DENVER TO RENOVATE 16TH STREET MALL, WITH $150 MILLION MAKEOVER

Downtown Denver's 16th Street Mall is coming on to it 40th anniversary and the 1.25-mile corridor remains largely unchanged since it opened in 1982. The city announced Thursday that it had selected Denver-based PCL Construction Services to undertake a $150 million makeover of the mall. The complete makeover will include the replacement of the entire granite streetscape which will consolidate bus lanes in the middle of the mall and expand the sidewalks. There will be "amenity zones" created where kiosks and small businesses will be located.

TWO COLORADANS APPOINTED TO POSTS IN FEDERAL TRANSPORTATION DEPT.

Two former Colorado state employees have been selected to fill positions in the U.S. Dept. of Transportation. Sophie Shulman was appointed as deputy chief of staff for policy. Shulman had been chief of innovative mobility at the Colorado Dept. of Transportation before leaving in September. John Putnam will be deputy general counsel for the U.S. Dept. of Transportation. He had served as director of environmental programs at the Colorado Dept. of Public Health and Environment.

EXECUTIVE ORDER HALTS OIL, GAS LEASES FOR 60 DAYS

The Biden administration announced Thursday the suspension of new oil and gas leasing and drilling permits for U.S. lands and waters for 60 days as part of a broad review of programs at the Dept. of Interior. The order did not halt existing oil and gas operations under valid leases. The suspension of leases went into effect immediately under an order signed Wednesday by Acting Interior Secretary Scott de la Vega.

GJ LEADERS GEAR UP TO KEEP BLM HEADQUARTERS

On the first full day of the Biden Administration Wednesday, the Mesa County Economic Development First Responders met to discuss plans for sending a letter to the Biden Administration and Colorado's congressional delegation to detail why Grand Junction remains the best location for the headquarters of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. According to Diane Schwenke, president and CEO of the Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce, "We are going to do everything we can to convince the new administration this was a good business decision."

WILL YOU NEED TO WEAR A MASK ON TRAILS AT THE COLORADO NATIONAL MONUMENT?

President Joe Biden issued a number of executive orders on his first day in office, including one requiring that masks be worn on federal lands. How that order will be implemented is now a major question for residents and visitors in western Colorado. Since much of the land on the West Slope is public land, does it mean people will have to wear masks on the trails at the Colorado National Monument or on U.S. Forest Service trails. Officials with the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service admit they are uncertain of the exact extent of the order, and say they will be developing specific guidance in the coming days and weeks.

GJ TAX RECEIPTS FOR 2020 REMAINED SURPRISINGLY STRONG

The city of Grand Junction, like everywhere in the nation, suffered economically when activity shut down in the spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In April, the city had a 25 percent drop in sales and use tax revenue, and city officials expected there would be continuing downturns for the rest of the year. However, by the end of the fiscal year, the city had rebounded to end up less than 2 percent below 2019 in sales and use tax revenues. The city collected $57.1 million in combined sales and use tax revenue, or about $1.1 million less than 2019 and $600,000 more than 2018.

LA PLATA COUNTY REAL ESTATE HAS RECORD SALES IN 2020

Rick Lorenz compiles real estate statistics for La Plata County and his statistics show the total value of residential sales in La Plata County in 2020 hit $243 million, which is an almost 50 percent increase over 2019. Sales were especially strong for high-end properties, with 98 sales of $1 million or more and 100 sales of homes ranging from $800,000 to $1 million. That compares with 34 homes sold in the $800,000 - $1 million range in 2019. The median price for a home in the county increased from $387,750 in 2019 to $449,000 in 2020. In the fourth quarter, the in-town median price in Durango was $610,000, up from $523,750 in 2019.

SUMMIT COUNTY SHARES VACCINE DOSES WITH NEIGHBORING COUNTIES

Summit County is nearing a "saturation point" in the program to vaccinate those aged 70 and older in the county, and this week, county officials began sending some doses of the vaccine to neighboring Clear Creek, Park and Lake counties. There remains enough vaccine to serve all those in Summit County, but the goal is to also help the state reach its next level of vaccine distribution, which includes essential workers. Today, Friday, Jan. 22, the Summit Community Care Clinic, in partnership with the county’s public health team, will be hosting a distribution drive at the Fairplay school campus. Summit County officials also sent 250 doses to Clear Creek County, where officials hosted a vaccine distribution drive Wednesday.

SOME SMALLER, REGIONAL ALTERNATIVES TO AIRBNB AND VRBO

Here are five specialty home rental sites:

• Red Cottage Inc.: currently with 52 properties, expected to grow, in the Catskills and the Hudson Valley, N.Y.
• White's Room and Board: an inventory of three historic Southern homes that have been renovated by Holly Williams, owner of the venerable White's Mercantile and granddaughter of Hank Williams
• Modern Life: six rentals in Venice Beach and Santa Monica
• StayMarquis: 600 houses in the Hamptons, StayMarquis is now in partnership with Homes & Villas by Marriott International
• Aqui Santa Fe: about 11 homes, all with private locations and local art and distinctive New Mexican interiors

ALPINE BANK DURANGO ADDS TO LENDING TEAM

Alpine Bank Durango welcomes new mortgage lender Jimmy Spaly to its team. Spaly recently relocated to southwest Colorado from Chicago, where he served as Vice President of Commercial Real Estate for Inland Bank & Trust. Spaly earned his bachelor’s degree in finance from Georgetown University McDonough School of Business in Washington, D.C. He brings six years’ lending and banking experience to Alpine Bank.
Alpine Banks of Colorado, through its wholly owned subsidiary Alpine Bank, is a $5.1-billion, employee-owned organization founded in 1973 with headquarters in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. With 39 banking offices across Colorado, Alpine Bank employs nearly 760 people and serves more than 160,000 customers with personal, business, wealth management*, mortgage and electronic banking services. Alpine Bank has a 5-star rating for financial strength by BauerFinancial, Inc., the nation’s leading bank rating firm. The 5-star rating is BauerFinancial’s highest rating for financial institutions. Learn more at the link below. Alpine Banks of Colorado trades Class B Nonvoting Common Stock under the symbol “ALPIB" on the OTCQX® Best Market.

*Alpine Bank Wealth Management services are not FDIC insured, may lose value and are not guaranteed by the bank.