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/beau...177a184-17ba-11ef-8de5-47418744724b.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.

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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!

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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-zazz-celebrates-albuquerques-route-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.

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