channel. Launched in 1969, the channel diverts runoff from the arroyos, carrying waters from the general UNM area north to the Rio Grande. The project is being put together jointly by the City of Albuquerque Parks & Recreation Department, the Department of Municipal Development, and the Albuquerque Metropolitan Arroyo Flood Control Authority. If all goes according to plan, construction of the new underpass could begin next year with a general 2020 completion date. By Garry Boulard
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A public comment period is set to expire on October 30 regarding a sweeping new set of rules proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency and designed to replace the Obama Administration’s Clean Power Plan. The new Affordable Clean Energy proposal will give to the states the authority to create their own rules for coal-fired plants. In so doing, the states would also be allowed to relax restrictions governing the amount of allowable greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. According to sources, the new rules, if implemented, would allow for twelve times more greenhouse gases to be emitted than what is currently allowed under the Clean Power Plan. Sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and carbon dioxide target emission reductions of around 20 percent would be reduced in the Affordable Clean Energy plan to some 1 percent. The proposed rules, said EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler in a statement, would “restore the rule of law and empower states to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide modern, reliable, and affordable energy for all Americans.” The proposal has won the support of the American Coal Council, but has also been criticized by the American Institute of Architects which has charged that the new rules would be “detrimental to the health of all Americans and will greatly undermine the fight against global warming.” The proposal would additionally give the states up to three years to formulate their own plans. The Clean Power Plan, unveiled by Obama in the summer of 2014, was designed to move away from a reliance on coal in favor of gas and renewable energy as power sources. EPA officials have said that the new rules, if enacted, will save the power industry anywhere from $300 to $500 million in compliance costs. By Garry Boulard Some ten El Paso properties, the majority of which are regarded as historic, could be sold in a one-of-a-kind auction on November 6. The structures all belong to developer William Abraham and his company Franklin Acquisitions of El Paso. Earlier this year, Abraham filed for bankruptcy, beginning a process that has seen U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Christopher Mott hearing arguments from the developer who has maintained that if allowed to reorganize his estate, he would have the money needed to bring the buildings up to code. Preservationists have stressed the historic importance of most of the properties, arguing that with adequate investment they could be redeveloped into hotel, retail, and office space. Among the properties in question are the Kress Building at 211 N. Mesa Street, the Caples Building at 300 E. San Antonio Avenue, and the Toltec Club Building at 717 E. San Antonio Avenue. All three buildings are more than 100 years old. Under the rules of the planned auction, successful bidders would have to commit to rehabilitate the properties and, in the process, address all city code violations. The bidders would also be required to give evidence of having the financial ability to take on such work. Abraham has consistently denied that the buildings in question are in a dilapidated condition. The developer has also said that he is working with his son-in-law Marco Zaragoza on a joint venture agreement that would provide enough funding to pay his debts and upgrade the structures. It is not yet known if the Abraham-Zaragoza move to salvage the buildings will be agreed to by the court, thus forestalling the auction. By Garry Boulard A plan that would see the construction of around 9,400 housing units and just under 830,000 square feet of commercial space in northwest El Paso will be presented to the city’s voters next spring. Opponents of the creation of a Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone, approved earlier this summer by the El Paso City Council, have secured more than 2,600 signatures on a petition calling for the matter to be put on a ballot. Those opponents have singled out a particular aspect of the TIRZ designation that would allow for development to take place in a 1,000-acre area that is home to several popular walking, hiking, and biking trails. As envisioned by backers of the TIRZ, the designation would allow for tax revenues to be spent on basic infrastructure needs in an area adjacent to the Franklin Mountains State Park, just north of the Transmountain Road. According to city documents, the TIRZ would, over time, pay for up to $24 million in water facility infrastructure; $33 million in sewer system installation; and another $33 million in storm water improvements. Construction of that infrastructure, say the supporters of the TIRZ, would make the area more appealing to both developers and retailers. As proposed, the TIRZ would eventually see the creation of a village-like project with two-story residences and businesses, courtyards, and open spaces. According to the El Paso City Clerk’s Office, the petitions asking for the TIRZ designation to be voted on in an election were submitted too late to appear on this November’s ballot. By Garry Boulard Where online retail giant Amazon will build its second headquarters could be known just over 100 days from now. Speaking during a dinner at the Washington-based Economic Club, Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s chief executive officer, noted that his development team is working hard on the location question, “and we will get there.” Bezos’ appearance at the non-profit Economic Club attracted a record crowd of more than 1,400 business leaders and politicians, many of whom were hoping to find out if Amazon is going to build in Washington or Northern Virginia, two locations that have made it to the company’s top twenty finalists list. Bezos said he fully expects the second headquarters announcement to be made in late December, but declined to say anything more than that. Amazon announced in the fall of 2017 that it wanted to build a new $5 billion headquarters that might well include a factory and distribution plant. In a Request for Proposals, the company said it hoped to move to a metropolitan area with a population of more than 1 million people, an educated workforce, and high-tech capabilities. That RFP drew extensive responses from 238 cities and metropolitan areas, a number that Amazon earlier this year pared down to twenty. On that finalists list, only Austin, Dallas, Denver, and Los Angeles are west of the Mississippi River. The other locations under consideration are mostly along the East Coast or in the Mid-West. Speculation has been rampant regarding which cities are the most likely to be picked by Amazon, with Denver consistently ranked in the top five probable locations. If the announcement is made late this year, construction of the second headquarters would start in 2019, lasting well into 2020. News of Bezos’ appearance at the non-profit Economic Club, which was founded in 1986 to study the role played by Washington in the national and international economy, has spurred speculation throughout the summer. When the club announced in May that it was scheduling Bezos, the Washington Business Journal, anticipating a possible second headquarters announcement, declared: “It could be one of the most important dinners in regional business community history. Or it could be nothing.” By Garry Boulard After seeing an earlier and larger version of the project rejected by city officials, plans for the construction of a 120-unit apartment complex have been given a green light by the Santa Fe City Council. What is being called the Acequia Lofts will see the building of multi-family housing on a 6-acre site at 2725 Agua Fria Road. As planned, the project will feature 63 one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartments; 39 two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartments; and 18 two-bedroom, one-bathroom units. There will also be more than 87,000 square feet of open space at the site. Santa Fe developer Blue Buffalo LLC had originally envisioned a project with just under 400 units at the same location, but that idea was turned down in the summer of 2015 by the council due to concerns about its size and traffic impact. Located in what is described as a semi-rural part of the city, the site for the project, which is currently vacant, runs along the Santa Fe River. With work on the project slated to begin either later this year or early next year, the Acequia Lofts has been geared from the start as a complex that will provide affordable rental housing for young professionals. By Garry Boulard In a city that is already booming, it may seem odd for any group to focus on what are described as “economically distressed” communities, but that’s precisely what officials with the Aurora Economic Council are doing with the advent of federal Opportunity Zones. “We look at it as just one more tool, and perhaps one of the best tools for economic development,” says Yuri Gorlov, the vice-president of the Aurora Economic Development Council. “These zones are certainly one of the best pieces of last year’s tax legislation,” continues Gorlov, “and we’re just excited to help connect people with the opportunities.” That connection has seen the council, along with the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, hosting conferences on the creation of the zones and trying to get the word out on how businesses can use them to their advantage. “We’re reaching out to developers, investors, small business owners, consulting firms, and large corporations,” continues Gorlov of a plan that was a part of the historic Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed by Congress in December. As defined by the Internal Revenue Service, the Opportunity Zones are specifically designed to “spur economic development by providing tax benefits to investors.” They also target areas of any given state that have lower income averages and higher rates of poverty, and through their use, make Opportunity Funds available for developers who want to invest in those areas, allowing them to defer or reduce capital gains taxes. In essence, the program incentivizes new development with both a favorable treatment of reinvested capital gains, along with an equally important forgiveness of taxes on those capital gains. “We now have seven such zones that have been approved in Colorado,” says Gorlov, “so we’re really all set to go.” Three of the zones are in Aurora. One borders land along East Colfax Avenue on a stretch of road that is populated with a number of older and smaller businesses and has been lacking in new development since the Great Recession. “Having an Opportunity Zone for this area is going to prove extremely helpful because it will attract investors who perhaps haven’t been attracted to redevelopment,” says Gorlov. A second zone encompasses what is known as the Fitzsimmons Innovation Community, to the west of Interstate 225 and also including a large swath of land between Interstate 70 and the always-growing Denver International Airport. “The crown jewel for us is Fitzsimmons and the Anschutz Medical Campus, which is on the south side of the Fitzsimmons Investment community,” says Gorlov. “That area really represents a tremendous opportunity for people and businesses to go in and develop more than 100 acres of open land.” The land hugging the Denver International Airport, notes Andrea Tilliss, marketing manager for the Aurora Economic Development Council, “is what is known as the Aerotropolis and is one of the largest defined Opportunity Zones.” “The potential there is limitless,” continues Tilliss, who adds: “The development in that area is not taking off right now to the degree that it will in the future, but it’s really a great opportunity for a significant amount of development over the next decade.” On a visit to Aurora earlier this summer, Ben Carson, the Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, touted the Opportunity Zone concept, noting, “You combine that with the public activity bonds, the private sector and the non-profits, and there are the things that will make a difference.” According to a map compiled by the Washington-based Economic Innovation Group, the nominations for Opportunity Zones submitted to the U.S. Treasury now represent every section of the country, taking in dozens of smaller communities and metro areas in the South and Midwest, along with larger tracks of land in the geographically more spacious West. Crunching the numbers, the Economic Innovation Group said the current in-place Opportunity Zones are home to more than 31 million people, with 56 percent of that number made up of minority populations. On average, the unemployment rate in these areas remains a stubborn 14 percent, with 38 percent of what is described as “prime age adults” without jobs. That’s a figure that is nearly 10 percent higher than the national average. Because of the size of the effort, and the fact that is still a new program, the real benefits and impact of the Opportunity Zone concept will most likely not be fully realized for years. But the potential is there, say Opportunity Zone enthusiasts, not only for new investment in distressed areas, but for development, construction projects, and increased employment. “At the end of the day,” says Gorlov of the companies that may end up investing and building new facilities in such zones, “this is a big tax break.” By Garry Boulard In a city where the cost of living continues to rise, and experts say tens of thousands of units are needed in the next year for affordable housing, a new tax is expected to partly close the building funding gap. Beginning on October 1, the City of Denver will be charging a 5.5 percent tax on all recreational marijuana sales, upping the current 3.5 percent tax. Approved by the Denver City Council and signed into law by Mayor Michael Hancock, the tax could help fund the construction or preservation of up to 6,000 individual income-restricted affordable housing units between now and 2023. Along with other city taxes, Denver’s total marijuana tax rate will now be close to 25 percent. In a letter to the Denver Post, Hancock said the marijuana sales tax revenue will be used to “generate a surge of $105 million in upfront funding through bonds to accelerate building and preserving much-needed affordable housing.” “This step will also increase the land available for future affordable housing creation to support Denver’s lowest-income residents and those experiencing homelessness,” the Mayor added. Denver’s affordable housing fund was created in 2015. It is thought that the additional money coming from the marijuana sales tax will increase that fund from $15 million to $30 million in the next five years. By Garry Boulard Senate and House leaders have come to an agreement regarding legislation that will provide funding for waterway, harbor, and port infrastructure projects across the country. The Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 is the re-authorization of legislation that every two years delegates billions of dollars on water infrastructure efforts. This year’s version of the legislation will particularly target water infrastructure needs in Native American communities nationally. The legislation also delegates some $4.4 million in Drinking Water State Revolving Funds for safe drinking water projects, a program that has not been implemented since the early 1990s. In a statement, Delaware Senator Tom Carper, the ranking member of the Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee, lauded the Water Infrastructure Act for expanding “our investment in drinking water for the first time in more than two decades.” This year’s legislation also moves to take away money from authorized feasibility studies no longer regarded as viable. That part of the bill, according to its sponsors, will free up around $7.5 billion in available funding. Supporter of the legislation also say it will place a larger emphasis on local community input regarding which projects should ultimately be funded. The Water Infrastructure Act is one of three large appropriations bills that lawmakers hope to pass ahead of a threatened government shutdown in October. The measure still needs to win the final approval of both the full Senate and House before being sent to President Trump for his signature. By Garry Boulard A Santa Fe hotel once owned by legendary New York developer Bill Zeckendorf, Jr., has received a green light to build a new swimming pool and pool space. Located at 309 W. San Francisco Street, the Eldorado Hotel & Spa, which is today operated by Heritage Hotels and Resorts, has secured the approval of Santa Fe’s Historic Districts Review Board for the pool project. According to documents submitted to the board, the project will see the pool built on the east side of the hotel, facing Palace Avenue, and will additionally reconvert current storage space for a new bar. Those documents, authored by the Santa Fe-based architectural firm of Lloyd and Associates, also emphasize that the stucco color of the addition will be done in a way so as to blend with the “existing custom color.” With more than 200 rooms, the Eldorado is the largest hotel of its kind in Santa Fe, with a total of 170,000 square feet of building space. Members of the Historic Districts Review Board stipulated that a series of cross beams to be installed at the new pool site must be made of wood and not tube steel as originally proposed. Heritage Hotels and Resorts, which owns several other hotel properties in Albuquerque and Las Cruces, among other New Mexico locations, acquired control of the Eldorado in the spring of 2014. By Garry Boulard |
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