An extensive effort to expand the bike route and bike lane infrastructure of the City of Denver is about to enter a new phase with work on two projects. One will see the building out of new bike lanes along busy Marion Street, about 7 miles to the northeast of downtown Denver. The second project will see work on Central Park Boulevard, also on the northeast side of the city. Denver’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure has now issued a Request for Proposals, with a submission deadline of November 5, for both projects. As part of a larger effort launched in 2011 and called Denver Moves Bicycles, work on the two projects will include the removal of existing stripping, new tubular markings, cast-in-place concrete curbs, vertical delineator posts, rubber curbs, and traffic calming devices. It is expected that the construction costs for both projects could come in at around $1.3 million. The Denver Moves Bicycles initiative has been gradually carving out new protected bike lanes, neighborhood bikeways, and multi-use trails throughout the city. According to a survey conducted by the city, some 60 percent of respondents said they were interested in biking, but concerned about the lack of riding space, particularly in more vehicle-congested parts of Denver. As planned, the city hopes to have completed 125 miles of newly-built bike lanes and routes by the end of 2023. By Garry Boulard
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Stocks in construction materials are expected to see a significant increase in 2021, after declining earlier this year due to the pandemic economy. A forecast issued by the JP Morgan Private Bank is predicting that, as stocks overall are expected generally to rise in the new year, any stocks having to do with building materials may be among the leaders. JP Morgan is specifically forecasting an S&P 500 increase of up to 3,750 points between January and September of next year. Looking at it from the context of this month, that would mean a 10% increase. In an interview with the business news program Squawk Box Europe, Grace Peters, head of equities strategy for JP Morgan, said her company is looking at businesses likely to benefit from increased government spending as those most likely to grow. But while proposed government spending for construction projects is almost always a precursor for an increase in construction materials stocks, sometimes that spending doesn’t materialize. Such was the case earlier this summer when construction materials stocks jumped by 15% upon news of President’s Trump’s $1 trillion infrastructure proposal. Due to differences among Congressional leaders, that proposal never became reality. While overall building materials stocks suffered a double-digit decline in the first quarter of this year, the sector has enjoyed a 9% gain this fall, as construction projects across the country have picked up. A separate report issued by Moody’s Investors Services notes that the building materials market in general has been buoyed by steady demand. In a statement, Emile El Nems, an analyst with Moody’s, predicted: “We expect sequential improvement in economic activity, steady demand from the residential and public infrastructure end markets, coupled with a low interest rate environment, to keep activity and profitability in the building materials industry stable.” By Garry Boulard The City of Tucson’s Housing and Community Development Department has issued a Request for Information for a project that will see the housing redevelopment of three separate city-owned properties. According to city documents, the new housing must be built in a way that is “compatible with the history and character of their neighborhoods.” The first site is located on the northeast corner of Contzen Avenue and Delong Street in the city’s historic Barrio Anita. An area of the city with a large Hispanic population where the earliest structures were built Sonoran style with adobe walls and flat roofs, mixed in with latter-day Queen Anne style structures, the hope is that eight detached affordable homes will be built, paying homage to the architectural history of the neighborhood. The second site is located at the northeast corner of 11th Avenue and 1st Street in the Dunbar Springs neighborhood, at a location formerly occupied by the Salvation Army Hospitality House. The Dunbar Springs area is dotted with homes dating to the early 20th century, often designed in the popular Gothic Revival style. Plans call for the construction of anywhere from 7 to 12 new apartment units at the Dunbar Springs site. The final site is situated in the Menlo Park neighborhood, a more than 100 year-old section of the city featuring a combination of homes built in the Spanish Colonial, Prairie, and post-World War II ranch styles. The city hopes to build at least half a dozen new units on the 1.4-acre Menlo Park site located on the east side of the intersection of Westmoreland Avenue and Menlo Park Place. By Garry Boulard depending upon election results, arizona district may see new school construction and upgrades9/29/2020 Renovations and upgrades to a number of different school buildings may be underway next year if voters approve a $125 million bond in one of the fastest growing school districts in southern Arizona. That bond question, which will appear on the November ballot, is being proposed by the Peoria Unified School District. That district, with an enrollment of more than 37,000 students, serves the cities of Glendale and Peoria. According to school officials, the majority of the more than 40 school buildings in the district date back to at least the early 1990s and are in need of plumbing and heating and cooling system updates, as well as new roofing. Some $55 million will specifically target renovations and upgrades to the district’s 34 elementary schools. Meanwhile, just over $36 million will go for technology and safety upgrades, along with grounds improvement work, at the district’s eight high schools. A portion of that $36 million will also be applied to the purchase of land for the future building of a new high school. The $125 million Peoria district bond is more modest than other recent proposals. A similar bond for $180 million was approved in 2012. But four years later, in the 2016 election, a larger $198 million bond was rejected by district voters. By Garry Boulard Today, on average, it takes just a little over 17 months to complete a multifamily apartment building, according to new numbers released by the federal Census Bureau. That authorization-to-completion timeline, says the Bureau, has slowly increased during the last 7 years, “as regulatory challenges expanded and the skilled labor shortage” continued. Only naturally, the time line for completion is impacted by the number of units within a given project: buildings with 20 or more units take the longest time at up to 19 months. Buildings with anywhere from 10 to 19 units are usually completed in just under 19 months, while buildings with 5 to 9 units typically wrap in 16 months. While buildings with 2 to 4 units take the shortest period of time to complete at 12.6 months, that number is still significantly higher than the Bureau’s earliest survey numbers, recorded in 1971, when the average length of time came in at 5.9 months. Regionally, it takes the longest time to complete an apartment project in the Northeastern states, where the average is 20.3 months. More than three months are shaved off that schedule in the West, with an average of 17 months. The South has seen authorization-to-completion timelines of 15.3 months, followed by the Midwest at just under 13 months. The overall authorization-to-completion rate for all regions combined show that the timeline was the most abbreviated in 2013 at exactly 12 months. By Garry Boulard In an ongoing effort to reduce the city’s vacant and boarded up building stock, members of the El Paso City Council are considering streamlining the process for deciding what is and what isn’t an abandoned property. As it now stands, two separate panels with a total of 27 members review such properties and send on their recommendations to the city’s Building and Standards Commission in order to determine if an abandoned or substandard property has reached the point where it is in violation of city law. If it is determined that a structure truly is abandoned, a process leading to its eventual demolition can begin. But some city officials have said that the reviewing process with two separate panels is too cumbersome, leading to a new proposal calling for only one panel, with 9 members, which would be partly made up of an engineer, architect, and realtor. Earlier reports indicate that there are more than 100 abandoned buildings in El Paso, a large segment of which are located in the central and oldest part of the city. Many of those structure are in an extreme state of disrepair, with some attracting vagrants, and all are at risk of fire. City officials say a more streamlined review process will result in either the owners of the abandoned properties committing to a rebuilding schedule, or a determination to finally demolish the structure once and for all. By Garry Boulard plans underway for the construction of a new combined courthouse and jail facility in colorado9/28/2020 A mostly rural county in central Colorado could soon see the construction of a new justice center, which will house both courtroom and jail facility space. Located at 505 Harrison Avenue in the city of Leadville, the county’s current justice center, built in 1953, is thought to be outdated and too small for current needs. In late 2019, the county received $60,000 from Colorado’s Underfunded Courthouse Facility Commission to build a new center. Funding from that commission specifically targets counties with smaller populations and a per capita income below the state’s median. Other funding for a project that is expected to cost more than $17 million will most likely come from state and local sources. A design study looking at how the center would work is expected to be completed by the end of this year. That study is looking at how to make more seamless the referral process and movement of inmates, and to what degree the size and layout of the center can facilitate that process. County officials have earlier said that they would like to see work begin on the new center, which has been in the talking stage for the last 5 years, sometime in 2021. By Garry Boulard Work on a variety of construction and update projects on four branch campuses belonging to the University of New Mexico could launch next year depending upon the results of a bond proposal in next month’s election. The proposed General Obligation Bond C is asking for more than $155 million in facility work for all of the state’s higher institutions of learning. Of that amount, $51.4 will go to UNM for projects on the school’s main Albuquerque campus, as well as four branch campuses in Gallup, Los Alamos, Taos, and Valencia. The Gallup campus will receive $3 million for work on its popular Center for Career Technology, Education, and Innovation facilities. The facilities, which house classes for the school’s many work force training programs, are said to be currently lacking in both functionality and size. Exactly $1.7 million will go to UNM’s Los Alamos branch campus for the modernization of laboratory space; while $2 million is slated for the Taos branch campus for roadway, drainage, and parking improvements. A final $1.5 million will target fire suppression and alarm system upgrades at the university’s Valencia branch campus. General Obligation Bond proposals specifically targeting higher education facility projects are presented to the voters of New Mexico every two years, and with the exception of 2010 during the Great Recession, are usually approved. By Garry Boulard Demand and output increased during the month of September, leading economists to conclude that the national economy has entered a recovery phase after the doldrums of a pandemic-induced shutdown earlier the spring and summer. The information provider IHS Markit, which has offices in New York, is reporting that its composite purchasing index was up to 54.4 in September, up from 49.7 in July. An index reading above 50 points to increased activity, while any reading below that number shows a decline in business activity. The services sector was up to 54.6 in September, with the manufacturing sector coming in at 53.5. Such numbers, reports the Wall Street Journal, “suggest the U.S. economy is continuing its slow and steady climb from the deep declines in the spring.” While strong, the numbers were also marginally off from what was recorded in August, when the composite purchasing index stood at 54.6. In an interview with the Reuters news service, Chris Williamson, IHS Markit chief business economist, said the question now is “whether the economy’s strong performance can be sustained into the fourth quarter.” Williamson suggested that trends in the coming weeks may be in a kind of holding pattern as “businesses await clarity with respect to both the path of the pandemic and the election.” By Garry Boulard Four school districts in Arizona’s always-growing Maricopa County are asking voters to approve just over $367 million for a series of school facility upgrade projects. The Cartwright School District Number 83 is asking for a $60 million bond which will go for the repair, renovation, and improvement of school facilities across the district, including the upgrading of fire, security, and safety systems. The Buckeye Union High School District Number 201 hopes to secure passage of just over $87.3 million in bonds to build new classroom additions, renovate its athletic facilities, and remodel existing restroom, band room, and art room spaces. A $130 million bond for the Glendale Union High School District Number 205 will pay for a general renovation of existing school buildings, as well as some new construction. Officials with the Roosevelt Elementary School District Number 66 hope to see the passage of $90 million in new bonds for, among other things, facilities maintenance, technology infrastructure, and overall school facility improvements. The larger Maricopa County school system is home to a total of 59 individual school districts, serving, according to the most recent numbers, more than 700,000 students. By Garry Boulard |
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