Old ‘Darth Vader’ building at UNM needs another $5.6M
By Astrid Galvan / Journal Staff Writer on Thu, Mar 14, 2013
The nearly $5 million in renovations for the outside of the University of New Mexico building formerly known as Darth Vader are complete, but the makeover – and its costs – are not over.
Health Sciences Center administrators next month will ask regents to approve interior renovations for the building at 1650 University NE, which are projected to cost another $5.6 million dollars.
Including the initial cost of the building and the land it sits on, UNM will likely spend about $14.5 million total on the approximately 30-year-old building. For years, many people referred to the office tower as the Darth Vader building because of its shape and black windows.
For two regents, that cost is too high. But for HSC executive finance officer Ava Lovell, it’s a steal compared to the cost of tearing down the building and starting from scratch.
Lovell said building a new structure would have cost about $200 per square foot and that the renovations add up to about $107 per square foot. The building has about 100,000 square feet.
Renovations continue at the University of New Mexico building at 1650 University NE. The windows on the building, which used to be black, were recently replaced, along with other renovations.
“So, financially, this thing is a great deal,” Lovell said. “Yeah, it’s not the prettiest building. Maybe from different perspectives it’s not what we would have built from scratch, but it did seem like a waste of money to tear it down…”
Regents Jamie Koch and Gene Gallegos did not agree. Both voted against the outer renovations at a March 2012 regents meeting and have been vocal about their disapproval.
“I still think it was a mistake to try to do something with that old building,” Gallegos told the Journal on Wednesday.
UNM purchased the building, which was in foreclosure, in Dec. 2010. Since then, regents have approved a series of expenditures for engineering and architecture assessments and for the outer core renovations, which were approved with a 3-2 vote last year and which went about $100,000 over budget. Those outer core renovations included the replacement of windows with high energy performance glass, rooftop work, parking lot coating and striping, lighting upgrades, and mechanical and plumbing systems.
Lovell said health sciences desperately needs the space as many of its programs have outgrown their current locations.
The building will house different HSC divisions, such as Project Echo, a grant-funded health care project that will use an entire floor, and an education program for practicing nurses.
UNM initially hoped to fill some space with outside tenants but struggled to do so.
“The first priority was to try to get anybody who was off campus paying rent to an outside landlord. The more we worked on that, the harder time we had with it,” Lovell said.
For example, the university tried to recruit the UNM Center for Development and Disability but lost out when its current landlord offered a lower price, she said.
Still, the building on University Boulevard is already booked with tenants who could be moving in a year from now, Lovell said. HSC last year said the building could open in the summer of 2013.
But first, the interior needs to be renovated, a cost that last year was projected to be $4.3 million but is now estimated at nearly $5.6 million. The cost will be covered by on-hand reserves. Regents, the state Higher Education Department and the state Board of Finance must approve the renovations first.
— This article appeared on page C1 of the Albuquerque Journal
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