Albuquerque Development Thread

[ABQalex]

The city has issued a request for proposals for the empty lot that it owns at Lomas and Broadway. They will sell the property to a developer with a plan to quickly develop a project on the site. Unfortunately, one of the requirements is that any proposal must fit within the parameters of the existing NR-LM zoning, which doesn't allow for any kind of residential component. Proposals are due by August 20th.

https://www.cabq.gov/mra/documents/rfp-0...opment-of-229-broadway-blvd-ne-final.pdf

As per usual, the city really fumbles and finds a way to doom an RFP in Downtown Albuquerque. I know that they are ostensibly trying to bring a project to fruition quicker by not wanting to do a zone change that will open it up to opposition, and possibly a messy and drawn-out process. However, the best way to deal with that is to stand firm on what's best for Downtown Albuquerque and the property and not let those opposed to development on this site prevail.

I guarantee the Martineztown NIMBYs will oppose the development of this property no matter what is proposed. We need our leaders to be strong and determined in the face of that absurd opposition. They can do that by voting to move the project forward at every step of the way, it's really not that hard.

The only realistic, substantial and beneficial project that I can see coming to fruition at this site under the current zoning is a hotel with ground-floor amenities (restaurant and bar) and possibly commercial space for lease, like at Hotel Chaco.

However, this site is hardly ideal for a downtown/convention center hotel. Although, the same was said about the dual-branded hotel at Broadway and Central and yet it came to fruition and does quite well in terms of occupancy as far as I can tell. So perhaps it's not that far-fetched.

I suppose some kind of office or light industrial use could be proposed as well, but I don't think we're likely to see such a thing proposed here. There isn't much demand for new office space in Downtown Albuquerque, unfortunately.

As I've said many times before, the business community and corporate establishment in this city are downright hostile to the idea of being in Downtown Albuquerque. Any office or similar light industrial use would have to come from an outside company wanting to locate offices here or from more creative tenants and startup-type of users.

With all that being said, I really don't think we will see much come out of this RFP with this condition of keeping the existing zoning, but hopefully I'm wrong.

Below is a nice aerial pic taken back in March that is featured on the city's Wikipedia article. You can see the RFP site in the bottom-center of the image with the skyline beyond.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albuquerque,_New_Mexico

[ABQalex]

As I alluded to above, one of the few office/industrial sectors that are willing and wanting to locate in Downtown Albuquerque right now are startup users. That includes scientific and research-focused companies. The area of Downtown Albuquerque east of the railroad tracks and west of Broadway Boulevard is known as the Innovation District because we have several companies, organizations and institutions focused on innovation located there.

We've had some nice successes in this area over the years. Several projects have come to fruition and several innovative and creative companies have located offices in the area over the years as well.

The Roadrunner Quantum Lab is a current project hoping to build on past successes in the area.

Innovate ABQ is of course the biggest and most ambitious component of this area, but it has yet to really come to fruition as planned. I'm always hoping that will change and that it will ever really take off, with multiple new structures to go along with the existing historic former First Baptist Church and the Lobo Rainforest building that was completed almost a decade ago.

https://www.innovateabq.com/site-vision/



Below is a recent post by Innovate ABQ on its website indicating that at least some progress is being made and that we may soon see another component of Innovate ABQ come to fruition. It's based upon a post on LinkedIn by a Los Angeles-based developer of lab space announcing that he and his company, Noblespace, have secured a loan from the state to help build facilities at Innovate ABQ.

https://www.innovateabq.com/news/noblesp...partnership-with-roadrunner-quantum-lab/

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7475582270062657538/

Below is a link to and screenshots from a presentation made to the state legislature's New Mexico Finance Authority Oversight Committee last year. It was made by the New Mexico Bioscience Authority and provides a bit more information about what this project might entail, including 25,000 sq ft of lab space.

https://www.nmlegis.gov/handouts/NMFA%20081125%20Item%204%20Bioscience%20Authority%20.pdf







I'm unsure whether this project will be new construction and perhaps part of a larger structure or whether it will go into the existing old church structures on the site. Remember that there was a plan to renovate at least one of the structures with similar lab spaces a few years ago by another company called HatchSpaces which fell apart at the last minute.



At the time, they said that the project in the former education wing of the church would cover 26,000 sq ft, so a similar amount of space as the current proposal, it seems.

It's also interesting to note that the author of the post on LinkedIn, who is also the founder and CEO of Noblespace, was also the co-founder of HatchSpaces.

https://labusinessjournal.com/featured/developer-for-life-science/

It can either be seen as great interest and commitment on his part to this project, or an ominous sign that these new plans may not come to fruition either. Time will tell, but I certainly hope that it does come to fruition this time!

[ABQalex]

Here's an awesome pic that was posted on Facebook this past week. It shows a worker standing on the pinnacle of Albuquerque Plaza in Downtown Albuquerque while it was under construction in summer 1989. You can see such landmarks as the Rail Yards and the Guadalupe Overpass in the background.

The pic was posted by the worker's son on the Albuquerque Memories Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/755142574564723/permalink/27427068416945443



Here's a newspaper clipping from the Albuquerque Journal later in 1989 showing workers installing roof panels on the building. Note that they give a height of 349 feet for the building as compared to the 351 feet figure that is now given for the building’s height.



Here's a neat pic showing the inside of the building's pyramidal roof. I've always wanted to go up there and look through the open portion to the sky.



Here's another great pic of Albuquerque Plaza under construction that was posted in the comments of the first pic above. It was posted by a lady who says that she works for the construction company that built the project.



Here are some more nice construction pics of Albuquerque Plaza which were posted many years ago over at SSC but which i wanted to post and share here as well.







Finally, here are a progression of pics of the convention center's east complex under construction in 1988-1989 as well. This was the other major project during this time that transformed Downtown Albuquerque.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/755142574564723/permalink/927400047338974







Hopefully we'll see something as transformative as these two projects built in Downtown Albuquerque again in the near future!

[ABQalex]

The Albuquerque Journal has a great story about the Hotel Parq Central at Central Avenue and I-25 celebrating its centennial this year along with Route 66. The hotel structure was originally built in 1926 as the new Santa Fe Railroad Hospital for its workers in Albuquerque. It replaced an earlier hospital structure dating to the 1890s on South Broadway.

The new hospital structure operated as such until the early 1980s and then it became a psychiatric hospital called Memorial Hospital for most of the next two decades until it was renovated and transformed into the Hotel Parq Central in 2010.

The story includes lots of nice pics which I'll post below as well. I've also included a pic of the original, 1890s hospital structure on South Broadway. The last pic was taken on Wednesday and shows the awesome view from the hotel's popular rooftop bar, the Apothecary Lounge.

https://www.abqjournal.com/business/hote...ear-milestone-alongside-route-66/3074796

Historic Route 66 has been welcoming travelers from across the country for a century — and so has one of its Albuquerque landmarks.

Like Route 66, the Hotel Parq Central property, located along the Mother Road at 806 Central SE, is celebrating its 100th anniversary. The historic structure was built in 1926, the same year the U.S. Bureau of Public Roads launched the nation’s first federal highway system and commissioned Route 66.

The shared anniversary came as a pleasant surprise to Hotel Parq Central owner Marc Bertram, who said the alignment didn’t dawn on him until about a year or so ago.

“There’s certainly a lot of buzz around the Route 66 centennial, and we’re excited to be a part of it,” Bertram said. “This is a milestone that only comes around once.”

The Hotel Parq Central property wasn’t always a hotel. It was originally a railroad hospital serving injured employees of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co.

Then, in the 1980s, a group of psychiatrists purchased the property and turned it into a facility for children suffering from mental illness. It operated as a psychiatric hospital until 2006, when the facility closed.

Bertram and a business partner, David Oberstein, purchased the property that same year. They originally acquired the property thinking it would be an investment opportunity.

When faced with the sudden tenant exit and vacancy, the pair — who have backgrounds in commercial real estate and hospitality — decided to revive the property as a boutique hotel. The choice was largely due to support from the Huning Highlands Historic District Association, one of Albuquerque’s oldest neighborhood groups.

“Because of our experience in development in Santa Fe, we’re very sensitive to neighborhood associations,” Bertram said. “We tossed out the idea of a hotel, and the neighborhood could not have been more supportive.”

Following an extensive four-year, $21-million renovation, Hotel Parq Central opened in 2010, with the property’s stone and stucco facades, windows and exterior ceramic tiles all restored to their original condition.

While the interior was largely gutted, there are some design nods to the property’s history as a hospital throughout the hotel, which stands four stories tall with 74 rooms.

Today, the property is an Albuquerque Historic Landmark, welcoming guests from all over the world, including celebrities Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo and Gwyneth Paltrow.

In addition to the main structure, the hotel also has three separate cottage suites and an award-winning rooftop bar called the Apothecary Lounge.

The bar’s name was inspired by the property’s medicinal history, which created an interesting situation when the property owners were going through the permitting process for the hotel.

“When we went to get a liquor license, we actually had to get approval from the (New Mexico) Board of Pharmacy to make it clear that we were not an apothecary that was dispensing drugs of any kind,” Bertram said.

Apothecary Lounge has become one of Albuquerque’s well-known rooftop bars because of its city views, elevated snacks and handcrafted cocktails, Bertram said. He added that the majority of the bar’s patrons are people not staying at the hotel.

Apothecary Lounge’s handcrafted cocktails are an integral part of how Hotel Parq Central is celebrating 100 years of the landmark it calls home and the highway it sits next to. For all of 2026, the bar is offering two specialty cocktails paying homage to Route 66 and the railroad.

The first, dubbed “Mile Marker 505,” features sloe gin, apricot liquor and lime juice, offering a flavor similar to a cherry limeade. The second, “Sunset Limited,” is named after the oldest continuously operating train in the U.S. and comes with tequila, Montenegro Amaro, strawberry Aperol and lemon.

Julia Bertram, a spokesperson for Hotel Parq Central and Marc Bertram’s daughter, said nostalgia and New Mexico’s sunsets played a role in creating the drinks — color, taste and all.

For guests who book the property’s cottage suites, the hotel is also giving out centennial gifts that include a commemorative Hotel Parq Central tote bag, a custom candle made by local Albuquerque candlemaker Upside Goods and two drink tickets to the Apothecary Lounge.

The hotel is also offering discounted room rates through July and will top off its centennial festivities in September with a Roaring Twenties-themed rooftop party featuring cocktails, snacks, jazz music and decorations that nod to the era in which the building was constructed.

The hope for all the Route 66 travelers experiencing Hotel Parq Central for the first time, Marc Bertram said, is for them to “feel and appreciate the overall history of it all.” He also hopes they see the Land of Enchantment in a positive light, with the hotel being locally owned and operated by New Mexicans.

On a personal level, Marc Bertram said the festivities also offer a moment to pause and reflect on not just Route 66 and the property’s history, but also why he took the redevelopment project on in the first place.

“It's always been sort of a labor of love when we started this,” Bertram said, adding the property’s historic nature also made it one of the most complex redevelopment projects he’s encountered in his career. “It holds a special place for me, because I do think we were able to save a very historic building in the city of Albuquerque.”

[ABQalex]

Nob Hill News responded to a reader letter this morning about missing the new UNM School of Medicine structure in its look at projects along Lomas Boulevard last week.

Unfortunately, they didn't really look into or say whether the site clearing and early work for the project is underway, but they did manage to snag a few more awesome updated renderings of the project. I'll post those below along with a quote of their response to the reader letter.

https://www.albuquerquenobhillnews.com/

Reader Radar: Historic Lomas Project in Design Phase

In our rundown of projects in the works along the Lomas corridor last week, we included ones that represent significant public and private investment. But one that didn’t make the list—still in the design phase—carries a price tag that eclipses all we mentioned combined and then some.

“These corridors need all the attention they can get,” Alert Reader Jaemes emailed soon after our report was published. “Isn’t there also a new UNM (or UNMH) School of Medicine going up on the north side of Lomas between Yale and University, substantially (as in $ amount) funded by the Legislature?”

The answer is yes, there is. We checked in with Chris Ramirez, the spokesperson for the UNM Health Sciences Center and UNM Health System, for the latest on the forthcoming 350,000-square-foot UNM School of Medicine. The funds dedicated to the project so far are impressive.

It includes $280 million from the 2026 state legislature in its capital outlay bill and another $150 million from general appropriations. A third piece of funding—$116 million—is pending within the higher education general obligation bond that state voters will decide whether to approve on the November 3rd ballot. A fourth piece of funding is UNM’s own contribution: $54 million. Those amounts, along with $36 million that was appropriated in the 2025 legislature for planning and design, places the total for the project so far at $636 million.

“It is, for sure, the most expensive public, non-roads project in state history,” Ramirez said.

Alert Reader Jaemes is also correct about the location: It will be built at the northeast corner of Lomas and University on the western edge of UNM’s North Campus.

Planning and design work has been underway for about a year and Ramirez said the goal is to break ground in early 2027 and wrap up construction at the beginning of 2030. The fall 2030 class would be the first to use the new facility, which replaces the almost 60-year-old Fitz Hall.

The project is an important one to help shore up the shortage of health care workers that the state has grappled with for many years. Officials also believe the facility will serve as a catalyst for new retail and housing projects along Lomas.

[ABQalex]

Well this is awkward. KRQE has a story about the RFP that the city recently put out for the empty lot it owns at Lomas and Broadway. They spoke to Councilor Joaquin Baca who represents the area on the city council and he said that he's looking for "really big housing" to be proposed on the site.

https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-me...roposals-to-develop-empty-downtown-plot/

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – At the intersection of Lomas and Broadway, just north of downtown Albuquerque, sits a big, empty former storm drainage pond. “That land has been empty for probably 70 years; most recently it was being used as drainage for the area, but with the Ike Benton Pump Station, that’s not necessary anymore” said Albuquerque City Councilor Joaquín Baca.

But it may not be empty much longer, as the city’s Metropolitan redevelopment agency is putting out a new request for proposals. They’re asking for developers to come up with a wide array of ideas for building something new on the lot, from housing to community parks to business. “First step is what are the ideas, what’s the possibilities, and then from there you can go to what’s next,” Baca went on to say.

The land falls in Baca’s district, and, while no proposals are in yet, he said he’d like to see housing be built there, and is hoping that will help the area become less car dependent. Baca explained, “Housing is one of the biggest things we need in the city, so I’d like to see like a really big housing, something because of its location, something car-free, like you don’t need a car if you live there”

Baca said he’s heard from some nearby neighborhood associations, concerned about what could be built and what it will look like. “That’s more the concern people have, like what is it gonna be, and will that impact us negatively, but we don’t actually have any, nothing’s come in about what’s actually gonna be there,” he said

The city said some ideas won’t be prioritized, including cannabis production, manufacturing or sales, car lots, gas stations or repair shops, along with warehouses among others. “I want a place my kids can go to freely; I want a place that’s going to benefit the community,” said Baca.

The city’s Lomas and Broadway R.F.P will be open through August 20.

Apparently he is unaware of the RFP stipulations and that they specifically exclude any kind of residential uses to be proposed on the site under the existing NR-LM (Non Residential-Light Manufacturing) zoning.

https://www.cabq.gov/mra/request-for-proposals



https://www.cabq.gov/mra/documents/rfp-0...opment-of-229-broadway-blvd-ne-final.pdf



KRQE also apparently missed or didn't understand that stipulation and requirement laid out in the RFP materials above. However, that's par for the course with our local media. I expect it from them.

But when our leaders don't even get these things right, it's quite embarrassing, sad and more than a bit disappointing/annoying.

Hopefully whatever mistake there is here, it will make it possible for a mixed-use project including a residential component to be deemed responsive and chosen as the winning proposal for this RFP.

Remember last year when the city clerk simply "forgot" to put the question on the ballot about the performing arts center funding. Hopefully we can just say 'oops' again and forget all about this pesky stipulation about conforming to the existing NR-LM zoning as a requirement for this RFP.

[ABQalex]

KRQE yesterday had a story about another recent RFP that the city has issued in the International District. This time, they are specifically asking for an affordable housing proposal on the former Shriners property at Zuni Road and Dakota Street SE.

https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-me...riners-property-into-affordable-housing/

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The City of Albuquerque is now looking for developers to turn an old Shriners property into affordable housing. The city has put out a request for proposals to redevelop the property at 6600 Zuni Road into 40 to 100 affordable multi-housing rental units.

The city has around $6.6 million in federal funding for the project. Proposals are due by the end of September.

[ABQalex]

Here are some great pics of various projects across the city that were shared over at SSC today by poster JimmyCrackedCorn. I was especially glad to see a pic of the progress on The George at Country Club Plaza. It's been quite a few months since we saw an update of that project. It looks like it's nearing completion. He also included bonus shots of the new UNM Hospital tower and the skyline as seen from I-40 north of downtown.

The George at Country Club Plaza



Highlands Central Market and Residence Inn by Marriott







UNM Center for Collaborative Arts and Technology







UNM Hospital Critical Care Tower and Parking Structure



UNM Foundation Headquarters/Velarde Center for Philanthropy





New Mexico Literacy Institute



Nobis Albuquerque Rehabilitation Hospital





Skyline

[ABQalex]

Below is a screenshot and link to a disappearing story by Mattophoto that he posted on his Instagram account today. It shows the new timelapse camera that he has set up for the new UNM Humanities and Social Sciences structure. I assume this means that actual construction work has gotten underway or will soon for the project.

https://www.instagram.com/stories/mattophotollc/



Here also is a thumbnail and link to a short drone video posted earlier this week on Instagram showing the progress and work on the New Mexico Literacy Institute project. It was posted by the drone photographer who is documenting the project for the architects and Jaynes Construction.

https://www.instagram.com/officiallyraiden/reel/DadeggXhsH_/

[ABQalex]

Here are some great pics showing the new state literacy institute construction from the ground and up close. They were taken during a site tour and posted yesterday by the architects on their Instagram account.

https://www.instagram.com/designplusabq/p/Danqs_hlP8W/