Mixed Company

Three Mixed-Use Projects Join the Neighborhood in Albuquerque

By Christia Gibbons

Mixed-use projects are particularly well suited for the Albuquerque area where they can provide neighborhoods with a multitude of services and options. Three such projects are profiled: Brick Light, Copper Pointe and the Orchard.

Two projects set to come online this summer and one due in 2009 serve as the yin and yang of mixed-use development in Albuquerque.

The residential/retail Brick Light Courtyard near the University of New Mexico takes its cue from a variety of neighborhood groups. The Copper Pointe office/industrial project to the east and off Interstate 40 is a kind of one-man show from owner/developer/contractor Ted Waterman, and the Orchard will bring a village-like development to North Valley.

Albuquerque-based Harvard Mall Partners, made up of four UNM graduates, is redeveloping a 4.5-acre area south of the university on Harvard Southeast with a 44,000-sq-ft project featuring 7,200 sq ft of retail. Their $6 million, four-building Brick Light Courtyard is the first phase and will have 46 apartment units ranging from 600 to 1,200 sq ft. Rent will range from $700 to $1,600 for an apartment with a 400-sq-ft balcony. The general contractor is Albuquerque-based Enterprise Builders.

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Set to open mid to late June after a July 2007 construction start, partner Allen Lewis says more than 100 hours of meetings with neighbors and city officials took the project from a possible food court/ nonprofit agency/apartments to what it is today. Along the way and through neighborhood compromise, such possibilities for the retail space as a small bank or establishment serving hard liquor were jettisoned.

“We thought they’d like a neighborhood bank branch,” Lewis says. “That surprised us.”

Now the partners are in the process of getting letters of intent from a tea house, which wants to add a flower shop; hair salon; and a fast-food restaurant that doesn’t need a kitchen.

All the hours spent with neighbors were well worth it, and other developers should get an early start with neighbors and neighborhood groups, Lewis says. Brick Light Courtyard meetings were informally held on the street, in coffee shops, in a local church and at neighborhood board meetings.

“It’s a long process and you have to be patient,” he adds. “We feel like we’ve really identified, with their cooperation, the market.”

Looking ahead, Lewis says the partners are considering bringing in Zipcar, a car-sharing business that gives area residents access to a fleet of cars, relieving them from having to buy a car or deal with parking. While what will go in subsequent phases is yet to be determined, ideas range from duplicating the current project to constructing private dormitories.

“We’re proud of it,” Lewis says of Brick Light Courtyard. “We want our grandkids to be proud of it and the neighborhood to be proud of it. We wanted it to be something the city and university can hang their hat on.”

Architect Doug Heller with Albuquerque-based Mullen Heller Architecture says, “these are not your typical apartments. They have higher-end finishes. We’re trying to attract the long-term resident.”

Heller says the project is multicolored, three-stories with retail on the ground floor, and tiered second and third floors allowing for spacious balconies. “Albuquerque is a city where you can take advantage of outdoor spaces 10 months a year,” he adds.

Also this summer, the $6.5 million, 19-acre Copper Pointe is scheduled to open. Waterman Inc. is the developer/contractor of the 192,000-sq-ft warehouse and office project, while Dekker/Perich/Sabatini is the architect in charge of designing the manufacturing plant’s makeover. Both firms are based in Albuquerque.

The challenge with the project was how best to use the space, says listing broker John Davidson of Metro Commercial Realty Inc. “The building is 5 acres alone, and as a former manufacturing plant had its limitations,” Davidson adds.

To create a mezzanine for office space, the 19-ft ceiling was raised 7 ft. Architect Brett Frauenglass says the building had to be jacked up and three of four quadrants got higher ceilings, allowing for, among other things, more natural light. The building also underwent considerable retrofitting to conform to seismic regulations.

A Waterman building-moving company provided the equipment to raise the roof, and steel was fabricated onsite.

The building now incorporates high-bay warehousing and office space. Retail space could be configured in the flex-space building as well. Space is available for lease or sale ranging from $6.95 a sq ft to lease and $90 a sq ft to buy warehouse space and $13 net a sq ft to lease and $110 a sq ft to buy office space.

Davidson and Frauenglass credit the developer for bringing flavor to the project by incorporating the sculpture work of Colorado-based Michael Garmin on the outside of the building. Garmin creates cast-stone cityscapes and street scenes.

Other touches include wood windows, brick work and copper covering. “It’s going to be so quirky,” Frauenglass says. “It’s unbelievable.”

Davidson adds, “They have created a commercial condominium to give as wide an opportunity as possible in the marketplace.”

Russell Brito, division manager of the city’s development review department, says he commends the Copper Pointe project for its use of the site, which also includes pods. “It will help create new jobs in the area, Brito says.

Like many cities today, Albuquerque is striving to attract infill/redevelopment projects to create live/work/play space that puts an emphasis on foot traffic over use of cars.

Brito says the City Council is in the process of proposing a form-based code to parallel the existing zoning code to focus on how development is laid out on sites. Under the proposed code, certain areas could be designated for higher-density, for instance, if certain conditions are met.

Brito echoes the sentiment of the Brick Light Courtyard partners by saying developers are best served by talking with the city and neighbors early in the process. This is only done about half the time, he says.

By doing do, “we hope to uncover any issues and problems we know of and encourage developers to speak to neighbors, especially those adjacent to the property,” Brito adds. “It’s a great benefit to the success of the project.”

On the horizon, Santa Fe-based Zydeco, a division of the Yates Drilling Co., plans The Orchard in Albuquerque’s North Valley area. The $12 million, 4.5-acre project will include five single-family homes, 23,000 sq ft of retail space and loft living.

Planned to be done by late summer 2009, the village-like development is on vacant land that will complete the neighborhood, says general manager Richard Hefler.

“The project looks at the retail environment in a different way,” Hefler says of the design, which puts retail in a cluster of small stand-alone buildings as opposed to a strip mall feeling.

“Since 911, people have a need for a comfortable place to be with other people.”

Work with neighbors and Bernalillo County officials reduced the original square footage of the retail space and bans any drive-through businesses.

Key Players

Brick Light Courtyard
Developer: Harvard Mall Partners
Architect: Mullen Heller Architecture
General Contractor: Enterprise Builders

Copper Pointe
Developer: Waterman Inc.
Architect: Dekker/Perich/Sabatini
General Contractor: Waterman Inc.

The Orchard
Developer: Zydeco Inc.
Architect: FBT Architects

Useful Sources

More information about these projects can be found at
www.bricklightdistrict.com and www.zydeco66.com/zdco2_crnt_orchd_hm.html

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