Log In


Reset Password
News Education Local News Nation & World New Mexico

Construction projects rise around town

The year 2014 was a busy one for construction projects in Durango, and there looks to be no let-up in 2015.

Projects to build major apartment buildings, hotels and retail stores are moving ahead.

Construction created a whopping 565 jobs in La Plata County from Jan. 1, 2013, to March 31, 2014, according to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, as new buildings took shape around the area.

Here’s a rundown of several projects that are slated for construction in 2015:

In Three Springs, The Timberline Group is set to build 101 apartments and nine townhomes in a mixed-use development with 2,189 square feet of retail space and 680 square feet of office space on 3.8 acres.

The apartment building would have 47 one-bedroom apartments and 54 two-bedroom apartments. The townhomes have two bedrooms.

The project is known as Arterra, and it should help ease a critical lack of rental housing in Durango. In the most recent statewide survey, Durango had a miniscule vacancy rate of 1.2 percent.

FCI Constructors of Durango is building Lumien Apartments, 50 rent-controlled units at 32nd Street and East Animas Drive.

The project is on track to open in midsummer, said Greg Glade, a partner at Solvera Affordable Housing Advisors of Denver.

“We’re going vertical now. We’re framing the project,” Glade said.

Gov. John Hickenlooper spoke at the groundbreaking ceremony in May.

Lumien and Arterra should help ease a critical lack of rental housing in Durango.

A Discount Tire store is under construction on 1.3 acres near WalMart’s entrance. The building will be about 7,300 square feet. The Scottsdale, Arizona, company acquired the parcel in May for $1 million.

Two major hotels are in the works.

Marriott International Inc. plans to build an 81-room Fairfield Inn and Suites at 21719 U.S. Highway 160 west. The location is only a few hundred feet from Marriott’s Residence Inn at 21691 U.S. Highway 160 west.

Also, a La Quinta Inn & Suites is planned for Mercury Village, near Durango Mall, at East Turner Drive and Translux Drive. Developers want to begin construction on the three-story, 96-room hotel in April or May.

SoundTraxx, a local business that makes audio technologies for model trains, is building a new 18,900-square-foot headquarters at 141 Burnett Drive in the Durango Tech Center. SoundTraxx hopes to move in around midyear.

Second Avenue Sports is building a new store next door to its existing location in the 600 block of East Second Avenue.

Owner Gary Provencher could not be reached for comment last week, but he recently told 4CornersTV that he was moving Second Avenue Sports because his landlord is selling the building at 600 East Second Avenue.

“It feels good to have a place to put your business,” he said.

The three-story building is under construction and will span 8,500 square feet.

The booming pace of construction is an economic boon, but firms have been challenged by a shallow labor pool.

“People are just really busy,” Glade said.

cslothower@durangoherald.com



Reader Comments