Better interest rates on Wall Street mean construction on college campuses — including the new Auraria science building downtown — will not be delayed as state officials had feared earlier this month.
State Treasurer Cary Kennedy had said some of the construction projects could have been stalled if interest rates had stayed as high as 6.5 percent. But earlier this week, a rally in the bond market caused interest rates to fall, allowing the state to borrow money at 5.39 percent.
That means the state will have $231 million to finance 12 campus construction projects.
“This drop of a full percent (in interest) has saved Colorado $17 million,” Kennedy, a Democrat, said at a news conference Thursday to announce the projects are moving forward.
Gov. Bill Ritter, also a Democrat, said the construction projects would generate an expected 500 new jobs across the state.
The construction projects are being financed by the issuance of certificates of participation, which allow investors to buy a share of lease payments that the state makes on the buildings after they are built. The state then assumes ownership after the certificates are paid off, in this case with revenue from federal mineral-lease funds.
The construction plan, which had bipartisan support, included using $63.6 million in federal mineral-lease money to finish the Auraria science building. The 197,000-square-foot building will house new classrooms and teaching labs for the University of Colorado Denver, Community College of Denver and Metropolitan State College of Denver. Total construction cost is projected at $111 million.
Though state officials and lawmakers had hoped to fund as many as 17 campus projects, there was money for just 12. The original list of projects gave 12th-place priority to a $12.6 million renovation of Richardson Hall at Adams State University in Alamosa, but that project was bumped in favor of a $3.2 million project at Fort Lewis College in Durango.
Officials said there wasn’t enough money to fund the project in Alamosa and so they picked the less-costly Fort Lewis College project in 13th place.
For the Auraria campus, the announcement came like last-minute clemency. There was construction funding only through Oct. 31, and officials had already prepared “stop construction” letters to send to contractors.
Leaving equipment and materials in place, though, would have cost the campus $450,000 a month while construction was stalled.
“All’s well that ends well,” said Dean Wolf, executive vice president for administration on the campus.
Tim Hoover: 303-954-1626 or thoover@denverpost.com
Construction projects that are at head of line
In addition to the Auraria building, the projects include:
University of Northern Colorado: Butler-Hancock renovation, $11.6 million
Colorado Northwestern Community College: Academic Building, Craig Campus, $21.3 million
Colorado State University-Pueblo: Academic Resources Center remodel, $22 million
Colorado School of Mines: Brown Hall addition, $6.7 million
Colorado State University-Fort Collins: Clark Building revitalization, $2 million
Western State College: Taylor Hall renovation and addition, $21.1 million
Mesa State College: Wubben Hall expansion and renovation, $14.8 million
University of Colorado at Colorado Springs: renovation of Science Building, $17.1 million
Morgan Community College: Nursing, Technology & Science Building, $4.7 million
Front Range Community College: Science Classroom project, Larimer campus, $14.2 million
Fort Lewis College: Berndt Hall reconstruction, $3.2 million
