Duke City Heats Up
by K. Robert Wendel

Downtown is sizzling and the west side is heating up as city redevelopment efforts on Central Avenue begin to pay off. Demand for housing in the Duke City also remains strong.

The city finished 2003 with 20 percent more construction starts than in 2002, with nearly $350 million in projects. Work in the private sector also is picking up, especially in the multi housing and retail markets.

"Overall, the construction sector in Albuquerque is looking good," said Larry Waldman, a senior economist at the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. "We are showing a slow-growing construction sector, but it is growing."

The city is in the hunt for a proposed 10,000-seat arena in downtown. Plans call for the estimated $48.5 million project to be financed by a combination of private equity, the cash flow generated by the arena and a 10 percent surcharge on tickets.

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The new 10,000-seat facility will be located south of the convention center, north of Central Avenue and between the railroad tracks and Second Avenue. The architecturally significant structure will rise 60 -ft. above grade and feature an urbane, pedestrian friendly façade at the Central Avenue gateway to downtown.

A preliminary development team includes Hunt Construction, Arena Management & Construction, LLC, Comcast-Spectator, Inc. and Historic District Improvement Co.
Lofts continue to be a hot project in downtown after the renovation of the old Albuquerque High School by Paradigm Development and Richardson and Richardson Construction, both of Albuquerque.

Bradbury Stamm, a local general contractor, is also currently working on a high-end apartment project near the Rio Grande River where the old Huning Castle used to stand.

"There is a lot of concentration in the downtown area because of the revitalization program," said Marissa Rodriguez, a research manager for Albuquerque Economic Development office. >> "We are also seeing a lot of big-box industrial on the Interstate 40 corridor and there is also a lot of spec being built."

Housing on the west side continues to keep both builders and developers busy, but the city is also moving forward on an aggressive plan to attract more high-tech and aerospace work.

AUI Inc. of Albuquerque recently started the first phase of more than $9 million of infrastructure work at an 300-acre Aerospace Technology Park on the west side near Double Eagle II Airport. The first phase is part of a total $35 million package for the site.

The city hopes to work off synergies developed by Eclipse Aviation, which plans to begin manufacturing a small and economical business jet by 2009 in Albuquerque.

"Right now Eclipse Aviation is looking at 2,000 jobs at its facility and we are hoping to encourage a lot of its suppliers to locate at the aerospace technology park," said Jim Hinde, Albuquerque's aviation planner.

Funded by the city, AUI will install infrastructure and utilities, with the bulk of the work scheduled for completion this year. Roadway and storm-drainage improvements will be installed by 2007-2008.

At UNM, parts of the $130 million, 475,000-sq.-ft. Children's Hospital and critical-care area at the University of New Mexico are starting to enter the pipeline. The pavilion will house UNM Children's Hospital and operating rooms; neonatal intensive-care unit; children's emergency department; adult emergency department, urgent care and trauma; adult critical care; and the women's birthing center, postpartum service and well-baby nursery.

Other big-ticket projects include a 180,000-sq.-ft. second phase of the Cancer Research Facility at UNM. The freestanding, multilevel building has a projected budget of $37.8 million, but no funding has yet been allocated.

UNM is also planning a new, 130,000-sq.-ft. research institute. Planning, design and construction are estimated at $40 million, but is not funded.

Big things are afoot at Sandia Labs, which is gearing up for the next phase of the silicon revolution. General contractor M.A. Mortenson of Texas started work in June on the first building in the Microsystems Engineering Sciences Application program, or MESA.

The 98,000-sq.-ft. project will provide clean rooms to replace those in an older fab at Sandia. It will tie into the existing fab that will be renovated.

The second project, a 131,000-sq.-ft. micro-lab, started in November, with Texas-based Hensel Phelps Construction moving earth on the $66 million project. The third building, a weapons integration facility, is expected for bidding in July. The 162,000-sq.-ft. project is expected to cost $89 million.

The project is the largest capital program ever undertaken at Sandia, with plans for a 2007 program completion.

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>Lofty Ambitions