Plans have been announced for the construction of a new extended stay hotel that will go up on the northeast side of Albuquerque. Branded as an Element by Westin, the hotel will be located at 2430 Louisiana Boulevard NE and will also offer overnight options. Planned for seven floors, the project will see the construction of 120 rooms as well as a rooftop bar and seating space. Element by Westin suites also feature fully equipped kitchens. Long in the talking and planning stages, the hotel is expected to see work begin later this year with a general late 2023 completion date. Altogether, the project is expected to cost around $32.5 million to complete. Featuring spa-inspired bathrooms and common living spaces, the Element brand currently has nearly 9,200 rooms in the U.S. and Canada, with another just under 10,000 rooms in the planning stage. The chain’s existing hotels are primarily based on the upper coast East coast, as well as Florida and Texas, with a growing presence in the West. By Garry Boulard
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A northwest Denver park, founded in 1931 and enjoyed by generations of local residents, is in line for a series of upgrades. La Raza Park is located in the Denver neighborhood of Sunnyside. Formerly called the Columbus Park, in honor of explorer Christopher Columbus, it was renamed La Raza, partly in honor of the surrounding Latino community it serves. Now plans are in the discussion stage for a general upgrade of the park, which features a basketball court, playground, walkways, and a large center pyramid structure. Some $350,000 in funding secured through the city’s $937 million Elevate Denver bond program, which was approved by voters in 2017, will pay for the design phase of new playground space. Future work, to be undertaken by the Denver Parks and Recreation Department, could see a general upgrade of the park, as well as the possible construction of a swimming pool. City officials say the playground design work will launch early next year, and once completed, a timeline for construction will be announced. Funding for additional work at the park could be secured through the Parks and Recreation Department’s annual capital improvement plan. By Garry Boulard Retail sales marked a new peak last month, one more sign of the nation’s post-covid resilience, according to the Commerce Department. Compared with September of last year, retail sales posted a 13.9% gain last month, for a total dollar worth of $625.4 billion. That figure is significantly up over the summer of 2020, just months after the covid onset and national economic shutdown, when it dropped to just over $400 billion. In addition, retail sales for the first week of October were up by 8.8% compared with the September average. The strong September numbers prompted the financial analysis service IHS Markit to raise its economic growth forecasts to 1.6% for July to September, and a markedly larger 5.1% for the final quarter of this year. A number of factors are leading to predictions of a more robust end-of-year spending, with the Commerce Department noting that American households are currently sitting on about $1.6 trillion in savings, the result of several rounds of federal stimulus checks. Those savings are well above pre-covid levels, says the Commerce Department. The publication Investors Observer has noted that sales in September were particularly up in merchandise stores, as well as “sporting goods, hobby, musical instruction, and bookstore sales.” Health and personal care stores saw a 1.4% decline in sales, followed by the electronics and appliances store sector, which was off by 0.9%. In an interview with Retail Dive, Neil Saunders, managing director of Global Data, noted that an increase in sales earlier this year was attributable to home improvement purchases. “Now a greater emphasis is being placed on personal indulgences in the form of apparel, beauty and accessories.” Added Saunders: “This is aided by the fact that people are socializing and leaving their homes more than they did last year.” Notes the site Yahoo Finance: A “surge in retail sales is a positive indicator ahead of the holiday season, especially when the industry is currently dealing with supply chain woes, rising freight charges and labor shortages.” By Garry Boulard Plans are moving along for the construction of a nearly 31,000 square foot air cargo facility on the grounds of the Albuquerque International Sunport. The facility will belong to online commerce giant Amazon and may be part of a larger ongoing effort to greatly expand the Sunport’s air cargo apron. A ground lease and development agreement for the new facility between the company and the Sunport has been submitted to the Albuquerque City Council. The new Sunport structure comes as Amazon has significantly increased both its aircraft fleet and facilities in order to meet its one and two-day delivery schedules. Construction started last year on a new Amazon 650,000 square foot fulfillment center on the west side of Albuquerque. In a statement, Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller said the city was looking forward to working with Amazon as part of a larger effort to create an “international transportation hub at the Sunport.” As envisioned, that hub would serve as a pivotal transfer point for trains, trucks, and planes. By Garry Boulard The Tempe Diablo Stadium is expected to see up to $50 million in renovations in an effort to update the oldest such facility in the Cactus League. The Los Angeles Angels and the City of Tempe say the stadium’s extensive modernization will be done in two phases and will see the building of a 3-story addition on the third base side of the stadium, along with a new 2-story clubhouse. Additional improvements will include new retail space, new entrance and exit locations, a new scoreboard and the installation of shade seating structures. Located at 2200 W. Alameda Drive on the west side of the city, the Tempe Diablo Stadium was built in 1968 and has served as the spring training home for the Los Angeles Angels for the last nearly three decades. The structure, on a 75-acre site, last underwent a significant renovation, at a cost of $20 million, in 2006. The new stadium work is the result of an agreement announced earlier this year between the Angels and the city keeping the team in Tempe until 2035. The facility was originally called the Pilot Stadium after the Seattle Pilots, which played their first season there, before being renamed the Tempe Diablo Stadium in 1977. The Angels’ spring training season attracts tens of thousands of visitors to the Tempe area. According to a study undertaken by Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business, last year’s season brought in nearly $214 million in revenue to the state. By Garry Boulard Following a deadline announced by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, members of Congress are expected to finally take a vote on a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill by October 31. An earlier scheduled vote for September 30 was delayed when it became apparent that there were not enough votes in the House to pass the legislation. That bill, called the Build Back Better Act, includes funding for road and highway projects, as well as bridge construction and upgrades, and both port and airport facility improvements. The Speaker is additionally hoping that members will be able to vote on a larger $3.5 trillion billion legislation, popularly known as the social infrastructure bill. That legislation, the Build Back Better bill, has proved controversial largely because of its price tag. Some House and Senate members have said that they want to vote for the smaller $1.2 trillion legislation, without having to commit themselves to the Build Back Better bill. For his part, President Biden has said Build Back Better bill will ultimately pass, but only if it’s scaled down. “I’m convinced we’re going to get it down, we’re not going to get $3.5 trillion, we’ll get less than that, but we’re going to get it,” he said during remarks at the University of Connecticut. Pelosi, who was elected to the House in 1987, has said that passing the two pieces of legislation would be the “culmination of my career in Congress.” By Garry Boulard In a city seeing more than 6,100 people experiencing some form of homelessness, just under $39 million in Denver is being proposed to target the building and upgrade of more shelter space. The funding comprises one of five questions on the ballot in November worth a total of $450 million that will be used to pay for a variety of facility and infrastructure needs. Question 2B will particularly allow Denver to purchase an 82,000 square foot former warehouse located at 4600 E. 48th Street that is currently used by a group called the Denver Rescue Mission. That one-story structure, with room for beds, storage, laundry, and showers, will be used to provide shelter space 24 hours a day. The funds will also allow Denver to repurpose up to 300 motel rooms around the city for use as shelters, while also updating other existing shelters. According to city statistics, Denver has seen a 25% increase in its homeless population since 2017, with the city’s existing shelters experiencing a nearly 40% jump in use. By Garry Boulard Plans are moving along for the construction of a building in Breckinridge, Colorado that would house the offices of three local nonprofit organizations. The structure will go up in what is known as the McCain property, land located on the northern end of the town at the intersection of Colorado State Highway 9 and the Coyne Valley Road. The building will measure 15,000 square feet and will be built on a reserved 5-acre section of the larger 128-acre property. The town purchased that property two decades ago for $1 million. That land is own by the town of Breckinridge. An updated master plan for the larger property has recently been adopted to allow for the construction of more affordable housing. Officials with the nonprofit Family and Intercultural Resource Center, the Summit Community Care Center, and a group called Building Hope, have all said they’d like to share space in the new building, creating in the process a nonprofit campus. Before any construction can begin, the project will require a formal agreement between the three nonprofits and the town. By Garry Boulard Construction materials costs across the spectrum continued to climb last month, according to a new survey, with the end result seeing contractors paying more for such items than their average bid price for a job.
“Construction materials costs remain out of control despite a decline in some inputs last month,” Ken Simonson, chief economist with the Associated General Contractors, said of his group’s survey. Matters have only been made worse, Simonson added, by ongoing supply bottlenecks. Overall, the producer price index for new nonresidential construction, measuring what contractors say they would charge to build nonresidential structures, was up by a healthy 5.2% between September of 2020 and September of this year. But during that same time period, general materials costs were up by some 17%. While the numbers were generally miserable for contractors in every conceivable materials category, one bright spot was seen with the cost of lumber and plywood, which saw a 12.3% decline since September of last year. Lumber reached an unprecedented $1,600 per thousand feet this spring, but has since dropped to around $400. That decline, according to analysts, is attributable to stepped-up production at the nation’s sawmills, as well as a decrease in demand among homeowners who during the early months of the covid lockdown were taking on home improvement projects. Meanwhile, copper prices were up by 39.5%, followed by aluminum mill shapes, with a 35.1% jump. Wallboard prices increased over the year by 23%, while insulation materials were up by 19%. An only marginally lower increase was noted in prepared asphalt and tar roofing products, with a 13.5% jump. By Garry Boulard The sprawling Albuquerque Public Schools system may be in line for up to $200 million in facility upgrades and repairs, depending upon the result of a bond proposal in the coming November election. Albuquerque voters will be tasked with two questions. One is asking for a $200 million general obligation bond, while the second is proposing to renew a 5-year property tax which will give the district an additional $430 million for the facility work. With nearly 150 schools, the Albuquerque Public Schools district is by far the largest district in the state, and one of the largest in the country. The combined bond and property tax funding would pay for a lengthy list of capital projects including the addition of classrooms, building of new gym space, and general site improvements. All of the district’s schools are also be in line for HVAC updates, security system improvements, Americans with Disabilities Act compliance work, and new roofing, among other priorities. In an open letter to the public, APS Superintendent Scott Elder has noted that roughly 85% of the district’s current schools were built before 1980. “And though these aging buildings are steeped in nostalgia, they have their share of problems, too,” wrote Elder, “ranging from outdated classrooms, cafeterias, and gyms to safety concerns and temperatures that are too hot in the warm months or too cold in the winter.” School bond and property tax questions have historically proven successful in Albuquerque. But in 2019 voters overwhelmingly defeated three such questions, one of which also asked for a $200 million bond. By Garry Boulard |
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