Sandia National Laboratories released its annual economic impact report last week. It shows growth even during the pandemic and says that Sandia continued hiring hundreds of people last year. Overall, Sandia reports an economic impact of $3.68 billion.
https://www.sandia.gov/news/publicat...ic_impact.html
A recent aerial pic from a poster on Instagram showing part of the Sandia National Labs area on Kirtland Air Force Base, including the new NNSA Albuquerque Complex office building under construction at the center of the photo.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CKMswmsDyGO/
KOAT last week had an update on the Facebook data center construction in Los Lunas. It seems there will actually be 350 permanent jobs at the site, an increase of 50 from previous numbers given.
https://www.koat.com/article/faceboo...lunas/35354574
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I was finally able to get the county's building permit search function to work. All it took was requesting the desktop version of the site, lol. Anyway, the building permit for Project Nico describes it as a warehouse and office building, but elsewhere in the related records also mentions package processing. Whether it will be another fulfillment center for large items or a sortation center remains to be seen. The building permit fees paid so far total just under $300,000, which indicates to me a substantial project scope either way. The project has an address of 15480 Reservoir Rd. NW. All the same companies from Project Chico are named on the building permit for Project Nico.
https://aca-prod.accela.com/BERNCO/C...ncyCode=BERNCO
Below are the two latest Project Chico construction videos on Vimeo, the first one includes shots of the Project Nico site and the third construction site to the northwest.
The Albuquerque TopGolf location now has an opening date. It will open to the public this Friday.
https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerqu...rque-location/
https://topgolf.com/us/albuquerque/
The new visitor center at the National Hispanic Cultural Center is nearing completion. The Albuquerque Journal last week had a report with pic of the new structure. It will include the box office for NHCC events, a gift shop and a meeting room.
https://www.abqjournal.com/2353984/n...ence-room.html
The Bernalillo County Commission at its meeting last week awarded the construction contract for the Route 66 Visitor's Center to Enterprise Builders Corporation. The project will begin construction sometime this month.
https://www.bernco.gov/public-works/...6#/BlogContent
Last week the County Commission also awarded nearly $39 million in project revenue bonds for two new affordable housing projects planned for the west side of Coors Boulevard just north of Bluewater Road. The San Roque Apartments will have 136 units for families in a four-story structure and received $27.9 million in bonds for its construction. The La Serena Apartments will have 78 units for seniors in a 3-story structure and received $11 million in bonds for construction.
https://www.bernco.gov/economic-deve...c#/BlogContent
There will also be 18 one-bedroom loft units above 9 garage structures scattered in the parking areas. It's unclear whether those were included in the total unit counts for the two buildings. No renderings are available, but the San Roque building is described as Southwest contemporary with flat roof, metal elements, brick and stucco. The La Serena structure is described as Southwest vernacular with pitched clay tile roofs and stucco. Below is a layout from the supporting documents for their zone change hearing before the EPC back in September. The land was previously zoned industrial but the EPC approved the change to mixed-residential to allow for the project.
Finally, an exciting new project has come to light from the agenda for this week's Development Review Board meeting. A new 6-story apartment building with 108 units is planned for the west side of Vassar Drive just south of Central Avenue in the UNM area. The project will be called The Strider and have 5 floors of apartments above a ground-floor parking garage. The project meets IDO requirements and is only before the DRB for review as a project with over 50 units. Neighborhood groups seem to be in favor of the project overall but of course there were grumblings about the height, traffic impact and relatively small number of parking spaces. The IDO of course allows and encourages minimal parking in a premium transit corridor like Central Avenue and a major activity center like the UNM area. The project also received a height bonus for having structured parking. The project is being developed by Rembe Associates who say they are targeting younger people who want a car-free life. Below are renderings and layout for the project from the DRB files.
https://documents.cabq.gov/planning/...03_%202021.pdf