Plans are in the works for the purchase and repurposing of a massive office and warehouse complex along Interstate 10 on the west side of El Paso. That complex, with 412,000 square feet of warehouse space and a 115,000 square-foot office, was formerly the home of the Helen of Troy company, a housewares developer with more than $2 billion in annual sales founded in El Paso in 1968. Earlier this month, Helen of Troy officials announced that they wanted to sell the facility, while still keeping the company’s headquarters in the city. Now the Eaton Corporation, a global power management company, has disclosed an interest in purchasing the site for around $80 million. The company, which specializes in everything from electronic components to fuel systems and utility and grid solutions, already has an existing plant in El Paso’s Northwest Corporate Center industrial park. In a news conference, Alex Mora, plant manager for Eaton, said the company is planning to manufacture additional electrical products at the new facility - products that will include the panel boards, switchboards, and circuit breakers that are used for electrifying data centers and large commercial plants. Mora added that the company, which is headquartered in Dublin and saw revenues in excess of $20 billion last year, would be moving into the Helen of Troy facilities due entirely to a demand for its products, and not because it was “closing other plants somewhere.” By Garry Boulard
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In just the latest example of finding a modern use for the space running alongside Phoenix’s historic Grand Canal, a development company has announced plans to build a seven-story structure with 155 residential units that will open out to the waterway. The project, officially called Forty600, belongs to RAS Developments of Phoenix, and will additionally see the creation of around 7,100 square feet of commercial and office space on the building's ground floor. The Phoenix-based Merge Architectural Group has signed on as project architect, with Waibel and Associates of Tempe in charge of the landscape architecture. Forty600 will be built on a just under 2-acre site near the intersection of Central Avenue and Coolidge Street, running adjacent to the Grand Canal. The part of the project facing the canal, with residential balconies overlooking the waterway, is poised for café, coffee shop, and bistro space. The canal, which runs southeast to west through the city, has increasingly in recent years been the focal point of infrastructure development, particularly with the completion of a 12-mile, $22 million recreational trail called the Grand Canalscape. Originally built by the Grand Canal Company, the waterway was instrumental in sustaining farmlands in Phoenix. As the city has become increasingly urbanized, the canal is primarily used to feed area water systems. RAS Developments specializes in rental space, and has spearheaded projects in Montana and North Dakota, as well as Alberta and Saskatchewan. In 2020, the company completed work on The Grove on Glendale, which is thought to be, with 56 individual townhomes, the largest built-for-rent townhome development in metro Phoenix. By Garry Boulard Less than two weeks before the federal government is scheduled to run out of money, members of Congress appear to be more divided than ever regarding spending and budget priorities. Those divisions were seen in a failed effort to approve a short-term funding stopgap that proved unpopular enough with a segment of the House of Representatives’ membership so as to be withdrawn before the proposal was even voted on. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy expressed frustration with members of his own caucus for failing to consider that bill but told reporters: “I like a challenge. I don’t like this big a challenge—but we’re just going to keep doing it until we can make it.” Although a proposal unveiled over the weekend included both a stopgap funding measure as well as significant funding cuts and enhanced border controls, a small group of Republican lawmakers have said they want deeper cuts, among other things, and will hold off even if it results in a government shutdown. Arkansas Republican Congressman Steve Womack has suggested that, for now, attempts to forestall the shutdown may be doomed to failure. He noted that there is currently a “sufficient number of people right now on the record, on social media, saying that they’re not going to take it up or not going to support it.” As quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Womack added that the Senate is “trying its best to at least present an appropriations package than can clear the Senate and maybe come over to the House and get some bipartisan votes.” According to a document prepared last month by the Office of Management and Budget, all federal agencies are expected to have at the ready shutdown plans to be activated within one day of the shutdown. Those same agencies, notes the publication Business Insider, should also have plans "for a shutdown that extends for a prolonged period of time.” A recent Brookings Institution study notes that while in a shutdown a large segment of federal employees is told not to report for work, both Medicare and Social Security “continue to flow because they are authorized by Congress in laws that do not need annual approval.” By Garry Boulard Even in a state where the average home price at just under $538,000 exceeds by $120,000 the national average, the sale of a 13,000 square-foot luxury home just outside of Aspen, Colorado has prompted national press coverage. According to sources, the home belonging to interior designer Holly Hunt has been sold for a record $70 million. Located about a mile from the Aspen city limits, the two-story structure, "tucked away among the Colorado mountains," as earlier described by the publication Galerie, includes six bedrooms, a large living and dining room, and a spacious patio. Hunt, the founder and former chief executive officer of Holly Hunt Design, had purchased the 4.2-acre property in 2015 for around $5.8 million, but considerably increased its value by a number of site improvements including the construction of a new main house and caretaker's residence. Hunt also oversaw the building of a new bridge over the adjacent Roaring Fork River. According to the Clayton County Register, Hunt additionally "invested significant effort in landscaping the estate, raising the ground level by 7 feet, adding gentle slopes, and planting full-size evergreens." Hunt made her name in the interior design world through her signature custom made indoor and outdoor furniture, along with rugs, lighting, and textiles. Nearly a decade ago she sold her company to MillerKnoll, Incorporated for a reported $95 million. While not in the stratosphere of the Hunt home sale, the average median listing in Aspen last month stood at $3.2 million, according to the site Zillow. By Garry Boulard A new modern office building that will house office and laboratory space for bioscience companies is set to be built in downtown Phoenix. The project belongs to Wexford Science & Technology of Baltimore and will see the completion of a building that will look very much like another structure the company earlier put up in Phoenix. That initial 227,000 square-foot structure, officially called the 850 PBC, was built in 2021 in a partnership with Arizona State University as part of the Phoenix Bioscience Core campus. The seven-story 850 PBC building houses everything from university research to corporate offices, workforce development, and collaborative space. Now Wexford wants to build a second bioscience collaborative structure within the 30-acre Phoenix Bio Core campus that is expected to cost around $100 million to complete. According to plans, the new structure will go up next to the existing 850 PBC building and will be of a similar size. Wexford’s plans for the second building were announced in the wake of a decision by the National Institutes of Health to sign a lease for some 35,000 square feet of space on the original building’s seventh floor. Kyle Jardine, Wexford marketing executive, said in a statement that the addition of the NIH facilities “reaffirms the PBC as Arizona’s central hub for life science research and entrepreneurship.” Founded nearly two decades ago, Wexford specializes in the building of what are known as “innovation ecosystems,” and has spearheaded projects in partnerships with the University of Maryland, Duke University, and Washington University in St. Louis, among other institutions of higher learning. By Garry Boulard Minority would-be homeowners are feeling increasingly priced out of the market, holding off on purchasing a home until the numbers look better, says a new report issued by the National Association of Realtors. Prospective home buyers in three minority categories - Asian, Black, and Hispanic - all say they are waiting for prices to drop before entering the market. An equally large number are waiting for historically high mortgage rates to decline. A third smaller category, notes the 2023 Experiences & Barriers of Prospective Home Buyers Across Races/Ethnicities report, indicated that there were not enough homes available within their budgets. “Home buyers face the most difficult affordability conditions in nearly 40 years due to limited inventory and rising mortgage rates,” remarks Jessica Lautz, chief economist and research vice president with the NAR. In a statement, Lautz added: “The impact is exacerbated among first-time buyers who are more likely to be from underrepresented segments of the population.” The report additionally notes that saving for a competitive home down payment has also emerged as a primary obstacle to buying a home, with many indicating that they are already burdened with credit card debt, student loans, and high rents. At the same time, realtors interviewed for the report indicated that less than a quarter of would-be homeowners have applied for down payment assistance programs. Noted Lautz: “Down payment assistance programs often fly under the radar for potential home buyers.” Some 31% of Hispanic respondents, 30% of Black respondents, and 32% of Asian respondents said they were not aware of such programs. Pointing to Veterans Administration, Federal Housing Administration, and U.S. Department of Agriculture loans, Lautz added that realtors may increasingly find themselves tasked with educating potential buyers about the benefits of such programs. “Doing so, will bring in more first-time buyers and narrow the homeownership gap,” continued Lautz. By Garry Boulard Built in 1910, one of the most classic and historic downtown El Paso office buildings is now on the market with a listing price of just under $3 million. Located at 717 E. San Antonio Avenue, the five-story Toltec Building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was designed in a Beaux Arts Classicism style by well-known Western architect John Huddart. The structure, built at a cost of $100,000, was for years the home of the famous Toltec Club, a club favored by the city's business and civic elite. Upon the building's formal opening in the fall of 1910, the El Paso Herald made much of its "delicately colored rooms, libraries, and alcoves," also noting the apartments for women on the second floor, grill room on the third floor, and rooftop garden. The building hosted Theodore Roosevelt, who stopped by for breakfast at the Toltec Club in 1911, as well as the legendary Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa, who rented space on the first floor in 1913 to serve as a purchasing office to buy supplies for his soldiers. In more recent years, the building has been the home to the Toltec Tiki Room, a bar offering Polynesian-style drinks. Measuring just over 46,000 square feet, the Toltec Building is being listed by the El Paso offices of Royal Carpet Real Estate. By Garry Boulard A one-time garage and auto repair shop in downtown Albuquerque is about to be repurposed. The Ex Novo Brewing company, which is based in Portland, Oregon, plans to renovate and upgrade a building located at Seventh Street and Central Avenue that was once the home to a Firestone Complete Auto Care location. That 11,600 square-foot garage, which opened for business in the early 1930s, was long considered a Route 66 landmark with its Art Deco exterior design. It was closed as an underperforming shop by the Firestone chain in early 2020. Now, Ex Novo plans to modernize the structure for the purpose of turning it into a full-service taproom and restaurant. According to plans, the front lot of the former Firestone garage will be turned into a patio featuring a bar, café, and beer garden. Some $75,000 in funding for the work is coming through the Metropolitan Redevelopment Agency’s Storefront Activation Grant program, which is tasked with supporting businesses and reducing vacant commercial spaces in downtown Albuquerque. Launched in Portland in 2014, Ex Novo opened a new location in Corrales in 2019. By Garry Boulard State legislatures across the country are increasingly attempting to grapple with the growth of artificial intelligence, addressing concerns about its potential misuse. According to the Denver-based National Conference of State Legislatures, at least 25 states, along with the District of Columbia, introduced bills dealing with various aspects of artificial intelligence so far this year. The state efforts come as the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology is conducting workshops in the hope of eventually creating federal standards for artificial intelligence systems. A legislative summary released by NCSL additionally notes that state lawmakers are studying artificial intelligence’s potential benefits, with a “growing number of measures being introduced to study the impact of artificial intelligence or algorithms and the potential roles for policymakers.” The Arizona State Legislature approved a bill prohibiting the use of artificial intelligence software in voting machines, only to see that legislation vetoed last month by Governor Katie Hobbs, who said the bill attempted to “solve challenges that do not currently face our state.” Colorado lawmakers earlier approved a bill requiring insurance companies to test their use of artificial intelligence, noting that information about race, gender, and age could be used to discriminate against consumers. The New Mexico Legislature approved a bill creating a special commission to study the impact of artificial intelligence; an approach also adapted by the state legislatures of Louisiana, Texas, North Dakota, and West Virginia. Connecticut, meanwhile, has approved a bill requiring the state’s Department of Administrative Services to do an inventory of all state agencies currently employing artificial intelligence, while at the same time requiring that such systems are regularly assessed to make sure that they are not being used in a discriminatory manner. From the executive side of the equation, California Governor Gavin Newsom earlier this month issued an executive order addressing the development, use, and potential risks of artificial intelligence as implemented by the state government. “We’re taking a clear-eyed, humble approach to this world-changing technology,” said the Governor, noting that the state should be neither “frozen by the fears or hypnotized by the upside.” In Washington, a series of bipartisan Artificial Intelligence Insight Forums have been inaugurated, with the goal of providing members of Congress with the most recent developments in the computer systems, and what, if any, legislation may be needed to govern its fast growth. In announcing formation of the insight forums, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer remarked: “We need the best of the best sitting at the table: the top artificial intelligence developers, executives, scientists, advocates, community leaders, works, national security experts—all together in one room, doing years of work in a matter of months.” By Garry Boulard Plans are advancing for the construction of a $600 million data center in southern Arizona that will belong to online search engine giant Google. The company, which is based in Mountain View, California, has announced that it wants to build the facility in Mesa in order to enhance its artificial intelligence and cloud business computing offerings. The facility, remarked Joe Kava, vice president of data centers for Google, will be designed to keep “digital services up and running for people and businesses,” adding that such centers “are the economic anchors in the communities where we operate.” The new project represents the first time that Google has had an actual physical facility in the Grand Canyon State. Upon completion, the new data center will be able to provide cloud technologies in metro Phoenix for both private businesses as well as public sector entities. Google in recent months has been building out its national data center presence. Last month it announced a facility investment of $1.7 billion to support already-existing data center campuses in Columbus, Lancaster, and New Albany, Ohio. Several weeks before the Ohio announcement, the company revealed plans to enhance to the tune of $350 million its Council Bluffs, Iowa, data center. The new Mesa facility will be designed to limit water usage, always a big issue in Arizona. A Google press release said the facility will employ air-cooled technology in an effort to minimize “net climate impact,” while “using natural resources responsibly, both today and in the future.” The company has additionally said that it will donate $150,000 to the utility Salt River Project in support of the company’s plan to restore hundreds of ponderosa pines destroyed by the 37-acre Dude Fire near the city of Payson in 1990. By Garry Boulard |
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