Albuquerque Development Thread

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Officials want to build new arena on state fairgrounds
• Video Link
By: Sara Yingling
KRQE 13

Officials say they are finally wrapping up a study to potentially build an arena in one part of the Albuquerque metro.

"They'll bring the Bruno Mars, the Lady Gaga, but you gotta get more than 11,000 seats that we have here at Tingley," said Dan Mourning, General Manager of Expo NM.

EXPO New Mexico is now in the final stages of conducting a feasibility study on the construction of a new arena on the state fairgrounds.

General Manager Dan Mourning, says it's something they've been working on for years, as they look into various aspects of building an arena.

"Determine what size of arena. What could be coming into New Mexico? Is it a sports thing? It's not just concerts. What other national shows are out there?" said Mourning.

Mourning says the push for a bigger arena comes after they noticed top tier acts "passing through" New Mexico and playing at cities that can accommodate large stage productions.

"They don't want to be in something that is too small that they can't get their staging in," said Mourning.

He also says they've already seen artists having to scale down their performances, like Panic! At The Disco, who just recently performed at Tingley Coliseum.

"They have a floating piano. We weren't able to do that because of the ceiling height. There's no arena in the state that can do that. We were the best option that they had," said Mourning.

Mourning says he's already had conversations with large scale promoters like Live Nation, who say this is something they're interested in.

The study is looking to address that, plus seat 15,000 people.

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Topgolf breaks ground
[IMG]Topgolf by mgs11, on Flickr[/IMG]
BY ABQ JOURNAL NEWS STAFF

The $39 million Topgolf project kicked off today with a ground-breaking at the site at Montaño and Interstate 25.

The company, headquartered in Dallas, is building an indoor golf entertainment complex at the location of the defunct Beach Waterpark. It is expected to open in summer 2020.

County and city officials praised the project as a needed economic development boost for the area.

The company’s incentive package totals $4.3 million from the city and from Bernalillo County. It is required to hire 132 full-time employees as part of the package, which includes clawbacks if the company doesn’t fulfill its promises.

It has said it will also create more than 200 part-time jobs, with about 300 employees needed for the construction phase.

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City expecting $7.5 million in capital outlay funding for Rail Yards

By: Chris McKee
KRQE 13

The Albuquerque Rail Yards development could be a big winner from the 2019 Legislative session.

This year’s House and Senate-passed capital outlay bill outlines a multi-million dollar payout for the Rail Yards.

For the last five years, the city has struggled with the idea of paying for millions of dollars in remediation work needed at the Rail Yards. The site is said to be contaminated with various hazards including diesel fuel and asbestos.

In September 2018, Mayor Tim Keller ceremoniously ended the contract the city had with private developer “Samitaur,” by ripping the contract in half in front of dozens of people at the Rail Yards Market.

“The Rail Yards is now Albuquerque’s again!” exclaimed Mayor Keller.

Since 2014, the city’s spent roughly $1.5 million in public money on the Rail Yards. That posture is seemingly about to change.

“We were very aggressive in our ask for money,” said Carmelina Hart, a spokeswoman for the city’s Planning Department, which oversees the Rail Yards redevelopment project.

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City taps consultants to plan out Rail Yards redevelopment road map
• Video Link
By: Chris McKee
KRQE 13

While the city tries to figure out what's next for the Rail Yards redevelopment, it's hired a new team of consultants to help figure out a road map for the project.

A team of three consulting agencies, including both out-of-state and local firms, is now in the process of drawing up a report that aims to give the city a better idea of how to proceed.

The consultants' work represents the first third-party planning effort to take place with the project since Mayor Tim Keller terminated the contract with master developer "Samitaur" in late 2018.

"Yes, it's a different approach than was done previously, but we think it's the right way to go about a sequential redevelopment of this important site," said David Campbell, director for the city of Albuquerque's Planning and Zoning Department.

Campbell says the consultant team has spent the last week in Albuquerque, researching the site, studying the 2014 master plan, and speaking with stakeholders.

"Talking with neighbors, with community activists, with developers, with finance people and other city officials," said Campbell of the consultants' work.

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Old Albuquerque Jail to Be Torn Down

BERNALILLO COUNTY IS GOING TO DEMOLISH THE OLD JAIL AT 5TH AND ROMA IN DOWNTOWN ALBUQUERQUE. THE DEMOLITION WORK WILL COST TWO AND-A-HALF MILLION DOLLARS.

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Nob Hill apartment project approved for city bonds

By Ron Davis
Reporter,
Albuquerque Business First

More than $20 million of metropolitan redevelopment bonds will be used for a new apartment complex in Nob Hill.

On Monday, the Albuquerque City Council voted to approve $21.5 million in metropolitan redevelopment bonds for a four-story, 125,772-square-foot development that will feature 102 housing units and other amenities. The project, dubbed Broadstone Nob Hill, is set to be located on Central Avenue between Montclaire Drive NE and Sierra Drive NE.

The project will be developed by Albuquerque-based Titan Development and Phoenix-based Alliance Residential Co. The two companies make up Broadstone Nob Hill LLC. Titan will oversee the design and construction of the project. Upon completion, Alliance will manage the property, according to city council agenda documents.

Amenities include a leasing center, clubhouse, fitness center, a pool and a proposed four-story, 30-foot-wide mural planned for the east facade of the main building.

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Dual high-end hotel in downtown Albuquerque expected to open in August 2020

Shellye Leggett
KOAT 7

More information about a new hotel going up in downtown Albuquerque has been released. It's not only one hotel, but two. Legacy Development and Management is the company in charge. There 90 rooms with a Hilton Garden Inn on one side and 80 rooms with an Extended Stay Homewood Suites. The company hopes to have the doors open by August or September of 2020.

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Developers submit plan for project in downtown Albuquerque

Kassi Nelson
KOB 4

Three developers have submitted requests to build a new development in downtown Albuquerque.

Unlike the Berry administration, the Keller administration does not want a skyscraper going up next to Civic Plaza.

Brennon Williams, who is the deputy planning director for the City of Albuquerque, said they will decide on a project, partly, based on how much enjoyment it will bring to people in Albuquerque.

[DesertRay]

Originally Posted by mgs11

Developers submit plan for project in downtown Albuquerque

Kassi Nelson
KOB 4

Three developers have submitted requests to build a new development in downtown Albuquerque.

Unlike the Berry administration, the Keller administration does not want a skyscraper going up next to Civic Plaza.

Brennon Williams, who is the deputy planning director for the City of Albuquerque, said they will decide on a project, partly, based on how much enjoyment it will bring to people in Albuquerque.

I love the idea of maximizing enjoyment. I hope that they have some smart people in the room deciding what that *actually* means. Benefit and enjoyment are notoriously difficult to define, and can lend themselves to magical thinking.

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City proposes special 'redevelopment area' for East Downtown neighborhoods
• Video Link
By: Chris McKee
KRQE 13

The city is eyeing one of the oldest parts of Albuquerque for a special new designation that could help fix it up and bring new businesses to the area.

The city's drafted a proposal outlining certain stretches of Central and Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd between Broadway and I-25 as "Metropolitan Redevelopment Area."

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FUNDING FOR UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO HOSPITAL FACILITY SECURED

By Garry Boulard
constructionreporter.com

A University of New Mexico project that may ultimately cost as much as $400 million to complete has taken an important step forward due to capital outlay legislation recently approved by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham.

For years officials with the University of New Mexico Hospital, the only Level 1 trauma center in the state, have been talking about the need for an additional facility.

That facility, as proposed, would come in the form of a tower that would most likely go up to the west of the existing UNM Hospital, which is located at 2211 Lomas Boulevard NE.

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Mayor Keller, Albuquerque officials provide ART update
by: Allison Keys
KRQE 13
• Video Link
With the unveiling of a new demo bus, Mayor Tim Keller hopes the Albuquerque Rapid Transit project will be up and running by winter of next year. The mayor says the New Mexico themed buses will cost $200,000 less than buses from BYD, the original bus providers.

Two new designs made their debut during the unveiling of the turquoise buses. with the mayor stating that as many as six designs possibly taking to the streets. The new buses are clean diesel, meaning they emit much lower emissions than standard diesel engines.

The New Flyer buses, which are coming from a Minnesota plant, are also easier to maintain and fix. The mayor says the company rushed the order for an earlier start date to the project.

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NBCUniversal coming to Albuquerque?

Christina Rodriguez
KOB 4

A press conference is scheduled to happen Friday at a vacant industrial building south of I-40 on Commercial Street, north of downtown. It looks like NBCUniversal is the big name behind the announcement.

Among a series of building, electrical and plumbing permit applications posted online – one permit application lists the owner-tenant as "NBC Universal Studios."

It describes wood and steel work to support a new lighting grid.

The 37,000 square-foot building is large enough to support at least one studio space.

State and city officials are not saying anything about the announcement until their press conference Friday morning.

NBCUniversal would be the second major studio to announce they're setting up shop in Albuquerque in less than a year.

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New Mexico United eyes location for future stadium


By Marco Torrez
News intern
Albuquerque Business First

After breaking attendance records and making the playoffs in its inaugural year, New Mexico United is not wasting any time in finding a permanent home in the Duke City.

The United Soccer League team said its top pick for a location for its stadium is Downtown.

United owner Peter Trevisani told Business First in an interview his team is scouting locations for a new stadium in the Downtown corridor around from the Rail Yards to Sawmill districts.

Trevisani said United will not support a stadium where people don't want to have it. This is why United is in the midst of surveying neighborhoods and businesses on their feelings towards a new stadium popping up in their local community.

"Our approach was if they come then we will build it," Trevisani said. "Now that we see the interest, we see that we're selling out games, we are getting over 12,000 [people] a game, our momentum is just beginning and this is the kind of feedback that tells us [a stadium] is long overdue."

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Consultant offers 3 Rail Yards redevelopment scenarios

BY JESSICA DYER
ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL
STAFF WRITER

Leland Consulting Group’s most recent draft report to the city of Albuquerque says the ideal Rail Yards redevelopment strategy will include a mix of uses.

It provides three different development scenarios of varying levels of density, but notes that redevelopment will occur over many years, making it impossible to predict the exact mix that would work.

All scenarios call for “adaptive reuse” of buildings on the property’s north side, which the report calls the Rail Yards’ “front door.” Proposed uses include Central New Mexico Community College’s film center, the existing Rail Yards Market, and new retail, restaurant and commercial tenants.

Chicago artist Theaster Gates recently kickstarted an effort to redevelop one of those northern buildings – the fire station – by pledging $11,000 of his own money and helping raise another $14,000.

“It could be a calling card to the rest of the complex,” he said during a late-June presentation in Albuquerque.

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Presbyterian plans new 11-story tower for patients

BY STEPHEN HAMWAY
ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL
STAFF WRITER

[IMG]Presbyterian Tower by mgs11, on Flickr[/IMG]
Presbyterian Healthcare Services announced plans Wednesday to build the tallest tower yet on its original, 111-year-old hospital campus.

Clay Holderman, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Presbyterian, said the new 11-story, 135-foot building at Presbyterian Hospital, which is expected to be completed in 2022, will reduce wait times and improve the experience at the aging hospital for patients and their loved ones.

“You’ll see a lot of changes that will make the stay more pleasant for families, and more curative for patients,” Holderman said.

All told, the multi-phase expansion is expected to cost $230 million, Melanie Mozes, director of communications for Presbyterian, told the Journal.

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City receives proposals for former tallest building site

by: Jackie Kent
KRQE 13
• Video Link
Mayor Tim Keller quashed his predecessor’s big plans to put up the tallest building in Albuquerque. While the city is still looking for someone to develop the prime downtown lot, the new administration isn’t focused on Albuquerque’s skyline.

The city’s planning department said the tallest building in New Mexico could still be built in the lot off Third Street and Marquette in downtown, but that’s no longer the city’s priority for developers.

The city received three proposals by the April deadline.

“The proposal must include some sort of public amenity,” Interim Planning Director Brennon Williams said. “[It] might include something like a theater, some sort of a performance space.”

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Food hall headed to historic Downtown building

BY STEPHEN HAMWAY
ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL
STAFF WRITER
Downtown Food hall by mgs11, on Flickr
A prominent storefront along Route 66 will soon be home to Downtown Albuquerque’s first food hall.

Architect Mark Baker confirmed plans to establish the restaurant concept featuring eight different food and beverage vendors with shared seating on the ground floor of a historic brick building at 505 Central Ave. NW. Baker sees it as a chance to not only add more fast-casual dining to a downtown core that’s often starved for such options, but also to create a unique dining experience that lures hungry customers from other parts of town.

“I always see people out looking for a destination,” he said. “This is going to be that destination.”

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Duke City named top spot to live, work for movie-makers


Marissa Armas
KOAT 7

Albuquerque was just named the No. 1 city to live and work as a moviemaker, by MovieMaker Magazine.

"It's wonderful," said Central New Mexico Community College film student Mike Ross. "Albuquerque's going to be the new LA in five years. "

Many students said it gives them hope about having a film career in New Mexico.

"I feel like it's really going to help us out, especially for young up-and-coming directors and for people barely getting out of college," said student Aiden Chavez.

In 2018, Albuquerque sat at No. 6, but this year the Duke City jumped five spots to beat out major cities like Los Angeles, New York, and Atlanta.

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Preparing Rail Yards for development could cost up to $80 million

Kai Porter
KOB 4

The City of Albuquerque has big plans to redevelop the Rail Yards, south of downtown.

The site sits mostly in disrepair, used mainly for the Rail Yards Market and film shoots.

The city wants to change that.

"Creating a public, private partnership that helps bring a lot more activity and energy to the site," said Lawrence Rael, the city’s chief operating officer.

A consulting firm estimates it could cost between $50 million and $80 million dollars to get the site ready for redevelopment.

It needs contamination cleanup, structural renovations and infrastructure.

The city is still in the process of finding ways to fund the project.