The Essential Posts: February 2012

Our blog came to life back in February of 2012, and there have been over 100 posts so far! Here are some of the posts we believe are definitely worth reading (again) and a few you may have missed, listed here for easy access.

This first part includes stories from February of 2012, the very beginning. Every week, we'll highlight months from earlier in the year, just in case our readers may have missed some interesting stories.


UTEP Hires Firm to Improve Campus Design
According to UTEP's press release, the areas involved are: Memorial Triangle, Leech Grove, Circle Drive (between Old Main and the Psychology Building), the arroyo, the courtyard behind the Physical Sciences Building, and Miner Alley (the walkway between the Sun Bowl Parking Garage and the Fox Fine Arts Building, Miners Hall, Worrell Hall and Hudspeth Hall).

'The Mix' Adds Downtown Housing
A new "upscale, urban" mixed use development has added 14 modern apartment units to Downtown's Union Plaza District. Octavio Gomez, founder/owner of Union Plaza hot spots such as 1914 Lounge, Brick and Mortar, and The Garden, has renovated a century-old building at 518 W. San Antonio Avenue and is calling it The Mix.

Northpark Transit Project May Receive $15.2 Million
The U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood, has recommended that $15.2 Million be included in the federal budget to support the City's Rapid Transit System's (RTS) Northeast corridor. This would include designing the transit-oriented development at the old Northpark Mall location, which is currently being demolished.

City Eyeing Old Saddleblanket For Artspace Project
The goal is to create a "high density mixed-use, arts-oriented affordable rental housing development on the Property containing studio/work and gallery spaces," according to the ordinance. The City entered into an agreement with the EPCF and Artspace in 2010 to produce a project of this type.

El Cruzero to Transform Far East El Paso Desert
A new 228 acre mixed use development is slated for far east El Paso which will incorporate new Smart Code rules. El Cruzero Town Center will be built at the northeast corner of Montana Ave and Joe Battle (Loop 375), and will be comprised of two mixed-use areas, a Regional Center Development and a Traditional Neighborhood Development.


Asarco Ready for Development in 2015, Stacks or No Stacks
Roberto Puga, the trustee appointed to oversee the remediation of the Asarco site, stated this week that he would like one master developer to purchase all 350 acres, which span both sides of I-10, and that the site would be ready for sale in 2015, a short three years away. A new change in the plan includes topping the site with five feet of clean soil and not the asphalt surface that was in the original plan.