Plans are underway for the construction of a hotel project in downtown Tucson that will add 350 new rooms to the city’s hotel supply. The project will go up in the 300 block of E. Congress Street and will physically incorporate a portion of the adjacent historic Rialto Theater. According to plans, upon the completion of the project, hotel guests would be able to attend performances at the famous theater without ever leaving the property. At the same time, guests could also watch concerts held at the Rialto through a massive glass partition between the two entities. Proposed by Tucson developer Scott Stiteler, the project will see the Marriot Element, which mostly serves business travelers, offering 149 rooms at the site, while the Millennial Generation-oriented Marriott Moxy Hotel will have 109 rooms. The overall hotel structure will be 16 stories in height. In order to move the project along, members of the Rio Nuevo District board of directors have agreed to offer incentives allowing for the Rialto to be closed for some 24 months in order to allow for the construction of the next-door hotel. At the same time, the theater, which was opened in 1922 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, will undergo renovation. Part of that renovation will include the building of new green rooms and an office. Construction of the hotel is expected to begin early next year, with a rough completion date of sometime in 2021. By Garry Boulard
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Ten members of the U.S. Senate have announced a move to reaffirm and support a ban on Congressional earmarks that has been in place since 2010. The move comes as some lawmakers have suggested bringing the practice back, noting that the controversial legislative practice is sometimes the only way to secure funding for public building projects back home. Earmarks have traditionally been inserted into discretionary spending bills, but in so doing, they are not subject to the normal competitive funds allocation process. Two of the ten senators, Arizona Senator Jeff Flake and Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill, have now introduced the Earmark Elimination Act, which would prohibit earmarks through the means of a “point of order.” That mechanism will both point out an earmark in a given piece of legislation and automatically strike it out. The earmark could only be kept in place through the difficult process of a two-thirds vote of the Senate. In a public letter, the ten senators declare: “Although proponents claim the process can be cleaned-up by simply adding more transparency, history has demonstrated that earmarking is inherently corrupt.” The bill proposed by Flake and McCaskill will permanently ban earmarks from all Senate legislation. The use of earmarks has been opposed by presidents of both parties. In 1987, Ronald Reagan vetoed a highway bill with 152 earmarks. In 2011, Barak Obama warned Congress that he would veto any legislation containing earmarks. By Garry Boulard The first hurdle has been cleared in a move to build 240 apartments on the south side of Santa Fe. Members of the Santa Fe Planning Commission have given their approval to a plan that will see the project going up next to the well-known Santa Fe Place mall, off of Wagon Road. The project will be bordered by Office Court Drive on the west, and the Arroyo Chamiso on the east. According to the plans announced by the New York-based Abacus Capital Group LLC, the project will see the building of 144 one-bedroom apartments, along with 88 two-bedroom units and 8 three-bedroom apartments. Altogether, the project will entail just over 250,000 square feet and will include a community clubhouse. What is being called Turquesa Apartments will additionally include the construction of a walking trail connecting the Arroyo Chamiso Trail to the entrance of the complex on Office Court Drive. The project is now on its way to final commission approval on November 1, with a 30-day appeal period following. The Abacus Capital Group is a property development and asset management company that has developed dozens of modern apartment complexes across the country, with a particular focus on the South and West. By Garry Boulard The long-standing owner of a steel mill operating in Pueblo, Colorado has announced plans to convert the facility into a modern rail mill. Evraz Rocky Mountain says it expects to spend up to $480 million on improvements to its existing steel mill in order to produce longer rails. That conversion, say company officials, will make the Pueblo facility the most modern rail-rolling facility of its kind in North America. The facility will either be built new from the ground up, or will come about as the result of the conversion of an existing steel mill owned by the company. Evraz currently has three operating steel mills in metro Pueblo. In the hope of securing the new facility, members of the Pueblo City Council have voted in favor of offering the company a $15 million incentive package. Headquartered in Chicago, Evraz is a vertically integrated company primarily focused on coking coal and iron ore production. It has had operations in Pueblo since 1881 and currently manufactures, among other products, seamless pipe, premium rail, and wire rod and coiled reinforcing bar. Earlier this summer, the company announced it was committed to remaining in Pueblo for the next fifty years, based upon a long-term power agreement made with Xcel Energy. A final decision in the Evraz Pueblo facility conversion is expected to be announced sometime next year, with construction possibly launching at the end of 2019. In an interview with the Pueblo Chieftain newspaper, Christian Messmacher, vice president of development for Evraz, said that due to the company’s long-standing local presence, and the “unbelievably hard-working talented group of people we have in Pueblo, it just made it very natural to consider Pueblo the right place for investment.” By Garry Boulard Importers bringing steel propane cylinders from China into the U.S. will now be required to pay cash deposits to Customs and Border Protection agents. That policy, announced by the U.S. Commerce Department, underlines a determination that granting subsidies to the producers of such products has allowed them to gain unfair access to U.S. markets. In a release announcing the decision, the Commerce Department said, “Anti-dumping and countervailing duty laws provide American businesses and workers with an internationally accepted mechanism to seek relief from the harmful effects of the unfair pricing of imports into the United States.” A final determination in the matter is expected to be announced by the Commerce Department in March. The Commerce order specifically applies to steel propane cylinders ranging in weight from 2.5 to 42 pounds. Those tanks are commonly used in recreational vehicles and barbeque grills, and provide a source of heating on construction sites during the winter months. Excluded from the new order are propane cylinders made from stainless steel and seamless steel. The Commerce Department investigation into the possible dumping of Chinese cylinders came about as a result of complaints from Worthington Industries of Columbus, Ohio, and the Manchester Tank and Equipment Company in Franklin, Tennessee, both of which are U.S. producers of steel propane cylinders. By Garry Boulard In a move to expand its production of mobile communications devices, an Albuquerque-based company is planning to move into and upgrade a 16,000 square foot facility on the north side of the city. 3D Glass Solutions says it will spend up to $23 million in the move to and upgrading of the facility, more than tripling its current 5,000 square feet of working space at 5201 Venice Avenue NE. The company, which invented and produces APEXGlass, a glass ceramic material for etching three-dimensional electronics components into chips, says it will initially use about 10,000 square feet for its production purposes. But future plans call for expanding to 16,000 square feet in response to consumer demand. 3D Glass Solutions is receiving around $2 million in Local Economic Development Act support, but is also hoping to secure industrial revenue bonds through the approval of the Bernalillo County Commission. That body is expected to vote on those bonds in its scheduled November 13 meeting. What the exact dollar value of the bonds will ultimately be is not yet known, although the company had earlier said they were hoping for up to $25 million. Also manufacturing high gain antennas and IPD-ready components, the private high-tech company was founded in 2008 and was recently lauded by New Mexico Economic Development Cabinet Secretary Matt Geisel who called it a “true economic success story.” The exact location of where 3D Glass Solutions will move to and build at has not yet been officially announced. By Garry Boulard funding for construction of extensive fiber optic network approved in breckenridge, colorado10/23/2018 A project that will see the design and construction of a first-of-its-kind fiber optic network has won the approval of the Breckinridge Town Council. Members of that council have voted in favor of appropriating up to $8 million for the work, which upon completion will enhance local high-speed internet service, as well as cellular coverage, among other things. The initial phased project is expected to launch next spring, with the first phase work expected to be complete by the late summer of 2019. According to a market assessment study put together by the Foresite Group, an engineering, planning, and design firm with offices in Broomfield, the network as constructed will be “appropriate-sized to support possible future uses, such as assisting wireless infrastructure for improved cellular coverage, and other potential smart city applications.” The network will be owned by the Town of Breckinridge. In Colorado, cities and towns are allowed to build their own broadband networks, but only if they voluntarily opt out of state legislation restricting such ownership. Last year, 19 cities across the state voted to opt out of that legislation. The voters of Breckinridge did so in 2016. By Garry Boulard A company known nationally for its durable farm equipment offerings has announced that it wants to build up to 500 new stores. Those new stores will added to the roughly 720 outlets the Brentwood, Tennessee-based Tractor Supply Company has built in the last six years. Altogether, the chain, known popularly as TSC, now has just over 1,700 stores. Founded in 1938 as a mail order parts supplier, TSC today specializes in such items as riding mowers, paddleboats, hand trucks, water pumps and animal food. Last year the company posted revenues in excess of $7.2 billion. The average TSC store ranges anywhere between 15,000 to 20,000 square feet, with outdoor selling space of a similar size. The company currently has 22 outlets in Arizona, 14 in Colorado, and 17 in New Mexico. An example of TSC’s steady facility growth is seen with the announcement in January of 2017 that it opened its 1,600th store, located in Brentwood, California. In April of this year, the company announced it was opening in Mocksville, North Carolina its 1,700 store. One key to the company’s continuing growth was recently explained in a profile of the typical TSC customer by Bloomburg Businessweek: “The farmers, ranchers, and hobbyists the company caters to tend to have above-average income and below-average cost of living. They don’t have the time or inclination to wait for a product to come from the internet.” By Garry Boulard More than 200 miles of new bike and walking paths are planned for construction in Las Cruces as part of a more comprehensive citywide transportation effort. The plan, as approved by members of the Las Cruces City Council, will see the building specifically of 98 miles of path geared especially for bikes. Walkers will be treated to the construction of 128 miles of new sidewalks, along with another just over 30 sidewalks designed to fill in existing gaps. Those gaps currently comprise some 236 linear miles. As proposed, the plan calls for the construction of new trails and side paths primarily on the growing north side of the city, along with a combination of separated bike paths, buffered bike lanes, and exclusive bikes lanes throughout the rest of the city. City officials say the new bike route construction will make more complete a sometimes patchwork current network. What is being called the Active Transportation Plan, according to city documents, is specifically designed to “guide decision-making on the development, retrofit, and investment of pedestrian and bicycle facilities/network throughout the city.” The plan is the result of a series of public outreach meetings and focus group sessions, and won the approval of the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission late last month. A construction schedule for the pathways work has not yet been announced. By Garry Boulard A ready-mix concrete company based in Fort Collins has won approval from local officials to submit a plan for the construction of a new production facility. The company, Martin Marietta, currently has an operating plant in Fort Collins at 3000 Ziegler Road but has said that it wants to build a larger facility to accommodate its needs. The new facility, if ultimately approved, would go up near the intersection of South Timberline Road and East Mulberry Street. The project has been the subject of several public input meetings, with neighbors saying that they thought the proposed facility was too large for the surrounding area, that it would create additional traffic, and could also, because of a planned 24-hour schedule, prove disruptive. Larimer County Commissioners meeting on October 15 asked for more inclusive landscaping, as well as fencing, to better obscure the new facility. The current Fort Collins facility is officially called the Martin Marietta-Rigden Ready Mix plant. With home offices in Raleigh, North Carolina, Martin Marietta is one of the largest suppliers of aggregates and heavy building materials in the country, enjoying revenues in 2016 of more than $3.8 billion. The company must now submit a site plan to Larimer County as the next step in the approval process for the new plant. By Garry Boulard |
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