Albuquerque Development Thread

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State buys Plaza Maya to relocate probation and parole

Damon Scott
Reporter-
Albuquerque Business First

The New Mexico Corrections Department has a new home for its Albuquerque probation and parole division.

According to Corrections Public Information Officer Alex Tomlin, a purchasing agreement has been signed to buy Plaza Maya, a 62,287-square-foot structure at 615 First St. NW in Downtown Albuquerque. The purchase price is undisclosed.

The move is a boon to the Downtown Albuquerque office market, which has experienced a high vacancy rate in recent years. Plaza Maya is located next door to the city of Albuquerque’s Planning Department.

The purchase was made possible after Gov. Susana Martinez signed Senate Bill 572 into law, which allotted the department $2.5 million toward a merger and relocation of two Albuquerque offices, one in the Nob Hill area and one near East Downtown.

Corrections had expressed its desire this week to relocate the division offices into one building near Downtown Albuquerque’s courthouses.

The department had wanted to combine its parole and probation offices for some time following reports of deteriorating buildings and safety issues. Tomlin said combining the facilities would also save taxpayers millions. She added that it’s the department’s intention to pay off the building within eight years.

General Services Division Public Information Officer Tim Korte told Albuquerque Business First that the first step for the department will be a 60-day

http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerq...eDprQQ08961b90

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MRCOG studies options to ease traffic
By Glen Rosales / For the Journal on Sat, Mar 23, 2013 .

Even though the interchange at Paseo del Norte and Interstate 25 will eventually be reconfigured to ease congestion, the growth along the West Side of Albuquerque and in Rio Rancho will ensure that commuter traffic will remain high.
To help ease that commuter crush, the Mid-Region Council of Governments is looking at ways to encourage greater use of public transportation on the Paseo del Norte corridor as it feeds workers to and from their jobs.
The MRCOG is studying several different strategies for this, said Tony Sylvester, special projects manager for the organization.
Those strategies will be on display and experts on hand to discuss them during two open house meetings this Wednesday.
A MRCOG study showed Paseo del Norte carried 81,800 vehicles per weekday across the Rio Grande and it is projecting that number to rise to 180,000 by 2035 as the West Side is expected to see a growth of about 250,000 people in that time period.

So anything that can be done to reduce that total number of vehicles – or even hold it static moving forward in time – is worth researching, Sylvester said.

Nearly 40,000 people work along the I-25 corridor, Sylvester said, and when student transportation to the University of New Mexico and Central New Mexico Community College campus is factored in, that number rises even more.

The goal of the ongoing study is to “identify a high-capacity transit system that uses the Paseo del Norte river crossing to link the northwestern portion of the metropolitan area with the Journal Center and potentially other activity centers east of the Rio Grande,” according the mrgog-nm.gov website.

The study seeks to determine the appropriate type of transit service, routes and destinations, along with a plan to understand the financial investment necessary to implement new service, the website said.

One of the important aspects to the study is determining how to make public transportation as efficient as possible, Sylvester said.

That could mean the use of bus queue lanes and priority traffic signals, he added.

“A lot of it is ensuring travel time reliability,” Sylvester said. “People want to know that the buses will be there on time. We want to make it competitive for commuters who drive to think about using buses two or three times a week.”

It is too early in the process to even begin to estimate how much adding any new routes or enhanced transit services might cost, Sylvester said. Likewise, there is no timetable for when the work might be started because officials are still trying to determine the best methods for meeting those needs, he said.

“We’re really trying to find out how we can meet the transit needs now and into the future,” Sylvester said. “That’s why we want input from people in the community.”
— This article appeared on page 23 of the Albuquerque Journal

http://www.abqjournal.com/main/2013/...e-traffic.html

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Forest City continues to try to sell Mesa del Sol stake

Damon Scott
Reporter-
Albuquerque Business First

Mesa del Sol’s co-developer remains committed to selling its interest in the master planned community in south Albuquerque.

Forest City Enterprises Inc. of Cleveland said in its March 27 FY 2012 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that Mesa del Sol was one of several properties it is holding for divestiture. The other properties are in Ohio and North Carolina. The firm also listed 562 acres of “other” properties that it plans to sell.

“As the filing indicated, we have had and continue to have discussions with interested buyers that can come in and take over. But those [discussions] have not led to an exit strategy yet,” Jeff Linton, vice president of corporate communication for Forest City, told Albuquerque Business First March 28.

The firm began trying to sell its Mesa del Sol interest in 2012.

“During the extensive marketing activities, there were few buyers that expressed interest on taking on the long-term development risk, and those that were expected larger returns than previously estimated,” Forest City’s SEC filing said.

On Jan. 28, Forest City Covington said it had stopped efforts to sell its interest in the 12,900-acre Mesa del Sol development.

In its latest SEC filing, Forest City said, “On Jan. 31, 2012, our Board of Directors approved a strategic decision by our management to reposition or divest significant portions of our Land Development Group and executed our divesture strategy during the year ended January 31, 2013. Below is a summary of land projects that are considered held for divesture at January 31, 2013.”

The filing went on to list Forest City’s Mesa del Sol property as land that is being held for divesture.

Based on an updated valuation model, Forest City recorded a $15 million devaluation of the Mesa del Sol land, SEC documents show.

Forest City said it owns 2,984 acres at Mesa del Sol, 1,620 of which are saleable. The total acreage includes land used for roadways, open spaces and parks. It also has an option to buy 5,727 acres at the development, the SEC filing said.

Linton reiterated that as the company has previously announced, it intends to dispose of the majority of its Land Development Group, including Mesa del Sol, and focus on rental properties, apartments, retail centers and offices. Linton said one exception is the Stapleton Denver community, which has about 15,000 residents living and working among single-family homes, apartment buildings and retail businesses.

“Mesa del Sol has been accounted for as land held for disposition for quite a while now,” he said. “As we look to sell our interest in that, we will continue to meet our obligations and do what’s necessary and continue to market the first phase.”

Forest City (NYSE: FCEA) is a NYSE-listed national real estate company with $10.6 billion in assets in 26 states and Washington, D.C. While it maintains an Albuquerque office, the city is not listed as one of its core markets. The company lists its core markets, which make up about 77 percent of its portfolio, as Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, the greater San Francisco metropolitan area and the greater Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.

Fourth-quarter net earnings were $58.5 million, and net earnings for the fiscal year ended Jan. 31 were $36.4 million.

http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerq...61b90&page=all

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DAT searching for ‘retail pop-up’ candidates

Damon Scott
Reporter-
Albuquerque Business First

The Downtown Action Team is looking for businesses to join its “retail pop-up” initiative. Organizers are seeking established businesses that are interested in testing their product or service at a downtown Albuquerque location.

The program is aimed at turning vacant Downtown storefronts into temporary retail sites. The sites are created to generate buzz for the property and the retailers that participate. No long term leases are required, the commitment ranges from one week to six months, usually in relation to a season or holiday.

Marketing support is provided by DAT and its downtown partners.

To find out more information and to submit a pop-up proposal, email lbird@downtownabq.com. If your idea is selected, DAT will match the business with a rent-free retail or gallery space.

If you’re a downtown property owner or broker with a space that is vacant and would like to host a retail pop-up, please contact DAT.

DAT is located at 100 Gold Ave. SW Suite 204. For more information, click here.

http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerq...eDprQQ08961b90

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Originally Posted by mgs11

DAT searching for ‘retail pop-up’ candidates

Damon Scott
Reporter-
Albuquerque Business First

The Downtown Action Team is looking for businesses to join its “retail pop-up” initiative. Organizers are seeking established businesses that are interested in testing their product or service at a downtown Albuquerque location.

The program is aimed at turning vacant Downtown storefronts into temporary retail sites. The sites are created to generate buzz for the property and the retailers that participate. No long term leases are required, the commitment ranges from one week to six months, usually in relation to a season or holiday.

Marketing support is provided by DAT and its downtown partners.

To find out more information and to submit a pop-up proposal, email lbird@downtownabq.com. If your idea is selected, DAT will match the business with a rent-free retail or gallery space.

If you’re a downtown property owner or broker with a space that is vacant and would like to host a retail pop-up, please contact DAT.

DAT is located at 100 Gold Ave. SW Suite 204. For more information, click here.

http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerq...eDprQQ08961b90

More info on KOB 4
http://www.kob.com/article/11687/?vid=4001707&v=1

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A vertual drive through of the Paseo del Norte/I-25 interchange reconstruction project.
http://paseoi25.com./

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A photo that I took of downtown ABQ.

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$20M makeover under way

By Jessica Dyer / Journal Staff Writer on Wed Apr 3, 2013




The fancy new glass facade, light tower and balcony – aka “party deck” – are coming.

But, for now, the Albuquerque Convention Center’s $20 million makeover is concentrated mostly on the inside.

The property’s first major renovation in 21 years began in late January, and much of the first phase is devoted to overhauls of the kitchen and ballroom.

The $8 million phase – which also includes the removal of a loading dock ramp and exterior storage unit and some new stucco – has gone smoothly so far.

“We’re on schedule and on budget,” Keith Reed, manager of the city’s Construction Services Division, said during a recent site tour.

The first phase – handled by contractor Gerald Martin – is on a tight time frame due to the center’s future commitments, Reed said. The kitchen and ballroom should be finished by early July.

The promise of a renovated ballroom has been key in luring new meeting business to the city, said Albuquerque Convention & Visitors Bureau President and CEO Dale Lockett. He said it was instrumental in landing an American College for Clinical Pharmacy event expected to bring 1,500 attendees and an estimated $870,700 in direct spending this October.

Lockett said the ballroom had previously been “on its last legs as something we could sell.”

“We cannot say how much more business the upgrade will ultimately bring in. What we can say definitively is that without this reinvestment in our convention center product, we would not be competitive for much longer due to what our competition was doing,” Lockett said via email.

Mayor Richard Berry announced the makeover last summer. The city refinanced some of its Convention Center debt at a lower interest rate to fund the project.

The design by Dekker/Perich/Sabatini will be implemented in two phases. The second phase should begin in late August and conclude next summer, Reed said. It includes the facade and balcony as well as upgrades to the atrium – and its industrial, fractured-face concrete walls – designed to give the space a more inviting feel. That means a fireplace, new furniture and new plaster and paint for the atrium’s interior walls.

Right now, though, the ballroom and kitchen are getting the attention.

The 11,400-square-foot kitchen has been gutted and will be getting new plumbing, electrical wiring, lighting and an all-around more user-friendly redesign, Reed said. The kitchen work will also create space for food-related events, such as tastings.

The ballroom – often divided into three smaller spaces by temporary walls – is getting a new ceiling as well as new carpeting, LED lighting and wall partitions. Crews are creating a new service corridor along the room’s western edge, enhancing staff access.

The restrooms – which opened directly into the ballroom – will have their access points flipped so that users enter through the atrium instead.

Convention Center General Manager Lewis Dawley said construction has meant shifting previously planned events from one part of the venue to another and preparing all meals in emergency kitchen trailers outside the building. But the center has been able to accommodate all scheduled events, he said, and crews have worked to minimize construction-related disruption.

“We’ve moved people around and had to relocate folks, but we’re feeling pretty good,” Dawley said. “We’re on our way.”

http://www.abqjournal.com/main/2013/...under-way.html

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Latest progress with the IMAX at Winrock Town Center.

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Downtown ABQ.

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Al’s Big Dipper opens Downtown satellite location

Damon Scott
Reporter-
Albuquerque Business First

The owners of Downtown Albuquerque sandwich shop Al’s Big Dipper have opened a satellite location. Al’s Other Half opened April 3 in a 1,500-square-foot space adjacent to the city’s main library at 501 Copper Ave. NW.

Co-owner Cassidy Chen said she wanted to expand her food offerings, including a breakfast menu and the operation of a full coffee bar, which Al’s Big Dipper doesn’t offer.

Manager Alton Chen, Cassidy’s husband, said the indoor space seats about 35 and the location will be open Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. A preliminary menu has been created with breakfast items including lox and bagel, a French toast sandwich and lunch offerings such as the New Mexico roast beef and green chile sandwich and a Southwest tossed salad.

In addition, Al’s Other Half will serve as the headquarters for the company’s catering business.

Al’s Big Dipper has been open at 411 Central Ave. NW for almost three years. The other co-owner of the business is Alton’s brother, Allen.

http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerq...eDprQQ08961b90

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Opposition to state’s plan to buy Plaza Maya surfaces

Damon Scott
Reporter-
Albuquerque Business First

Opposition has surfaced to the state’s plan to purchase Plaza Maya for a relocation of its Albuquerque probation and parole division.

Last month, a purchasing agreement was signed for the Corrections Department to buy Plaza Maya, a 62,287-square-foot structure at 615 First St. NW in Downtown Albuquerque.

From a commercial real estate perspective, some observers have seen the move as a potential boost for a Downtown office market that has experienced a high vacancy rate in recent years.

The merger and relocation would include Albuquerque’s two main probation and parole offices located in Nob Hill and near East Downtown. Corrections has said it wanted to combine the offices for some time following reports of deteriorating buildings and safety issues. They said combining the facilities would save taxpayers millions of dollars.

Andy Braman, executive director of the city-funded NMX Sports, which includes the Warehouse 508 venue, told Albuquerque Business First the move puts youth served by area programs at risk. NMX Sports and Warehouse 508 are located at 508 First Street NW. Braman said that in addition to his programs, others in the area serve young people, including Youth Development Inc., The Cell Theatre, FUSION Theatre Co. and a child care arm of the YMCA. He said the programs involve thousands of people under the age of 18 that come to the area at different times of day.

Braman said he has reached out to the General Services Division, Gov. Susana Martinez and the Department of Corrections to ask them to reconsider the Plaza Maya move.

“We don’t think that offenders that include sex offenders should be passing 250 feet from our front door,” Braman said. “They need to find a building that is nondescript and not close to youth programs to house these offices.”

Alex Tomlin, public affairs director for the Corrections Department, said the concerns came to her attention a few weeks ago through a media outlet.

“We had not had any formal complaints,” Tomlin said. “However, we reached out to them about their concerns and had a meeting where we told them that we want to be good neighbors, and be open, honest and transparent.”

Tomlin added that it was the department’s intention to be in the area near the Downtown courthouses because it is best for public safety and would make it easier to coordinate with judges and law enforcement.

http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerq...61b90&page=all

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Trying To Solve Albuquerque’s Sprawl By Building A Development The Size Of Manhattan

Stan Alcorn
Stan Alcorn is a staff writer at Co. Exist and a multimedia journalist based in New York City.

Mesa Del Sol’s is the New Mexico city’s attempt to keep its residents from spilling out into the surrounding desert. Instead, it’s sprawling, by building a massive urban development to take the place of suburbs.
When the housing crisis hit, it stopped sprawl in its tracks. In 2006, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, new permits for single-family homes began what would become an 80% slide. But at the same time, at the edge of the city, construction workers were breaking ground on a very different approach to stopping sprawl: a vast development called Mesa del Sol.
The plan had evolved since its genesis in the early 1980s, but it boiled down to a simple premise: Instead of stopping home builders from transforming distant desert into residential exurbs, the government would give them competition. They would build the largest and most ambitious New Urbanist development in the Southwest.

http://www.fastcoexist.com/1681723/t...of-manhattan#2

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County may buy Alvarado Square site

Gary Gerew
Assistant Editor-
Albuquerque Business First

Bernalillo County executives are considering buying PNM’s old Alvarado Square building so it can consolidate many of the county offices now housed in various Downtown offices.

“We’re a long way from making a final decision,” County Commission Chairwoman Maggie Hart Stebbins told the Albuquerque Journal. “I‘m going to ask for a clear explanation of the cost and how we will recover those costs before we make a decision.”

The Alvarado building, vacated by the Public Service Co. of New Mexico last year, is available for $11.1 million. It’s among the options the county is examining.

Alvarado Square is available for $45 a square foot, a price held down because it has no dedicated parking of its own, according to the Journal.

Parking “certainly is a hurdle for us to consider,” County Manager Tom Zdunek told the Journal. “We’re evaluating other options for what parking is available.”

Zdunek told the Journal that Alvarado Square could meet the county’s needs, probably with some room for growth. There could be a customer service center on the first floor, in addition to space that can be turned into a 150-seat meeting chambers.

http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerq...eDprQQ08961b90

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ABQ makes Fador's Travel 25 places to to go in 2013.
http://www.fodors.com/go-list/2013/

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Looks like they're setting up scafolding and barricades around the Anasazi downtown. It's good to see work finally starting.

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Originally Posted by mgs11

Florida tech concept may come to Abq
Plan meant to attract high-paying jobs to city

Katie Kim
KRQE News 13

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - A University of Florida concept that aims to bring university inventions to market and help new graduates with innovative ideas could be coming soon to Albuquerque.

University of New Mexico President Robert Frank said it's up to UNM to spearhead high-paying job growth in Albuquerque. Albuquerque Mayor R.J. Berry agreed, saying with federal funding to New Mexico's labs and air force bases in jeopardy, the need for home-grown jobs has never been more important.

"New Mexico is at a crossroads," Berry said. "Frankly, if we keep doing things they way we've been doing them for the last two, three, four decades, we're going to fall behind."

Like Albuquerque, graduates were leaving Gainesville in droves – with degrees in hand – because of a lack of high-paying jobs in the city.

So UF came up with a concept known as “Innovation Square,” a 40-acre development near the university campus in Gainesville that eventually will include office space, apartments and stores. Currently, however, the project consists of a remodeled hospital called “The Hub” that contains office and lab space.

One of the project’s main goals is to attract new startup companies – many of which will hopefully be headed by UF graduates. At the Hub, those companies have access to many of the resources they need, including mentoring, accounting, legal services and even venture capitalists, said Ed Poppell, a former UF vice president.

"They don't need to be worrying about payroll, taxes, employment, hiring and firing," Poppell said. "We'll help them with that. We'll teach them how to do that. They need to focus on their business plan."

Because UF is one of the largest universities in the country with more than $700 million in annual research funding, one of the project’s other main goals is to bring some of the 300 or so yearly inventions churned out by the school’s scientists to market, he said.

"We want to commercialize as many as those inventions and discoveries and take those to the retail level, the business level, to grow jobs," Poppell said.

The Hub has been open about a year and already 30 companies have moved in. Next to the Hub, an eight-story building with more office space will open next year, then luxury apartments for workers and eventually a grocery store and hotel.

Poppell said the activity in Gainesville has also attracted Mindtree, a software company from India, to relocate and bring close to 1,000 jobs to the city.

Adding to the project’s appeal to Albuquerque leaders, Innovation Square has been built solely with money from the private sector, though Berry said he’d be willing to invest taxpayer money in it.

The early success of Innovation Square has New Mexico leaders very interested, especially Frank, who at one time served as a dean at UF. Frank, Berry and other leaders toured the Florida project last month, and have been holding meetings to discuss the project's next steps.

"With Sandia (Labs), the Air Force Research Lab and then you got what the university does, we're all here in one place,” Frank said. “Very few cities in America have that.”

UNM paid for most of the Florida trip, which cost about $20,000 for hotel and airfare for the 18 people who went.

"We're here creating knowledge, things that have never happened before, the highest level, the cutting edge kinds of things that have never been invented and these are very high paying jobs come out," Frank said.

What Albuquerque's version of Innovation Square will look like is still an idea at this point, but in the next few months, leaders said the vision will become clearer. One thing most agree on, however, is that the project must be close to UNM. The development will likely be located within a few miles from the university, Frank said.

"We can create a greater Albuquerque that's more than we ever had before," Frank said.

http://www.krqe.com/dpp/news/on_assi...ay-come-to-abq

Update

UNM raises profile for economic development agency

Gary Gerew
Assistant Editor-
Albuquerque Business First

University of New Mexico President Robert Frank and other university officials have agreed to make UNM’s non-profit Science and Technology Corp. the central coordinator for all university-related economic development initiatives.

That means STC will act as the key gateway, or “innovation door,” to unite the academic community with the broader community of businesspeople, public entities, national laboratories and more, Lisa Kuuttila, STC head and now UNM’s new chief economic development officer, told the Albuquerque Journal.

It also means STC will be at the helm of a new, large-scale project that aims to bring research, technology and private business together. The project, whose working title is Innovate ABQ, is modeled after Innovation Square in Gainesville, Fla.. the Journal reported.

Innovation Square is a joint venture among government, the University of Florida and the private sector. Frank, who brought the idea to New Mexico, told the Journal that the Albuquerque version could be key to economic development and creating jobs.

Innovate ABQ is part of Frank’s larger push to make UNM a hub of economic growth in the state, according to the Journal.

“UNM lacks a major incubator that could complete the economic development cycle,” Frank said in a statement. “Because STC networks with the business community, science and technology groups and the rest of the university, it makes the best place for UNM to centralize and coordinate all our economic development activities, including our efforts to create an innovation initiative with the city, county, state and private partners.”

http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerq...eDprQQ08961b90

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City struck out on chance to revitalize Downtown

By Joel Roffers
Albuquerque resident on Thu, Apr 18, 2013

I read with interest and bittersweet memories the Journal’s three-part story on Isotopes Park and its 10-year anniversary. Sitting at a Lobos game in Isotopes Park sipping on a beer — proving the world won’t come to an end with alcohol sales at Lobos games just like it hasn’t in the Isotopes 10 years, but that’s another story — made me think if only wiser heads had prevailed.

First and foremost, thankfully the city built this gem of a ballpark that’s had 10 years of solid success. But, I also thought how nice it would have been if this was the Lobos ballpark and if Albuquerque had done the sensible thing building Isotopes Park Downtown with its many benefits including revitalizing a stale and decrepit Downtown in desperate need of revitalization, renewal, and a vibrancy that would have brought scores of people to Downtown not only for baseball games but to the old and new shops, restaurants, sports bars, hotels or any of the other city development that did not occur. The University of New Mexico also missed out on having the nation’s most unique triangle of college sports facilities with all three across the street from each other, but instead the city and state are left with two multimillion dollar ballparks sitting on UNM property without any needed Downtown Albuquerque development. How wise was that?

I’ve lived in some great cities including Kansas City, Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Denver, Houston and now Albuquerque. And those other cities built sports venues downtown to rejuvenate their inner cities and with great success. When my wife and I lived in Denver back in the 1980s, you didn’t go downtown unless you were in a large posse or you were armed. I’m being facetious. But Denver built Coors Field for the Major League Colorado Rockies and then the Pepsi Center, which houses the NBA’s Denver Nuggets and the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche, which led to the massive rebuild of 16th Street into the now famous and hugely popular 16th Street Mall, making it the happening place in Denver (i.e. downtown).

In city after city nationwide and around the world cities have vastly improved their blighted downtowns by building sports-related facilities especially in areas which had been abandoned and become eyesores of old and dilapidated buildings that are found in most inner cities, even Albuquerque.

Others said parking would be an issue in Downtown Albuquerque, yet most Isotopes games are after 5 p.m. or on weekends and holidays when city meters don’t require money, and there are many large parking lots and garages. And what started as free parking for Isotopes games and other sports events in the UNM area has ceased.

Also, Downtown Albuquerque has sadly become a “20-something-only” place after dark that requires a big posse or a loaded gun (just kidding again). Mayor Richard Berry and Police Chief Ray Schultz have tried to make Downtown a more family friendly oriented atmosphere at night instead of the very young people big party it’s become. I applaud their efforts. But just think what an Isotopes Park along with all the other wonderful inner city development would have created Downtown.

Now, there’s been talk of building a Downtown arena and convention center, which no longer makes economic sense because we have a convention center that isn’t paid for and the convention business is drying up with modern technology and weak economies. Thus, Albuquerque should stop wasting money studying such a notion. Besides, this is a two-sport city — i.e. triple “A” baseball and UNM hoops). Hopefully, Bob Davie can turn around Lobo football. But, the city already has a renovated Pit, University Stadium, two ballparks — Isotopes and Lobos — the Pavilion, Tingley Coliseum, a fairgrounds racetrack, several casinos with entertainment venues and a nearly new arena in Rio Rancho. Hence, the city had its best chance to do something great Downtown and unfortunately it struck out.

http://www.abqjournal.com/main/2013/...-downtown.html

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Originally Posted by mgs11

Looks like they're setting up scafolding and barricades around the Anasazi downtown. It's good to see work finally starting.

Photo update

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Contractor chosen for Anasazi rebuild work

Damon Scott
Reporter-
Albuquerque Business First

A general contractor has been chosen to begin work on the rehabilitation of the nine-story Anasazi high-rise development in Downtown Albuquerque.

Albuquerque-based AIC General Contractor started work this week on phase one of the three-phase project, officials said.

According to project manager David Shaffer, phase one will entail exterior work, including painting, stucco, the installation of balcony rails, sheeting and repair of some of the sidewalk around the building.

“The first step is making it a presentable building,” Shaffer said.

Shaffer said AIC landed the contract from the project’s developer, PEM Real Estate Group. PEM acquired the long-abandoned development earlier this year.

Shaffer said phase two will focus on the interior of the complex, repairing vandalized portions of the building, and phase three will be a wrap of the entire project.

The valuation of phase one, according to Shaffer, is about $1 million and should be completed in 80 to 90 days.

Preleasing for first-floor retail spaces is under way through Roger Cox & Associates, the broker and building manager for Scottsdale, Ariz.-based PEM.

http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerq...eDprQQ08961b90