The former site of the two-story Ent Credit Union headquarters at 7250 Campus Drive, some 8 miles north of downtown Colorado Springs, will soon be repurposed to make way for a television studio and office. Station KKTV has announced plans to move out of its current 9,000 square foot location at 520 E. Colorado Avenue in order to secure more operating space. The CBS affiliate, which is owned by Gray Television of Atlanta, has been on the air since early 1952, and is the third oldest station in Colorado. The new location will give the station 38,000 square feet of office and studio space on the first floor of the building, which was purchased by Gray Television last spring for $11.1 million. The second floor of the building is expected to be turned into condominiums. During its 70-year broadcasting history, KKTV has operated out of several locations, beginning with a small studio at 115 E. Mill Street that was once the local affiliate for the failed DuMont Television Network. The station’s move to its new location is expected to be completed by late next summer. By Garry Boulard
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New border wall construction in Arizona is set to launch sometime next month, picking up in some of the places where President Biden early in his administration suspended such work. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency has announced that it plans to “finish drainages and low-water crossings in southern Arizona and in some cases re-engineer border wall designs to allow for water flow.” Border wall work, which was originally advanced by President Trump, may also soon be seen in California, New Mexico, and Texas. The decision to resume the work by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, notes the Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity, makes clear that the Army Corp’s “career staff was committed to continuing construction of Trump’s border wall.” The new work will be designed to both repair existing gates and roads, as well as filling gaps in the wall left intact after the Biden Administration paused the overall project. As expected, the work will primarily focus on the border within the Sonoran Desert. Although new construction at the border has been curtailed since President Biden’s initial announcement, work of a different fashion in the area has seen the installation of some 130 shipping containers, making up 3,820 feet, undertaken by the State of Arizona. That project saw the placing of those containers, with a cumulative weight of 8,800 pounds, in the vicinity of Yuma. In a statement Arizona Governor Doug Ducey announced: “Five wide open gaps in the border wall near Yuma neighborhoods and businesses are now closed off.” In announcing the new border work, the CBP said it intends to “prioritize funding on those remediation projects that are needed to address life and safety, including the protection of the public, U.S. Border Patrol agents, and nearby communities from potential harms, and avert further environmental damage or degradation.” By Garry Boulard Despite predictions of a coming recession, national small business confidence was on the upside last month. A new survey released by the National Federal of Independent Business showed an overall 91.8 index reading in August, up nearly two points from the preceding month. While the survey additionally indicated that 29% of small business owners said they were most concerned about inflation, that figure was smaller than a mid-summer reading of 37%. Marginally increased optimism was also seen in the 42% of respondents who indicated that they thought overall business conditions would improve between now and early 2023. Only 32% of respondents expressed similar confidence in July. In a statement, Bill Dunkelberg, chief economist with the NFIB, remarked that the slightly improved level of confidence must be seen in the context recent months: “The small business economy is still recovering from the pandemic while inflation continues to be a serious problem for owners across the nation.” Dunkelberg added that small businesses in general remain tasked with a variety of challenges, including the increasing cost of utilities, supplies, labor, and fuel, not to mention a worker shortage impacting productivity as “owners raise compensation to attract better workers.” On supply side issues, the latest NFIB survey also showed that 32% of owners said supply chain disruptions have had a significant impact on their businesses, with 33% reporting a moderate impact, and 23% a mild impact. The wide-ranging impact of the supply issue was seen in the fact that only 11% of respondents said their businesses had experienced no impact due to supply chain disruptions. By Garry Boulard An auction is scheduled to begin on October 4 for a slightly more than 28,000 square foot office building in Loveland, Colorado. Located at 3985 S. Lincoln Avenue on the south side of the city, the modern structure includes office and research and development space, as well as a warehouse with three roll-up doors. Listed by WK Real Estate of Boulder, the structure was built in 2002 and sits on a just under one-acre site surrounded by trees. The two-floor building has remained popular for the last two decades as an office destination and is currently 100% leased. Located within the larger Loveland Tech Center park, the glass-walled building also houses a fitness center. A minimum starting bid of $1.7 million will be accepted for the auction, which is scheduled to be held over a two-day period. By Garry Boulard The renovation and upgrading of a historic structure on the campus of Western New Mexico State University may begin in earnest, depending upon the fortunes of a coming bond election. General Obligation Bond C, which will provide $215.6 million for a variety of higher education facility projects statewide, will also include funding for the $2 million renovation and upgrading of the Graham Gymnasium building on the main WNMU campus in Silver City. That structure, at 1000 W. College Avenue, is one of the few buildings from the school’s original campus that is still in use. Built in 1936 and designed by well-known architect John Gaw Meem in the Mission Revival Style, the structure is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The General Obligation Bond would altogether provide an allocation of some $4 million to WNMU and will also fund improvements to a well-used throughfare in the middle of the campus. Funding will also be devoted to the $2 million completion of the off-campus Deming Learning Center on West Florida Avenue in the city of Deming, which focuses on workforce training. That facility will see some parking lot construction as well as the installation of data cable infrastructure. By Garry Boulard Confidence in the single-family home construction market has fallen to its lowest point among builders since the spring of 2020 and the Covid-19 outbreak, reflecting a general flattening of the economy, according to a new industry study. On an index scale, the National Association of Home Builders is reporting that builder confidence level is now down to 46. That index, compiled by NAHB and the Wells Fargo bank, starts at zero for very poor to 100 for excellent. The 46 reading is a drastic comedown from attitudes recorded in January of this year when the index stood at 83 but is still higher than where things stood during the immediate months of the spring 2020 pandemic, when it dropped to 30. Factoring out the extraordinary and even surreal conditions of the Covid-19 outbreak, the latest index rating has not been this low since the spring of 2014. In a statement, Jerry Konter, NAHB chairman, remarked that “buyer traffic is weak in many markets as more consumers remain on the sidelines due to high mortgage rates and home prices that are putting a new home purchase out of reach for many households.” Konter noted that in response to current conditions, some 24% of home builders are reporting that they have reduced prices this month, up from 19% in August. Regionally, builders in the South were the most bullish in the survey, producing a 52 index result, down from 63 the previous month. The Northeast dropped from 56 to 48, while the Midwest decreased from 49 to and 42. The West, which has seen the nation’s highest home prices, saw a precipitous decline from 51 in August to 34 currently. By Garry Boulard A unique project transforming a longstanding gas station in Denver into a popular Italian restaurant is being singled out by a preservation group for its sustainability. The former Phillips 66 gas station and later Meineke muffler shop at 5839 East Colfax Avenue was purchased by businessman and restauranteur Brad Anderson in early 2018, with the idea of keeping the building’s mid-20th century modern design intact. Although the project took longer than expected owing to the pandemic the new restaurant, called Benzina, was opened for business by the late summer of 2021. In the process, the distinctive protruding at the front of the building was preserved to create an outdoor patio-style dining space, with the former garage bays similarly reused for dining. The group Historic Denver, Incorporated is saluting the gas station transformation, along with four other recent adaptive reuse projects in the city as examples of where historic preservation and sustainability in Denver should be going. “Historic buildings are community assets and part of our cultural fabric,” John Lucero, chairman of Historic Denver, said in announcing the project winners. “What’s more, preserving them is compatible with growth, affordability, sustainability, and inclusivity—and our 2022 award recipients are living proof.” The other recipients: the transformation of the Emily Griffith Opportunity School at 1250 Weldon Street into a mixed-use space; the Colburn Hotel at 980 Grant Street, turned into an affordable housing complex; the Pancratia Hall at 3144 West Frances Place, turning a one-time dorm and class space also into affordable housing; and the Martin Building, a part of the Denver Art Museum, recently restored with its one million glass tiles preserved. By Garry Boulard A plan to replace portable classrooms belonging to the Northwest Early College High School in El Paso with an actual building could cost as much as $25 million, according to sources. That facility, located at 6701 S. Desert Boulevard and a Department of Education-recognized Blue Ribbon school, has seen its enrollment grow from 324 students a few years ago to now around 400. Funding to build the new school will come out of a $264 million bond on this November’s election that, if approved by voters, will also pay for the reconstruction of the Canutillo Middle School at 7311 Bosque Road. That project is expected to cost around $62 million. The projects in the Canutillo Independent School District largely represent the growth of the district itself which a decade ago had less than 6,000 residents but could well be nearing the 8,000 mark by 2032. An additional bond-funded project will see the building of a new Jose J. Alderete Middle School, which is currently located at 801 Talbot Avenue, in another location north of Interstate 10. Also planned: the addition of a new wing at the Reyes Elementary School at 7440 Northern Pass Drive in El paso. The bond will also fund up to $14 million for security and safety upgrades at every one of the district’s schools. The Canutillo ISD serves the towns of Canutillo and Vinton, as well as a portion of El Paso. District officials are not taking the November election for granted: even though voters approved a similar bond in 2011, they turned down by a two-to-one margin two bond proposals totaling $187.5 million last year. By Garry Boulard Up to $560 million is being made available in Washington for state efforts to do away with abandoned or orphaned wells. The funding will target an estimated 10,000 wells. An additional $33 million is going toward plugging wells still in existence on federal lands. The funding is coming through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and represents the first round of what will eventually be a more than $4.7 billion effort. As administered by the Department of the Interior, the funding will be used in 24 states, including most of the states of the West. Those states, on average, are getting around $25 million each to both measure methane as well as clean the derelict wells. The funding will target some 250 wells in Arizona, 710 in Colorado, and around 200 in New Mexico. Texas, meanwhile, is working to plug up to 800 wells. According to the Western Governors Association, millions of Americans live “within a mile of abandoned or orphaned wells, which can pose health and environmental risks.” There are thought to be at least 129,000 such wells on both private and public land across the country. Kansas has the most such wells at more than 2,300, followed by Kentucky with nearly 1,200, and Oklahoma at just under that number. In a statement, Deb Haaland, Interior Department Secretary, said her department is “working on multiple fronts to clean up these sites as quickly as we can by investing in efforts on federal lands and partnering with states and Tribes to leave no community behind.” By Garry Boulard The City of Tempe may be on verge of spending $37.5 million in federal funds to reopen a water reclamation plant that has been closed since 2010. The city expects to receive around $37.5 million through the Water Resources Development Act, which is expected to see final Congressional approval shortly. The Kyrene Water Reclamation Facility, near the intersection of W. Guadalupe Road and S. Kyrene Road, is on the near southern side of the city and for years treated water flushed down toilets and drains, before sending it to the Salt River Project for reuse. The facility, opened in the spring of 1991, treated up to 4.5 million gallons per day before being closed in 2011 after grease, coming through the city’s sewer system, clogged the plant’s membrane filtration system. In a statement, Congressman Greg Stanton, who voted in favor of the Water Resources Development legislation, remarked that once the Kyrene Water Reclamation Facility is reactivated, “it will make sure Tempe can provide residents with a clean and reliable water supply.” By Garry Boulard |
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