A well-known cold storage company based in the Midwest has announced plans to build a new and expansive two-story warehouse facility just to the north of Lake Havasu City. The project by the Tippmann Group will be located on some 92 acres inside the Griffith Energy Industrial Corridor and will see the construction of a building designed for the storage and subsequent distribution of frozen food products and beverage items. Headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the Tippmann Group company was launched in the late 1960s and has specialized in temperature-controlled facilities in such states as Illinois, Ohio, Colorado, and Virginia. Late last year, Tippman began work on the expansion of an existing warehouse facility in Fort Wayne, seeing the company adding nearly 150,000 new square feet to an existing roughly 350,000 square foot facility. By Garry Boulard
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Up to $750,000 in funding is being made available from a program designed to support retail space in downtown Albuquerque. The Downtown Storefront Activation Grant Program is an initiative sponsored by the city’s Metropolitan Redevelopment Agency and is providing individual grants ranging in size from $50,000 to $250,000. Those grants are specifically targeting businesses or non-profits, either currently occupying a ground-floor commercial space or making plans to rehabilitate such spaces. The idea behind the program is to spur business and economic development partially through the creation of attractively designed and visually engaging storefronts. Recipient storefronts must exist within the MRA’s boundary map, which sees Lomas Boulevard on the north side, 10th Street on the west, Broadway Boulevard on the east; and Coal Avenue at the south end. A first round of Downtown Storefront Activation Grant funding announced earlier this summer saw up to $500,000 awarded to 15 local businesses, occupying more than 40,000 square feet of vacant space. Initial recipients included a comedy club, flamenco dance company, and several restaurants. By Garry Boulard A new emphasis on what the counties of the U.S. can do to formulate housing policies has been announced by the largest county government association in the country. The Washington-based National Association of Counties says the creation of a special task force will focus on such approaches as public-private partnerships to provide more housing alternatives at the county level. “Our goal is to eliminate the most critical housing challenges from the county government perspective,” said Denise Winfrey, president of the association, in announcing the initiative. “Access to stable housing is a foundation for better health, physical education, a stronger workforce, and true financial wellness,” continued Winfrey. The effort is expected to particularly look at the thorny issues of community planning, land use, and zoning, as well as other challenges impacting the construction of housing. The task force will be made up of some 30 country leaders from across the country, meeting in February and May of 2023, and tasked with publishing a “national housing landscape” next summer. Founded in 1935, the National Association of Counties has a membership of nearly 40,000 county-elected officials, and serves as a lobbying presence in Washington trying to secure federal funding for a wide variety of county needs. Three years ago, the group published a study noting that well over half of the nation’s counties were heavily populated with renters and homeowners who spend “more than 30% of their income on rent or mortgage payments,” and are thus classified as “cost-burdened” households. By Garry Boulard A popular meat production company in Colorado has announced plans for the building of a new facility that will go up at the site of a former Kmart store in Greeley. Members of the Greeley City Council have given a planned unit development plan approval as well as green lighting a rezoning request at the project site at 2400 W. 29th Street. The company, Colorado Premium Foods, purchased the 19.9-acre property for $8 million. The project has been the subject of at least one public input meeting. In October, members of the city’s Planning Commission gave its unanimous approval allowing for commercial high intensity use at the site. Plans call for the 172,000 square foot facility to be used to produce everything from ground beef to marinated and cut meats, as well as steaks. Colorado Premium Foods, which was launched in 1988, buys wholesale bulk protein from slaughterers that is subsequently sold for restaurant chains, retailers, and food service companies across the U.S., Central America, and Asia. The former Kmart store was closed in the summer of 2008 and later served as a location for the Greeley-Weld Habitat for Humanity’s retail shop, before being purchased by the meat company. By Garry Boulard Planning for the resurfacing and reconstruction of streets across the geographically wide city of El Paso is expected to begin this spring in the wake of a voter-approved bond package. By a better than 61% to 38% margin, voters gave a thumbs up to what was called Proposition A, which will allot some $237 million to a variety of street projects. Those projects are all expected to be executed over the course of the next decade. The $237 million proposition was one of three proposals, all of which proved victorious at the polls. El Paso residents also approved some $20.8 million for park improvements, and $5 million to study and take on projects designed to reduce the impact of climate change. By design, Proposition A will fund work repaving some 46 main roads in various sections of the city. City official have said that an early effort in the street work will center on the purchase of private property in areas where the upgrading will occur. By Garry Boulard An ongoing deficit of electrical transformers and other electrical components is continuing to place a burden on the completion of home construction projects. So says a release issued by the National Association of Home Builders, which is urging the federal Department of Commerce to act on the matter. “Significant shortage of single-phase transformer and other components are preventing local jurisdictions from issuing building permits because there is no way to provide power to the new houses,” the NAHB has declared in a correspondence endorsed by the Associated Builders and Contractors, and Independent Electrical Contractors, among several other industry organizations. According to sources, the average timeframe for delivering electrical switchgear has recently doubled from 20 weeks to 40 weeks. Correspondence, sent directly to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, stated: “Focused attention to these matters is needed to resolve these shortages and rebuild critical infrastructure in disaster-affected areas and across the United States where projects have been put on hold due to shortages.” Some of the delay has been directly attributable to current challenges in Europe in acquiring a fire-retardant chemical primarily used as a plastic resin to make the housing for switchgear. Delays have additionally impacted electrical components and circuit breakers not only used in home construction, but also the building of new schools. The various industry organizations are asking the White House to put together a summit with all related industry interests to explore possible solutions to the problem. The ongoing shortage has proven particularly problematic for the nation’s utility companies, notes the site Marketplace. “A transformer is something like the interface between your home and the local power grid, the place where you and the power provider work—pretty much anywhere there’s electric service,” the publication continued. Industry groups have additionally called not only for a stepped-up production of transformers in the U.S., but the expanded training of a larger transformer workforce. By Garry Boulard An office building in downtown Pueblo, Colorado dating to the Eisenhower era is being listed for sale for $850,000. Located at 215 W 2nd Street, the two-story structure is listed as a Class C building and currently serves as modern office space for the law firm of Orona Garcia & Duran, formerly known as Petersen & Fonda. It stands on a block populated with historic brick structures housing office and retail space, and recently underwent an extensive renovation. Many of the buildings in what is known as Historic Downtown Pueblo, date to the late 19th century. Altogether, the building measures just under 14,600 square feet, and is being listed with the Pueblo offices of Re/Max Commercial. By Garry Boulard Plans are in the works for the development and building of two new hotels as well as an apartment building that will go up inside Albuquerque’s Sawmill District. That district, formerly the site of the American Lumber Company and, beginning in 1958, home to the Frank Paxton Lumber Company, saw the beginning of a restoration in 2019, transforming the larger neighborhood into a walkable, urban marketplace. Centerpiece of the district has always been The Market, an airy, transformed space with nearly 30 merchants, including a brew operation and dining and play space. Now a presentation has been made to the Bernalillo County Commission detailing plans for a 115-room boutique hotel, as well as a 101-room extended hotel. An additional part of the presentation has detailed the building of an apartment complex with 138 units, measuring some six stories. Businessman Jim Long, the developer and inspiration behind the original redevelopment of the sawmill district and market, is seeking just under $39 million in Local Economic Development Act grant funding for the project. Additional funding may also be secured through Bernalillo Country industrial revenue bonds. The county previously gave the green light to industrial revenue bonds for the development of the Hotel Chaco and other development work at the district. Members of the Bernalillo County Commission are expected to take up the funding requests for the Sawmill projects at their next meeting on December 13. By Garry Boulard Sustainability Issues Seen as Growing Priority Next Year, According to New Industry Report11/15/2022 A newly published industry report is predicting that the issue of environmental sustainability is going to be more important in 2023 than ever before, The publication, Forrester’s Environmental Sustainability Forecast Report, forecasts that carbon offsets and credits will be newly popular next year, but without the criticisms from many in the business community regarding processes. The publication is also reporting that some 61% of Fortune Global 200 companies have now named an official sustainability leader. Several months ago, the publication also revealed that corporate concerns pertaining to sustainability policies have clearly become an international preoccupation, with around 25% of European companies hiring chief sustainability officers this year. The publication is being put out by Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Forrester Research, a service providing specialized and in-depth research for companies across the globe. “Technology vendors and mature organizations that have learned from past carbon offsets,” says the publication, will on the contrary “lead the way in setting carbon-offset transparency standards and providing marketplaces.” Some of the largest Fortune Global 200 companies, in addressing concerns about sustainability, will also limit air travel. In the process, those companies will increasingly implement travel emissions in evaluating company travel practices. Carbon accounting standards based on “the best of existing standards” will more come to the fore, using data produced by such groups as the United National and the International Organization for Standardization, the publication adds. By Garry Boulard City officials in Tucson are hoping to compile as much information as possible regarding the city’s holistic move to address ongoing infill development challenges. What is officially known as the city’s Downtown Infill Incentive District, a zoning option process for development, is said to have to date led to the building of more than 1,000 new residential units in specific downtown areas since its launching in 2009. More specifically, the infill incentive district has led to the redevelopment of stretches of the Sun Link streetcar route, as well as busy Oracle Road and Stone Avenue. According to city documents, the infill incentive district has created any number of walkable streetscape designs, the protection of historic structures, and put in place design standards allowing for a “smooth transition between new development and buildings next door.” City officials are hoping a series of public input meetings will lead to policy and procedure updates to the incentive district before its scheduled late January sunset date. In a just-released report, the Multi Housing News lists the pros and cons of the infill development movement nationally, but notes that most cities have supported the trend, arguing that “it helps create affordable and attainable housing, as well as amenities and resources for local populations.” By Garry Boulard |
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