A group designed to study the possibility of building a combined conference and civic center in Durango is thinking about forming a 501 c 3 nonprofit organization. The designation would allow the Durango Arts/Cultural Working Group the freedom to supervise the construction of what would essentially be a public events facility. City officials in Durango have long talked about the need for a single facility that would house conference space, civic activities, and even art events. Those same officials earlier considered updating and re-purposing the 100 year-old main administrative building that belongs to the Durango School District. That three-story brick structure is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, but renovating the facility has since been regarded by officials as impractical, given its size and age. Instead, a 4.6-acre site at the corner of W. College Drive and Camino del Rio, in the southwest corner of Durango’s downtown, currently seems to be the most likely location for the center. As proposed, the new facility could include a 450-seat theater, a working kitchen, more than 3,000 square feet of event and meeting space, and a 6,000 square foot lobby. The center, according to supporters, would also see the construction of a 450-space parking garage. Altogether, the proposed project could cost as much as $47 million to build. On the plus side, it is thought that such a complex would generate up to $31 million in annual economic activity, including at least $1 million in local sales and lodgers’ tax revenue. By Garry Boulard
0 Comments
road construction and transportation work continue to dominate construction industry nationally9/12/2018 According to new government figures analyzed by the Washington-based Associated General Contractors of America, overall public construction projects registered a strong 5.4 percent increase between January and July of this year over the same half-year period in 2017. The numbers were slightly lower in private construction projects, which have seen a 5.2 percent increase between January and July of this year over the same months last year. The largest public construction gains, at exactly 14 percent, have been seen in transportation projects. Highway construction projects showed a 3.6 percent gain over last year, while educational construction work, largely confined to university and school facility building, registered a marginal 0.6 percent increase. In private sector projects, the biggest gains so far have been in single-homebuilding, which was up by 8.5 percent, with commercial construction in terms of retail space and warehouse work, up by 4.7 percent. Also in the private sector category, office construction project saw a 5.8 percent increase in the last half year, with oil and gas pipeline construction up by 0.4 percent. According to the Department of Commerce, overall construction spending has steadily increased from 0.77 trillion in the summer of 2011 to $1.3 trillion in July. By Garry Boulard popular and busy tucson shopping square to see construction of new apartment complex and hotel9/12/2018 Work could begin later this year on the construction of a new 238-unit apartment complex that will go up inside the thriving four-square block walking retail space in Tucson known as the Main Gate Square. That square, which is mostly owned by the Marshall Foundation, a local organization that uses the revenue it receives from its commercial real estate assets and gives it to a variety of educational institutions, comprises one of the most popular neighborhoods in Tucson. Located just one block to the west of the main campus of the University of Arizona, Main Gate Square is known for its wide variety of stores, pubs, restaurants, and salons. Now into the mix comes what is being called the Graduate Hotel & The Collective Apartments at Main Gate. The project, which will go up on the last undeveloped parcel in Main Gate Square, will see the construction of an apartment complex featuring private courtyards, a spa, and swimming pool. Also set for construction is a 165-room boutique hotel that will also have its own swimming pool and rooftop bar. Combined, the project is expected to build around 6,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, as well as rooms for special events and classes. In a statement, Jane McCollum, the general director and president of real estate for the Marshall Foundation, said the new addition to the Main Gate Square is “exciting on many levels and will create a special destination and gathering place for Tucson residents, young professionals, university staff, students and their parents, families with children, and tourists.” The main developer of the overall project is the Chicago-based DRW Real Estate Investments, with the hotel being developed by Adventurous Journeys Capital Projects, also of Chicago. A general construction schedule is calling for the entire new apartment complex and hotel project to be completed and open for business by the summer of 2020. By Garry Boulard Funding has been secured for the renovation of an existing one-story building on the northeast side of Albuquerque that will house maintenance operations for the city’s fire department. The structure at 4001 Bogan Avenue, some 6 miles to the northeast of downtown Albuquerque, was built in the early 1970s and has been used in the past for similar maintenance purposes. A 20-year loan to fund the project was approved in late July by the New Mexico Finance Authority and will come out of what is called the public project revolving fund. Members of the Albuquerque City Council have additionally voted in support of the $2.7 million loan, with city documents showing that the fire department has outgrown its current fleet maintenance and repair center at Fourth Street and Aspen Avenue. The 2.1-acre Bogan Avenue site will also provide space for parking and equipment storage. In recognition of the fact that well over half of the calls the city’s fire department responded to last year were medical emergencies, the department earlier this year announced steps to officially be rebranded as Albuquerque Fire Rescue. By Garry Boulard The continuing challenge of finding qualified workers is prompting many construction industry leaders across the country to worry about job site safety issues. According to a survey released jointly by the Chicago-based USG Corporation and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, industry officials say concerns about safety have accelerated due to the number of older skilled workers who are retiring, shorter construction schedules, and projects that are more complex. The Commercial Construction Index survey of more than 2,700 industry officials shows that a strong majority of companies are currently working to improve safety practices on the job through the development of enhanced training programs for all levels of workers. Those same officials say they are improving supervisory leadership, while also reaffirming management’s commitment to safety. “As construction is forced to do more with less, a renewed emphasis on safety is imperative to the strength and health of the industry,” said Jennifer Scanlon, the president and chief executive officer of the USG Corporation, in a statement. Scanlon added: “It continues to be important for organizations to build strong and comprehensive safety programs.” Not unrelated, a majority of respondents said they have enacted both alcohol and marijuana substance abuse programs for their employees in recent years, while just over half said they were similarly responding to the growing issue of opioid use. Regarding the question of the ongoing worker shortage, 58 percent of the respondents said they do not currently have enough skilled workers; with a larger 63 percent expecting that shortage will only get worse in the next three years. By Garry Boulard Just over 250 apartments of varying sizes will make up a project that has just been announced for Denver’s increasingly popular Ballpark Neighborhood. What is being called X Denver will go up on a currently vacant site at 3100 Inca Street, several blocks away from the Coors Field baseball park. That street is already populated with several multi-story apartment complexes built in the last two decades. The $43 million project belongs to the New York-based Property Markets Group, which has taken on a series of similar-sized mixed-use projects across the country, particularly in Chicago and Miami. As planned, X Denver will house restaurant and retail space on its ground level, and one, two, and three-bedroom units on the upper floors. The structure’s rooftop will feature a unique multi-level space with several swimming pools. Project architect for X Denver is Studio PBA of Denver. Work on X Denver is expected to begin either later this year or early next year. Located in downtown Denver, the Ballpark Neighborhood was for decades mostly industrial, but in recent years has seen the opening of restaurants, breweries, and retail stores. By Garry Boulard More than seven hundred new homes may be built on currently vacant land near the northeast corner of E. Irvington Road and S.Camino Seco in southeast Tucson. The Los Angeles-based KB Home company has purchased for $10.6 million more than 200 acres with the hope of building a phased-in project on an increasingly growing and popular side of the city. First phase construction could begin in the fall of 2019 with homes slated for completion less than a year later. The 210 acres were owned by the State of Arizona’s Land Department, with the proceeds for the sale set for deposit in the Arizona Treasury Office’s land endowment trust fund. In a statement, Governor Doug Ducey noted the importance of the purchase in terms of Tucson’s population boom, remarking: “The need for residential land speaks to the booming Tucson economy and growing confidence among individuals and businesses alike.” Founded in 1957, KB Home has built more than 600,000 homes in the last six decades and recorded revenues in excess of $3.5 billion in 2016. The company just announced its construction of Homestead, a neighborhood project in Maricopa, that will see the construction of 84 homes ranging in size from 1400 to 2300 square feet, and priced slightly above $250,000. By Garry Boulard Continuing a trend that was first recorded towards the second half of the Great Recession in the fall of 2011, residential construction employment has posted another monthly increase. According to numbers compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, overall construction jobs increased by 12,900 in August. And that jump followed a 6,800-job increase from July. Conversely, the unemployment rate for construction workers dropped to 4.0 percent last month, down from 4.4 in July. As documented in the BLS’ Employment Situation—August 2018 report, there are currently more than 2 million residential specialty trade jobs nationally, an increase of 6 percent since 2011. Combining residential construction jobs with the residential specialty trade jobs, there are now more than 2.8 million jobs as of August in the industry. Since the beginning of this year, the residential construction industry has seen a jump in jobs on average of just under 5,400 a month. From the low point of 20ll, just under 852,000 residential construction jobs have been added. In a statement on the new numbers, William Wiatrowski, BLS acting commissioner, noted that for the entire construction industry employment “continued to trend up in August (+23,000) and has increased by 297,000 over the year.” By Garry Boulard An apartment complex located a dozen miles to the northeast of Denver and targeting the affordable housing market is expected to see extensive upgrading and renovation work. The Renaissance 88 is a 180-unit complex located at 388 E. 88th Avenue in Thornton. The 1990s era three-story facility was previously run by the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, a Denver-based group working to reduce homelessness. Now the Vitus Group, a national developer of affordable housing, whose main offices are in Seattle, has announced plans to upgrade the property. Work at the Renaissance 88 will be done in phases, with the $1 million first phase including both exterior and interior improvements. Once that four-year phase is completed, a second phase will see the installation of new plumbing, roofing, and energy efficient lighting, among other features. The anticipated price tag for the second phase work is just over $5 million. The complex will include 36 units specifically set aside for homeless families, as well as 24 units for those with a disabling condition. Altogether, the complex will house residents paying no more than 30 percent of their household income on rent and supported through an extension of a housing assistance payment program sponsored by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. Founded in 1996, Vitus currently operates more than 60 properties and 9,000 units in just over two dozen states. The Renaissance complex represents the company’s first project in Colorado. In a statement, Scott Langan, development director for Vitus, said, “Our team specializes in protecting and extending the useful life of properties in markets like Denver where there is a real need for affordable housing.” Langan added: “We look forward to serving Colorado residents and helping to revitalize the neighborhoods they call home.” By Garry Boulard Work is well underway on a modern and innovative $350 million satellite production facility near Denver that will belong to aerospace giant Lockheed Martin. “There are two phases to this project,” says David Brooke, project manager with Hensel Phelps Construction, the company building the 226,000 square foot building. “Altogether, we are about 60 percent complete,” continues Brooke, noting that the “first phase has all the structural steel, the roofing is nearly complete, as is the building enclosure.” The Greeley, Colorado-based Hensel Phelps began work on what is being called the Gateway Center in the summer of 2017, building a handsome structure that will house, among other things, an advanced test operations and analysis center, a thermal vacuum chamber to simulate space’s harsh environment, and an anechoic chamber for the testing of sensors and communications systems. The facility, going up on Lockheed Martin’s Waterton Canyon campus, will see, after its anticipated 2020 opening, the assembly, integration, and testing of national security, scientific, and commercial satellites. In choosing Hensel Phelps to build the next-generation satellite production facility, the Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed Martin decided to go with an experienced entity known for its path-breaking big project public and private sector work. “We’ve worked with Hensel Phelps on other large construction and renovation projects on our Denver campus,” notes Matthew Kramer, the director of external communications for Lockheed Martin. “These include a significant expansion of one of our existing manufacturing buildings and a renovation and update of another existing engineering facility.” Launched in Greely in 1937 by native Hensel Phelps, the company’s work is seen in thousands of projects throughout Colorado and the country, chalking up, in the process, double-digit revenue growth numbers even during the depths of the Great Recession. Earlier this year, the Engineering News-Record placed Hensel Phelps on its top 20 U.S.-based contractors list for the preceding year, noting that the company had more than $13.5 billion in active projects as of the end of 2017. Those numbers, said the publication, are the natural result of Hensel Phelps’ continued prominence in “growing sectors such as technology components and public transportation.” “It’s hard to avoid entering a major building in Greeley not built by Hensel Phelps Construction Company,” a reporter for the Greeley Daily Tribune noted in 1976, listing a long number of university, public school, hospital and retail space projects the company had successfully completed in its home town. But that all-encompassing record in the years since has spread well beyond Greeley’s confines, particularly in metro Denver where Hensel Phelps has built such high-profile projects as the expansive downtown shopping mall Denver Pavilions; the more than 100,000 square foot Downtown Aquarium; and the Elitch Gardens Theme and Family Water Park, an ever-expanding amusement park that has regularly attracted more than one million people annually. The company has also successfully taken on the 1.1 million square foot Hyatt Regency Denver Convention Center; the massive Colorado Convention Center and its subsequent expansion; and the nine-story, 300,000 square foot Denver Health 601 Broadway Hospital Support Services Building. “We have always had a lot of work going on throughout Colorado,” says Hensel Phelps’ Brooke, noting that the corporate office, through the decades, has remained in Greeley. “But we also have an office in Denver,” continues Brooke, “as well as district offices across the country.” Those offices, Brooke noted, are located in Arizona, California, Florida, Hawaii, Texas and Virginia. Hensel Phelps’ work beyond the Centennial State has seen it on schedule to complete the $250 million main terminal curbside expansion of the Tampa International Airport; the $675 million South Terminal Complex at the Orlando International Airport; and $9.2 million gates 29 and 30 expansion of the San Jose International Airport. In a celebration of the firm’s 80th anniversary last year published by the Engineering News-Record, Jeffrey Wenaas, the current CEO of Hensel Phelps, noted that Joseph Phelps, the son of the company’s founder, once attributed the company’s success to the caliber of its employees. “His philosophy was that if you hired the best people, they would take care of the business,” Wenaas said, before adding of the company’s current roster of more than 3,000 employees: “I agree with that wholeheartedly. Our financial strength and longevity are direct results of the pride of ownership our employees take in every job, large or small.” By Garry Boulard |
Get stories like these right to your inbox.
|