An effort is underway to secure a $1.2 million grant to rebuild and remodel one of the sleekly modern mid-20th century iconic Central Avenue motels in Albuquerque. The Imperial Inn project will see the both the preservation of a main building at 701 Central Avenue NE, as well as the construction of two new structures. A swimming pool and events center will also be a permanent part of the Imperial Inn site. As developed by Palindrome Communities, the project will see the creation of a mixed-use property that will include both retail space as well as a micro restaurant. Palindrome earlier spearheaded the redevelopment of the well-known El Vado Motel at 2500 Central Avenue SW, which was completed in 2018. It is thought that it will cost just under $7.7 million to complete the project. The $1.2 million in funding would come from the Metropolitan Redevelopment Agency. If all goes as planned, work on the project could begin early next year with an anticipated completion date of December 2021. Dating to the 1960s, the motel was formerly called the Imperial 400 Motel and was originally a part of a national chain of more than 100 motels primarily located in the West that subsequently went bankrupt. By Garry Boulard
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With Colorado Springs rents up by nearly 10% over last year, a well-known residential development company is announcing plans to build a new apartment complex. The Colorado Springs-based Goodwin Knight says it wants to build just over 200 new apartment units on the growing east side of the city on a currently vacant 14-acre site. That site is located just to the northeast of E. Fountain Boulevard and Aeroplaza Drive in a neighborhood of some suburban housing and both motels and hotels. The envisioned complex will be comprised of four multi-story structures. Goodwin Knight is currently in the process of completing another large complex called Patriot Park, which is going up on the south side of Colorado Springs and includes 258 units. Typically, the company’s complexes include such amenities as club houses, swimming pools, dog parks, and green space. The latest Goodwin Knight project is in response to a growing demand for new apartment units throughout metro Colorado Springs and central Colorado that has continued unabated even during this year’s pandemic economy. More than one thousand new units are currently under construction on just the southeast side of the city alone, according to the Daily Camera newspaper. Average monthly rates, meanwhile, have been steadily climbing in the area, and are now just south of $1,300 for a one-bedroom unit. By Garry Boulard A new report issued by an internationally known consulting firm says that construction project work changes remain the primary driver of legal disputes. According to Crux Insight, published by the firm HKA, which has offices in New York, what are commonly known as “scope of work changes” currently account for nearly $47 billion in industry costs internationally. While noting that other matters such as incorrect or incomplete designs, as well as deficient workmanship and poor subcontractor management, are also leading reasons for disagreements, scope of work changes for the second year in a row continued as the number one subject area of disputes. And those disputes most often end up end up in court, says the report, with mediation, arbitration, and negotiation employed less frequently. The growing incidence of scope of work changes, notes the publication Construction Dive, “shows the importance of preconstruction planning, and accurately capturing a project’s comprehensive footprint.” Equally important: clearly spelling out the “role, responsibilities and risks on the job, right out of the gate,” for all participating parties. After closely examining more than 1,100 construction projects internationally, the Crux Insight report notes that the change in scope disputes are most often “closely linked with design failures.” “A notable development in the latest analysis is how these design-centric problems—incorrect, incomplete and late design information—have risen up the ranking,” the report continues. The trend is additionally fueled by “fast-track construction,” says the report, which is shortening the design phase, with the pace of building for contractors often outweighing the “capability to control and manage.” On the up side, observes the report: there has been a marked decline in disputes centering on “failures in the management of administration of contracts,” as well as clashes over contract interpretations. By Garry Boulard Work could begin next year on the rebuilding of a small bridge in a rural neighborhood on the southside of Roswell. The city has issued a Request for Proposals to replace the current concrete box culvert bridge on S. Lea Avenue near the intersection of W. Deming Street. That structure, partly made of stone, was built during the Great Depression. With the firm of Souder, Miller &Associates - which has offices in Roswell - serving as the engineer, the project will also see the construction of new roadway approaches. Also included in the project: new 10’ by 10’ double barrel box culverts, as well as the reconstruction of curbs, gutters, and sidewalks. The project will additionally include new drop inlets with corrugated storm drainpipes. Long in the planning stage, some of the funding for the project was secured last year in an $800,000 capital outlay approved by the New Mexico State Legislature, and later signed into law by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham. The project is one of several bridge replacement and reconstruction projects that Roswell has taken on in recent years. The RFP has a submission deadline of December 8, with work on what is anticipated to be a less than four-month project beginning next year. By Garry Boulard Plans are underway for the construction of two towers that will be built on a 2.5-acre site in Tempe adjacent to a historic train depot. Red Development, based in Phoenix, wants to build the towers, which will be divided by a several light rail tracks, near the intersection of W.Third Street and Ash Avenue. As planned, the project will also be partly built over existing light rail tracks in a bridge formation. One of the towers will top out at 17 stories and be confined largely to office space, while the other tower will be 18 stories tall, with a 280-room hotel that will additionally include 15,200 square feet of retail space and conference space measuring at least 9,400 square feet. An additional feature of the project will see the construction of nearly 419,000 square feet of parking space in the taller tower on the 7th floor. Red Development has also said that it wants to restore a nearly 100 year-old brick train depot originally built by the Arizona Eastern Railroad that still stands at the site. Plans for the project are currently awaiting City of Tempe approval. Red Development has spearheaded large mixed-use projects in Arizona, Nevada, Texas, and the Midwest. By Garry Boulard Even as contractors are reporting a growing number of cancelled projects, overall construction employment was on the upside last month, according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics report. The new numbers show a total gain of 84,000 construction jobs in October as part of a larger national total of 7.3 million. The largest gain was seen in nonresidential construction employment, up by just under 60,000 new jobs. That gain was followed by the 27,500 seen in the specialty trades, and 23,800 in residential construction employment. Smaller gains were noted in the heavy and civil engineering construction sector, up by 18,800 jobs, and nonresidential building at 13,400. While the job increases were the most significant in months, the BLS report also noted the hit taken earlier this year by the Covid-19 outbreak and subsequent national economic shutdown, which resulted in a loss of nearly 457,000 construction industry jobs. The report also indicated that while the nation’s larger unemployment rate in October had dropped to 6.8%, from a high of just under 15% in April, that still meant that some 674,000 construction professionals remained out of work. The BLS report additionally notes that while 15.1 million people in October said they had been unable to work because their employer closed or lost business due to the pandemic, “this measure is down from 19.4 million in September.” By Garry Boulard An Albuquerque company that specializes in co-working space may soon be repurposing an existing building 30 miles to the east of the city in order to create yet more space. Fat Pipe ABQ has been in business for the better part of a decade, providing office space for any number of businesses in three locations. Offering working space on a daily and weekly basis, the company hopes to open a new facility at 215 Cowboy Way in Edgewood in a 6,000 square foot building it purchased recently for around $408,000. As with its other locations, the new Fat Pipe space will include multi-media equipment, Internet infrastructure, and conference space. Plans call for the creation of half a dozen private offices, as well as single person offices and open-style seating. The two-story concrete and steel building that Fat Pipe is taking over was built in 2009 and formerly served as the headquarters for the Single Action Shooting Society. Fat Pipe ABQ was launched in the summer of 2014 as a startup incubator, opening its first location on Broadway Boulevard across the street from the massive Innovate ABQ site, which was in still in development at the time. Co-working spaces initially became prominent in Europe in the 1990s, but saw an explosion of growth in the U.S. in the last 15 years or so, appealing in particular to young entrepreneurs not yet ready to open their own offices. Such spaces are typically carved out of existing buildings and, according to industry statistics, usually measure just under 10,000 square feet. While the co-working movement has taken a hit this year from the pandemic economy, new co-working spaces continue to be in demand, with such facilities opening just this month alone in Buffalo, Baltimore, and Bellaire, Texas, among other cities. By Garry Boulard Las Vegas, New Mexico city officials are contemplating an upgrade project for the city’s historic Old City Hall Building. Located at the corner of Sixth Street and University Avenue in downtown Las Vegas, the building is in need of a new roof, with plans in the works for the demolition of an existing rear addition. The city wants to contract out with Atkin Olshin Shade Architects, which has offices in Santa Fe, to do an assessment that, according to city documents, is expected to cost just under $60,000, with $21,500 of that amount coming from a Certified Local Government grant. Such grants are administered by the National Park Service and designed to help local communities maintain historic structures. Originally constructed in the mid-1890s, the structure for decades housed all of Las Vegas’ public administrative offices until a new City Hall nearly a century later was opened at 1700 N. Grand Avenue, one mile to the north. Like many of the stone and brick public and commercial structures in Las Vegas, the Old City Hall is known for its unique architectural details. Designed by the Denver firm of Kirchner and Kirchner, the building is regarded as a splendid example of Italianate Romanesque design. By Garry Boulard A program specifically designed to help small businesses weather the vagaries of the pandemic economy is coming under fire for what some officials are saying are examples of fraudulent practices. Created earlier this year under the massive Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, the Payroll Protection Program was designed to help sole proprietors, some nonprofit organizations, and small businesses in general to continue to pay their workers. Between April and August around $525 billion in loans were handed out to more than 5.2 million small businesses across the country. Roughly 25% of those loans were for $150,000 or less. For the most part, the vast majority of those businesses said the PPP support was the lifeline they needed to keep their doors opened. But, according to reports, there is increasing evidence that some applicants took advantage of the liberal structure of the program, with some companies receiving loans for which they may not have been eligible. The Small Business Administration, tasked with overseeing the PPP effort, has released an inspector general’s overview saying that there are “strong indicators of widespread potential abuse and fraud in the PPP.” The report additionally notes that larger companies received support, as did corporations that were only formed after the Covid-19 outbreak. In September, the Treasury Department said it received nearly 2,500 suspicious-activity reports involving businesses that were the beneficiary of support from a variety of relief programs, suggesting that their financial situation was not as dire as claimed. The Justice Department has meanwhile said that it has charged nearly 60 individuals with trying to fraudulently obtain funding equal to $175 million from the PPP. Despite the negative publicity generated by the acts of fraud, notes Forbes magazine, “most of the loans that were taken out weren’t attempts to scam taxpayers: they were good faith efforts to keep the lights on in businesses across the country.” Even so, more problems with the manner in which the program was exploited are expected to be learned as the result on a Federal Bureau of Investigation currently underway questioning nearly 500 suspects who received loans cumulatively worth hundreds of millions of dollars. By Garry Boulard Work could begin next summer on a new multifamily community development in Littleton, Colorado, a growing suburban enclave 10 miles to the south of Denver. A nonprofit group based in Littleton called Trailhead Community wants to build what will be a mixture of both rental units and for-sale residential space near the intersection of W. Bowles Avenue and Colorado Highway 470. The estimated $18 million project stands out for it mission of providing housing for a mixture of adults with disabilities, seniors, and young working professionals. Depending upon the size of the units and amenities, rents are expected to range between $650 to $2000 a month. According to information released by the group, half of the units will be allocated for “adults with developmental disabilities.” The other 50% will go for seniors and Millennial-age professionals. As envisioned, the complex, which will also be called Trailhead Community, will also include a common dining room, community kitchen, sport court, multimedia room, and quiet spaces. The Louisville, Colorado-based KGA Studio Architects is the designer for the project. The mostly 4-story building will be fronted by a circular drive-up and one-story lobby. Trailhead Community officials say the component for disabled residents is particularly important not only given the large number of people in that category, but also because of the dearth of living space targeting that demographic. Technology installed in the complex will include motion sensors, security cameras, and video doorbells. By Garry Boulard |
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