New Luxury Homes to go up in Tucson
The governing board of the Tucson Unified School District has approved the sale of the former Wrightsdown Elementary School at 8950 East Wrightstown Road in order to make room for a development that will see the building of more than 100 single-story homes.
The developer of the project is Alta Vista Communities LLC of Tucson, which is buying the 9.2 acre site on the northeast side of Tucson with plans to build a series of houses ranging in size from 635 square feet to 1,255 square feet. Each house will feature 10 foot-high ceilings and rear private yards.
While most of the current structures at the property will be demolished, the developer has committed to preserving the main school building that was opened in 1914 and has brick arches over each window as well as a hipped roof.
The Wrightsdown school was closed by the district in 2010 as part of a cost-savings program. The district governing board agreed to sell the property to Alta Vista for $1.2 million.
By Gary Boulard
New Mexico State University wants to Upgrade Stadium
Members of the New Mexico State University Board of Regents have approved a capital outlay plan for the four-year school that includes making significant improvements to the famous Aggie Memorial Stadium.
That structure, opened in the fall of 1978, is located at the corner of Payne and Stewart streets in Las Cruces and was built at a cost of $6 million.
School officials have long wanted to upgrade the stadium, which has a seating capacity of just over 30,000, and have through the years added such things as a $1.5 million score board.
Now NMSU’s capital outlay plan calls for spending $6 million on the structure–$3.5 million for bathroom and concessions upgrades and $2.5 million for improvements to the stadium press box.
The capital outlay plan is for fiscal year 2013-14, and still has to win the approval of both the New Mexico Department of Education as well as the state legislature.
The Aggie Memorial Stadium is the home to the NMSU Aggies.
By Gary Boulard
Boulder Mixed-Used Development Closer to Reality
Construction is getting closer for the mixed-use RTD Depot Square, which has cleared one important hurdle with the approval of the Boulder City Planning Board.
The brainchild of the Boulder-based Petersen Development Group, the 3.2-acre Depot Square is going up at the site of the larger 160-acre Boulder Junction development.
The Deport Square will feature both residential as well as retail space and a hotel. It is being touted as a transit-oriented development that will also include an underground bus station.
The development will center on the historic Union Pacific Depot at 3151 Pearl Street, a building that Pedersen has committed to spending at least $1 million to restore. In late 2011, Pedersen sign a 20-year contract with the Boulder City Council to lease the structure.
According to plans, the depot, which was built in the 1890s, will be used as a restaurant.
The estimated construction cost for the project is $58 million. It is hoped that construction will begin on the RTD Depot Square later this summer.
By Gary Boulard
Mesa Del Sol to get Energy Grid
Officials with the 12,900-acre Mesa del Sol and the Japanese-based New Energy and Industrial Technology Organization have come together for the building of a microgrid specifically designed to power the Mesa del Sol’s Aperture Center.
The big mixed-use development, which is in the process of being built, will need up to 400 killowatt hours of electricity during peak hours of demand. The 78,000 square foot Aperture Center will feed the needs of the planned southern Albuquerque community.
“We have built this community to be sustainable at every level,” Mesa del Sol vice president of development Chris Anderson said in a statement. “It’s not an afterthought, but a key facet of everything we do.”
The New Energy and Industrial Technology Organization, which is the largest of its kind in Japan, promotes and implements technology development for both the private and public sectors.
By Gary Boulard
Roadrunner Food Bank on a Roll to Go Green
Roadrunner Food Bank
by Tami Brunk
Since Construction Reporter’s visit with Roadrunner Food Bank last October to see the installation of their impressive photovoltaic system up close and personal, they’ve been hard at work implementing phase two of their greening initiatives. It seems they will leave no stone unturned in their quest to go full-out green!
The big initiatives for 2012 have been to audit and increase fuel efficiency of their large fleet that ferries food across New Mexico; to implement a xeriscape design in front of their building to reduce their water footprint; and to expand their recycling program as an income generator for their programs; On their wish list would be to replace and insulate their roof, enabling future photovoltaic installations.
Overlapping Project
The xeriscaping project is complete, thanks to Heads Up Landscaping for provision of gravel and material at cost and donation of a landscape design, plants paid for through a Keeping America Beautiful grant, Lowes for sprinkler materials, volunteers for installing the project, and Laurence Budd for fixing the sprinkler system. The project will result in a $25,000 rebate from the City of Albuquerque and a water footprint reduction between 1.1 and 1.7 million gallons per year.
Green Fleet Initiative
The “green fleet” initiative is rolling along, with expected savings of up to 18% less fuel expenses once all measures are implemented. An EPA grant will cover the cost of replacing all tires with installing fairings on all trucks to improve gas mileage. Sprint provided a discount on embedded GPS systems to promote more efficient driving patterns, while a sophisticated technological retooling of the entire food delivery and pickup system should accomplish a substantial chunk of fuel savings.
Composting and Recycling Facilities
Roadrunner has worked the bugs out of their composting and recycling programs, so much so that they are now accepting recycling materials from a number of local businesses and making a profit from that as well. Where they previously spent about $100,000 annually in landfill fees, they now spend only about $20,000. By 2013, they expect income generated from their expanded recycling operations to offset remaining landfill and composting costs completely.
Greening as Cost Saving Strategy
At the helm of Roadrunner’s impressive greening program is purchasing manager Teresa Johansen. She’s clearly a whiz at systems transformation, from her previous life in the corporate world. She oversaw large-scale IT implementation for NetFlicks. Previous to that, she changed out Capitol One’s operating system. She’s taught herself to write grants, and sees the long term cost savings of the greening projects as equally important to fundraising.
“You just can’t write a check for the kind of long term savings that we get from all the donations from corporate sponsors that have been part of these green initiatives.” The long term cost savings from the recycling program, reduced water bill, reduced electrical costs from last year’s energy efficiency projects, and fuel costs from ongoing fleet retrofits will translate to millions of meals into the future. Construction industry partners can make a significant contribution at this time.
New Roof Partnership Opportunity
“We’re always looking for partnerships—if there are groups that don’t have the capability of implementing recycling on their own, for example, and want to work with us, we can help them set up parameters to use our recycling facilities.” Yet the biggest goal on the horizon for Roadrunner remains energy-efficiency for their large warehouse, which has an old tar roof with no substantial insulation. This results in high electric costs as well as reduced shelf life for food in the hot warehouse during the summer months.
“I’d like somebody to replace our whole roof, insulate it, and make it reflective. That would enable us to install a much bigger array. It would be a fantastic project.” Currently, the Food Bank is limited in their capacity to integrate solar panels because of the age of the 166,000 square foot. Their current annual electric costs are about $150,000. The current PV panel will reduce their bill by about 5%, but replacement and installation of the roof would lead to much higher cost savings.
“Having a new roof gives us flexibility to add to our solar array down the line. The roof is aging and updating it will help with our long-term efficiencies. If you would like to contact Roadrunner for possible assistance with recycling needs, to help them build a new roof, or learn about other partnership opportunities, contact Teresa Johansen at 505.349.8897.
New Photovoltaic Park to go up in Arizona
The Belmont, California-based Sun Edison LLC has signed a $65 million loan agreement with the North American Development Bank for the construction of a 20-megawatt photovoltaic park.
The project is set to go up in Picture Rocks, Arizona in Pima County, near the US/Mexican border.
The 250-acre site for the project is owned by Tucson Water, the City of Tucson’s water service.
Upon completion the new park will be capable of providing energy for up to 3,500 homes. Under a 20-year power purchase agreement, the electricity from the new facility will be sold to Tucson Electric Power.
Sun Edison, established in 2003, operates power plants throughout the U.S.
By Gary Boulard
Village at Rio Rancho set to Break Ground
Long in the planning stage, the mixed office and retail space known as the Village at Rio Rancho is scheduled to break ground this summer.
In 2009, members of the Rio Rancho City Council approved the creation of a Tax Increment Development District specifically for the development, which will be built in two phases.
The first phase is expected to cost at least $100 million and will see the construction of some 455,000 square feet of space.
The original plan for the project submitted to the council listed supporting city road improvements of up to $1.3 million.
The 12.5-acre site is near Wellspring Road and Unser Boulevard intersection and is part of an overall 65 acres set for future development.
By Gary Boulard
