Anasazi Rising

Affordable Condo Project Enlivens Downtown Albuquerque

By Scott Blair

Albuquerque residents have a growing appreciation for the city’s downtown core. Over the past 10 years, an increasing number of condominium projects, public buildings and retail shops have moved in.

Anasazi Downtown’s design was changed when the underground parking was moved up to the second and third floors. Renderings courtesy Mullen Heller Architecture.

Yet some developers trying to attract higher-end buyers have recently had a tough time selling out their luxury condo projects.

Albuquerque-based developer Blue Dot Corp. and architect Mullen Heller Architecture hope the $12.5 million Anasazi Downtown, located at 6th St. and Central Ave., will change that.

“There have been other projects downtown at higher price points that have not been as successful,” says Doug Heller, principal with Mullen Heller, who designed the project as a joint venture with SlagleHERR Architects, also of Albuquerque. “I hope people look at this building as something that helped to turn the corner for downtown Albuquerque, that affordable downtown housing can be provided in an urban setting.”

Blue Dot previously renovated a three-story office building across the street into a 16-unit condo project known as 6th Street Lofts.

After that project’s success, Blue Dot decided to look at other properties, says Dave Garcia, principal with Blue Dot, which is also acting as the general contractor on Anasazi. “We had actually looked at the property where Anasazi sits now and thought about doing a bowling alley or a market, but there weren’t enough residents living downtown yet for a market and it wasn’t worth just doing a single-story project,” Garcia says. “So we put the figures together for a mid- or high-rise, and it seemed to work that we could offer a nice product at a good price.”

The project broke ground in October 2006 and offered units starting at $200,000. Demolition of the site’s existing structure was performed by Albuquerque-based Coronado Wrecking. Some of the material was recycled or re-used, including hand-carved wood beams from the interior.

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With the new tower rising nine stories, the designers had to take care not to overwhelm the neighboring low-rise buildings which stretch along the historic Route 66.

“On Central Ave., the city normally does not like anything going above three stories or 60 ft,” Garcia says. “But the way this building was designed, they allowed us to step the building back so there wasn’t a sheer wall design on Route 66. They wanted to keep the integrity of our downtown intact.”

The architects worked with Blue Dot to come up with an aesthetic that combined the urban lifestyle of the condo’s potential buyers with a look of antiquity that the project’s name reflects. This included the massing of the building, Heller explains, which includes several steps and setbacks starting on the fifth floor.

Even on the back side of the building where a step back wasn’t required by the city, the builders found it advantageous to include one. “We pitched the idea of carving a roof garden out,” Heller says, referring to the garden created on the fourth floor by the cut-out. “I really give a lot of credit to the owners. They are literally losing 1,200 sq ft on each floor, but they felt that it would really benefit the project.”

“The back side is on a zero lot line and it really opened up that middle corridor area,” Garcia says. “The idea of the roof garden clicked immediately.”

The tower initially included underground parking, but the developer began to have second thoughts since the water table in downtown Albuquerque sits just 20 to 25-ft below grade while the garage’s excavation would require digging to 35 ft.

“It was difficult to gauge the costs because no one knew how much water was down there, how much we would have to pump out, or how much shoring we were going to need,” Garcia says.

To reduce this risk, the decision was made to flip the parking onto the second and third stories of the tower, right above the first floor’s six sold-out retail pads. “It was a total shift in our thinking because we had gone through most of the schematic design with the parking garage below grade,” Heller says. “But I think it was the right thing to do because it makes the building look more proportionate.”

The architects changed the building’s façade from having a continuous tan color to having the colors and materials change in levels to show each separate function of the building: retail, parking and residential.

The concrete contractor, Albuquerque-based G & H Concrete, suggested a stamped concrete panel that mimics stone or slate for the exterior face of the garage, Garcia says.

The design changes also helped prove to the city that the developer “could put a parking lot here without making it look like a parking lot,” he adds.

The change required the building foundation’s 75 drilled piers to be deeper, most between 50 ft to 70 ft deep.

Another 50 piers in a soldier-pile formation support a 20,000 gal water tank to supply the building’s fire suppression system.

The 87,000-sq-ft building is comprised of 679 tons of structural steel, with metal decking under poured concrete for the floors. Albuquerque-based Pace Iron Works supplied the steel, while it was placed by Stockton, Calif.-based Magnum Steel Erectors.

The construction site is bordered by streets, alleys and buildings on all sides, so staging has required constant coordination. “We stage anywhere we have space,” Garcia says. “A lot of our subcontractors have been helpful about staging their stuff at their yards and gradually bringing it onto the site as needed.”

Each of the 45 units will be completely built out by the developer, with early buyers able to choose finish options such as countertops and flooring. “People here don’t want to see a shell - they want to know that you built it out and you did the best you could to space plan it,” Garcia says.

Key Players

Owner/GC: Blue Dot Corp.
Architect: Mullen Heller Architecture; SlagleHERR Architects
Subcontractors: G & H Concrete; Pace Ironworks; Magnum Steel Erectors; BUC Construction; Grant & Associates; DKD Electric; Coronado Wrecking

Useful Sources

See floor plans and other information at the project website, www.anasazidowntown.com

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