KOB-TV last week had a look at The Block shipping container community that is getting ready to open in Rio Rancho at the Plaza at Enchanted Hills shopping center.
https://www.kob.com/new-mexico/exclu...in-rio-rancho/
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RIO RANCHO, N.M. — After months of delays, The Block is almost ready to open in Rio Rancho’s Enchanted Hills.
The shipping container complex will feature a high-end bar, boutiques, and an interior food hall.
“This has been kind of the most beautiful hybrid we could come up with, we took so many popular things and favorite things post-COVID that allow people to be outside and enjoy,” said Tiffany Gravelle, chief operations officer for The Block.
It’s set to open on June 1.
“It’s really, in this case, good things come to those who wait and we’re really excited to roll it out in its final version,” Gravelle said.
Below is a full list of vendors:
• Stackers
• KuKri
• Los Tacos del Rey
• Umami
• The Boba Lounge
• Mint Noodle Bar
• Tavern on the Green
The Block is now accepting RFPs for food trucks, mural artists, and performers. It’s also seeking a great coffee concept, dessert and ice cream options, a vegan option, and hip local retailers/boutique shops to join the neighborhood.
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Below is a recent aerial video update of the project on YouTube, parts of which were shown in the KOB report above. I've also included a screenshot from the video, as well as a rendering of the project from approximately the same perspective to compare with the built result.
• Video Link
A new Sprouts store is also supposed to open soon at the Plaza at Enchanted Hills, the first in Rio Rancho proper. The closest one currently is in Albuquerque near Cottonwood Mall. It will go into a former Bed, Bath & Beyond location.
https://www.sprouts.com/store/nm/rio-rancho/nm-hwy-528/
https://crittendenretail.com/anatomy...io-rancho-n-m/
The new Market Street grocery store location in The Village at Rio Rancho that was announced a couple of years ago has yet to come to fruition. They said that the proposed merger between Albertsons and Kroger wouldn't affect the plans for the store, but I think it absolutely had to have.
Whenever people have asked about the status of the store on Facebook company representatives have said that it is still in the works and scheduled to get underway soon. Rio Rancho's mayor has also responded on Facebook that the store is still in the works and recently said that everything, such as permits, etc. is in place for the store to begin construction. In fact, Albuquerque Business First recently had a story about the project which seems to indicate that construction is finally underway.
https://www.bizjournals.com/albuquer...5-opening.html
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High-end grocery store Market Street is eyeing an early 2025 opening at its Rio Rancho location near Rust Medical Center, with construction ongoing.
The ground-up build, contracted by ESI Construction, originally broke ground in July 2022 and aimed to open last year. However, continuing issues brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic pushed its timeline, a spokesperson for The United Family, Market Street’s parent organization under Albertsons Companies, said.
The 80,000-square-foot Market Street aims to offer not just groceries but an array of prepared foods, including amenities like an upscale bakery and health food offerings. Santa Fe currently has the brand’s sole location in New Mexico.
Sidney Hopper, division president of United Family, said the company looked at factors like proximity to hospitals — notably, Rust Medical Center — and median household income when deciding on the location at the southeast corner of Unser and Westside boulevards.
“It’s a gathering place and that’s what we hope it is in Rio Rancho,” Hopper told Albuquerque Business First. “Where people come for breakfast, they’ll come for lunch and even come for dinner. And have different gatherings in that space there.”
Planned prepared food options include sushi, noodles and barbecue, Hopper said, adding that a significant amount of the store will be dedicated to e-commerce, including online ordering, and pharmacy operations.
Market Street will be one of the first tenants of The Village, a 65-acre mixed-use project backed by Geringer Capital and Colliers International.
It’s part of a larger trend of development near Rust Medical Center, with a five-tenant retail space recently announced at the southwest corner of Unser Boulevard and Wellspring Avenue and Chicken Salad Chick planning to build its first New Mexico location nearby.
Rio Rancho’s Market Street also marks the first new United Family store to be built in the Albuquerque metro since the company was bought by Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons Companies in 2014, Hopper said. It’s the second in New Mexico, after Carlsbad, where a new Albertsons Market was constructed in 2019.
It also comes at a time of uncertainty for another corporate shakeup. Albertsons Companies and Cincinnati-based Kroger (NYSE: KR), which operates Smith’s, announced plans to merge in October 2022. However, the deal now faces a lawsuit to block the deal by New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez, seven other attorneys general and the Federal Trade Commission, with the coalition citing anti-competitive concerns.
As for the future, Hopper said they’re always looking for new locations for future United Family store locations.
“We’re continually looking at new opportunities,” Hopper said. “We’ll go actively looking but we don’t have anything that would be great to announce at this time.”
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The 12 Albertsons locations in metro Albuquerque are part of the group of stores that the companies are planning to divest to the parent company of Piggly Wiggly as part of their merger proposal. As the story above mentions, the merger is being challenged in court by several states including New Mexico and by the FTC. Time will tell whether this Market Street store does actually come to fruition.
A few other tenants for The Village have been revealed since the Market Street announcement, including Furniture Row and US Eagle Credit Union. It's nothing too exciting, certainly it doesn't look like it will be the equivalent to ABQ Uptown like they originally stated that it would be. They've also yet to announce details for the hotel or multifamily aspects that they talked about two years ago.
https://www.colliers.com/en/properti...124/usa1101779
There is a nearby build-to-rent community that recently got underway across the street at Westside Boulevard and Trailside Road. The Eleanor will have 126 units/homes and is being developed by an Austin-based company named JLM Living.
https://www.bizjournals.com/albuquer...d-to-rent.html
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An Austin-based real estate developer and an Albuquerque-based homebuilder are teaming up to construct the City of Vision's first build-to-rent community.
The Eleanor Rio Rancho Cabezon will feature 126 homes at 2300 Westside Blvd. SE, across from Presbyterian Rust Medical Center. Homes will range from 650 to 1,500 square feet and rental prices will be based on the current market rate, JLM Living CEO Dan Deichert said. JLM is the owner of the site and Westway Homes is the contractor.
The community plans to target young individuals who are “tired of living in an apartment and aren't quite financially ready to buy a home yet,” Deichert said. The project is JLM's first in New Mexico, Ryan Sloan, JLM's development and acquisitions analyst, said.
A groundbreaking ceremony was held on March 26. Deichert declined to share projected construction costs.
“We will have our first 30 units open in about 12 to 15 months,” Deichert said. “We should be finished in about 20 months.”
Prior to the groundbreaking, JLM conducted a variety of studies that showed a “lack of high-quality rental products” in Rio Rancho, Deichert said. Although the firm bought the land two years ago, rising interest rates and construction costs pushed the project back, he added.
The company stayed committed to the project because the region "compares favorably with other markets across the country,” Deichert said.
“We have projects in Daytona Beach Florida, Savannah, Georgia, San Antonio,Texas, and here in Rio Rancho,” Deichert said. “We equate all of those markets because they all have the same characteristics. Good job growth, new housing stock that is available for buyers, and most of all, it's a place where people want to put their roots down and raise a family.”
Planned development of new retail shops and grocery stores can also be attributed to the viability of the region. In the last decade, Rio Rancho’s population has increased by more than 20,000 people, according to the U.S Census Bureau.
“I think this is a tremendous use of this space right here in the Cabezon area,” Rio Rancho Mayor Gregg Hull said during Tuesday's groundbreaking ceremony. "It is another quality community that will benefit from all the other development that's happening across the Unser Gateway and throughout the entire corridor.”
Since 2018, Westway Homes has developed properties in Albuquerque, Rio Rancho and Los Lunas. In addition to The Eleanor, the company is developing a 97-lot community near Los Diamantes and Joe Harris Elementary School, named Oeste.
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Another build-to-rent community is also in the works for Rio Rancho. Scottish Isle will have about 130 units. That's an estimate because the announcement includes another project in Los Lunas and they only gave a total of 260 units across both projects. They are being developed by the similarly named JLL, which I've found out is what Jones Lang LaSalle goes by nowadays.
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/dcolb...30309376-dQFG/
An affordable housing complex for seniors has also recently gotten underway in Rio Rancho. Felician Villa will have a total of 132 units in two 3-story buildings. The project is being developed in two phases that apparently are being built at the same time. It's being built adjacent to the Meadowlark Senior Center on land that was formerly a convent.
https://www.bizjournals.com/albuquer...r-seniors.html
Quote:
The Felician Villa Apartments broke ground Thursday afternoon. Located at 1301 Stephanie Road SE in Rio Rancho, the complex will house seniors in the community.
Once the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Convent of the Felician Sisters of Rio Rancho, first founded in New Mexico in 1975, the property will soon be converted into the Felician Villa Apartments, serving people 55 and older.
The Felician Sisters donated the land to CC Housing, a division of Catholic Charities, for the purpose of developing affordable housing. Once built, the Catholic Charities of Albuquerque will manage social services with a coordinator on the premises two days a week, such as health education and screenings; computer, financial literacy and gardening courses; and life planning.
The two-phase project will cost $41.7 million in total, with the first phase costing about $20.3 million and the second costing $21.4 million.
The development is funded by the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority, Wells Fargo Corporate & Investment Banking, The Richman Equity Group, American Express Bank NA, Charles Schwab, Ally, Federal Home Bank of Dallas, Albuquerque Housing Authority and Rocky Mountain CRC.
"We are very happy to be here celebrating this groundbreaking, and we'll be even happier at the ribbon cutting." said Isidoro “Izzy” Hernandez, New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority executive director and CEO. The full project is expected to take 18 months to complete.
Chelsea Investment Corp. is the developer for the project, Emmerson Construction Inc. is the contractor and Jeebs & Zuzu is the architect.
Each building will be three stories and "U" shaped with a courtyard in the middle to protect from New Mexico's winds. Phase one of the project will house 66 units and include 16 project-based housing vouchers. Phase two will also have 66 units with 25 project-based housing vouchers.
Project-based vouchers are part of the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program through the Department of Housing and Urban Development that provides rental housing to low-income households at specific rental properties.
Each building will house 54 one-bedroom units and 12 two-bedroom units. The complex will have 132 units total with a walking path to the Meadowlark Senior Center, which is in close proximity to the apartments, MFA officials said.
Last May, the second phase of the Felician Villa Apartments received $16.2 million in low-income housing tax credits from the MFA, among other affordable housing projects in Bernalillo, Doña Ana, Santa Fe and Sandoval counties.
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https://www.feliciansistersna.org/20...in-rio-rancho/
Another affordable housing complex is also scheduled to get underway soon in Rio Rancho. Sandoval Flats will have 218 units and will be located at Oersted Road and Camino Encantadas.
https://www.rrobserver.com/business/...72dac18b7.html
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BERNALILLO — Additional housing is on its way to Rio Rancho in the not-too-distant future.
The Sandoval County Commission voted unanimously on Wednesday to declare its intent to issue revenue bonds supporting the construction of a 218-unit complex called Sandoval Flats on the northeast edge of town. Commissioners will need to adopt a bond ordinance in the future for the bonds to be issued.
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Finally, here are a couple of pics showing the Enchanted Hills Boulevard reconstruction project in Rio Rancho. In the upper right background of the first pic you can see the 550 Paseo and Casa de Encantada apartment projects that are nearing completion. 550 Paseo will have 240 units and is the brown and tan complex of 3 story structures. Casa de Encantada will have 154 units and is made up of the two green and gray 4-story structures. Click the link directly below the first image to see it in its original size and to zoom in on the area of the apartments.
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update...1247209103362/
https://images2.imgbox.com/a9/2b/0N7aBGKE_o.jpeg
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