A popular residential neighborhood in Denver may soon see a new 8-story apartment complex housing nearly 210 units.

The company Prime West, which is based in Denver, is developing the complex, which will include some ground level retail space at the corner of 42nd Avenue and Jason Street in the city’s Sunnyside neighborhood.

That neighborhood is one of the oldest in Denver, with early residential construction dating to the 1860s. The less than one-acre site is located around 5 miles to the north of the city’s central downtown.

What is being called Alloy Sunnyside features apartments ranging in size from studios to three- bedroom units. Also planned: a fitness center, swimming pool and community room space.

If all goes well, the complex is expected to be completed by the first part of 2023.
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Prime West is a leading real estate developer in the region with an emphasis on both multi-family as well as office projects, among other specialized areas. To date, the company has developed projects equal to more than 7 million square feet.

By Garry Boulard

January 30 is the official beginning date for a minimum wage increase in all new federal contracts or contract extensions, rising from the current $10.95 to $15.00 per hour, as implemented by the Department of Labor.

But for some contractors, asserts the Associated Builders and Contractors, that increase may prove problematic.

In a statement, Ben Brubeck, vice president of regulatory, labor and state affairs for the group, noted that most ABC federal contractor members are already paying up to and more than the $15 per hour rate.

But, Brubeck continued, the new rule coming out of Washington fails to establish a “market-driven approach to wage determination.”

Brubeck added that the Labor Department’s decision will also “create unnecessary confusion.”

According to sources, the wage increase is expected to apply to around 327,000 workers. In a statement, Martin Walsh, the Secretary of Labor, said the wage increase will improve the “economic security of these workers and their families, many of whom are women and people of color.”

Administration officials, notes the New York Times, do not expect the wage increase to result in “significant job losses or cost increases, contending that the higher wage would improve productivity and reduce turnover, providing employers and the government with greater value.”

The rise does not apply to federal contracts executed before the January 30 implementation date. The Labor Department has additionally announced that any future wage increases will first be published a minimum of 90 days become becoming effective.
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The wage increase, which will be indexed to inflation, is the result of an executive order signed by President Biden earlier this year.

​By Garry Boulard

A nearly 21,000 square foot Class B building housing a popular indoor shooting range and gun shop in Albuquerque is being listed for sale for $4.5 million.

Located at 4340 Cutler Avenue NE, the one-story structure was built in 2011 and sits on a nearly 2-acre site near the busy intersection of Cutler Avenue and Washington Street, a confluence of thoroughfares seeing more than 23,700 vehicles daily.

Billed as New Mexico’s “favorite indoor shooting range and gun shop,” Calibers, founded in 1998, has a total of four locations in Albuquerque and Clovis.

The prominence of the business was particularly on display in the fall of 2014 when it opened a new shooting range at the site of a former gas station in the 9300 block of Coors Boulevard NW, an event attended by Rio Rancho Mayor Gregg Hull, and representatives of the Albuquerque Police Department.

Calibers made headlines last year when it was initially ordered to close during the first weeks of the Covid-19 shutdown by the State of New Mexico as a non-essential business.
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According to information compiled by the real estate firm Marcus & Millichap, Calibers, which offers a variety of handgun training clinics and courses, is locked in as a tenant at the Cutler Avenue property for another 7 years.

By Garry Boulard

A solution to a long-simmering battle over the proposed construction of a multi-purpose arena in downtown El Paso may be on the horizon.

More than 5 years ago, city officials announced that the proposed $180 million structure would go up at the site of a historic neighborhood known as Duranguito.

That decision prompted a flurry of lawsuits on the part of community activists and other to stop the project, arguing that the neighborhood, with structures dating to the early-19th century, was historically and culturally important and should be preserved.

Now the city has decided to enter good faith talks with one of the project’s principal opponents, Max Grossman, a University of Texas at El Paso art professor.

Members of the El Paso City Council have not only voted in favor of authorizing the negotiations, but also, because materials costs have increased since 2016, hiring a consultant to arrive at a new figure.

More specifically, the council authorized city staff to investigate how much it may cost to stabilize structures in Duranguito that were damaged during initial demolition work in 2017 that was quickly halted.
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As originally proposed, the $180 million was to come out of a 2012 Quality of Life Bond approved by city voters. The total bond was $473 million and has since been used to fund the construction of a large number of recreational and cultural facility projects.
 
A timetable for the negotiations, along with a new cost estimate for the project, has not yet been announced.

​By Garry Boulard

One of the lesser publicized portions of the new $1.2 trillion federal infrastructure package just passed by Congress is targeting up to $65 billion for broadband projects across the country.

According to the language of the legislation, the funding will particularly target broadband construction and upgrading projects in rural areas and on Tribal lands and will see funding made available in the form of grants sent to the states.

“After this prolonged pandemic that has proven just how essential broadband connectivity is, this is an historic investment that will go a long way to connecting all Americans, even in the hardest-to-reach parts of our country,” Shirley Bloomfield, chief executive officer of the Rural Broadband Association, said about the legislation.

As passed by lawmakers, the bill is sending $42.4 billion to the Commerce Department and its National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which is tasked with making grants to the states.

The NTIA, notes the site Axios, will approve plans for broadband grants, making certain in the process that providers offer low cost-service options if they expect to get federal support.

Around $14.2 billion is going to the Affordable Connectivity Program under the umbrella of the Federal Communications Commission to provide broadband subsidies for eligible households.

Exactly $2 billion will fund the already-existing National Telecommunications and Information Administration Tribal Connectivity Program for the expansion of broadband access on Tribal lands.

Also included: $1 billion for the construction of what is known as “middle mile” infrastructure connecting local providers to larger internet access points.
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According to a report released last year by the Federal Communications Commission, more than 18.3 million Americans continue to lack access to high-speed internet, with those living in rural or Tribal areas the most negatively impacted.

​By Garry Boulard

A prominent Santa Fe architectural firm is in the planning stages of a bank reconversion project.

That project, to be designed by the Architectural Alliance, will see the expansion of a one-story, 15,400 square foot structure located at 2020 Rosina Street into new residential space.

The building is one of two on a block-long site that for more than two decades served a First National Santa Fe Bank location and was built in 1978.

Architectural Alliance hopes to create an entirely new configuration for the structure which would see an additional two stories with a roof deck, a central courtyard, and the reconversion of a second structure at the other end of the site.

The structure, which last underwent a renovation more than a decade ago, will ultimately house 32 apartment units ranging in size from just under 800 square feet to just over 1,200 square feet.

Developer of the project is the Santa Fe-based Clueless on Rosina, LLC.

Founded in 1993, Architectural Alliance concentrates on residential and commercial construction and reconversion projects.
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Plans for the bank redevelopment have been submitted to the City of Santa Fe for review. If all goes well, work on the project could begin next summer.

​By Garry Boulard

Plans have been announced for the construction of an 80-room hotel in Lyons, a town of around 2,100 people in northern Colorado.

The project, which belongs to the Moss Rock Development company, will go up in the downtown area off the 300 block of Main Street, and could see construction beginning late next year.

Moss Rock purchased the site for $1.3 million.

As planned, the hotel will measure around 50,000 square feet and will also include a café and meeting room space. The Lakewood-based Front Range Property Solutions is serving as a planning consultant on the project.

The site’s address runs from 343 to 355 Main, and currently comprises several mostly commercial structures that will be demolished to make way for the new hotel. The site was formerly the home to the Festivarie Inn, which closed last year.

A review application for the project has been submitted to the town’s planning and community development commission, which may decide on it in January.

After that, the project will be reviewed by members of the Lyons Board of Trustees for hoped-for approval.
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If all goes as expected, a roughly 15 or so month construction schedule could see the new hotel completed by the summer of 2023.

By Garry Boulard

Nearly 1,600 individual water projects on tribal lands have now secured funding for construction because of the newly passed $1.2 trillion federal infrastructure legislation.

Those projects, according to the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, will see projects designed to build and upgrade water systems at a cost of around $2.6 billion.

Exactly $3.5 billion has been approved for the Indian Health Service Sanitation Facilities Construction Program.

An additional $2.5 billion will target already-approved tribal water rights settlements, which could benefit the White Mountain Apache Tribe in Arizona and the Navajo Nation, with lands in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is also providing $216 million for a climate change resilience program under the auspices of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and $2 billion for a series of broadband infrastructure construction efforts.

Also on deck: $150 million for a new grant program designed to tackle well cleanup projects on tribal lands.

In a statement, Hawaiian Senator Brian Schatz said funding for tribal land projects within the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is “critical to fulfilling our trust and treaty obligations to Native communities.”
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Writing for the publication Indian Country Today, Stephan Roe Lewis, governor of the Gila River Indian Community, said the funding in the infrastructure bill for the various tribal land projects is important, “but even more significant for the future of the federal-tribal relationship is the acknowledgement that tribal infrastructure must be addressed after decades of underfunding.”

By Garry Boulard

A committee working under the authority of the Albuquerque City Council has voted in favor of contributing land to a project that could see the construction of around 60 affordable rental units.

The project, which will also include the building of nearly two dozen townhomes, will go up on a currently empty lot at 3525 Fourth Street NW.

A portion of the site backs into a neighborhood of mostly one-story residential structures.

According to plans, up to a third of the townhomes will be set aside for below median income residents.

In voting to contribute the land, the Finance and Government Operations Committee also agreed to kick in $3.5 million from the City’s Workforce Housing Trust Fund for the project.

According to city documents, what is officially being called Calle Cuarta entails a development agreement between the City of Albuquerque and the non-profit Yes Housing Incorporated, which is dedicated to developing affordable housing throughout the metro area.

Units in the project, which ultimately may qualify for a housing tax credit early next year through the New Mexico Finance Authority, are intended for ownership.
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The funding for the project agreed to by the committee must now win the final approval of the Albuquerque City Council.

By Garry Boulard

An innovative approach to modern highway redevelopment may well see the building of a new deck park and plaza in El Paso.

The city is now the recipient of a $900,000 federal grant that will pay for the design of the park, which will span Interstate 10 in a downtown section.

The park will provide an open space link between downtown El Paso and the city’s historic Sunset Heights neighborhood, and will include both walking and bicycle trails.

The grant is coming through the U.S. Department of Transportation and was announced by Congressman Veronica Escobar. The funding, said Escobar, will “help our community move closer toward the goal of expanding our green spaces and creating a public gathering space for all El Pasoans.”

The park and plaza will more specifically run between the Yandell Drive Bridge and the North Campbell Street bridge.

Long in the talking stage, the project will be like the Klyde Warren Park, a 5.2-acre green space crossing a portion of the Woodall Rodgers Freeway in Dallas.

That park, built with a combination of public and private funds, was completed in the fall of 2012 and includes a performance stage as well as 6,000 square foot restaurant.

An increasing number of cities in recent years have built deck parks and plazas as a way of both improving unattractive and no longer used highway segments and promoting racial equality by connecting underserved neighborhoods with other city sections.
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According to the Christian Science Monitor, such parks serve to reunite neighborhoods that were “splintered decades ago when new freeways were rammed through in the name of progress.”

​By  Garry Boulard