Albuquerque Development Thread

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Downtown grocery store, other projects ring up $67 million in tax credits

Damon Scott
Reporter-
Albuquerque Business First

Key tax credits have been finalized for the Imperial Building, which will bring a 12,000-square-foot grocery store to Downtown Albuquerque. The total awarded for the project is $11.5 million.
The New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority announced the approval Wednesday, along with eight other projects across the state, which received more than $67 million.
The low-income tax credit awards are connected to affordable housing projects, which the Imperial Building has in its plans.
The Imperial Building will consist of 74 residential units at Second Street and Silver Avenue. The four-story building will have underground parking, commercial space and a common area, among other amenities.
The project is part of the city’s Downtown redevelopment plan. It will also receive a $2.8 million grant from Albuquerque’s Workforce Housing Trust Fund, and the city will donate the land.
The developer and partner of the housing component is YES Housing Inc. Geltmore LLC, headed by Paul and David Silverman are co-developers of the commercial space.

http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerq...69728&page=all

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El Rey Theater gets renovations

By: Stuart Dyson,
KOB Eyewitness News 4

A show-biz landmark in Downtown Albuquerque is back in biz again – bigger and better than ever. Since October the old El Rey Theater has been closed-up and dark, but the doors will open and the lights will shine for musical performances right away, thanks to new leaseholders who are determined to bring it back to life.
Most people just saw a disaster when the Golden West Saloon on the east side of the building burned in 2008, but Stephen Segura saw something else – an opportunity for an open-air venue.
“With the roof gone, man, we love it,” Segura said, giving a reporter and photographer a tour of the El Rey. “We look at it and say that is a disaster that we can turn into something beautiful again. We want to restore it and take it away from being an eyesore.”
The old theater itself is rewired and re-powered at 500 amps. On stage there is an LED wall, projector screens and upgraded stage lighting. Most important, nobody has monkeyed with the basic, legendary sound of the El Rey.
“The acoustics of this building are just magnificent,” Segura said. “I mean, you get touring acts that travel all over the world and the nation and they tell us about the acoustics in here.”
The new bathrooms will blow the minds of anybody who remembers the old days at the El Rey. Big, clean, modern, and numerous. No more peeing in a dungeon! And there’s still the famous balcony upstairs, with its own bar.
Food? At the El Rey? Are you kidding? Nope! Believe it – the new guys in charge are working out deals with the city’s ever-growing fleet of food trucks.

http://www.kob.com/article/stories/s...4#.U34UnHJdXZg

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Innovate ABQ’s first tenant? Microsoft

Dan Mayfield
Reporter-
Albuquerque Business First

In about two months, Microsoft should be the first tenant in Innovate ABQ when it opens its CityNext office on Aug. 4, according to Gary Oppedahl, the head of the city’s office of Economic Development.
Oppedahl told Business First that the new partnership agreement the city signed with Microsoft includes a series of programs designed to help computer users and entrepreneurs.
“Microsoft is coming August fourth, and that’s real,” Oppedahl said. “They’re going to partner with us in a big way. Microsoft is back in Albuquerque. We weren’t ready for them then; we are now.”
The partnership between the city and Microsoft was also heralded by Mayor Richard Berry last week in a speech to NAIOP.
Innovate ABQ is intended to be on the corner of Central Avenue and Broadway Boulevard Downtown. The University of New Mexico plans to buy the old First Baptist Church in order to create a campus for emerging companies. The purchase, Oppedahl said, is “inevitable.”

http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerq...medium=twitter

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Mystery firm searching for Downtown real estate

Damon Scott
Reporter-
Albuquerque Business First

A company with more than 100 employees is looking to move into Downtown Albuquerque.
Downtown Action Team Chair Todd Clarke said the firm didn’t want to be identified publicly yet, but that it is a “major employer, locally owned and tech-oriented.”
“They’ve had phenomenal growth and have a product that is sold in dozens of countries. It’s a perfect Innovation Corridor fit,” Clarke said.
Clarke, who is also the head of New Mexico Apartment Advisors and Cantera Consultants & Advisors, said the firm has asked DAT to serve as a filter in lieu of a tenant-representative broker.
Clarke said the company needs to purchase or lease at least 10,000 square feet of space, ideally with room to expand. Some portion of the space should have at least 12-foot ceilings, have available parking in the immediate area and access to high-speed Internet/fiber. The firm has a preference for “creative and quirky” space, Clarke said.

http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerq...e.html?ana=twt

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Mierzwa to head CNM coding program

Dan Mayfield
Reporter-
Albuquerque Business First

John Mierzwa of Deep Dive Coders will head up the Central New Mexico Community College’s new coding program at the Downtown STEMulus center.
Mierzwa, a new director of STEMulus Initiatives at CNM, said that the new program at the center will complement CNM’s other courses.
“We’ll start out with web development. There will be crossover. Some people are interested in continuing education, and they will be able to jump into other tracks at CNM,” Mierzwa said Wednesday. He founded Deep Dive Coders, a school that specializes in teaching coding, last year.
Debbie Johnson, the head of CNM’s Office of Education, Entrepreneurship and Economic Development, said “Coding is a basic skill, and John founded Deep Dive Coders, so, why reinvent the wheel?”
It made sense, she said, to bring in Mierzwa, who already developed curricula for students.

http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerq...m.html?ana=twt

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Nob Hill lands upscale $10 million ‘Platinum’ apartments

Damon Scott
Reporter-
Albuquerque Business First

A Chicago developer with ties to Albuquerque is breaking ground on a new multifamily development in Nob Hill this week.
Rick Goldman is building “Platinum,” a 75-unit luxury apartment complex in East Nob Hill at Silver Avenue and Sierra Drive. Goldman is the owner of Golden Spike Development of Chicago. This is his fourth multifamily project in Albuquerque, having previously built a two-phase townhome development in Nob Hill on Aliso Drive and the Silver Hill Lofts near the University of New Mexico.
Goldman told Business First that the new project is being named Platinum because it’s his goal to have the development LEED-Platinum certified. It would likely be one of, if not the only such apartment project in Albuquerque to have the distinction.
“We are providing a level of luxury rental housing that Nob Hill has never seen before,” Goldman said. “It will be Class A with over-the-top views.”

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

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Winrock Mall Redevelopment on Track

By Garry Boulard
Construction Reporter News

More than 50 years after its grand opening, the Winrock Mall is on the verge of a new era.

This spring it was announced that Nordstrom Rack is planning to open a 35,000 square-foot outlet in the east Albuquerque shopping center.

“We’re very happy about this,” says Darin Sand, vice-president of development with Goodman Realty Group, which purchased the 84-acre Winrock property in 2007.

“Nordstrom should be here by the spring of 2016,” continues Sand, who says the announcement of the clothing and accessories chain joining Winrock could serve as a catalyst for other retailers to move into the redeveloped space.

Since the beginning of the new work on the old mall site the restaurants Dave & Busters, Genghis Grill and B.J.’s Restaurant and Brewhouse have all signed leases with what is now referred to as the Winrock Town Center.

Last month the Designer Shoe Warehouse, otherwise known as DSW, announced that it will open a nearly 17,000 square-foot Winrock store.

“Dave & Busters is being built right now,” reports Sand. “Nordstrom and DSW will happen soon, followed by some of the other restaurants.”

“Hopefully, this is going to be a continual process,” Sand adds of future tenant announcements for Winrock.

Construction activity at Winrock, which was substantially initiated with the building of a 16-screen IMAX Regal Cinemas theatre last year, represents a dramatic shift in fortunes for what was the first and largest shopping center built in New Mexico.

Developed in 1959 by the University of New Mexico, which owned the land, and Winthrop Rockefeller, who would become famous as the first pro-civil rights governor of Arkansas, Winrock boasted 500,000 square feet of leasable space and soon housed such retail heavyweights as Montgomery Ward, S.S. Kresge 5 & 10, Hallmark Cards, and a Safeway supermarket.

By the mid-1960s, Winrock was also the home to the Fox Cinerama Theatre and the White Winrock Motor Hotel.

http://constructionreporternews.com/...ment-on-track/

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Downtown Albuquerque to light up on June 6

Damon Scott
Reporter-
Albuquerque Business First

Neon lights are coming back to old Route 66 in Downtown Albuquerque this weekend.
Through a partnership and grant with the Public Service Co. of New Mexico and a Downtown ABQ MainStreet initiative, LED neon lights will light up 3rd Street to 5th Street along Central Avenue. Eventually, through additional funding from the city, the neon will stretch from 1st Street to 8th Street.
The new lights will be formally lit on June 6 at 7 p.m. during a ribbon-cutting event at 4th Street and Central. Representatives from Downtown ABQ MainStreet, PNM and the city will be on hand.
Also June 6, the MiABQ Project is hosting a meet-up for the city’s millennials at the El Rey Theater. Zoya LoPata, program manager for the Downtown Action Team, said the 5 p.m. event is free and open to the public.

http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerq...6.html?ana=twt

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Lunch time photos of the ABQ Convention Center work.







Silver Moon Progress

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Lavu moving to larger space Downtown

Dan Mayfield
Reporter-
Albuquerque Business First

Lavu Inc. will be moving Downtown to the third floor of 116 Central SW, Downtown.
The software firm that makes point-of-sale and mobile application software is expecting to grow from 42 to nearly 100 people this year, said CEO Andy Lim, and the company needs more space than it has access to at its current offices in Old Town.
“We have outgrown the space in our building,” Lim told Business First on Wednesday. “We have two stories on the first floor and the second floor, and they’re split up. We want a new building that can have all of us under one roof.”
“It’s an awesome space,” he said of the new location.
The space is occupied by Ardham Technologies, Inc., which will be moving out, he said. Carroll Strategies will stay in its space on the third floor of the building, which is owned by the Historic District Improvement Co.
Lim said the company has signed a lease but did not disclose the terms.
Lavu has grown rapidly since it launched its POS system, which uses an Apple iPad or iPod to process transactions and collect payments for restaurants and bars.

http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerq...-downtown.html

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City seeking developer to transform parking lot into Entertainment District

Dan Mayfield
Reporter-
Albuquerque Business First

The city of Albuquerque’s Metropolitan Redevelopment Agency on Monday released a request for proposal to transform a parking lot near First Street and Central into an entertainment district.
The city said it will offer the site through a sale or long-term ground lease to the selected Master Developer for “fair value,” which it says takes into account the community, economic and social benefits of the planned redevelopment.
“The concrete initiatives that will be taking place in the coming months and years ensure that Albuquerque is on the right trajectory for job growth, economic mobility and prosperity,” said Mayor Richard J. Berry. “This is a great step towards creating naturally occurring ‘collisions’ and a ‘beehive’ of collaboration.”

http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerq...0&t=1402409370

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New video depicts interior vision of Winrock Town Center

Damon Scott
Reporter-
Albuquerque Business First

If you’ve wondered what the interior of Gary Goodman’s Winrock Town Center might end up looking like — wonder no more.
The CEO of Goodman Realty Group and his team at Pegasus Retail had a video produced that shows 3-D renderings of how the “town center” of the development might end up.
The renderings show Goodman’s vision for extensive water features, gardens, vegetation, walking trails, parks, a hotel, outdoor eating areas, living spaces and office components. Goodman has made it known that he wants the interior, and the entire mall, to be a live-work-play environment.
He sees the town center operating as a one-of-a-kind example of resource management, one that he hopes will serve as a model for developers across the globe. It includes vast educational components and leverages many collaborations in the city and state.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koujYDxQUQ0

http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerq...medium=twitter

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Downtown Anasazi condos complete, retail spaces see movement

Damon Scott
Reporter-
Albuquerque Business First

After years of waiting, the Downtown Anasazi is officially open and its first resident has moved in.
The eight-story high-rise with 45 living units has been undergoing rehabilitation after sitting idle for years.
Mercury Properties is marketing single- and two-story condominium lofts, both studio and one-bedroom units, from 650 square feet to 1,000 square feet. Prices for those units range from $145,000 to $220,000. There are also two-bedroom loft-style units between 1,200 and 1,600 square feet, priced from $260,000 to $400,000.
“Our first unit sold in May at $254 per square foot and our first owner is living in the building,” said Lynn Manzanares. “We have five more units under contract and are expecting to close in the next 30 days.”
Manzanares is the owner and qualifying broker of Mercury Properties with Joe Corso — both of whom market the Anasazi’s residential units.

http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerq...medium=twitter

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Downtown: The comeback plan

Damon Scott
Reporter-
Albuquerque Business First

Booming regional metros like Denver, Phoenix, Oklahoma City, Dallas and Austin have many things in common, including active and desirable downtown corridors. Strong downtowns, after all, reflect a city’s viability — for residents, tourists and employers that might be looking to relocate, expand or build.
Albuquerque’s Downtown has struggled for decades, and like many downtowns in America, it was also hit hard by the recession. It has struggled in the face of stagnant job growth and income, as well as flat population growth. Downtown’s office vacancy rate is one of the highest in the city, and one big firm — The Gap — is moving out. Its back-office operations are headed to the North I-25 corridor this year. Some retail shops and restaurants have closed, and some are struggling to survive. And perhaps not unlike many downtown corridors, Albuquerque has its share of crime, vandalism, graffiti and trash.
Now, however, the city and the private sector have come together on ambitious plans to revitalize Downtown and spur job creation there in the process.
Part of the plan is to make Downtown the center point for the Innovation Corridor, which runs from the ABQ BioPark to East Nob Hill and the Hiland Theater area. Innovate ABQ, across the railroad tracks in East Downtown, is a major element in many of the plans. The business incubator is a collaboration among the city, UNM and others.
EDo also plays a big role in plans to bring back Downtown. Developers such as Rob Dickson of The Lofts at Albuquerque High, David Blanc of the Grove Cafe & Market building and others have brought living spaces, office and retail to that area. Add in entrepreneurs and restaurateurs such as Pat and Terry Keane of Artichoke Cafe and the partners behind Holy Cow, who will open another restaurant in the coming weeks, and the corridor has become a desirable place to visit and live.
Some Downtown projects have already come to fruition, including the rebirth of the Anasazi high-rise and the construction of new mixed-income apartments such as Silver Gardens, Casitas de Colores and the soon-to-open Silver Moon Lodges. Those are critical to bring more density to Downtown so it can go from a 9-to-5 operation to a 24-hour one.

http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerq...71344&page=all

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UNM regents approve purchase of First Baptist site for Innovate ABQ

Dan Mayfield
Reporter-
Albuquerque Business First

The University of New Mexico Board of Regents on Friday approved the purchase of the old First Baptist Church site on the corner of Broadway and Central for the Innovate ABQ campus.
“Today, the regents of the University of New Mexico authorized proceeding with the acquisition of the Innovate ABQ site,” the school said in a press release. The building and its seven-acre site have been listed at $7.5 million.
“We are excited that the UNM board of regents approved the purchase of the First Baptist Church site for Innovate ABQ. This will be a great benefit for Downtown Albuquerque,” Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry said on Friday.
The property purchase was approved by the regents, but other agreements, including a property purchase agreement, the environmental plan, and an approval of the STC.UNM board of directors are needed to approve the sale, according to Dianne Anderson, who is the UNM Director of University Communication.
The initial idea for the project came from UNM President Bob Frank, who is modeling the site after the Innovation District at the University of Florida. The city has pledged $2 million to the project. Bernalillo County has also pledged $2 million.

http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerq...14855&page=all

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Innovate ABQ site purchase means green light for other projects, Mayor Berry says

Dan Mayfield
Reporter-
Albuquerque Business First

Having a location for Innovate ABQ, said Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry on Monday, will mean the city can move forward on several projects related to the Innovation Corridor the city is planning.
On Friday, the University of New Mexico Regents approved buying the site for the new Innovate ABQ center at the corner of Broadway and Central.
“It’s a big deal. Once they get it purchased, we’ll have a definitive location,” said Berry.
The purchase has a few more hurdles to jump before becoming final, but when completed it will allow the city to find more private partners to make an innovation district a reality, he said.
“I’ve been working to bring UNM to Downtown, and now they’ll have a presence like CNM in the Innovation District. It allows me, as a mayor, to bring in other activities to Downtown. STC.UNM will be here, an Innovation Academy. Now, it gives me a chance to bring in Microsoft, and we’ll be able to talk to people.”

http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerq...0&t=1402953311

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Master plan in motion after UNM regents approve Innovate ABQ site purchase

Dan Mayfield
Reporter-
Albuquerque Business First

By the end of the year, the University of New Mexico is expecting to have a master plan together for the new Innovate ABQ site Downtown.
The school’s Board of Regents gave approval on Friday for UNM to move forward with the purchase of the seven-acre First Baptist Church site Downtown. That move, said UNM President Bob Frank, has opened the door for the school to move forward on the master plan.
“It’s a big step. We finally have cleared a number of barriers. We’re beginning the planning process,” he said.
The school has hired Perkins+Will, a national firm that specializes in master planning innovation centers, as well as Dekker/Perich/Sabatini of Albuquerque to help with the plan, Frank said.
Though the process took a big longer than Frank and other supporters of the project had hoped, “the challenges have made us think through what we’re doing,” Frank said. “We know a lot more about this property, and going forward, we can develop what we need to develop.”

http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerq...medium=twitter

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City hopes to redevelop downtown Central Avenue

By: Stuart Dyson
KOB Eyewitness News 4

Albuquerque city planners are hoping to kick-start a rebirth of Central Avenue Downtown by trying something that worked just a few years ago, just a few blocks away.
It worked for East Downtown – they call it "Edo" - and now they want to try it in Downtown itself – a big public/private project that could sprout new businesses and create new jobs along the Route 66 corridor.
Right now it's just a parking lot at First and Central, but planners see cafes and shops and clubs and a new hotel – a "premier entertainment hub" that will draw people to the urban core and inspire new development downtown. After all, a similar ambitious project had terrific results right across the railroad tracks in "Edo". It all started with the transformation of the long-vacant old Albuquerque High School into condos and lofts.
"We started seeing an influx of new businesses," said city planning director Suzanne Lubar. "Now we have some wonderful lovely restaurants and other businesses and refurbished homes all around that property."
In fact the restaurants and shops and salons are still spawning up and down Central between I-25 and the railroad tracks, in what was once a seedy crime-plagued slum. Just ask any Edo business owner about it.

http://www.kob.com/article/stories/s...l#.U6GxLZRdXZg

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Stakeholders to discuss green features of Downtown’s Imperial Building

Damon Scott
Reporter-
Albuquerque Business First

It will house a 12,000-square-foot grocery store and 74 living units, but those are just two of its many features.
Downtown’s forthcoming Imperial Building, which is set to be built at 205 Silver Ave. SW, has a slew of unique design features that will be the focus of a meeting.
The $20 million mixed-use project is due to begin construction before the end of the year.
Next week, a slew of stakeholders will meet to go over the development’s proposed urban agriculture and green features. Those features include the reuse of storm water, rooftop gardens and other green infrastructure. The gardens would act as a urban farm and training center, managed by Downtown’s Veteran Farmer Project, with the help of Amy Biehl High School students and future Imperial Building residents.
The project would include growing plants, planting seeds, amending soil, monitoring water use, garden tending and harvesting produce.



http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerq...medium=twitter

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Civic Plaza may get new management

By Jessica Dyer
Journal Staff Writer

The company contracted to run the Albuquerque Convention Center soon may be managing another marquee city property – Civic Plaza.

Officials say the administration is finalizing an agreement that would transfer management of Civic Plaza activities to SMG, a move they hope will boost use of the Downtown property.

“I think they’ll create a synergy that will help both the Convention Center business as well as Civic Plaza,” Gilbert Montaño, Mayor Richard Berry’s chief of staff, said of the two properties located across the street from each other.

“It’s (Civic Plaza) probably one of the most underutilized parks in the entire city, and that’s unfortunate, because we’re making a lot of public-sector investments in Downtown.”

The plaza is used throughout the year for events and entertainment such as Summerfest concerts or Sept. 11 remembrance ceremonies.

Of late, it has been the primary venue for launching protests against the Albuquerque Police Department and a couple of support rallies, but also for gatherings for the National Day of Prayer and group gay wedding ceremonies, pro-choice and anti-abortion rallies, the end point of an MLK Day parade, the Amy Biehl High School Urban Olympics and the Law Enforcement Memorial Service. Even the “Breaking Bad” TV series used it as a backdrop for a couple of scenes.

http://www.abqjournal.com/420469/new...anagement.html