Albuquerque Development Thread

[ABQalex]

The Albuquerque Journal has more information about the new boutique hotel planned for Nob Hill. It's revealed that Titan Development has purchased the old Hiway House Motel property and they are the developer behind the new hotel proposal. A couple of more exciting details are that it will have the aforementioned rooftop bar, but also meeting facilities, and may also have underground parking. They say they are reviewing design proposals from out of state design firms and look to release early designs within a couple of months. They hope to break ground next year after demolishing the current structure and getting building approvals, etc.

https://www.abqjournal.com/business/...18744724b.html

An eyesore property in Nob Hill will soon be transformed into a boutique hotel.

Albuquerque-based Titan Development announced Tuesday that it has purchased the vacant Hiway House Motel property, 3200 Central SE. The developer has been interested in acquiring the property for years.

“We’re always trying to find the next great thing or something that can improve the communities that we live in,” said Josh Rogers, partner at Titan. “And the Hiway House is always front and center. I think for every major developer in Albuquerque, it’s always been like, ‘OK, how do we do this? What’s the most appropriate thing? What’s the best use?’”

The Hiway House property is the newest hotel development for Titan, according to a news release. Its other assets in Albuquerque include the Journal Center Courtyard Marriott and the Highlands SpringHill Suites.

“I am truly excited for Titan to embark on our game-changing boutique hotel project in iconic Nob Hill,” Kurt Browning, partner at Titan, said in a statement. “Despite our ‘older’ ages, my wife and I frequent Nob Hill often, enjoying its fantastic restaurants, bars, nightlife entertainment, brunch spots and more, all of which contribute to Nob Hill’s eclectic urban vibe. Given the allure of Nob Hill, this site might be one of the best boutique hotel locations in the state and we’re thrilled to bring synergy to the area.”

Titan spoke with every major developer in Albuquerque to get their take on re-envisioning the Hiway House property.

“Everybody says the same thing, that it’s going to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and it’s the best site in Albuquerque,” Rogers said. “... From Titan’s perspective, we believe this is the catalytic amenity that the area has been missing.”

Rogers said bringing the boutique hotel to the heart of Nob Hill will stimulate more revenue in the area.

“If you can get 100-plus travelers, visitors, staycation people coming down to Nob Hill to spend money every night at the restaurants, at the bars, at the retail shops, whatever it is, that’s a lot different than the person who’s living a block off of Central Avenue in their house because they don’t go there every day,” he said. “They don’t go there every weekend. But the people who stay in the hotel, they’re there to spend money and they’re there to experience the greatness of Nob Hill and that hotel. It’s just such an amazing opportunity for Nob Hill and the city of Albuquerque.”

The boutique hotel will consist of about 100 rooms, a rooftop bar and meeting rooms, according to the news release. A proposed underground parking structure is also being considered.

The Hiway House’s historic neon sign will be revitalized as part of the redevelopment. However, it has not been determined where the neon sign will be placed or if the property will retain the name Hiway House.

“I have no idea how it fits into the development,” Rogers said of the sign. “We’re just not that far along yet. But it’s such an iconic sign. It’s just really important to us to keep it somewhere on-site. Whether it becomes part of the rooftop bar or it remains exactly where it is, I’m not sure. I just know it’s really cool, and I think everybody knows that neon sign and it needs to be a little updated.”

The Hiway House Motel, which was built in 1959, is now a dilapidated property that was the site of an explosion caused by a propane tank in 2019. It has attracted squatters and has been a nuisance for the Nob Hill neighborhood for years.

Titan closed on the land acquisition on April 19 and is expected to break ground on the boutique hotel in mid- to late-2025 after asbestos abatement, complete demolition of the old motel, city approvals and other required site preparation. Titan is currently receiving proposals from out-of-state architects on the design plans.

“We have a vision of what it is, and I’ve seen some renderings of the project,” Rogers said. “They’re so exciting, but I don’t know if that’s what we’re going to end up with. ... We’re going to work on that over the next couple of months. And as soon as we get a little bit further along, we’ll be releasing those renderings of the future project as we make progress on it.”

Titan has reached out to the Nob Hill community and has held a neighborhood meeting and met with businesses, including M’Tucci’s, which has its Bar Roma location next door to the Hiway House property.

“I’ve been meeting with some of the local restaurants, restaurant and bar owners in the area too, and we’re going to continue to do that,” Rogers said. “Our goal is to make this something that all of the Nob Hill businesses and residents can love and appreciate. But also, everybody in Albuquerque will want to come here. Our goal is to make it the best development for Nob Hill that we can. And we’re going to do that through local community outreach and getting that feedback because it’s really important to do this right.”

Currently, the nicest place to stay near Nob Hill is the Hotel Zazz, which came about as a transformation of the former University Lodge motel. It was completed a couple of years ago. While looking up more information about the new boutique hotel project in Nob Hill I came across a recent story posted two days ago by a lodging industry website where they highlight Hotel Zazz as a shining example and model for boutique motels to follow. They interview owner Sharmin Dharas about her journey and experience transforming the motel which she grew up in as the daughter of the former owners.

I'll quote selected parts from the interview, but it's worth reading the entire thing.

I'll also quote where she talks about the lack of a proper hotel in Nob Hill and even mentions the old Hiway House Motel property.

https://www.hospitalitynet.org/opinion/4121589.html

The concept of a contemporary, boutique motel, either as a new build or retrofit, that commands sizably higher-than-market rates started to become a trend in the 2010s but has grown since the pandemic. Spurred on by a core psychographic of drive-to-vacation culture amongst Gen X and millennials, in the United States we are seeing multi-property brands like Bluebird and Urban Cowboy achieve success by opening exquisitely decorated lodges in sought-after rural areas near major cities. Then there are a host of independents gracing the covers of travel magazines such as The Vagabond Hotel in Miami, The Dive Motel in Nashville, Skyview Los Alamos in California and Thunderbird in Marfa, Texas.

But perhaps one property stands above the rest by capturing the heart of this trend, and then accelerating into a territory unmatched by any other hotel in the world due to its astounding, eccentric and fun-in-every-way design. This is none other than the Hotel Zazz in Albuquerque, New Mexico which opened in Fall 2022. Right along the famed Route 66, all of the 48 guestrooms are imaginatively decorated with colorful, eclectic finishings while the public spaces are equally dazzling and funky.

To help give you a better picture about what makes this hotel’s soul so unique, they have onsite their own published children’s book called “The Zazzy Adventures of Roozy and Raffie” that’s a coloring storybook as well as a word search. Visitors who buy the book not only receive a lifetime membership to the ‘R&R Club’ for 15% off their current and all future stays at Hotel Zazz, but proceeds also support a charity dedicated to educating women and children around the world about the arts, culture and music.

Besides bringing joy to all visitors by literally brightening their day, the combination of a distinctively themed design and genuinely warm service serves as yet one more clear example of how unique hospitality experiences will always triumph no matter the market. And indeed, the market has responded with nonstop acclaim, buzz on social media and high year-round occupancies. In particular, Hotel Zazz is a darling amongst Gen Zers, with their user-generated content organically attracting all the other generations.

Together this represents a fundamental lesson where, following an initial meeting at a BITAC conference in August 2023, we were honored to sit down afterwards with owner-operator and Chief Experience Officer, Sharmin Dharas, to hear her story about how Hotel Zazz came to be.

Can you start by listing off some of the metrics that highlight just how much guests love Hotel Zazz?

We won eight awards in the first four months of being open! Now that we finished our first year, we have been hitting all the marks when it comes to social media bookings. Yes, SOCIAL MEDIA bookings – ones straight off of Instagram. We have guests slip into our DMs asking us to book their birthday vacation or staycay. It’s been amazing to not only get bookings via a free stream of marketing but to also have that as a direct booking! It’s been a win-win.

...

When was the moment that you knew you had to go all in on making the zaniest, zazziest hotel?

I love this question. When was the moment you knew you had to go all in on making the zazziest hotel? It was all my life. I grew up on the property. As an only child I wish I had a park to walk to or neighbors to play with. Instead, I would imagine I had a swing, a playground, a children’s dream in the center of the entertainment district. But I really knew it would bring in the ROI when I saw similar properties around the world when I would travel as a student doctor. Back then, boutique hotels weren’t a thing; it was renovated hostiles that were. So, I knew we had something when I would see these locations being profitable without any pizzazz.

How did you get funding? How did you get investors to believe in the concept versus more traditional hotel brands?

Funding was a journey. I love sharing this story because it almost didn’t happen. We actually put a packet together that showed the old then we added our bold concept. We also showed the market we would target and how much revenue each of the SMERF (social, military, educational, religious, fraternal) would provide within a certain radius. It was hard to get the data because I wasn’t part of any of the hospitality associations. It was a lot of research and STR data. At the end of it all, they always care about proforma.

Mind you, I pitched it to them in 2021. This was immediately after we came out of the stay at home pandemic. I looked for community banks and pitched it to one who I thought would want to support the project because I had the city councilor call the bank president to get me in. And, well, we did it! We were at the table about to sign the closing documents, then they stopped and pulled the loan from us because, as they said, there were other hotels that were coming into the market. So, here I am in early 2021 with everything lined up to execute and the local community bank shattered my dreams. But I wanted to be an entrepreneur in boutique hotels, so I found the grit to go find another bank.

Just then, my cousin Rahim told me about another community bank. I asked the VP to meet me for breakfast at a boutique Curio property along with my hotel guru Alan Barmaper. We are all at the table about to order breakfast when I give the VP the prospectus – nicely bound, color print with a cover and back that has all our info – and all he just takes it, sets it aside and looks at the menu to order. After ordering, without looking at the booklet, the VP looks me straight in the eyes and asks me about my vision. This was the first time someone wanted to hear what I had to say versus only the numbers.

When I described how the hotel would be located in the Nob Hill Entertainment District, the VP jumped into a story about how he lived right behind a dumpy old motel there, and about how all his friends in the neighborhood wished there was a boutique hotel in the area for when family would visit – instead of having them shack up in the district’s historic, 800-square-feet-tops houses. He knew the site well as it turns out and was sold on the project all before our food arrived. Let me tell you, just like getting pregnant it only takes one!

How did you ‘zazzify’ the hotel’s culture to ensure that every aspect of operations would embody the tone and spirit that you set out to create on a continual basis?

The zazzification of Hotel Zazz happened as the project unfolded. It really started from the discovery of the name. Picture this: it’s during the pandemic; I’m on a Zoom call. I had a Covid baby (who is now 18 months old) in my arms and I’m telling the branding team that this neighborhood is so eclectic and unique. It’s all about local and we just need to add some pizzazz, when my daughter, Shayrooz, attached at my hip looks at me and says “Daazz? Wat’s daath?” A lightbulb went on – the baby is right! – it’s zazz, the hotel should be called Hotel Zazz.

This girl was genius if she only knew but that was the moment that started the zazzification of everything. We had her tell us what her favorite color was and, like any toddler, it changed daily. So, we went along with it. But the best was when we asked her, If zazz was an animal, what would it be? She said Raffie! Naturally, we next asked, what’s Raffie’s favorite snack? She said it was a ‘nanana’ (baby speak for banana). This was the impetus for the speakeasy golden banana entry!

Without playing favorites, what hotel features or amenities are you fondest about?

The lobby is the first impression, and that’s exactly what we did. We made sure that the second you walked in you could use all five senses as well as the sixth sense – that of feelings and introspection. We wanted to make sure you can activate them all. From the second you walk in, you can smell sweet banana slurpee – our signature scent. You hear the tunes that give you the good vibes and you see this tree of life that Shayrooz wanted. Think Game of Thrones on steroids with silver. And you tap the golden banana three times to go into the hidden speakeasy that gives you your first taste of whimsical freedom. Let me tell you that the whole thing is an experience. All of our staff love seeing our guests’ faces when they tap the golden banana three times and see this wall pop open. It’s wild!

...

Here are a few more pics of Hotel Zazz from another story about the property, which is also worth reading.

https://www.hotel-scoop.com/hotel-za...te-66-history/

Route 66 is easily the most famous road in the U.S. During the 1950s and ’60s, millions of travelers drove all or part of the highway, which stretched from Chicago to California. To accommodate all of these travelers, hotels, motor courts, and one-of-a-kind establishments popped up in cities along the route. The Sleepy Bear TraveLodge in Albuquerque, New Mexico, was one such property. Now, like so many Route 66 vintage stays, it has been reborn as a fun, funky, colorful destination. Opened in late 2022, Hotel Zazz reimagines the motel as a psychedelic mix of midcentury retro kitsch and modern comfort.

...

[ABQalex]

KOB-TV has a story about the new food and drink establishments that will be coming to the Sunport as part of its transformation that is underway. So far there are 15 concepts that will occupy the new food hall area and other spots in the renovated concourses. We also get a bit of a look at the construction work being done for the overall renovation project. They also mention that passenger numbers continue to climb and we are on pace to surpass the pre-pandemic figures this year.

https://www.kob.com/new-mexico/more-...ort-food-hall/

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – It’s going to be a busy summer at the Albuquerque International Sunport in the terminal and behind the scenes.

“There is pressure to stay on the timeline because this renovation is unfolding as the Sunport is also getting more passengers through. We’re on track to surpass pre-pandemic traveler volumes,” said Manny Manriquez, an Innovation and Commercial Development director for Sunport.

Pretty soon, all those extra travelers will have extra places to eat and drink inside the Sunport’s brand-new food hall area.

“Somewhere in the ballpark of Balloon Fiesta, four units of the seven that are here in the food hall will be up and running,” said Manriquez.

That includes a Dunkin’ Express, a bar from Teller Spirits, Flavor of New Mexico, and re-located Panda Express. But that’s just the first batch of new food and drink options.

More than a dozen new restaurants and bars are heading to the Sunport over the next year, and that now includes Laguna Burger.

“Two thirds of the new food and beverage program are going to be recognizable local brands,” Manriquez said. “That was always the vision, we wanted as many local brands in here as we could get.”

Developers say they’re still a ways out from figuring out all the new retail options, and there’s even more construction on the way.

“After the food hall, then we’ll shut down the current food court in the T-connector, and start prepping that for the shell builds. So that then we can hand those over to the future retail operators,” said Manriquez.

So don’t expect those temporary walls to go away anytime soon.

“Our hope is really that we can create a healthy level of excitement about what we’re doing here,” said Manriquez.

Officials say the new food and drink options will open up before crews get started on the next phase, so there’s at least something open for travelers.

But when is the entire renovation project expected to wrap up? Around late summer or early fall next year, so there’s still well over a year of construction left to go.

List of potential restaurants coming to the Sunport:

• Dunkin’ Express
• Buffalo Wild Wings Go
• Santa Fe Brewing Company
• Teller Spirits
• Taos Peaks
• Franks Famous Chicken & Waffles
• Sadie’s
• New Mexico Pinon Coffee
• Flavor of NM
• Indian Pueblo Kitchen
• Steel Bender Brewyard
• Rush of Prana
• Panda Express
• Black Mesa Coffee Company
• Laguna Burger

[ABQalex]

It was also reported yesterday that Intel hired nearly 600 people in 2023 at its plant in Rio Rancho, the highest single-year figure in two decades. Total employment there now stands at over 2,600 people. We've come a long way from ten years ago when employment was down to about 1,100 people and it was questionable whether Intel would keep the plant open.

https://www.bizjournals.com/albuquer...ct-report.html

A statewide economic impact report published by Intel Corp. Monday highlights hiring growth and hundreds of millions of dollars in spending by the semiconductor giant within New Mexico over the past year.

The company's (NASDAQ: INTL) New Mexico Community Investment Report shows Intel hired 581 people in New Mexico in 2023, 396 of which were New Mexico residents. That total number is the highest reported by the company in over two decades and represents a year-over-year growth of nearly 30% between 2022 and 2023.

Over 200 of those 2023 hires came through a pair of hiring events, held in collaboration with the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions and the New Mexico Economic Development Department, the impact report notes.

Intel also reported it spent approximately $300 million with New Mexico-based organizations in 2023. That's a drop from the company's 2022 reported spending number, which was around $400 million.

Elsewhere in the nine-page report, Intel said it's helped restore more than 130 million gallons of water in 2023 through funding restoration projects in the state. The report didn't provide any details on specific water restoration projects.

The company said it covered all of the electricity use at its 218-acre Rio Rancho campus via renewable energy purchases. It published a 26-page Climate Transition Action Plan last year.

It also supports a local Community Environmental Working Group, or CEWG, which meets periodically. Founded in 2004, the group "advocates continuous environmental improvements by Intel New Mexico, with a focus on reducing Intel's chemical emissions," per its website.

Intel employs over 2,600 people in New Mexico, according to the report. The company opened a new fabrication facility at its Rio Rancho campus, called Fab 9, in late January, part of a $3.5 billion investment announced in May 2021.

Keyvan Esfarjani, Intel's chief global operations officer, said at a roundtable in Rio Rancho in January company investments in New Mexico "are going to continue."

More recently, the Santa Clara-based semiconductor giant was awarded nearly $20 billion in CHIPS and Science Act funding to support advanced manufacturing and packaging facilities in New Mexico and three other states, in the form of $8.5 billion in direct funding and up to $11 billion in loans.

It's currently working on facility investments in Arizona, Ohio and Oregon, alongside New Mexico, with a total spending on those nationwide investments totaling $100 billion.

The company reported its first quarter 2024 earnings on April 25, which was "largely in line with its modest expectations," sister publication Portland Business Journal reported. It hired Kevin O'Buckley as senior vice president and general manager of foundry services in mid-May, replacing Stuart Pann, who had spent 35 years with Intel.

Intel's stock (NASDAQ: INTL) is up Monday, trading at $32.10 at the time of publishing per MarketWatch, after sliding earlier this month on news of the U.S. revoking certain expert licenses to Huawei Technologies, a chip company based in China, the Portland Business Journal reported.

I wanted to take this opportunity to share this screenshot from a video that Intel posted earlier this year referring to New Mexico and its operation in Rio Rancho as the "Silicon Mesa" It brought joy and even nostalgia to me because when I was young that's exactly what I came up with and dreamed of us being called. This was in the 1990s when "Silicon" everything was all the rage. Every place was clamoring for that sort of cachet and moniker. To me, and at least Intel, New Mexico is indeed the Silicon Mesa!

[ABQalex]

Here's something else which happened recently that I never got a chance to post about. Array Technologies broke ground on its new facility on the Westside. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm attended the event, along with our U.S. senators, Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Lujan. Renderings of the new facility were also revealed for the first time.

https://arraytechinc.com/press-relea...ring-facility/

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., April 26, 2024—U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján, Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller, and Bernalillo County Commission Chair Barbara Baca joined today with Array Technologies (NASDAQ: ARRY) to announce the groundbreaking of a new $50+ million manufacturing campus in Bernalillo County, New Mexico. The facility marks a significant investment in the region’s clean energy future and underscores Array’s commitment to fostering job growth and bolstering the domestic supply chain.

“If you imagine five to ten years from now, Array Technologies will be hiring more workers and other manufacturers are doing the same,” said Secretary Granholm. “As a result of these manufacturing facilities, Albuquerque is going to need more contractors to build housing, more service workers, healthcare professionals, and schools are going to become a magnet for young people looking for these future-facing, good-paying careers in clean energy. This is the future that President Biden sees for communities like Albuquerque and for communities across the country. Thank you so much to the whole Array workforce for being an example.”

“Array’s new manufacturing facility will create good-paying jobs in New Mexico, strengthen the domestic solar supply chain, and ultimately help us achieve greater American energy independence,” said Kevin G. Hostetler, chief executive officer of Array Technologies. “This is a perfect example of government entities working together at all levels to promote pro-growth policies that create American jobs and support local businesses. With federal action like the Inflation Reduction Act and the support of state and local officials, Array is proud to be at the forefront of the solar energy boom.”

[ABQalex]

KOB-TV had a story last week about the state’s film and television industry bouncing back. It says that this may be the year where we surpass a billion dollars in direct production spending in the state. That's after last year where spending dipped a bit because of the industry strikes. The success and recent Oscar wins for Oppenheimer, which was filmed in the state, is also being cited as a boon for productions and validation of New Mexico's position in the industry.

https://www.kob.com/new-mexico/new-m...owing-strikes/

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — 2024 has the potential to be a record-breaking year for New Mexico’s film industry.

“This industry is nimble, and it can flip on like a switch,” said Amber Dodson, the director of the New Mexico Film Office.

Dodson says there are 56 productions in the works right now statewide.

“Also, what we’re seeing is higher production budgets and productions, more series, so series are here longer, and they spend more money typically. So that’s wonderful,” she added.

Productions include a new movie starring America Ferrara and Matthew McConaughey, and a new TV series from Vince Gilligan, the creator of “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul.”

The industry is estimated to have a $1 billion economic impact on New Mexico this calendar year.

It’s a stark contrast to last year when industry workers were heading to picket lines instead of sets.

Bryan Evans, the IATSE Local 480 Union Business representative and general manager, said it’s been good to come back to work in full swing.

“It felt incredible. You know, so, so many of my members suffered so heavily, due to loss of wages and loss of work, during the, during the strikes. To be able to go from, you know, from that, where things are pretty, pretty challenging, and pretty difficult to, you know, there being almost 90-95% employment across the board with our membership, that was incredible,” he said.

Now it’s time for his union to come to the negotiation table.

“Our contract is up for negotiations, we started negotiating on Monday, you know, I’m optimistic that we’re going to be able to get through this without a strike. But there is that possibility, and we’re definitely preparing for it if we have to go out on strike,” Evans said.

The success of “Oppenheimer” is the latest example of New Mexico solidifying its place as a national film hub.

“It has shown that New Mexico delivers with the workforce with locations, and the best directors in the world like Christopher Nolan choose New Mexico and create content here that wins awards,” Dodson said.

[ABQalex]

The city officially broke ground today on the Central Avenue at-grade pedestrian crossing across the railroad tracks, with the mayor and city councilor for the area taking sledge hammers to the Alvarado Transportation Center's pillar structure. As part of today's ceremony they released a new rendering and site plan showing a more updated vision of how it will look.

https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerqu...lkway-upgrade/

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Crews are working to demolish and rework the pedestrian undercrossing at 1st Street and Central Avenue. The work is part of the ongoing upgrades for the Rail Trail project.

“Our community has been asking for an at-grade crossing at the First and Central Crossing for years, and now we are delivering,” Mayor Tim Keller said in a press release. “This project is one of the many ways we are leveling up downtown Albuquerque and investing in safety so folks feel welcome when walking downtown.”

Beyond just providing a safer crossing, the infrastructure work will help make the site more pedestrian friendly and provide connections to the Rail Trail, a pedestrian and bicycle pathway connecting key sites near downtown Albuquerque.

“This project is a crucial step in realizing our vision for the Albuquerque Rail Trail,” Metropolitan Redevelopment Agency Director Terry Brunner said in a press release. “The new at-grade crossing is a testament to our agency’s dedication to revitalizing and reimagining public spaces for the betterment of our communities, bringing our families closer together.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/C7STnIpv7fZ/

[ABQalex]

Here's some renderings of the Rail Trail in the Sawmill Area that the city posted late last week. They show nice pavilion and gateway structures that I hope are more than just concepts and will actually get built as they appear in the renderings. The pavilion structure reminds me of the design of the proposed Sawmill District hotel.

https://www.cabq.gov/mra/rail-trail-1

https://www.instagram.com/p/C7UQqfzu8ab/







Downtown Albuquerque News also reported last Friday about the groundbreaking for the Central crossing and said that the Sawmill section of the Rail Trail is slated to begin construction this summer.

https://downtownalbuquerquenews.com/

The Central crossing is considered to be the first phase of the Rail Trail (cheat sheet). The second phase, in Sawmill (DAN, 8/29/23), should break ground in late summer, Brunner said. The third phase runs between the Rail Yards and either Roma or Lomas and is still in the design/planning phase, but should be ready to build somewhere around the end of the year, he added.

Here's an updated map of the alignment for the Rail Trail that the city also released late last week. In the Instagram post linked below they referred to it as the "Trail of Enchantment" which I think is a great name. I hope it sticks and think perhaps we should indeed give it a different official name other than Rail Trail. "Duke City Trail" or "Enchantment Loop" or the "Burque Beltway" are other names I've come up with as possibilities.

https://www.cabq.gov/mra/rail-trail-...ng-and-phasing

https://www.instagram.com/p/C7UQV0-uCL5/



Here's a rendering of the Sawmill District hotel to show how the pavilion structure depicted above is evocative of its design.



Here's a rendering of the extended-stay component of the Sawmill District project. Jim Long and Heritage applied for building permits for the project earlier this year.

https://posse.cabq.gov/posse/pub/lms...ctId=199122205



And here's a new rendering of the apartment component of the Sawmill District project. It was recently submitted for planning approval before the Development Facilitation Team. It was the only one of the three structures that had yet to be submitted for approval to any government body.

https://dmdmaps.cabq.gov/DRB/PR-2022...ittal%2001.pdf



Included in the submittal for the apartment building was a diagram showing the planned streetscape improvements to 20th Street and Bellamah Avenue.



Downtown Albuquerque News earlier this year had a story which quoted Jim Long as saying that he hopes to start construction on the extended-stay hotel structure later this year and the apartment structure early next year, if market conditions permit. He didn't give a timeframe for the construction of the regular hotel structure.

https://downtownalbuquerquenews.com/

Delayed by rocky financial markets, Long now hopes apartment buildings will break ground in next 12 months

It has been nearly two years since Jim Long, the prominent Greater Downtown developer behind Sawmill Market, Hotel Chaco, and the Albuquerque Plaza Building, unveiled plans for two new apartment complexes and a new hotel in the Sawmill neighborhood (DAN, 4/11/22). Back then, it looked like construction on all three might begin in the first half of 2023.

Since then, however, turbulence within the markets that typically finance such projects - including the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank - have conspired to delay the larger construction push, Long told DAN.

"That has to settle down," he said. "There's still a lot of things that have to come into place."

Nevertheless, Long is proceeding with laying the extensive pre-construction groundwork for the two apartment projects - one a 109-unit arrangement with furnished rentals meant for tenants staying up to a year and another a more traditional multi-family set-up with 140 units, plus nearly 20,000 square feet of space designed for restaurants, offices, and general retail.

The first could break ground in late fall, Long said, while the second will more likely begin in the first quarter of 2025. There is no timeline yet for the hotel, which is to be located on Bellamah around the corner from the apartment buildings.

Also on the back burner: a piece of land just south of the future apartment complexes at the corner of Twentieth and Mountain that Long won new zoning for last year (DAN, 9/21/23). At a neighborhood meeting last month to review the specifics of one of the buildings, he called that parcel "a future opportunity."

Long's developments have proved broadly popular with customers, but they are also a source of controversy in the Sawmill neighborhood, chiefly for the traffic and parking conflicts they generate. But if the three new developments represent a style of urban density that is new to the neighborhood, Long is nevertheless a big fan of the concept.

"Density is not a bad word," he told the meeting last month, dismissing the dominant post-war American development pattern as a "suburban mess."

As for Sawmill area traffic challenges, he pointed to longstanding city plans that would install a roundabout at Mountain and Rio Grande, smooth out the intersection of Rio Grande and I-40, and create a new connection to Twelfth via Bellamah (DAN, 1/11/21).

"We've got these great solutions," Long said. "We've got to implement them."

Downtown Albuquerque News also had a story earlier this year which mentioned the Sawmill Community Land Trust's plans for a new mixed-use structure south and east of their Arbolera de Vida community, which was the original development and nucleus for the Sawmill Area.

https://downtownalbuquerquenews.com/

Detective Dan: What's the deal with the seemingly abandoned Mill Pond Road?

Alert Reader Dianne writes in to ask:

The city has allowed weeds to grow on Mill Pond Road and the adjacent undeveloped property, which it owns through some arrangement with the Sawmill Community Land Trust. The road is now in disrepair. What is the point of/plan for this street? And until such a plan is realized, can the responsible parties at least keep it tidy?

Mill Pond Road has indeed been barricaded for years, right where it diverts off of Aspen (which itself connects to Twelfth). Past the barriers, it leads only to several city-owned acres and a dead end.

Long-dormant plans for those acres have lately resurfaced, said Debbie O'Malley, a founder, current board member, and former executive director of the Sawmill Community Land Trust, which since its founding in 1996 has built 93 homes and three apartment complexes in the neighborhood. The trust has recently reviewed some initial plans for a "mixed-use development that includes more permanently affordable housing," O'Malley said, and it expects to conduct a community planning process concerning the property later this year.

The city agreed in the late 1990s to give the trust development rights for the land and formally sign it over to the organization when it is ready to start a project, O'Malley said. The Mill Pond parcel is just one portion of 27 acres of industrial property the city bought in 1995. The land was left idle after the massive lumber manufacturing operations that gave the Sawmill neighborhood its name shut down in the mid-twentieth century.

That purchase came after "many years of determined advocacy" by the Sawmill Advisory Council, a small, still-existing group that wanted the city to buy, clean up, and repurpose the vacated land, O'Malley said. She was an original council member, and her father and several relatives worked in the mills and lived for years in the immediate neighborhood.

The barricades closing off Mill Pond were not placed by the land trust, she said, while also noting that their presence has the benefit of keeping people from driving onto the property.

The city, meanwhile, appears to be violating its own ordinance concerning nuisance weed removal, which requires that property owners remove weeds over four inches tall.

City spokesman Dan Mayfield confirmed that the city's solid waste division is tasked with maintaining the property and said it's scheduled to take care of the weeds within the next couple of weeks.

"They try to clean that every six to eight months," Mayfield said.

The city does not plan to extend Mill Pond beyond its current length. It put up the barricades several years ago in response to neighborhood concerns that the isolated area was becoming a hub for unwelcome activities, Mayfield said.

Another development coming to the area is Explora's Brillante Early Learning Center across the street from the science center and immediately north of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History.

https://www.bizjournals.com/albuquer...ng-center.html

Central New Mexico Community College and Explora announced Tuesday the two are partnering on a new $14 million educational facility to be built in Old Town Albuquerque, with work expected to start later this year.

Called the Brilliante Early Learning Center, the 14,000-square-foot building will stand just behind the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science and adjacent to the Explora Science Center and Children's Museum. Albuquerque-based RMKM Architecture PC designed the facility alongside Weil Construction, based in Albuquerque.

Nyra Klawer, director of development and external relations for Explora, said a construction firm for the center will be selected via a request for proposal process through the City of Albuquerque. It's expected to break ground in the third quarter of 2024, with construction anticipated to be completed in 2026.

The new center is intended to act as a child care and education facility, and to serve as a "lab school" for early childhood educators, Kristin Leigh, co-executive director of Explora, said at an announcement event Tuesday. It's designed to care for over 100 children from infancy through pre-kindergarten with eight to 10 classrooms focused on science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics-based education.

Brilliante will also include classrooms for CNM students in the college's Early Childhood Multicultural Education Program, an art studio, outdoor learning spaces and a full kitchen.

The center is the second phase of Explora's larger Cradle through Career STEAM Learning Campus development; the nonprofit's $5 million, 8,000-square-foot X Studio was the first phase of that development, which broke ground in mid-2021 as an expansion on Explora's 50,000-square-foot campus.

Brilliante, a standalone facility, would bolster local child care and early childhood education within Albuquerque, and help train and develop new early childhood educators. Access to the program will be "free to most New Mexicans" via funding through New Mexico's Childcare Assistance Program, the New Mexico Pre-K grant and the Child and Adult Care Food Program, a Tuesday news release from CNM and Explora notes.

A large portion of children enrolled in the new center would be children of CNM students, according to the release. Two pilot classrooms for the Brilliante center are currently operating within Explora.

Funding for the new center came from a mix of sources, including the State of New Mexico, the City of Albuquerque, Bernalillo County, Explora, CNM and private corporations, foundations and individuals. Samantha Sengel, Ph.D, the City of Albuquerque's chief administrative officer, and Shelle Sanchez, Ph.D., the City's arts and culture director, joined CNM President Tracy Hartzler and Explora Co-Executive Directors Leigh and Joseph Hastings, as well as Explora Board President Hilma Chynoweth, at the announcement event.

Ashley Tso, a recent CNM graduate who enrolled her son in the first cohort of the new center's early childhood education program, said at the event the new center could help promote more hands-on education for students like herself, and for other children like her son.

"My hope for the future of the learning center is for the student teachers to incorporate this curriculum to the professional classrooms after they graduate, and to continue working on building future generations," Tso said.

"As the learning center builds its relationship with CNM and the surrounding communities, I look forward to seeing the growth and support for other CNM student parents and their children," she continued. "This is only the beginning of something great."

The story above mentions Explora's X-Studio addition that is geared toward teens. Below are a few pictures showing the addition along 18th Street that opened early last year. They are from the Explora account on Instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/exploranm/













Finally, here are some nice aerial pics of the Sawmill Area that I thought I'd take this opportunity to share. They are from various sources on Homes.com and LoopNet. This area will really be incredible if and when all the proposed projects come to fruition! It's already very nice and an exciting and dynamic area of the city!

https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/1909...ue-NM/4187763/









https://www.homes.com/school/albuque...9rk2bf7ys7d9y/

[ABQalex]

I wanted to update a couple of things that happened this week and last week that I haven't had a chance until now to post about.

The zone change for the proposed rehabilitation hospital at Mountain Road and I-25 has been remanded to the Environmental Planning Commission for a do-over, similar to what happened with the soccer stadium situation at Balloon Fiesta Park.

I'll just say again how ridiculous this all is. This is a 3-story, 60-bed rehabilitation hospital that we are talking about here. It is not in any way out of character or incompatible with the area, which already has similar medical uses and rehab facilities. This is the area of the city where things such as this have long been built and desired to be located, going back to St. Joseph Hospital in the early 1900s. Yet, these people from Martineztown are acting like this is a super tall structure or something as harmful or out of character as a junk yard or oil refinery.

This is the height of absurdity and is nothing more than these people opposing things simply because they can and it's how they make their living. It absolutely makes my blood boil to see this play out.

https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerqu...pital-on-hold/

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Developers want to turn a plot of land that sits next to the Embassy Suite Hotel near the Big-I into a medical injury rehab facility. Those plans have now been put on hold because of a document created in 1994.

“Bringing investment into an area can only enhance the area,” said Sal Perdomo, Board Member of Generation Elevate New Mexico, a group that supports the development.

“We feel that we’re already at capacity, we can’t take anymore,” said Loretta Naranjo Lopez, President of the Santa Barbara-Martineztown Neighborhood Association,

The property in question is off of Woodward, and Mountain, right next to the Embassy Suite Hotel. It was supposed to be the new home for a proposed medical facility, but a site plan dating back to 1994 has stopped planning in its tracks. That site plan determines how the land can be used, and the requirements developers must follow. “It’s more of a guiding document for development that is allowed in this area,” said Megan Jones, a Principal Planner for the City of Albuquerque’s Planning Department.

Supporters of the development say it’s a convenient location for patients and would provide jobs. Opposing neighbors, however, argue the project would increase congestion in an area that already sees a lot of traffic.

“I would like to make sure that the traffic issues, the traffic problems are definitely dealt with before any construction begins,” Naranjo Lopez explained.

After a zoning change for the site was approved by the city’s Environmental Planning Commission (EPC) in February, neighbors successfully appealed the decision. That decision then went before a Land Use Hearing Officer, who cited the 1994 site plan as a reason for ordering a new hearing on the project.

“It is clear that the Gateway site plan for subdivision is material to the zone amendment request,” wrote Hearing Officer Steven Chavez in his decision. “Testimony at the appeal hearing confirms that because the 1994 site plan has allegedly not expired, any development on the 3-acre site is subject to the design standards and building height allowances incorporated into the site plan for subdivision in 1994.”

Because of the hearing officer’s decision, the project will now go up for debate again, with developers and neighbors getting a second change to argue their case in front of the EPC. “It needs to follow the current zoning requirements,” Naranjo Lopez added.

At the heart of the conflict is a zone amendment change. The city’s IDO (Intergrated Development Ordinance), and the current zoning regulations for that plot allows the project to build 20 hospital beds. The requested zone change by developers would increase that number to 60 beds.

“These criteria include addressing health care needs and social infrastructure,” Perdomo said. “We feel that health care is a form of social infrastructure and is very important to our community.”

A final decision on the project could be made during the EPC’s next meeting, scheduled to take place on June 20.

Here's another picture from the Homes.com profile for the Early College Academy at Albuquerque High showing the area and empty lot where the proposed rehabilitation hospital would go. I challenge any reasonable person to say that this project is the tipping point and would be detrimental or out of character for this area. That's UNM Hospital just up the hill and the Medical Arts area lies directly across the freeway. The area on the other side of the freeway has the higher zoning that this project is seeking, which flies in the face of another of the NIMBY arguments that this would be a spot zoning.

https://www.homes.com/school/albuque...2v5g6e2pexqt6/



The Los Ranchos board of trustees also met last week and voted to seek an injunction stopping construction of the Village Center project. The vote was 2 for and 1 against, with one abstention. A vote to apeal the state district court judge's ruling that the village violated the state Open Meetings Act failed to pass with a tie vote of 2 for and 2 against. The trustee who abstained from voting on the injunction voted for pursuing an appeal. Because of the village mayor’s recent death there could be no tie-breaking vote cast.

The only hope for an appeal in the ruling now would appear to be from the developer itself. There's no word from them as to what they plan to do now that the village itself is against construction proceeding. It's a mess, but as I said, the best outcome that I'd like to see now is for the village to fork out a hefty payment to the developer for reneging on its agreement and being taken over by the NIMBY obstructionists. And let the site sit there as an even bigger eyesore for years and decades or until yet another sh!tty, vaguely Pueblo Revival strip mall is developed in its place.

https://www.bizjournals.com/albuquer...ion-avila.html

The Village of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque Board of Trustees met Wednesday night to address the partly constructed building at the corner of Osuna Road and Fourth Street.

Two primary agenda items went before the board. The first item centered on pursuing injunctive relief to halt construction of the project and the second concerned whether or not to appeal a recent court decision by Second Judicial District Court Judge Denise Barela Shepherd.

Construction on the building, which is at the center of the Friends of Los Ranchos Inc. (FOLR) v. Village of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque and Palindrome Communities LLC, began in 2022. Barela Shepherd recently overturned the approval of Palindrome’s multi-use development plan on May 2, citing a violation of the state Open Meetings Act (OMA), which requires public policy decisions be made in meetings that are open to the public, according to the New Mexico Department of Justice.

At the May 29 meeting, the trustees voted 2-1 in favor of pursuing injunctive relief in district court to stop further construction of the Palindrome development. Mayor Pro Tem Frank Reinow and Jennifer Kueffer voted in favor. Gilbert Benavides voted no and George Radnovich recused himself from the vote.

The trustees were split on whether or not to file an appeal of the memorandum opinion and order by Barela Shepard. With the split vote, the motion died. Benavides and Radnovich voted in favor of the appeal and Reinow and Kueffer voted against the appeal.

The basis for the case began in March 2018 when the Village adopted a redevelopment plan aimed at boosting economic activity in the area. Former Los Ranchos Mayor Donald T. Lopez selected Palindrome, an Oregon-based real estate developer, to take on the development plan nicknamed the "Village Center" project in 2020.

A mediation was held on May 14 between the Village, FOLR and Palindrome in an effort to avoid further litigation and legal expense, according to the FOLR website. However, Marsha Adams, FOLR president, said "no resolution" was made.

Reinow also confirmed there was no resolution.

"We look forward to continuing dialogue with both the Friends of Los Ranchos and the Village of Los Ranchos," Palindrome Director of Development Rebecca Velarde said when asked about the Village Center development.

Ahead of Wednesday's Board of Trustees meeting, when asked if the Village was concerned about potential litigation from Palindrome if they are forced to demolish the property, Reinow said those concerns would be addressed in a closed meeting that occurred before the scheduled Board of Trustees meeting.

https://www.krqe.com/news/new-mexico...-court-battle/

NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – A major development in the heart of the North Valley promises hundreds of apartments shops, outdoor space, and more. The project once approved by Los Ranchos Village government is now primed for a court battle with the same government that okayed it.

It’s now well under construction at Fourth Street and Osuna, but the $50 million “Village Center” in Los Ranchos may be up in the air based on the latest move from the village government. Los Ranchos Village trustees voted two to one Wednesday night to file a court injunction against the public-private project which that same government body green-lighted years ago.

“We want to get to a place of solution,” said Frank Reinow, trustee.

“We have to keep our government in check,” said Jennifer Kueffer, trustee.

The project has faced opposition since the groundbreaking in 2022. Neighbors booed the project in part over concerns about the size of the development and what it might do to traffic in the area. The trailhead at Chamizal is 12 acres and planned for 204 apartments, over two dozen retail spaces, a grocery store, a brewery, and more.

Earlier this month, a Bernalillo County District Court judge ruled that prior Los Ranchos city officials broke state open meetings law in 2022 when the village approved the project without a public meeting. This is something village trustees referenced during Wednesday night’s vote. “I was most concerned about how the previous administration was dismissive of villagers and disregarded the public process required under state law,” said Jennifer Kueffer, Los Ranchos Village trustee.

Los Ranchos will now ask for a judge to intervene in the continued project construction, a move that’s dividing village leaders.

The project developer, Palindrome Communities did not respond to KRQE’s email asking for comment. The village has yet to say when it will file its legal action against the project.

Thankfully, not everything is so frustrating or doom and gloom in the North Valley lately. Below are some recent construction pics of the Griegos Farms and Calle Cuarta projects that are being built in the city of Albuquerque’s portion of the North Valley. They were posted by their respective developers and Pavilion Construction. I especially love the last picture by YES Housing showing the nearby projects that have recently been completed along 4th Street. I hope to see even more projects lining this corridor all the way from the North Valley to Downtown in the future!

https://x.com/RembeJack/status/1795875348024013009









https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...7520000&type=3



https://www.facebook.com/yeshousing/...N1g2NY9EMaUBPl

[ABQalex]

Here's an update on the Los Ranchos Village Center saga. Chad Rennaker and Palindrome have now responded in the media and I'm so glad to see how they've responded and that they are willing to stick up for themselves. They absolutely did nothing wrong here, yet these people are trying to injure them completely. They are also defending themselves while still being completely reasonable and willing to seek compromise and a better solution to the issues.

They are clearly the good guys here, I don't care how anybody tries to smear them.

That's in stark contrast to the NIMBY pieces of sh!t, especially the leader of the Friends of Los Ranchos, who is insistent that the project be torn down no matter what. This woman is a real nasty piece of work. I'd like to see her pay personally for her attitude and obstruction. Let her be on the hook personally to make the developer, lenders and contractors whole. She and her group need to be financially affected and held liable for all this trouble they've created.

https://www.bizjournals.com/albuquer...s-ranchos.html

A controversial, multi-use project under development in Los Ranchos could be headed toward a more peaceful resolution with both the developer and Village agreeing to try and find common ground — at least for now. The Village's board of trustees will meet on June 12 during a closed session to discuss next steps.

Village Administrator John Avila said in an email statement on June 10 that Mayor Pro Tem Franklin Reinow has been busy "visiting with residents and reviewing Palindrome issues with the hope that the Village can find a negotiated solution that all parties can work with."

In 2002, the Village of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque established the "Village Center Zone" for development along Fourth Street and Osuna Road — the site of the building now in question — that outlined permit uses and restrictions. Responding to blight in 2018, Palindrome Communities LLC, the project's developer, submitted a proposal to undertake the Village Center project, aimed at boosting economic activity along the intersection. The plan was approved by former Mayor Donald T. Lopez in 2020; construction commenced in 2022.

The legal crux of the dispute centers on the application of the Village Center zoning code, which was specifically developed for this site. On May 2, Second Judicial District Court Judge Denise Barela Shepherd issued a decision to overturn the approval of the project, citing a violation of the state Open Meetings Act (OMA), which requires public policy decisions be made in meetings that are open to the public, according to the New Mexico Department of Justice.

Palindrome was under the impression that no public hearing was needed since the project complied with zoning regulations and had Lopez's approval, said Chad Rennaker, CEO of Palindrome.

“In most cases, we go through a public process if we're seeking a variance of a code,” Rennaker said. “If we're not seeking any variance and we're meeting the code requirements, there is no public hearing as a result of that.”

On May 28, the Village’s board of trustees voted 2-1 in favor of pursuing injunctive relief to halt construction on the Village Center project. Reinow said the Village's decision to seek injunctive relief against Palindrome was not an indication of an anti-development stance.

As a result of the vote held on May 28, Palindrome also filed a temporary restraining order and injunction request against the Village. However, a hearing scheduled for June 10 was postponed after the two entities had a "productive" meeting on June 7, Rennaker said. An initial mediation between the Village, Palindrome and the Friends of Los Ranchos (FOLR) was held May 14.

"Both parties are interested in trying to resolve this as opposed to going down a very expensive and drawn-out legal path," Rennaker said on June 7 following the meeting. "Essentially, we're talking about alterations to the existing building that are reasonable, but perhaps more importantly, how we handle the approval process on future phases of the development. We all agreed to postpone the hearings to give us time early next week to try and reach a more formal settlement. We'll pick [discussions] back up [June 10]."

In Avila's June 10 email to Business First, he did note that Village litigation attorney Vincent Ward was authorized by the Board of Trustees to pursue an injunction. But said, "I don't have the date of filing."

As of today, Palindrome has invested $40 million into the site, Rennaker said. The total project cost is expected to hit $55 million.

"If we have to stop construction, the damages may become insurmountable," he said. "We're incurring about $100,000 a week in interest carrying costs."

Should Palindrome be forced to stop or demolish the project, the development firm said it

"If we were to file a damages lawsuit today, we would include future revenues that were not received as a result of them tearing the project down," Rennaker said. "That's a $15 million loss and that would become part of the damages lawsuit."

The project, which began in 2022, stands three stories tall and is about 85% complete.

In recent years, Palindrome has been involved with other projects in the Albuquerque area including the renovation of El Vado Motel at 2500 Central Ave. SW. Despite the current turmoil in Los Ranchos, Rennaker said he wasn't opposed to working with the Village in the future.

Today, Isidoro "Izzy" Hernandez, executive director of the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority (MFA) said during a interview with Albuquerque Business First on May 29.

https://www.abqjournal.com/news/now-...2e09e7704.html

Lawsuits seeking damages of more than $50 million from the Village of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque are possible if a controversial affordable housing project at Fourth and Osuna is terminated and razed.

“That is ultimately what a damages claim would be in the worst-case scenario of tearing it down altogether,” said Chad Rennaker, chief executive officer of Palindrome Communities, the Portland, Oregon, company building the project — 204 apartment units divided among three three-story structures plus micro-retail spaces — on the southeast corner of Fourth and Osuna.

On May 29, village trustees voted 2-1 to seek a court injunction to stop the project.

But during a phone interview from Portland on Friday, Rennaker told the Journal that Palindrome and the village met Friday to discuss the situation and agreed to continue working this week toward an agreement about what can be done with the current phase of the Village Center Project and to come to terms on an approval process for future phases.

Also, the village issued notice that it will meet in closed session at 6 p.m. Wednesday to discuss a possible resolution of pending litigation between the village and Palindrome. Following that session, there will be a special meeting of the board of trustees to vote on any matters arising from the closed session that require a vote.

Rennaker said Palindrome wants to avoid legal action.

“It costs a lot of money, hundreds of thousands of dollars that could be spent on making better things for the project,” he said. “It is just such a waste.”

A turn of events

The Village Center Project broke ground in the summer of 2022 during a previous village administration headed by Mayor Donald Lopez.

Even as the project got underway, some village residents were protesting the intrusion of a high-density project into a village incorporated in 1958 with the goal of retaining a rural and agricultural lifestyle.

From that point, the complexities of the dispute stacked up almost as quickly as the development itself, which is nearing completion after nearly two years of construction.

The Friends of Los Ranchos, an organization that favors the preservation of open space, filed a number of lawsuits against the village aimed at stopping the project.

Among the issues raised in the suits was the charge that the village violated the state Open Meetings Act by failing to discuss the project in public meetings before the village’s Planning and Zoning Commission and its Board of Trustees.

Another charge in the lawsuits was that the village improperly condemned the site of the project so it could sell the ground and the buildings on it to Palindrome for a few dollars, a violation of the state anti-donation clause.

“The Friends have filed multiple lawsuits against the village, but Palindrome stands to lose the most after having followed all the village’s guidance, processes and requirements,” Rennaker said. “We assumed we had met all the requirements and it was approved.”

Joe Craig, president of Friends of Los Ranchos, spearheaded the lawsuits. But in November, Craig was elected mayor, defeating incumbent Lopez and village trustees Gilbert Benavides and George Radnovich.

Jennifer Kueffer and Frank Reinow, campaigning on pro-open space platforms, were elected to vacant seats on the board of trustees.

Trustees Benavides and Radnovich lost their respective bids for mayor, but retained their seats on the board because those terms have not expired.

When elected mayor, Craig resigned as president of Friends of Los Ranchos. But the board, counting the mayor who votes to break ties, had a pro-open space, anti-high-density development edge of 3-2 at the start of this year. Craig, who had played an integral role in suing the village, was then the village’s top elected official.

Strict schedules

On May 2, state District Judge Denise Barela-Shepherd, acting on one of the lawsuits filed by the Friends, ruled that the process used by the previous village administration to approve the Village Center Project violated the state’s Open Meetings Act.

That was a victory for Craig. But on May 21, following treatment for a medical condition that began to emerge just after he took office, Craig died.

Now, the village board of trustees was back to a 2-2 divide, two trustees from the previous administration and two elected in November after campaigns that stressed their opposition to the Village Center project.

The 2-1 vote in favor of seeking an injunction to stop the project was achieved only because Trustee Radnovich, whose company has the landscape architecture contract for the Village Center Project, recused himself.

Rennaker said just stopping the project will cost $100,000 a week.

“We have spent $40 million to this point,” he said. “Two years of litigation at $100,000 per week would add to that figure. Fifteen million for future lost revenue would be part of the damages suit.”

Rennaker said Palindrome never considered delaying the start of the project, even though rumblings against it were gaining force as work on it was starting.

“We couldn’t have,” he said. “It’s not just Palindrome in the project. There are investors and lenders that have strict schedules that we have to adhere to. Frankly, we were a little behind to begin with.”

He said Palindrome is characterized as big-shot developers from out of state who don’t care about local communities, but that’s far from the truth.

“The Friends of Los Ranchos are very vocal, but there may be other people in the village who don’t share their opinion,” Rennaker said. “I was having informal meetings with concerned citizens about what could be done in future phases of the project, or even in the initial stage. Then it got litigious. There was talk about lawsuits, and people were told to quit talking to the enemy.”

Tear it down

In May, following Judge Barela-Shepherd’s ruling on the Open Meetings violation, Palindrome, the village and the Friends of Los Ranchos met in a mediation session.

Rennaker said Palindrome was willing to make concessions such as allowing public input on colors selected for the development, adding trees to the site, making open-space areas more appealing by adding benches, community gardens and other features and allowing larger retail spaces along Fourth Street.

“We could accommodate that,” he said. “In addition, we were open to allowing more public input in future phases.”

But he said Friends insisted on removing the third floor on several units and demolishing a building in the center of the site, actions that would considerably reduce the number of units in the project and add more than $10 million to the development’s price tag.

Marsha Adams, who succeeded Craig as president of Friends, said the organization did not make any of those demands.

“There have been proposals for modification, but that’s not what we are advocating for,” she said. “We want it torn down. That’s basically it. We want it gone. Palindrome was aware all through this that they did not have the proper approval and proper permits and they continued to build — even faster. They are accountable.”

She said that as far as Palindrome suing the village for damages goes, she has heard more than once, and believes it to be true, that there is language in the contract that protects the village from such action.

Rennaker disagrees.

“There are differences of opinion on the interpretation of the indemnification clause,” he said. “We obviously don’t believe it exempts the village from financial responsibility.”

Totally wrong

Rennaker said Palindrome is getting a bad rap for some things it is not responsible for and for other things that are not true — for example, he said, complaints that the project is built too close to the sidewalk and there will not be enough parking spaces on the site.

“We actually had the buildings set back farther from the sidewalk, and we were forced by the village code to put them closer to the sidewalk,” he said. “As part of the first phase of construction, we will have 427 parking spaces when it is completed. As future phases (a hotel, brewpub, grocery store, housing) are added, we will retain a one-to-one ratio for affordable housing residents. One parking space for one unit.”

Rennaker said Palindrome’s mission is to create high-quality affordable housing opportunities.

“The attitude of Friends against building affordable housing in an affluent community is just plain wrong,” he said. “We already have a waiting list for prospective residents eager to move in, including educators, first responders and fixed-income seniors. With housing costs skyrocketing and income levels not keeping up, New Mexico has a dire need for affordable housing.”

Adams said Rennaker’s comment is off base.

“It is totally wrong that we are against affordable housing,” she said. “We are against the way this project was done without proper permits.”

This woman is clearly deranged and horribly misinformed. Sorry, no, you absolutely cannot be a party to and have an agreement and then cause that agreement to be ended in such a way and not be liable for damages. The village put out this RFP outlining a dense development that would include affordable housing, retail and other commercial elements. Palindrome responded with exactly such a project. The village accepted their proposal and agreed to the terms.

Even though the village leadership has now been taken over by members of her group they still have an agreement in place that they must uphold. Forcing construction to be stopped is a violation of that agreement. Tearing down the project and scrapping it altogether is an even bigger violation and it's a financial liability for which they must and will be held accountable.

Elections don't invalidate agreements that were made by previous office holders. New office holders take on the responsibility for those agreements and are just as liable and obligated to carry them out in good faith.

As for that last line of hers, she's completely full of sh!t. People in her group have openly posted on Facebook that they did not want affordable housing in their village. Members of her group have liked or reposted comments stating as much on Facebook and elsewhere.

Opposition to this project is based upon not wanting "highrises" (3-story buildings ) but it's also clearly about not wanting poor people living in Los Ranchos. These people are rabidly opposed to those two things.

They clearly have no problem with the commercial development that is being built directly across the street. So all this talk about traffic, parking and ruining the character and rural nature of the village is nothing more than a fake argument.

"Tall" buildings and poors is really all that has motivated this rabid, determined and deranged opposition.

[ABQalex]

It's really bizarre the way things go in this city. I really believe that we are cursed and often doomed for such things as this. Just a couple of weeks after the whole hubbub over the spotlight situation at the former Bank of the West tower, vandals have broken into the structure and caused damage throughout. I have no idea if the spotlight was still on or not, but clearly the building owner's concern for theft or crime was well-founded.

As I said previously, perhaps the city could actually try to do more to secure and control the crime situation in the area rather than threaten the building owner because of bright lighting.

https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerqu...n-albuquerque/

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – It’s a big blow for the iconic former Bank of the West tower on east Central. Someone broke in over the weekend, causing tens of thousands of dollars in damage by tossing things from the top of the building and even triggering the fire sprinklers.

A Houston based firm, Route 66 Multi Family ABQ LLC, which now owns the two buildings at Central and San Mateo, is picking up the pieces. They’re trying to get started on some big housing projects but crime keeps getting in the way.

On Sunday, someone broke into the 17-story tower, then went up to the penthouse. Whoever it was, they started tossing things out the window, including a washing machine. “They came in here. They wrecked the place upstairs. It looks like they started a fire in the penthouse,” said Landen Nowak, the project manager on site.

That fire set off the building’s sprinkler system. Due to a broken pipe, parts of the building flooded. The water was shut off on Monday.

Another victim in the mix of this is Lobo Internet Services. Their internet tower on top of the building was taken offline along with some of their equipment in the flooded basement. Now they’re working to get services back up and running.

“There is still a little more to do to get it 100%. The ongoing problem is we’ll have to haul 20 pounds of propane up the stairs almost every day to keep the generator running,” said President of Lobo Internet Services, Carl Muehlenweg.

The owners said they’ve made efforts to secure the building, but the fight has gotten tough. The project leaders said they’re hoping to get the problems fixed in the next couple weeks, and they are working with the city to increase police patrols in the area. While the vandalism is a setback, the owners hope to continue forward with the apartment conversion project planned for the shorter of the two buildings on site.

I swear, if it's not NIMBY bullsh!t it's stuff like this that threatens or impedes our progress in this city. I'm sick of all of it.

The last line in the quote above mentions the shorter of the two buildings. The developer has now applied for a building permit for the renovation and conversion of the building. Before this news story I was very excited to see such a step being taken. Finally we have a developer that looks like it will move fast and actually do something good with the buildings! But, like always, something gets in the way. I still have much hope, though. I dream that in two or so years they will be transformed and this will all just be a distant memory and will seem like a small roadblock along the way.

https://posse.cabq.gov/posse/pub/lms...ctId=205203451

Here's a quote of the description for the building permit with details of what the project will involve. It looks like it will have 101 apartments as the final unit count. It also looks like they will go forward with the landscaping and amenities such as a pool from the previous conversion proposal.

Renovation/transition of an existing 10 story plus basement, approximately 130,000sf concrete building (built circa 1972) from office functions to multi-family apartments. The building’s structural frame utilizes primarily precast concrete double tees for both vertical and horizontal structural members. The floors have a 5” topping slab cast over the tees. The core of the building is cast in place reinforced concrete and contains vertical circulation consisting of two stair towers, and elevator/ventilation shafts. After upgrades, the building will accommodate 10 to 11 residential units per floor for a total of 101 units with new private balconies and access to roof deck, basement storage and fitness center, as well as gardens, park area, swimming pool and other site features as tenant amenities. In addition to the new apartment build-out, this project entails energy efficiency improvements consisting of a new continuous insulating exterior skin, new windows, doors, and apartment-specific HVAC units. New electrical and plumbing infrastructure, common-space HVAC, common trash collection (trash chute to collection room in basement), and a fire suppression overhaul are also part of this scope of work.

[ABQalex]

There was another nice jobs announcement yesterday for Albuquerque. SolAero Technologies has received $24 million in funding from the federal CHIPS and Science Act that will create over 100 advanced manufacturing jobs. The Albuquerque-based company makes solar cells that have been used to power such things as the Mars Ingenuity helicopter and on the Artemis missions. The company has its operations at the Sandia Science and Technology Park in Southeast Albuquerque near Sandia National Labs.

https://www.abqjournal.com/business/...8da33232d.html

Semiconductors for spacecraft and satellites will be made in Albuquerque as part of a local company’s expansion plans.

SolAero by Rocket Lab, an Albuquerque-based manufacturing company, will expand its operations in Albuquerque using funding under the CHIPS and Science Act.

The U.S. Department of Commerce is giving SolAero nearly $24 million to create more than 100 direct manufacturing jobs in Albuquerque.

“For years now, I’ve been proud to bolster New Mexico’s bases, defense research labs and private industry partners so we can keep excelling in emerging defense fields. That includes supporting the growth of SolAero — a homegrown New Mexico defense technology company that has become an industry leader in manufacturing solar cells for space-based defense systems and commercial satellites,” Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., said in a statement. “This exciting investment is just the latest down payment to maintain New Mexico’s longtime leadership in national security and innovation.”

SolAero is one of just two U.S. companies that specializes in the production of efficient and radiation-resistant semiconductors. The company’s solar cells have been used on the James Webb Space Telescope, NASA’s Artemis lunar explorations, Ingenuity Mars Helicopter and the Mars Insight Lander.

“Thanks to the CHIPS and Science Act, more than 100 new manufacturing jobs will be created and New Mexico will continue leading the way in technological manufacturing. The future is bright,” Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M., said in a statement.

The CHIPS Act aims to increase American manufacturing jobs and shore up supply chains.

Here's another project in this area of town that was recently completed. The new office for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency in Albuquerque will have its ribbon-cutting ceremony today on Kirtland Air Force Base.

https://www.dtra.mil/News-Media/News...-kirtland-air/

KIRTLAND Air Force Base, New Mexico – The Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s Albuquerque Office (DTRA-ABQ) will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday, June 12, 2024, for the agency’s new multi-use building on Kirtland Air Force Base. The 76,000 square foot facility will be home to more than 300 U.S. military personnel and DoD civilians and includes unclassified and classified work spaces and meeting rooms, administrative offices, and a seismic laboratory.

“This new building will make a big difference for DTRA’s people and our Countering WMD (weapons of mass destruction) mission,” said DTRA Director Rebecca Hersman. “Part of our organization has proudly called Kirtland home for eight decades. This state-of-the-art building provides our people with a modern home for carrying out their global missions.”

Expected to be fully operational in the second half of 2024, the building will house current DTRA employees in Albuquerque and DTRA members currently at Eglin Air Force Base near Pensacola, Florida. That move will bring team members of one of DTRA’s specialized research and development offices together under one roof.

“This will have a tangible impact on our DTRA teammates and missions,” said Dr. Gary Hook, chief of DTRA’s (R&D) Test and Assessment Department. “We have some very unique testing facilities around here, we work very closely with the Department of Energy labs, the services and academia, and we’re excited to have a new, modern, secure and efficient place to carry out our mission.”

Initial design by JACOBS Engineering began in 2019. Built by the Hensel Phelps Construction Company, the building incorporates new DoD high performance and sustainable building requirements, including a solar parking structure, contains electric vehicle (EV) charging stations for ultra-efficient government EVs, and was previously recognized by the Society of American Military Engineers (SAME) with a merit award for Best Design in 2022.

DTRA’s economic footprint in New Mexico, centered in the Albuquerque area, is estimated to be more than $100M annually. In addition to more than 300 civil servants and uniformed service members that live nearby, DTRA executes more than $50M in government contracts every year, conducts counter-WMD research efforts, and is home to the DoD’s only Defense Nuclear Weapons School, which has been training America’s nuclear forces since 1947.

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid...21.-2207520000