HomeDiagramsDatabaseMapsForum About
     

Go Back   SkyscraperPage Forum > Regional Sections > United States > Southwest


Reply

 
Thread Tools Display Modes
     
     
  #21  
Old Posted Feb 12, 2013, 5:02 PM
mgs11's Avatar
mgs11 mgs11 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: ABQ
Posts: 589
More photos of progress being made at Winrock in uptown ABQ.

Target


BJ's Brewhouse


IMAX Theater

Last edited by mgs11; Feb 12, 2013 at 6:26 PM.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #22  
Old Posted Feb 13, 2013, 4:58 PM
mgs11's Avatar
mgs11 mgs11 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: ABQ
Posts: 589
Philips plant site back on the market



Gary Gerew
Assistant Editor-
Albuquerque Business First

The site of the former Philips Semiconductor plant, converted to a low-budget film and TV studio, is back on the market, according to the Albuquerque Journal.

Titan Development, which bought the property along I-25 near Paseo del Norte in 2006, is planning to name the area NorthPoint 25, and develop it as a business park with a planned mix of offices, retail uses, restaurants and hotels.

“While the economy is recovering, now is the best time to tee up the marketing and the pre-development work,” Drew Dolan of Titan Development told the Journal. “What we’re doing is getting it back in front of a number of different (potential) users.”

The city-approved plan for the site allows for up to 650,000 square feet of office space, five shops or restaurants and two hotels with up to 400 rooms, the Journal reported.

NorthPoint 25 is a build-to-suit project, which means companies commit to leases for building space. The building is then custom-designed and built by Albuquerque-based Titan to suit their needs. The project is being marketed by Mike Schiffer and Trevor Hatchell of CBRE.

The existing 502,000-square-foot former plant, now called I-25 Studios, will continue to operate as other parts of the 60-acre site are gradually developed, the Journal reported.

Eventually the massive plant will be torn down, according to the Journal.

http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerq...&ed=2013-02-13

http://www.cbre.us/o/albuquerque/pro...site-plan.aspx

Last edited by mgs11; Feb 13, 2013 at 10:28 PM.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #23  
Old Posted Feb 14, 2013, 4:27 PM
mgs11's Avatar
mgs11 mgs11 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: ABQ
Posts: 589
UNM south campus project delayed

Gary Gerew
Assistant Editor-
Albuquerque Business First

A project designed to bring restaurants and stores to the University of New Mexico’s south campus is being delayed, according to the Albuquerque Journal.

Regents Monday approved a 30-day deadline extension for an agreement on the value of about 50 acres off Avenida César Chávez and University SE, with Ohio-based Fairmount Properties, the developer chosen to build the project, the Journal reported. Fairmount will lease the land from UNM and develop numerous restaurants, shops and other establishments.

UNM joined with Fairmount in December, establishing a 60-day deadline to agree on the value of the lease.

“The problem is that over the Christmas break, everybody got behind so they couldn’t get it finished until late last week, so the regents haven’t had a chance to look at it,” regent Jamie Koch told the Journal.

Fairmount delivered a first draft of the agreement on Dec. 15. According to a UNM report, the school reviewed it over the winter break and sent back a revised version on Jan. 25. UNM then met with Fairmount in person a few days later to discuss the lease.

“This meeting was very productive, many key provisions were discussed and conceptual agreement was reached on almost all issues,” the report states, but there’s not enough time to meet the Feb. 18 deadline for an agreement, according to the Journal report.

http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerq...&ed=2013-02-14
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #24  
Old Posted Feb 14, 2013, 4:28 PM
mgs11's Avatar
mgs11 mgs11 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: ABQ
Posts: 589
List of design-build teams for interchange project announced

Gary Gerew
Assistant Editor-
Albuquerque Business First

The Federal Highway Administration, New Mexico Department of Transportation, City of Albuquerque and Bernalillo County have announced a short list of three design-build teams that will be invited to respond to the final request for proposals (RFP) to select a contractor for the Paseo Del Norte/I-25 Interchange Reconstruction Project.

The transportation department said the three are:

Kiewit New Mexico/Bohannan Huston Inc./Terracon
North Gateway Joint Venture
Sundt/AUI/URS Corp.
“It was a very difficult decision because we had submissions from a number of qualified and innovative teams,” Kathy Bender, deputy DOT secretary of Programs and Infrastructure, said in a news release. “The three selected teams are all uniquely qualified to build a project that will meet the needs of our state and community for decades to come, and improve both traffic flow and safety in one of New Mexico’s busiest transportation corridors.”

The next step in the process will be the issuance of a final RFP, tentatively scheduled in March 2013. Responses will be due in June. A design-build contractor is to be selected in July. From there, several months will be required to complete contractual negotiations and allow the selected contractor to prepare plans, complete the project design and mobilize resources. Construction of the project is expected to begin in the fall, with completion scheduled by the fall of 2015.

http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerq...&ed=2013-02-14
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #25  
Old Posted Feb 14, 2013, 6:31 PM
mgs11's Avatar
mgs11 mgs11 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: ABQ
Posts: 589
County OK’s tax breaks for Silver Moon Lodge

By Dan McKay / Journal Staff Writer on Tue, Feb 12, 2013

.Bernalillo County commissioners approved a series of tax breaks and incentives requested by the developer of the old Silver Moon Lodge.

It came over the objection of Commissioner Debbie O’Malley and nearby residents, who argued that the project was too dense and lacked enough parking. In the end, O’Malley was the lone “no” vote.

My colleague Richard Metcalf took a look at the 150-unit proposal a few months ago.


http://www.abqjournal.com/main/2013/...oon-lodge.html
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #26  
Old Posted Feb 15, 2013, 10:29 PM
mgs11's Avatar
mgs11 mgs11 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: ABQ
Posts: 589
Titan to break ground on Broadstone Cottonwood development

Damon Scott
Reporter-
Albuquerque Business First

Titan Development is set to break ground this summer on a 13-acre, 254-unit multifamily housing project on Albuquerque’s Westside near the Presbyterian Rust Medical Center.

The project, Broadstone Cottonwood, is a joint venture between Titan and Phoenix-based Alliance Residential Co. Alliance has previously developed multifamily units in north Albuquerque, including Broadstone Estates and Broadstone Heights. Titan and Alliance’s latest project — Broadstone Santa Monica — is under construction near San Antonio Drive and San Pedro Drive in north Albuquerque on the site that once was the Del Rey mobile home park. That project is estimated to take 18 months to complete.

According to President Drew Dolan, Titan owns the plot of land for Broadstone Cottonwood and will act as the codeveloper with Alliance. Alliance will be the contractor. Dolan declined to give the price estimate of the project.

Dolan said the project was important in order to offer choices for residents that have taken, or will take new jobs that are available due to the recent opening of the Presbyterian Rust Medical Center at 2400 Unser Blvd. SE in Rio Rancho. “These will be great apartments for nurses, technicians and resident doctors,” he said. He pointed out its proximity to Intel Corp. as well.

Amenities include a resort-style pool, a large fitness center and a site design that maximizes the views from the property. “Our east-facing units will have unbelievable views of the entire Bosque and the Sandia Mountains,” Dolan said.

Dolan said the development will offer mostly one- and two-bedroom units, but will also have three-bedroom units with an average square footage of 1,050. He added that he expects rents will be consistent with market rates for Class A multifamily properties in Albuquerque.

Dolan said Titan, which traditionally had developed office, retail and industrial projects, has entered the multifamily development arena in a significant way. “Until our state starts to create jobs and be competitive with neighboring states in attracting businesses, the real estate and construction industry is going to struggle to recover. We have had to diversify our capabilities,” he said.

http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerq...eDprQQ08961b90
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #27  
Old Posted Feb 16, 2013, 3:35 PM
mgs11's Avatar
mgs11 mgs11 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: ABQ
Posts: 589
Anasazi out of bankruptcy, has new developer

Damon Scott Reporter-
Albuquerque Business First


The years-abandoned Anasazi high-rise building in Downtown Albuquerque is out of bankruptcy and has a new developer.

According to Dayna Gardner, director of communications for Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry, the property emerged from bankruptcy about a week ago and the new developer is PEM Real Estate Group of Scottsdale, Ariz. Albuquerque Business First also obtained a copy of the quitclaim deed detailing the transfer of the real estate to PEM from Anasazi Downtown LLC.

“It’s out of bankruptcy and [PEM] will be remodeling it and putting a new skin on the building,” Gardner said.

She added that the development will begin with a focus on first floor retail spaces and second floor parking.

PEM’s chief operations officer, Robert Venberg, could not immediately be reached for comment.

http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerq...y-has-new.html
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #28  
Old Posted Feb 21, 2013, 4:03 PM
mgs11's Avatar
mgs11 mgs11 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: ABQ
Posts: 589
ABQ councilors approve funding for Downtown District

Gary Gerew
Assistant Editor-
Albuquerque Business First

Albuquerque city councilors Wednesday agreed to keep the Downtown Business Improvement District alive by providing it with $183,000 in funding, according to the Albuquerque Journal.

The nonprofit Downtown Action Team said they faced financial trouble because some property owners have refused to pay their annual fees.

Rob Perry, the top administrator under Mayor Richard Berry, said it made sense to provide the funding, the Journal reported. The city should be repaid when it collects from the delinquent accounts.

Perry said a majority of property owners voted to form the district and pay the fees. The city simply acts as the fiscal agent that collects the money and passes it on, according to the Journal report.

“The Downtown Action Team is important to the overall success of Downtown,” Perry told the Journal. “At the end of the day, the group has decided to tax themselves.”

The business improvement district has been a source of tension for years, the Journal reported.

Owners of the Albuquerque Plaza office building have filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of the district and alleging that they don’t see any benefits from it, the Journal reported.

http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerq...eDprQQ08961b90
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #29  
Old Posted Feb 21, 2013, 4:31 PM
mgs11's Avatar
mgs11 mgs11 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: ABQ
Posts: 589
Some more info about the IMAX theater at Winrock in uptown ABQ.
http://www.koat.com/news/new-mexico/...k/-/index.html
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #30  
Old Posted Feb 22, 2013, 10:41 PM
mgs11's Avatar
mgs11 mgs11 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: ABQ
Posts: 589
City pursues foreclosure against ABQ Plaza owner over DAT taxes

Dan Mayfield
Reporter-
Albuquerque Business First


The city of Albuquerque is seeking to foreclose on the Albuquerque Plaza office building Downtown, saying the owner has not paid Business Improvement District taxes.

On February 11, the city filed a motion asking a state court to allow it to pursue foreclosure against Albuquerque Plaza Office Investment, the company that owns the 22-story building, which is attached to the Hyatt Regency Albuquerque.

“Obviously, we’ll never let our building be foreclosed on by the city,” said the building’s owner, Jim Long, CEO of Heritage Hotels & Resorts.

But the city is taking aggressive action against Long and his Albuquerque Plaza properties. It seeks a judgment against Albuquerque Plaza Office Investment for unpaid Downtown Business Improvement District fees from 2011, 2012 and 2013 that total $218,201.30.

The city’s action is the latest salvo in years of court battles between Albuquerque Plaza Office Investment and the Downtown Action Team. Albuquerque Plaza Office Investment sued the city in state court in 2011 over the business improvement district. The BID, enacted in 2000 and renewed in 2010, charges building owners a special tax. That tax pays for the Downtown Action Team and its services, such as cleaning the streets and encouraging business development in the Downtown core.

Now, the city is asking the court to allow it to file a counterclaim in that suit so it can pursue the foreclosure on Albuquerque Plaza.

Albuquerque Plaza Office Investment has claimed in court that the BID is unconstitutional.

In the city’s newly filed paperwork, it says it is authorized to collect the BID fees and penalties. It also says it can file a lien on the property if the owner doesn’t pay the fees.

Long said he has the money to cover the taxes waiting in escrow pending the outcome of the suit.

“Ultimately, a judge will have to decide whether or not those funds will remain in escrow, or whether or not Albuquerque Plaza will have to pay those,” Long said.

BJ Crow, the lawyer representing Albuquerque Plaza Office Investment, said he has filed for a continuance of the foreclosure attempt.

“I don’t think they have the authority to foreclose on his building,” Crow said. “I don’t even think they have the authority to get money for the BID.”

Crow also said Albuquerque Plaza Office Investment does not receive any benefit from the BID.

At a City Council meeting Wednesday night, Albuquerque Chief Administrative Officer Rob Perry said the city is working to collect fees it’s owed by companies that have not paid BID taxes.

“More recently, the city has engaged in aggressive collection efforts. What the remedy is, is a municipal lien,” Perry said.

The Downtown Action Team is not pursuing the foreclosure, the city is, said Rick Rennie, chairman of the DAT board and the asset manager for Historic District Improvement Co., in a phone interview Thursday.

“It’s the city’s responsibility to collect those fees,” Rennie said. “It has to use whatever mechanisms it has to collect the fees. The city is doing its job. A BID doesn’t work if the city doesn’t do its job.”

Long said he has met with DAT, and the Property and Business Owners Committee that has oversight over the BID, but they have not been able to reach an agreement.

The BID is financed by a special property tax that equates to 58 cents per $100 of tax value on the property. That tax brings in about $700,000 annually, according to DAT. There are about 175 ownership groups, in 277 direct parcels, in the BID.

The City Council on Wednesday agreed to keep the Downtown Business Improvement District alive with $183,000 in funding. DAT had said it faced financial trouble because some property owners have refused to pay their annual fees

http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerq...61b90&page=all
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #31  
Old Posted Feb 25, 2013, 8:30 PM
mgs11's Avatar
mgs11 mgs11 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: ABQ
Posts: 589
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
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #32  
Old Posted Feb 27, 2013, 4:17 PM
mgs11's Avatar
mgs11 mgs11 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: ABQ
Posts: 589
City wants input on plan to make Central more pedestrian-friendly

By: Erica Zucco, KOB Eyewitness News 4

Would you like to see Central Avenue be more pedestrian-friendly?

On Wednesday night, city officials will hold a meeting for public input on a "Complete Streets" plan for part of Central Avenue. The city hopes to make Central Avenue between First and Girard a more pedestrian-friendly, urban place for people to live, work and play.

This area includes the UNM campus, the East Downtown neighborhood, and a lot of both businesses and living spaces, so there's a lot of foot traffic in addition to vehicular traffic.

Ideas so far jump off of a 2004 East Downtown Master Plan but also include information from recent studies.

Some of the possibilities being discussed are buffers between sidewalks and the street, side lane bus stops instead of in-lane bus stops and more pedestrian walkways. No concrete plans for development have been made yet, but consultants have been brought in to assist.

Gateway Planning, a Texas-based firm that specializes in urban design and community facilitation and Nelson/Nygaard, a California transportation planning firm, will assist in the process.

The first meeting is Wednesday night from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Heights Community Center, 823 Buena Vista Dr SE.

All who live and work in the area are welcome and officials and city councilors hope they'll bring

http://www.kob.com/article/stories/S....shtml?cat=500
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #33  
Old Posted Feb 27, 2013, 10:49 PM
mgs11's Avatar
mgs11 mgs11 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: ABQ
Posts: 589
Casitas de Colores to plant multifamily footprint Downtown

Damon Scott
Reporter-
Albuquerque Business First

A $16.2 million multifamily housing development in Downtown Albuquerque is set to break ground March 7.

The venture, Casitas de Colores, is a partnership between Romero Rose LLC and YES Housing Inc. Romero Rose is the southwest arm of the Jonathan Rose Cos.

The site at 215 Lead Ave. SW is just west of Romero Rose’s Silver Gardens development on a plot of land at Second and Silver SW. It will be comprised of 71 units of mostly two and three-bedroom apartments and will feature four behavioral health units that will be offered to homeless families. St. Martin’s Hospitality Center will act as the lead agency on social services aspects, such as selection and integration of the homeless families.

The development sits on 1.23 acres and contains 53,143 square feet. It is just east of the Elements Town Homes, an eight-unit development at Lead and Third, another Romero Rose project.

“Our mission is to repair the fabric of communities through the development of diverse, green, transit-accessible neighborhoods enriched with social, cultural and educational networks,” Theresa Bell of Romero Rose said.

Dekker/Perich/Sabatini designed the Casitas de Colores complex and Bradbury Stamm is the general contractor for the project.

The project is expected to attain LEED Platinum green building status, which Silver Gardens has achieved. The development is expected to be completed in the fall.

The groundbreaking ceremony takes place at 11 a.m. at the building site.

http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerq...eDprQQ08961b90
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #34  
Old Posted Mar 3, 2013, 3:43 PM
mgs11's Avatar
mgs11 mgs11 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: ABQ
Posts: 589
$2M bond plan may be key to city’s future

By Astrid Galvan / Journal Staff Writer on Sun, Mar 3, 2013

The economic and research future that University of New Mexico and Albuquerque city leaders envision could get a kick-start with a $2 million bond proposal that would go before voters this year.



That future would be modeled after Innovation Square in Florida, a joint venture among the University of Florida, government and the private sector that combines research, technology and private enterprise in one big development.

UNM President Bob Frank brought the idea to state, private sector and city officials, including Mayor Richard Berry, who said he is adding the $2 million proposal to his bond package. If the City Council approves it, the proposal will go before voters in October.

Berry, Frank and several other local leaders visited the 40-acre Innovation Square, in Gainesville, Fla., in January. They came back ready to push for a similar project here.

“… One of the areas that Albuquerque could benefit greatly, from an economic development standpoint, is commercializing research from the university,” Berry said. “Bob Frank recognizes that, I recognize that and I think the whole university recognizes that.”

Frank, who joined the university last June, has said the project could be the key to economic development in the city and state.

“This is a first-of-its-kind venture between the City and UNM to identify and invest in opportunities that leverage business and technology partnerships to create and grow jobs in Albuquerque. This new bold approach is essential for us to succeed and I am thrilled that the mayor is willing to put funding toward this effort,” Frank said Friday.

The project is in the earliest stages and does not yet have a name. But UNM has already hired a local firm to conduct a feasibility study on six buildings that could serve as a headquarters.

Lobo Development Corp., the nonprofit that handles UNM’s large real estate developments, holds a non-binding option to purchase one of those properties — the First Baptist Church at Broadway and Central. That property has been on the market for several years and was almost purchased by Albuquerque Public Schools in 2010. But nearly a year later, the district backtracked on the $11.3 million purchase after a report found soil and groundwater contamination there.

The rest of the buildings are either city or university owned, although details were not available late Friday.

If the bond passes, some or all of it could go to buying a building, Berry said.

Berry said he sees the city’s role in its version of Innovation Square as a catalyst, calling the bond option a “tremendous opportunity for taxpayers.” He compared it to the Sandia Science & Technology Park, a high-tech campus that comprises 33 companies and organizations, according to its website. The park was funded in part with city money and has created about 2,400 jobs in Albuquerque. It cost $350.5 million, although most of that came from the private sector.

Berry said the initial $2 million is a good start to the UNM-city project.

“We live in a time where we have to be smart about how we build projects. We have to do it through multiple jurisdictions, multiple avenues,” he said. “I think it will be a matter of coming together as a university, the city, the state. I just want to make sure as a mayor that we’re on the forefront of working with the university.”

And although he is counting on UNM to do “the heavy lifting,” Berry has some ideas about where this project, and the future of UNM, could be headed: Downtown.

“I’d love having a west (of UNM) incubator Downtown. I am trying to advocate as a mayor for if the university’s going to make expansions, we would work Downtown. It could be tremendous catalyst force as well,” Berry said.
— This article appeared on page A1 of the Albuquerque Journal

http://www.abqjournal.com/main/2013/...ys-future.html
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #35  
Old Posted Mar 11, 2013, 5:28 PM
mgs11's Avatar
mgs11 mgs11 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: ABQ
Posts: 589
ABQ could be home to another college

Gary Gerew
Assistant Editor-
Albuquerque Business First

Grand Canyon University said it is considering creating a new campus in Albuquerque.

Grand Canyon University, a private Christian, for-profit institution, is also considering Las Vegas, Nev., Tucson and sites near Phoenix, according to the Albuquerque Journal. The school, which has an enrollment of 6,500 at its main Phoenix campus, expects to make a decision within 60 days.

Albuquerque looks like a good choice for a 75- to 100-acre campus, GCU President Brian Mueller told the Journal. The university plans to build new facilities in whichever city it selects, according to the Journal.

Grand Canyon wants to enroll 4,000 to 6,000 students and open in fall 2014. It already has expanded a branch campus on Jefferson Street in Albuquerque for nursing students, as reported by Albuquerque Business First.

Mueller said the new campus would offer a full curriculum and traditional setting for students.

It would at first be a commuter school, with no dorms, but could eventually add some, Mueller told the Journal.

http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerq...r-college.html
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #36  
Old Posted Mar 12, 2013, 2:52 PM
mgs11's Avatar
mgs11 mgs11 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: ABQ
Posts: 589
UNM lease could bring in $2 M per year

Gary Gerew
Assistant Editor-
Albuquerque Business First

The lease between the University of New Mexico and the Ohio-based company selected to develop the south campus area could earn the university up to $2 million annually.

Regents Monday approved a ground lease form, the second in a series of steps to bring restaurants and retail to the land around the Pit, which UNM has selected Fairmount Properties to do, according to the Albuquerque Journal. The lease is for 74 years.

Fairmount and UNM haven’t worked out the price of the lease, but university officials Monday said they expect to profit about $1.5 million to $2 million annually based on a preliminary estimate. The actual price that Fairmount and UNM will eventually agree on will be based on market value of the land and other factors, according to the Journal.

The lease is for three parcels of land off Avenida César Chávez and University Boulevard SE. The largest plot of land, south of the Pit and bordered by University and Interstate 25 on the east and west and by Gibson Boulevard on the south, will likely be developed first. That parcel is 39 acres.

According to the agreement, Fairmount will have exclusivity rights over the two other parcels, which are off Avenida César Chávez between the Pit and Lobo Village and west of Lobo Village. That means that although Fairmount does not have to develop the land yet, it holds rights over it. It will pay $1,000 a month on each of those plots, the Journal reported.

http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerq...eDprQQ08961b90
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #37  
Old Posted Mar 14, 2013, 7:42 PM
mgs11's Avatar
mgs11 mgs11 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: ABQ
Posts: 589
Interior Secretary signs “historic” regulations at Sandia Pueblo

By Deborah Ziff / Journal Staff Writer on Thu, Mar 14, 2013


Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar called it a “historic day” as he signed regulations at Sandia Pueblo Thursday morning that will allow the tribe to lease land without federal approval.

“This important step today on the HEARTH Act brings to closure a sad saga of the United States not trusting Indian country,” Salazar said.

Sandia Pueblo is only the second tribe in the country to develop regulations that will allow it to control economic development without the approval of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, under a law that President Barack Obama signed last year.

“That will mean there will be less bureaucratic red tape, because it will be delegated down to the pueblo itself,” Salazar said.

Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn, former dean of the University of New Mexico School of Law, was also on hand for the signing. Prior to the law taking effect, there was often a backlog for approvals that caused delays in development on reservations, Washburn said.

“It was often lengthy,” he said. “One of the problems was there was a concern that the people who wanted to do the lease would walk away before the lease was actually approved because they didn’t want to wait around for that.”

Sandia Gov. Victor Montoya said the tribe is hoping to prompt more economic development on the southern border of the pueblo and is right now putting in drainage systems.

“Hopefully with this act being signed we’ll get responses from other companies who will hopefully come and do business with us,” he said.


http://www.abqjournal.com/main/2013/...y-morning.html
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #38  
Old Posted Mar 14, 2013, 7:45 PM
mgs11's Avatar
mgs11 mgs11 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: ABQ
Posts: 589
Old ‘Darth Vader’ building at UNM needs another $5.6M

By Astrid Galvan / Journal Staff Writer on Thu, Mar 14, 2013

The nearly $5 million in renovations for the outside of the University of New Mexico building formerly known as Darth Vader are complete, but the makeover – and its costs – are not over.

Health Sciences Center administrators next month will ask regents to approve interior renovations for the building at 1650 University NE, which are projected to cost another $5.6 million dollars.

Including the initial cost of the building and the land it sits on, UNM will likely spend about $14.5 million total on the approximately 30-year-old building. For years, many people referred to the office tower as the Darth Vader building because of its shape and black windows.


For two regents, that cost is too high. But for HSC executive finance officer Ava Lovell, it’s a steal compared to the cost of tearing down the building and starting from scratch.

Lovell said building a new structure would have cost about $200 per square foot and that the renovations add up to about $107 per square foot. The building has about 100,000 square feet.


Renovations continue at the University of New Mexico building at 1650 University NE. The windows on the building, which used to be black, were recently replaced, along with other renovations.
“So, financially, this thing is a great deal,” Lovell said. “Yeah, it’s not the prettiest building. Maybe from different perspectives it’s not what we would have built from scratch, but it did seem like a waste of money to tear it down…”

Regents Jamie Koch and Gene Gallegos did not agree. Both voted against the outer renovations at a March 2012 regents meeting and have been vocal about their disapproval.

“I still think it was a mistake to try to do something with that old building,” Gallegos told the Journal on Wednesday.

UNM purchased the building, which was in foreclosure, in Dec. 2010. Since then, regents have approved a series of expenditures for engineering and architecture assessments and for the outer core renovations, which were approved with a 3-2 vote last year and which went about $100,000 over budget. Those outer core renovations included the replacement of windows with high energy performance glass, rooftop work, parking lot coating and striping, lighting upgrades, and mechanical and plumbing systems.

Lovell said health sciences desperately needs the space as many of its programs have outgrown their current locations.

The building will house different HSC divisions, such as Project Echo, a grant-funded health care project that will use an entire floor, and an education program for practicing nurses.

UNM initially hoped to fill some space with outside tenants but struggled to do so.

“The first priority was to try to get anybody who was off campus paying rent to an outside landlord. The more we worked on that, the harder time we had with it,” Lovell said.

For example, the university tried to recruit the UNM Center for Development and Disability but lost out when its current landlord offered a lower price, she said.

Still, the building on University Boulevard is already booked with tenants who could be moving in a year from now, Lovell said. HSC last year said the building could open in the summer of 2013.

But first, the interior needs to be renovated, a cost that last year was projected to be $4.3 million but is now estimated at nearly $5.6 million. The cost will be covered by on-hand reserves. Regents, the state Higher Education Department and the state Board of Finance must approve the renovations first.
— This article appeared on page C1 of the Albuquerque Journal

http://www.abqjournal.com/main/2013/...other-56m.html
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #39  
Old Posted Mar 15, 2013, 9:27 PM
mgs11's Avatar
mgs11 mgs11 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: ABQ
Posts: 589
Anasazi building begins ground-floor retail leasing

Damon ScottReporter-
Albuquerque Business First

Downtown Albuquerque’s nine-story Anasazi high-rise has begun leasing for what will be its first floor retail spaces.

Albuquerque’s Roger Cox & Associates is the broker and building manager for Scottsdale, Ariz.-based developer PEM Real Estate Group. PEM acquired the 87,000-square-foot building earlier this year for an undisclosed amount.

Roger Cox is marketing retail spaces from 1,189 to 9,038 square feet at leasing ranges of $15 to $22 per square foot.

There are street-level storefronts available on both the Central Avenue and Sixth Street sides of the building with on-street and adjacent customer parking options, according to Roger Cox.

PEM plans to begin remodeling the exterior and to rehabilitate the second floor for parking sometime this year, a spokeswoman for Albuquerque Mayor Richard J. Berry’s office has said. No additional plans for the building have been released.

http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerq...eDprQQ08961b90
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #40  
Old Posted Mar 22, 2013, 3:20 PM
mgs11's Avatar
mgs11 mgs11 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: ABQ
Posts: 589
Meeting set for new ABQ retail district

Dan Mayfield
Reporter-
Albuquerque Business First

The city’s leaders and the heads of the new Albuquerque Indian School District will begin work this morning on agreements for the new retail district at 12th Street and Menaul Boulevard.

“This is the first time for official business and they’ll be setting up the parameters,” said AISD spokesperson Tazbah McCullah.

At the 60-acre site, across 12th Street from the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, the AISD will include retail, restaurants, new office buildings and a school. It will be governed by AISD, which was formed last year by the state’s 19 pueblos that share in ownership of the land. This political and business model is unique because it is located within a major urban city and all 19 sovereign tribes are participating and will share the dividends generated by the District’s commercial activity.

AISD representatives, Mayor Richard Berry and City Councilor Roxanna Meyers are scheduled to meet at 9 a.m.

http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerq...eDprQQ08961b90
Reply With Quote
     
     
This discussion thread continues

Use the page links to the lower-right to go to the next page for additional posts
 
 
Reply

Go Back   SkyscraperPage Forum > Regional Sections > United States > Southwest
Forum Jump


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 3:13 AM.

     
SkyscraperPage.com - Archive - Privacy Statement - Top

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.